Improving career and technical education
A statewide task force aimed at revitalizing career and technical education (CTE) programs in Iowa released its final recommendations following a meeting this morning in Des Moines.
Improved career guidance for high school students seeking technical careers, more work-based learning opportunities and the development of regional CTE training centers to provide resources for students are among the recommendations of the Secondary Career and Technical Education Task Force, which wrapped up 20 months of work today.
Task force members said the ultimate goal of their recommendations is to establish a comprehensive career pathway system to provide every student an opportunity to pursue careers requiring postsecondary technical education and training.
“It’s really trying to say, how do we inspire young people about the future (by connecting them with CTE programs and technical careers), and have them stay in Iowa, hopefully,” said Dave Bunting, a retired Cedar Rapids educator who facilitated the task force. The recommendations will be used to update the state code for CTE programs, which hasn’t been revised since 1989.
A shortage of skilled workers in middle-skills jobs that require education and training beyond high school but less than a four-year degree has left many of these positions unfilled in areas such as health care and advanced manufacturing.
The task force’s recommendations are:
- Promote career and college readiness through thoughtful career guidance and purposeful academic and technical planning practices.
- Provide high-quality, integrated CTE programming composed of secondary exploratory and transitory coursework to prepare students for higher-level, specialized academic and technical training.
- Afford students the opportunity to access a spectrum of high-quality work-based learning experiences through a coherent delivery system that streamlines and leverages existing initiatives.
- Address the shortage of qualified career and technical instructors by expanding opportunities to obtain academic and technical training in licensure areas and examining preservice preparation and licensure practices to remove barriers for horizontal and vertical career advancement for individuals within the profession.
- Through collaboration and regional partnerships, provide for increased and equitable access to high-quality CTE through a statewide system of regional centers.
“What we see throughout these recommendations are partnerships,” said D.T. Magee, executive director of the Iowa Board of Education Examiners and a task force member. “We can do better as a state, but we can’t do that individually.”
Many school districts across the state are struggling to find qualified CTE teachers, particularly in rural districts, said Vicky Rossander, an executive board member of the Iowa State Education Association and a task force member.
Carrying out the recommendations “isn’t going to happen overnight,” said Chris Duree, chancellor of the Iowa Valley Community College Distric. “The (legislative) funding may or may not be there,” he said, urging officials to take a long-term view of the proposals rather than session by session.
In Iowa, CTE programs, formerly known as vocational education, are organized within six broad areas: agriculture, family and consumer sciences, health occupations, business, industrial technology and marketing.
“These recommendations have the potential to revitalize CTE so that Iowa students have access to high-quality, globally competitive programs that lead to rewarding careers,” Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise said in a release. “They are in line with several state efforts already underway to reduce a shortage of skilled workers and boost economic growth.”
The full report can be found on the Iowa Department of Education’s website.
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