Tom Thompson, Industrial and Engineering Systems Education Specialist at the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) came for lunch — and we had him give a dog and pony show: “The Current Status and Future Direction of CTE in Oregon”. His slides are here.

Key points:

• CTE = Career and Technical Education 
• CTE is about education and about the economy. 
  • Tom called out the new Sector Partnerships arising out of Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs). Jo provided a handout with some leads to economic data, including WIB Sector Partnerships here.
• CTE has sequences of courses aimed at skill-building for specific occupational clusters.
  • When particularly well developed, these sequences meet the criteria for a “Program of Study” (PoS)
  • PoS can connect to the federal funding stream known as Perkins
  • Academically rigorous with application of knowledge
• Historically, Perkins $ provided most of the funding for CTE in Oregon; now the state and districts are investing more.
• CTE concentrators (see the definition in this summary) are more likely to graduate, across all ethnic groups, than the general population.
• District support is increasing, but has not reached pre-recession levels. The mix of PoS is changing some.
• Information about IP 28 and IP 65 is included. ODE does not take a position, provides information only.
• Future: Increases in funding, engagement with employers, connection with STEM, focus on equity.
• Potential potholes: weakening economic focus, weakening rigor, teacher shortage, inequity.

Tom joined us on Friday, June 24, 2016.

Respectfully submitted,
Jo Oshiro
jo@oregoncsta.org