The State of Career Pathways in Minnesota
Programs of Study
Technical Skill Attainment
Daniel Smith, Center for Postsecondary Success
Minnesota Department of Education
JoAnn Simser, State Director for Career & Technical Education
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
Purpose:
The purpose of this Act is to develop
more fully the academic(general
education) and career and technical
skills of secondary education
students and postsecondary
education students who elect to enroll
in career and technical education
programs
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, Section 2
Two important changes in the Perkins
Act of 2006:
 A requirement for the
establishment of
Programs of Study
 A new approach to assessing CTE skills



Academic/General Education skills
Technical skills
Workplace skills
Elements in a Minnesota Program of
Study:
 Career Fields
 Career Clusters
 Career Pathways
 Foundation Knowledge and Skills
•
Minnesota’s New Direction – Programs of Study
Career Field
Career Cluster
Foundation Knowledge and Skills
Career
Pathways
•http://www.cte.mnscu.edu
Minnesota hopes to address the
secondary-postsecondary alignment
issues through the development and
implementation of career and
technical education Programs of
Study.
•
Minnesota’s New Direction – Programs of Study
Career Field
Career Cluster
Foundation Knowledge and Skills
Career of
Programs
Pathways
Study
•http://www.cte.mnscu.edu
For Minnesota, a Program of Study is
defined as:
 A nonduplicative sequence of academic and
technical courses,
 Beginning no later than grade 11 and
extending for at least two years beyond high
school,
 Culminating in a degree, diploma or certificate.
Secondary
CTE Program
• Broad-based
• Approved at
the District
level
• Approx. 50
unique CTE
programs
Program of Study Postsecondary
CTE Program
• Approved at the
consortium level –
migrating to approval at
the state level
•Occupational
focus
• Technical skill
assessment for the
purpose of accountability
• Approved for
the college
• Guidance function
• Approx. 1500
unique CTE
programs
• Work readiness
component
• Articulation agreements
Grade
Grade
Yahoo!
11
12
Prepara-Yippee!
Upper
tory Parteeee!
level
Grade
10
Courses
high
school
courses
Wasted
time?
Grade
9
Fresh- SophoOMG!
man
more
College
Now what?
Coursework
But are they
ready?
Remediation
!
Grade
9
Grade
10
Preparatory
Courses
Grade
11
Grade
12
Upper
level
high
school
courses
Freshman
Sophomore
College
Coursework
What is the
value
Program of
added and
how isStudy
it
recogL
Technical
Skill Assessment
nized?
The expectation under Perkins IV is that
we develop an assessment system
that will provide teachers,
administrators and policymakers with
accurate and useful information about
student technical skill achievement.
The Act requires states to use assessments that
are valid and reliable and aligned to industryrecognized standards where available and
appropriate.
Validity generally refers to the degree to which a
test or other measuring device is truly
measuring what it intends to measure.
Reliability refers to the consistency of results for a
test or measuring device.
Alignment to industry-recognized standards is
often addressed by using examinations tied to
industry or trade certifications, but may also be
addressed through alignment with state or
national industry or trade standards (such as
those of the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer
Standards & Training).
In five areas, core skills have been
identified and an assessment
blueprint prepared. An inventory of
potential technical skill assessments
has been assembled.
Accounting
Health Therapeutics
Information Technology - Networking
Law Enforcement
Plant Systems
Eight additional areas have been
selected for the identification of core
skills and technical skill assessments
in 2010-2011:
Animal Systems
Child Development
Engineering
Health Diagnostics
Marketing
Transportation
Visual Arts
Work Readiness
It is critical that our work in Programs of
Study and our efforts to measure
progress using technical skill
assessments is validated by our
industry partners at both the state and
local levels.
Under Minnesota’s
consortium structure,
the state is
encouraging the
establishment of joint
secondary/
postsecondary
advisory committees
serving a program of
study for the region.
Secondary/postsecondary advisory
committees should be consulted
about our work with POS and TSA.
For the purposes of
Perkins Accountability:
Beginning in 2010-2011, Minnesota will modify its
reporting of technical skill attainment for
Perkins accountability to use in the numerator
the count of CTE concentrators who passed
one of the appropriate assessments in five
programs of study (the five pilot POS), and in
the denominator the count of CTE
concentrators who took one of the appropriate
assessments in the five programs of study
listed above. This reporting will occur
separately at the secondary and
postsecondary levels.
These data will replace any process used by
the state for reporting through 20092010. As assessments are selected for
additional programs of study, those
assessments will be included in
accountability reporting beginning with
each effective year.
Resources: www.cte.mnscu.edu
• Career fields, clusters, pathways wheel
• Perkins consortia map
• Background Report MN Technical Skill
Assessment Project
• Career Pathway Core Competencies
• Technical Skill Assessment Matrix
Contact Information:
• Ginny Karbowski ginny.karbowski@so.mnscu.edu
• JoAnn Simser joann.simser@so.mnscu.edu
• Dan Smith dan.smith@state.mn.us
Questions?