Career Opportunities: Career Technical Education and the College Completion Agenda. Part IV: Aligning Policy with Mission for Better Outcomes
Author: Shulock, Nancy
Date: 2013-03-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Higher Education,Educational Attainment,Community Colleges,College Role,Labor Force Development,Certification,Educational Finance,Alignment (Education),Credentials,Labor Market,High School Graduates,College Graduates,State Agencies,Accountability,Associate Degrees,Bachelors Degrees,Employers,Planning,Curriculum Development,State Standards,Language Skills,Mathematics Skills,Dual Enrollment,Experiential Learning,Financial Support,Costs,State Policy,Educational Policy,Barriers,Career Education,Technical Education,Vocational Education,Program Development,Institutional Mission,Elementary Secondary Education,School Policy,Equal Education,Policy Formation,Outcomes of Education,Competence,Resource Allocation

The California Community Colleges are vital to closing the projected shortfall of Californians with a postsecondary credential and sustaining the state's economic competitiveness. Increasing the number of students who pursue and earn certificates and associate degrees in career technical education (CTE) fields is an important component of the postsecondary completion challenge, but one that has been under-emphasized in a system with a strong and historic commitment to its transfer mission. In today's economy, well-designed CTE programs offer economic security to students and the foundation for further educational and economic gain. Institute for Higher Education Leadership &amp; Policy's (IHELP) examination of the current CTE mission within the California Community Colleges has resulted in a series of reports, the culmination of which is this systematic study of the degree to which system and state policies, as codified in statute and regulation, are supportive of the mission. With extensive input from faculty and staff in the field, learned were the challenges facing colleges to design and deliver quality CTE programs that help students earn credentials of value in the workplace. Studied were statutes and regulations to identify instances where policies are not ideally aligned with the goals of CTE. The policies governing the community colleges were designed with the historically important transfer mission foremost in mind. Policies matter, as they set forth the expectations and create the incentives and rules that influence students' experiences and outcomes. As the role of the colleges to promote workforce development has become increasingly vital to the state's economy, it is important to adapt the infrastructure of policies to serve students most effectively, whether or not they are intending to transfer prior to starting a career. The framework depicted in the report imposes conceptual order on a highly complex set of issues. As with all four reports in this &quot;Career Opportunities&quot; series, defined was an effective CTE mission in terms of seven criteria that were derived from a review of the literature on the community college career education mission. Drawing on the findings from all parts of this project, organized are potential barriers to more effective CTE under three recurring themes. Identified were those sections of the Education Code and Title 5 of the Code of Regulations that seemed applicable to the potential barriers. The analysis produced a set of options for revising policies and adopting new policies that would help to remove barriers to satisfying the criteria for an effective CTE mission. It is hoped that the suggestions will serve as a resource to the community college system as it continues to work to improve student success. An appendix contains specific code sections and brief descriptions of the statutes. [For related reports, see &quot;Career Opportunities: Career Technical Education and the College Completion Agenda. Policy Brief&quot; (ED534075); &quot;Career Opportunities: Career Technical Education and the College Completion Agenda. Part I: Structure and Funding of Career Technical Education in the California Community Colleges&quot; (ED534073); &quot;Career Opportunities: Career Technical Education and the College Completion Agenda. Part II: Inventory and Analysis of CTE Programs in the California Community Colleges&quot; (ED534074); and &quot;Career Opportunities: Career Technical Education and the College Completion Agenda. Part III: Promising CTE Policies from across the States&quot; (ED574501).]