NASDCTEc/NCTEF Elert
 September 24, 2008
 
 Beltway News
   

Capitol
Capitol Hill Update
 
Congress was originally scheduled
to adjourn for the year on September 26, but lack of consensus on how to proceed on appropriations bills and the recent events surrounding the financial industry have thrown those plans up in the air. The adjournment date will depend on how quickly Congress can come to agreement on the financial services bailout bill.
 
Although the new Federal fiscal year begins on October 1, to date, not a single appropriations measure has been passed by Congress or signed by the President. On Wednesday, September 24, the House of Representatives was scheduled to bring to the floor a continuing resolution (CR) which will temporarily fund the government at current levels until March 6, 2009. This bill will then be considered by the Senate. The CR is being voted on first as a stand-alone measure so that Congress can focus its efforts on the financial system bailout during the rest of this week. Earlier this week it was thought that the CR and bailout proposals might be considered together, but this has proved to not be the case.
 
CTE Caucus
 
Once the new Congress is seated in January, we will continue our work with ACTE to encourage more members to join the Congressional CTE causus. A listing of the most current membership
is available on the ACTE website.
 
  
 Photo source: Wikimedia Commons
New State Directors Office Building Silver Spring 
 
 Our address:
8484 Georgia Avenue
Suite 320
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
:: Phone 301-588-9630
Fax 301-588-9631

Contact Us:

Dave Buonora 

   Kimberly Green  

  Sonia Liu 

 Ramona Schescke  

  Shelli Wyckoff
Upcoming Conferences
 
NAWDP Youth Development Symposium
When: November 17-20, 2008
Where: Chicago, Illinois
The symposium is sponsored by the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals, with the focus on preparing youth for the 21st century workplace.
Register or call 202-589-1790.
 
National Career Academy Coalition
When:  Nov 8-10
Where: Jacksonville FL
Theme: "Passport to Career Academies" Register
Fall Conference News
The Fall Conference was held September 7th-11th at the Mystic Marriott Hotel. Go to our website for a full summary of the meeting. 
We want to thank June Sanford and her staff for superb planning and execution of the fall meeting. Job well done!  
 
Member News  
CTE pioneer Dr. Kenneth B. Hoyt, 84, died Aug. 27, 2008, in Urbandale, Iowa.
Born July 13, 1924, Dr. Hoyt was recognized as a worldwide leader in the field of career education.
Dr. Hoyt dedicated his career to the belief that our educational system should prepare our youth not only for a postsecondary education, but for a productive and challenging career. He was a true leader in our community and will be greatly missed.
 
Save the Date
2009 Spring Meeting
April 6-10, 2009
Lodging at the Hilton Washington, with meetings to be held at the adjacent AED Conference Center
 
2009 Career Cluster Institute
June 15-17, 2009
Omni Hotel, currently under construction
Ft. Worth, TX
Publications
A New Model of Student Assessment for the 21st Century, a new report by the American Youth Policy Forum, explores traditional school structure and asserts that this structure has helped to produce failure and has become a powerful barrier to academic achievement. and offers suggestions on improvement in the following areas:
  • Redesign high school assessment
  •  Support innovation and experimentation
  • Fund small-scale implementation
  • Invest in research and dissemination
Facts, Figures and...
                                       Other Good Stuff

Using Early-Warning Data to Improve Graduation Rates: Closing Cracks in the Education System This brief explores the power of early-warning data in predicting whether a student will drop out, offers examples of current efforts to use such data to guide secondary school interventions across the country, and discusses the policies that can support these efforts.    
 
STEM Transitions initiative, designed to develop classroom-ready integrated materials for use in math, science, and technical courses in STEM-related clusters, are intended to aid community college students in mastery of essential math and science concepts while motivating them to pursue STEM related careers.  There are 63 projects in final draft form that can be viewed at the project website. The STEM Transitions initiative is led by CORD with funding by OVAE in agreement with the League for Innovation in the Community College.
 
New from NCES:
 
Projections of Education Statistics to 2017: on enrollment, graduates, teachers and expenditures in elementary and secondary schools, with enrollment and earned degrees conferred expenditures of degree-granting institutions. Among the findings:
 
  • Total elementary and secondary enrollment is projected to increase 10 percent between 2005 and 2017.
  • The number of public high school graduates will increase the greatest in Nevada (at 66%) and lowest in Nebraska (at -0.9%).
  • The number of Associate degrees awarded is expected to increase 8 % overall, with Bachelor's degrees increasing at 16 % overall.
 
Managing an Identity Crisis: Forum Guide to Implementing New Federal Race and Ethnicity Categories, provides information about the 1997 standards and suggests how to implement them at the state and school district level.  Background information, excerpted from the Guide:
Since 1997, federal agencies have been working to adopt the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. These standards replace those that have been in effect since 1977. The new 1997 standards separate race and ethnicity and include two categories for data on ethnicity. There are five categories for data on race, and respondents are now allowed to choose more than one race.
Career Clusters Career clusters logo
The Career Clusters Committee met at the recent State Directors' meeting in Mystic, Connecticut.  A sub-committee has been evaluating the Career Clusters entry on the Wikipedia Web site in regard to updating the site.  The Wikipedia sub-committee reported that, since the Career Clusters entry also covers Career Clusters activities in other countries and the site is open for anyone to change or edit, an overall re-writing of the article was not advisable.  They did, however, update the States' Career Clusters Initiative link on the Wikipedia article, and are determining what further changes and/or additions should be made.
 
Associate Member Liaison: A position for a non-voting liaison to the NCTEF Board of Directors was announced at the Career Clusters Committee meeting.  The liaison would attend NCTEF Board meetings and represent the NASDCTEc associate members before the Board as well as report to the NASDCTEc associate members on Board decisions, etc.  The liaison should be familiar with Career Clusters and not part of a vendor organization.  The same conflict of interest, ethics, and confidentiality policies that apply to Board members will apply to the liaison position.  If you are interested in putting yourself or another associate member forward as a nominee or would like a copy of the Liaison Policy, please contact Shelli Wyckoff.