Section

Changes from Perkins III to Perkins IV

Bottom line impact

Definitions

Articulation agreement

Four new definitions are added – for “Articulation Agreement,” “Scientifically Based Research,” “Secondary Education Tech Prep Student,” and “Postsecondary Education Tech Prep Student.” 

Articulation agreement must be agreed to at the state level or approved annually by the lead administrators of a secondary institution and a postsecondary institution, or a sub baccalaureate degree granting postsecondary institution and a baccalaureate degree granting postsecondary institution.  The articulation agreement must link programs through credit transfer agreements, and lead to technical skill proficiency, a credential, certificate, or a degree. 

 “Vocational and Technical Education,” which is now “Career and Technical Education.”  (CTE)

Restriction lifted—law now allows preparation for careers requiring a baccalaureate, master’s or doctoral degree

Definition of an “eligible institution.” 

Current law allows for profit entities to also provide courses and receive funding under Perkins

Transition plan

Transition plans to be submitted Spring 2007

Transition plans will be accepted for the 2007-2008 school year.   

Plans

Must submit a six year plan—to include input from: charter school authorizers and organizers, employers, labor organizations, parents, students, and community organization. Also to be included are faculty, administrators, career guidance and academic counselors, charter school authorizers and organizers, institutions of higher education, the state Tech Prep coordinator and representatives of consortia (if applicable), entities participating in WIA, parent and community organizations, and representatives of small business to groups that must be consulted on state plan development, and specifies that both academic and CTE teachers must be involved.

Programs of study

Description required of programs of study

A description of the career and technical programs of study, which may be adopted by LEAs and postsecondary institutions to be offered as an option to students (and their parents as appropriate) when planning for and completing future coursework; to include  career and technical content areas that incorporate secondary education and postsecondary education elements; coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant career and technical content in a coordinated, nonduplicative progression of courses that align secondary education with postsecondary education to adequately prepare students to succeed in postsecondary education; may include the opportunity for secondary education students to participate in dual or concurrent enrollment programs or other ways to acquire postsecondary education credits; and lead to an industry-recognized credential or certificate at the postsecondary level, or an associate or baccalaureate degree. A description of how the eligible agency, in consultation with eligible recipients, will develop and implement the career and technical programs of study.

Note: Locals must require one course of study

Prohibitions

CTE is defined as providing a“technical skill proficiency, an industry-recognized credential, a certificate, or an associate degree”

Specifies that CTE may include prerequisite courses that meet the requirements of the definition, as long as they are not remedial in nature

Different indicators for secondary and post secondary

See below under “Accountability”

Allocations

Changes to only allow public and non-profit organizations to receive funding.Amount reserved for assistance to the outlying areas is decreased from 0.2 percent to 0.13 percent.  The amount reserved (0.54 percent) for federal incentive grants to states is eliminated, as is the incentive grant program

This increases the amount of funding going directly to states through the grant formula. 

New law will only change current formula if Basic State grant appropriations exceed FY 06 levels

 Increased funding for small states if funding increases. Small states will now receive their equitable portion (a minimum of 0.5 percent) of the total allocation.  Of any new money appropriated, small states would receive one-third of the new money until they reach the small state minimum.  These funds would go first to those states that are farthest away from 0.5 percent of the total allocation. The remaining two-thirds of new money would go out by the same formula as in current law

Within State Allocation

Maintains current law

85 percent of funds must be distributed to local programs, 10 percent can be used for state leadership activities, and 5 percent for state administration activities.  Supporting and developing state data systems to be used for CTE is added as an allowable use of administrative funds. 

Accountability

Eligible recipients must now agree to accept the state levels of performance or negotiate performance measures with the state the same way that states negotiate with the federal government, and report student progress in achieving these performance levels on an annual basis.  Special populations (as defined in the Act) must disaggregate this data and using No Child Left Behind (NCLB) subgroups, and any disparities between a subgroup and all other students must be identified and quantified (unless groups are too small).  The report must be made available in a variety of formats, including electronically.  State reports must contain disaggregated data as well.  Under the six-year authorization of the Act, states and locals would be required to negotiate adjusted levels of performance three times -- for the first and second years, third and fourth years, and fifth and sixth years. 

Negotiations

States required to negotiate every two years with locals re standards

Locals will either accept state levels or negotiate new ones.

Section 118

New provision requires that the application for Section 118 be submitted at the same time as the state’s application for Basic State Grant funds

• Need to provide information based on trends provided in the Wagner-Peyser Act to inform program development. 
• Increased focus on postsecondary information and high-wage, high-skill, or high demand occupations and non-traditional fields. 
• Provision of readily available occupational information in areas such as employment sectors and occupational supply and demand is also added to the list of state activities. 

Indicators

Separate core performance indicators for secondary and post secondary students

At the secondary level, academic attainment will now have to be measured by the academic assessments a state has approved under NCLB.  Graduation rates will also have to be reported as defined in NCLB, and technical proficiency should include student achievement on technical assessments that are aligned with industry-recognized standards when possible. 

At the postsecondary level, academic attainment will no longer have to be reported as a separate measure, but, like at the secondary level, technical skill proficiency should include student achievement on technical assessments that are aligned with industry-recognized standards when possible.  Also at the postsecondary level, student placement in high wage, high skill, or high demand occupations or professions should be measured. 

Measures of performance used for each indicator must be valid and reliable, and to the extent possible, aligned with other state and federal programs so that similar information can be gathered to reduce administrative burdens. 

Improvement

Plans

State Leadership Activities

Providing technical assistance to eligible recipients a permissible use.

Consequences for failing to meet performance standards

If a state or local program fails to meet at least 90 percent of an agreed upon target for any of the indicators of performance, it will have to develop and implement an improvement plan, with special consideration to performance gaps between population subgroups.  If no improvement is made, or the state or local program fails to meet at least 90 percent of a performance level for three years in a row, then the Secretary of Education or the state could withhold a portion of that state or local program’s funding. 

If funds are withheld from a state, the Secretary must use them to provide technical assistance, assist in the development of a new state improvement plan, or for other improvement activities in the state.  If a state withholds funds from a local program, it must use them to provide, through alternative arrangements, services and activities to students within the area served by the local program. 

Providing technical assistance for eligible recipients is now a required use. 

PART C

Requires states to ensure that professional development is provided at both the postsecondary and secondary levels,.  Additions to professional development requirements include that it must:

i)Provide in-service and preservice training to career and technical teachers in the integration and use of rigorous academics with technical subjects, provided jointly with academic teacher to the extent practical, and on effective use of scientifically based research and data to improve instruction;

ii)Be high quality, sustained, intensive, and classroom-focused in order to have a positive and lasting impact on classroom instruction and the teacher’s performance in the classroom, and not be one-day or short-term workshops or conferences;

iii)Help ensure teachers and personnel can effectively develop rigorous and challenging, integrated academic and CTE education curricula jointly with academic teachers;

iv)Develop a higher level of academic and industry knowledge and skills in CTE; and

v)Ensure teachers can effectively use applied learning that contributes to the academic and career and technical knowledge of the student.

Changes were made to the current state permissible uses of funds, such as expanding language related to career guidance and academic counseling programs; including adjunct faculty arrangements under education and business partnerships; and specifically mentioning support for career clusters, career academies, and distance education. 

New permissible uses of funds include:

i)Support for initiatives to facilitate the transition of sub

Baccalaureate CTE students into baccalaureate degree programs.

ii)Awarding incentive grants to eligible recipients for exemplary performance in carrying out programs, or for pooling with other recipients for innovative initiatives.

iii) Providing for activities to support entrepreneurship education and training.

iii) Developing valid and reliable assessments of technical skills.

iv) Developing and enhancing data systems to collect and analyze data on secondary and postsecondary academic and employment outcomes.

v) Improving the recruitment and retention of CTE teachers, faculty, administrators, and career guidance and academic counselors, including individuals in groups underrepresented in the teaching profession; and the transition to teaching from business and industry, including small business.

vi) Support for occupational and employment information resources, such as those described in section 118.

Distribution to Local Programs

At the postsecondary level, the state-to-local formula remains the same. 

Instead of basing the secondary formula on individuals ages 15-19, information that is not available, the new Act would codify the practice of basing the formula on individuals ages 5-17.  (law specifies must be from National Center for Education Statistics’ Common Core of Data.)   

Local Plan

Additional information that must be included in the local plan includes:

• How the eligible recipient will meet its own negotiated levels of performance.
• How the recipient will offer the appropriate courses of at least one program of study.
• How secondary recipients will encourage CTE students to enroll in rigorous and challenging core academic subjects.
• How professional development will promote the integration of academic and technical education.
• How activities will be provided to prepare special populations, including single parents and displaced homemakers, for high skill, high wage, or high demand occupations that will lead to self-sufficiency.
• How career guidance and academic counseling will be provided to CTE students, including linkages to future education and training opportunities.
• Efforts to improve the recruitment and retention of CTE teachers, faculty, and career guidance and academic counselors, including individuals in groups underrepresented in the teaching profession; and the transition to teaching from business and industry.

Tech Prep

Provides new flexibility on the use of funds—States must make a choice in their State Plans

If states use this flexibility, all combined funds must be distributed and used in accordance with Basic State Grant funds. 

If states do not use this flexibility, the provisions of Title II will apply to funds received from the Tech Prep grant.  Funds may still be distributed by the state to local consortia on a formula basis or competitively.  Additional language is added to authorize activities to strengthen career guidance and counseling provisions, including through the use of information available pursuant to Section 118, and encourage transition between secondary and postsecondary education.    

The definition of a Tech Prep program is incorporated in the program description section, and is very similar to current law. 

Tech Prep programs must lead to technical skill proficiency, an industry-recognized credential, a certificate, or a degree in a specific career field, must utilize CTE programs of study to the extent practical, and must coordinate with activities conducted with Basic State Grant funds. 

Accountability and Performance Indicators

A new section is added to the Act to strengthen accountability for the implementation of Tech Prep programs. 

Each consortium that receives a Tech Prep grant must establish and report on the following indicators of performance, and enter into agreement with the state to meet a minimum level of performance on each of these indicators (as well as the indicators under the Basic State Grant):

• The number of secondary and postsecondary Tech Prep students served.
• The number and percent of secondary Tech Prep students who:
• Enroll in postsecondary education;
• Enroll in postsecondary education in the same field;
• Complete a state or industry-recognized certification or licensure;
• Complete courses that earn postsecondary credit;
• Enroll in remedial math, writing, or reading courses upon entering postsecondary education.
• The number and percent of postsecondary Tech Prep students who:
• Are placed in a related field of employment within 12 months of graduation;
• Complete a state or industry-recognized certification or licensure;
• Complete a two-year degree or certificate program within the normal time;
• Complete a baccalaureate degree program within the normal time.

If a consortium does not meet the agreed upon levels of performance for 3 consecutive years, the state shall require the consortium to resubmit its grant application, and may choose to terminate the funding for the program or consortium (even if funds are awarded in the state by a formula). 

Definitions

New definitions of students included for accountability purposes

A “Secondary Education Tech Prep Student” is defined as a student who has enrolled in two courses in the secondary component of a Tech Prep program. 

A “Postsecondary Education Tech Prep Student” is defined as a student who has completed the secondary component of a Tech Prep program and has enrolled in the postsecondary component at an institution of higher education. 

General

Supplement not supplant language maintained as in current law

Private school required to be included for professional development if requested in writing. LEAs also required to consult with private non-profit schools to see if meaningful participation by their students is warranted upon written request.

Local school districts may use Perkins funds to provide for private school participation.