Volume 7                                  October 28, 2008                              Number 4

Special Topics | CTE In the NEWS | CTSO Related | Updates: Credentialing, CTA, VE-135

     ***Click here for the latest information on reporting for VE-135!***

Special Topics

Announcement: Brian Jenkins Resignation

Brian is leaving CCCS to accept the position of Director of Auxiliary Services for Front Range Community College.  While we are disappointed to lose Brian, we celebrate his promotion and look forward to his continued contributions within the community college system.

During his tenure as CTA and Credentialing Manager, Brian has made significant contributions, including the development and launching of the new credentialing criteria, the transition of postsecondary credentialing to the colleges and secondary credentialing to CDE. Under his leadership, CCCS was able to modernize the Colorado Vocational Act last winter. Brian's last day at CCCS will be November 7.

Regional Workshop Schedule

The Colorado Community College System (CCCS) will be hosting four full-day Regional CTE Workshops this year.  The purpose of these workshops is to provide an opportunity for all CTE educators and counselors to meet with state Career and Technical Education staff.  CCCS staff will cover a range of topics and will provide the latest information affecting Career and Technical programs in Colorado.

These are excellent workshops for both new and experienced CTE instructors, administrators and counselors.

If you’d like to find out more about the workshops listed below, please review the flyer and agenda posted on http://www.Coloradostateplan.com.  If you’re interested in registering right now, please go to http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?417896.  Registration is free of charge, but space is limited so register early!

Workshop Schedule:  (8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.)

One graduate continuing education credit through CSU will be available for $53.00 plus the submission of an assignment.  Continental breakfast and lunch will be served. Questions can be referred to any Program Director (see http://www.coloradostateplan.com/CTEcontacts.htm) or Pat Sagrillo at 303-595-1568 or pat.sagrillo@cccs.edu.

Leadership in Technical Education (LITE) participation materials

The LITE program is designed to help educate and prepare new or prospective CTE administrators for the challenges of providing quality CTE in the 21st Century. You do not have to be an administrator to participate, but we are looking for those in our schools who will have an affect on CTE, such as CTE teachers and/or counselors.  Please look over these materials and nominate someone you believe would benefit from participating in the program. All nominations must be received by November 7 to be considered. We want to contact all participants by November 14.  This year 20 participants will be selected for this program. For more information contact Dan Lucero at coloradoacte@juno.com.

SAVE the Date!

Join us for the CACTA Task Force meeting, hosted by CCCS. Julie Eddy will be speaking on the pending changes to VE-135 Reporting. Thursday, November 20, 2008, Noon – 3 PM; Chapel Building #697, 1061 Akron Way, on the Lowry Campus. RSVP to Elizabeth Garcia, garciae@thompson.k12.co.us.

CTEA Annual Conference

The CTEA Conference Planning Committee and executive board has been busy with the details for our upcoming annual conference. The Conference will be held at Warren Tech Center on Thursday, November 6 and Friday, November 7. This year our theme is Back to Basics: The Nuts and Bolts of Technology. We already have exciting vendors and presentations lined up for the conference. OSHA will be present to provide an interactive presentation, various classroom teachers will share their best practices that they have used and this year Warren Tech instructors and technicians are inviting the conference attendees into their classrooms to see Learning in Action. Look forward to a preliminary program soon and update information on our website - http://www.cteaonline.org.

Location:  Warren Tech, 13300 West 2nd Place, Lakewood, CO 80228.
Hotel Arrangements: Candlewood Suites Denver|Lakewood,
Sherri Houston - Director of Sales, P: 303.232.7171 x.402|C: 303.870.5719

CTE in the News

Red Rocks Community College receives in-kind Energy Grant

The Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) recently announced $181,995 in grants will go to four entities, one of which is Red Rocks Community College, to promote new solar technologies and programs. All grants are contingent on an equal match from the recipient.

“These innovators are building Colorado’s New Energy Economy by developing projects that will harness more of our state’s abundant solar resources,” said Tom Plant, director of the energy office.

Red Rocks Community College — The GEO awarded $50,000 to RRCC to develop a training program that will prepare students and professionals to take tests for state and national solar photovoltaic and solar thermal certifications.  RRCC offers both an AAS Degree and a certificate program in Solar Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal specialties.

Project Lead the Way highlighted at Berthoud High School on Fox News

The fourth thumbnail (in the "sidebar" row of 5) at the Fox News site listed below is the Project Lead the Way video featuring the Auto Desk Inventor and 3D printer. http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=7666515

STEM Education Imperative to Business and to Colorado

To read the article in the Longmont Times Call dated October 25: http://www.timescall.com/news_story.asp?ID=11636

CTSO Related

Northeastern FCCLA District Conference Stresses Service

Sterling Journal Advocate October 23: High school students gathered at Northeastern Junior College last week for their Fall District Conference.
http://www.journal-advocate.com/news/2008/oct/23/fccla-stresses-service/

First Annual Technology & Engineering Career Day

The Denver Nuggets, in conjunction with the Technology Student Association (TSA) and SkillsUSA, would like to invite all students in technology education classes to attend the inaugural TSA/SkillsUSA Technology & Engineering Career Day at the Pepsi Center on Thursday, December 4, 2008, from 3- 6 PM. The event will include a hands-on “Techspo” as well as a special “Professionals Behind the Scenes” seminar designed to highlight many of the off the-court careers in pro sports, including many in technology-based fields. Following Career Day, everyone is invited to watch the Denver Nuggets take on the San Antonio Spurs. Cost for the Career Day and Nuggets game admission is $17. To order tickets or for more information: contact Kenny Keblaitis, 303-405-7635

UPDATES: Credentialing, CTA, and VE-135

CTA (formally known as CVA)

The new CTA (Career and Technical Act) is in effect for FY 2009. 

In November 2007, CCCS put together a team to review the Rules and Regulations and to make recommendations for changes. This team consisted of Secondary CTE Administrators (both urban and rural), CACTA Board members and CCCS staff from Accounting, Internal Audit and CTE Compliance. With the recommendations from this team, CCCS started the process to have the Rules and Regulations changes coincide with the effective date of CTA. This process included receiving approval of the changes from the Secretary of State and the Attorney General. The new Rules and Regulations became effective August 6, 2008.

The next step for implementation of the CTA was to make changes to the Administrators’ Handbook. Over the summer, the team that made recommendations to the Rules and Regulations did the same for the Administrators Handbook. The final version of the CTA portion of the Administrators’ Handbook has been completed and is effective for FY 2009 financial reporting for CTA.

If you have any questions about the process of the Rule and Regulations or the Administrators’ Handbook for CTA, please contact Brian Jenkins, 303-595-1572.

New Credentialing Class

The new EDCT 400 credentialing class - Building Student Organizations/Partnerships will be held at Prairie View High School in the Brighton School District on November 7,8,21 and 22. Fridays will be from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This course replaces VE 402 and VE 403. However, if your new teachers have taken one of these and need the other, they are still offered this fall online. Please register with CSU Continuing Ed through their website http://www.soe.cahs.colostate.edu/CE

Karen Ellis and Mary Stecklein will be teaching this first face-to-face class. If you have questions, you may contact Mary at 720-373-0108 or reply to msteckle@comcast.net.

***2008-2009 VE-135/VE-130 Reporting Announcements***

There are significant reporting changes for the 2008-2009 year that will affect how you are required to collect and submit the VE-135 enrollment and follow-up.  
You are strongly encouraged to review the VE-135 and VE-130 collection and submission procedures for 2008-2009 in the PDF document listed under “Section VI - Data Reporting” of the CCCS Administrators’ Handbook on the state plan website at http://www.coloradostateplan.com/admin_handbook.htm.  We also recommend that you watch the CTE Trends e-newsletter for VE-135 announcements throughout the reporting year.

CCCS is required by law to collect the VE-135 follow-up and enrollment data each year in order to comply with the accountability requirements set forth by both the state-funded Career Technical Act (CTA) and the federally-funded Carl D. Perkins
Act.  You must report the VE-135 data even if you do NOT receive state or federal funding for your approved CTE programs because the data is used in the program renewal process.

The VE-135 submission deadlines have changed for the 2008-2009 academic year and are as follows:

• Follow-up deadline- March 15, 2009
• Enrollment deadline-July 30, 2009

The VE-135 data will NOT be accepted after the deadline has passed unless your institution has been granted an official extension for extenuating circumstances from CCCS for either the enrollment or the follow-up.

Important changes to the follow-up for this year include:

• Follow-up surveys should not begin until December 15, 2008.
• Placement questions now are specific to student outcomes between the time period of October 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008 only.
• Follow-up questions have changed for this year.  Questions for secondary and postsecondary are now the same. Placement criteria have been redefined and there are now new questions pertaining to apprenticeships and technical skills assessments.

Important changes to the enrollment for this year include:

• There are both new and redefined secondary and postsecondary fields in the enrollment for 2008-2009 that are critical to defining CTE student populations.
• Definitions regarding enrollment and completion have changed.  You will also be reporting concentration status for all students.

The VE-130 active teacher data is still required from all institutions with active CTE programs.  CCCS program directors’ strongly encourage all institutions to report this data completely so that important CTE correspondence reaches all instructors.

The VE-135/VE-130 data collection site at https://ve135.cccs.edu/voced/ will be undergoing extensive redesign this year in order to meet the changing reporting requirements for 08-09.  We anticipate opening the new website in early October 2008 for data entry, though there could be delays due to rollover processing of the previous year full data set.  Sections of the website will go live as they are developed. One exciting change that you can expect is an improved process for constructing and submitting enrollment and follow-up data files.

Contact Julie Eddy, CTE Accountability Director by email at julie.eddy@cccs.edu or by phone at 303-595-1527 with any CTE data reporting questions or comments.

Thank you for your continued cooperation as we work toward documenting our successes in career and technical education in Colorado.

Valuable CTE Websites

This is issue #704 of CTE Trends. The next issue will be released November 11, 2008.

Scheduled publication dates: Nov. 25; Dec. 9; Jan. 13, 27; Feb. 10, 24; Mar. 10, 24; Apr. 7, 21; May 5, 19

Distributed to more than a 1,000 CTE educators and administrators throughout Colorado, CTE Trends is made possible through The Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 federal funding as administered by the Colorado Community College System.

Editor:          Victoria Ekelund