Volume 7                                  December 9, 2008                              Number 7

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

CCCS CTE Online Library Announces New Acquisitions

The following three articles are quite relevant to the current challenges and trends facing Colorado Career and Technical Education and can be accessed in the CCCS online CTE Library at http://www.coloradostateplan.com/Library.htm

1. Toward A More Comprehensive Conception of College Readiness, Prepared for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, March, 2007.
2. Are They Really Ready To Work? Employers’ Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U.S. Workforce, The Conference Board.
3. Multiple Pathways: 21st Century High Schools that Prepare All Students for College, Career and Civic Participation, Marisa Saunders & Christopher A. Chrisman, December, 2008.

Announcement regarding CACTA Mid-Winter Conference

Registration and credit card payment for the CACTA Mid-Winter Conference are now available online at https://ssl.boulder.net/arapahoe/cacta-online-registration.html.

A tentative agenda is posted on the CACTA website. This year's conference features two fantastic keynote speakers who will make you think and challenge you to lead, as well as break-out sessions based on need-to-know information

CTE Related Positions Accepting Applications at CCCS

The following positions are currently open and accepting applications: Coordinator of Educational Support Services and CTA & Credentialing Manager. To see a complete listing of jobs available through CCCS: http://www.cccs.edu/HR/ccjobs.html.

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.

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.

CTE in the News

No CTE News this Edition

CTSO Related

Ev Vaughn Elected to DECA Executive Committee

Everett Vaughan, Assistant Program Director for Business and Marketing Education has been elected to the Chairman-Elect position of the Executive Committee for Western Region DECA. He will be responsible for the operational affairs of Western Region DECA. Congratulations Ev, we look forward to the next three years as you lead the Western Region of DECA!

Durango HS FFA's Click Project

Members of the Durango High School FFA chapter have discovered their seat-belt safety project really clicks at Miller Middle School, where FFA members told students that buckling up saves lives. Go to the Durango Herald for the complete story with accompanying photos.

Colorado FBLA-PBL Night at the Nuggets

Join in on Colorado FBLA-PBL Night with the Denver Nuggets, Saturday, January 3, 7:00 pm. Tickets are $25 for the upper level and $75 for the lower level. Ticket price includes a $5 food voucher, $2 donation to March of Dimes and the pre-game Sports Speaker Event at 4 p.m. Tickets can be ordered through the attached form or online: https://www.pepsicenter.com/groups/default.aspx?tn=nuggets&ln=fbla.

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.

***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/login.aspx will be undergoing extensive redesign this year in order to meet the changing reporting requirements for 08-09.  Sections of the website will be launched in phases as they are developed.  Phase I has been launched and when you go to the website you will be able to update your VE-130 Active Teachers and retrieve your VE-135 Follow-up completer lists.  Please note that system colleges, egos, pickens, aims, cmc, and mesa do not yet have postsecondary completers listed. We will be posting those very soon.

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 #707 of CTE Trends. The next issue will be released January 13, 2009.

Scheduled publication dates: 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