Volume 7                                  January 13, 2009                              Number 8

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

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.

Free Facilitating Available

Are you starting to think about what to do with next year’s Perkins funds? Not sure where to start the planning? Looking for a fair way to address everyone’s needs? Want to get the planning done early? Need help?

Our online Administrators’ Handbook may be a place to start! Go to http://www.coloradostateplan.com/admin_handbook.htm and click open the PDF for Section V, Part C, Perkins. Click on the binoculars icon and where it asks what word or phrase would you like to search for, type “strategic planning.” Then click the SEARCH button.

The first page that has that phrase on it will appear on the right side of your screen. Also, in the Search area, below the Results, there will be options to select other pages that include that phrase. Hold your mouse over each of those options until you see the one that says “Page 16,” then click on that choice. The next six pages that appear on the right side of your screen provide a guide, resources, and formats that can be used for strategically planning the use of your Perkins funds.

If you would like Lorrie Toni, Perkins Director, to come to your site to help facilitate this process, please feel free to contact her to schedule a date. Lorrie will try to keep most Fridays open for this purpose but other days may also be available. Lorrie can be reached at 303-595-1565 or lorrie.toni@cccs.edu.

CACTE Awards

It's time to begin thinking about nominating for CACTE awards. We are encouraging you to submit nominations early as they are due on April 1, 2009. The nomination categories are:

• Career & Technical Education Teacher of the Year
• Outstanding Career & Technical Education Educator
• Outstanding New Career & Technical Education Teacher
• Outstanding Service by a Member
• Merit Award to a Friend
• Merit Award to an Educator
• Merit Award to a Communications/Media Representative
• Merit Award to an Advisory Committee or Member of an Advisory Committee
• Hall of Fame

For more information, go to www.cacte.org and click on "Awards" on the left-hand side of the screen.

Get aHead for Business High School Entrepreneurship Inservice

The Young Americans Center for Financial Education is hosting two mid-winter in-services for the FREE Get aHead for Business (GaFB) high school entrepreneurship program that is sponsored by Oppenheimer Funds. Starting a Business 101 and Running a Business 201 will be featured. Existing GaFB teachers will receive the new economics supplement book, new assessments per unit, the crosswalk with business and marketing standards and information on how students can gain 3 community college credits in Entrepreneurial Operations. GaFB is also being implemented in Catering and ProStart programs.

If you are not a GaFB teacher, you may join us to learn more about it. You will need to RSVP to Mary Stecklein at msteckle@comcast.net. If you have questions, you may call her at 720-373-0108. In-service dates are March 6th in Grand Junction (place TBD) and April 10th in the President's Conference Room at Johnson & Wales.

CTE in the News

ACC Launches 1 of only 3 Emergency Dispatch Programs Nationwide

A new Emergency Dispatch Certificate program at Arapahoe Community College will be one of only three programs in the nation and the only such program in Colorado when it begins on January 20th. Designed to be completed in only one semester, the program will prepare students to pass a national certification examination.

The courses in the program will be taught online, although students will be required to complete laboratory time on state-of-the-art dispatch simulators. Students can take the online classes at their convenience with the labs scheduled in the evening. The program consists of just five courses, enabling students to be job-ready in less than six months.

About 13,000 new dispatchers are estimated to be needed in the next eight years. Emergency dispatchers work in a variety of settings, ranging from police and fire stations to hospitals or centralized communications centers. Dispatchers must have excellent people skills and be able to handle stressful situations.

CTSO Related

Friends of DECA

Here are some pictures from this year's Adopt-a-Family at Thomas Jefferson High School. These kids were amazing and totally got behind this project. TJHS DECA raised just over $1,700 in donations and gift cards. Five families received gifts and another twelve families had food baskets delivered making for good holiday spirit all around.

Judges Needed for 2009 FCCLA State Leadership Conference and Food Events Competition

Want a positive shot in the arm? Be our hero and be a competitive event judge on April 3, 2009. FCCLA State Conference competitive events will be held at the Denver Tech Marriott and the Food Events Competition is hosted at Johnson & Wales, both on Friday, April 3, 2009. Students from chapters across Colorado will compete in 30 different events, ranging from Job Interview and Career Investigation to Culinary Arts and Interior Design. To take a look at the list of events and to sign up, go to the Colorado Family, Career and Community Leaders of America website: http://www.fccla.cccs.edu/08-09_documents/Jan30judges_form_only.doc

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.

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