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CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION CTE Cooperative Education Enhancement March 2011

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1 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION Cooperative education (a.k.a. coop or work study) is intended as a year-long, work-based learning experience for our most promising senior CTE students, designed to give them on- the-job advanced skills training in their chosen CTE pathway However, for the majority of students, the cooperative education experience is more similar to a generic work release program rather than building on CTE-related skills in a well- structured work placement. Making some minor modifications to the cooperative education program specifically, providing a clear set of enforced guidelines will help provide a better student experience. These guidelines include: Principal sign off & enforcement of modifications Minimum hours and job placement guidelines for students Clear teacher requirements Central office support in sourcing job opportunities Executive Summary

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2 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION 1.Why are we here? 2.Why are we making changes? 3.What are the proposed changes? 4.How will placement of students work? 5.What are the new tools being provided? 6.Next Steps 7.Questions? Agenda

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3 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION We heard from a variety of sources that cooperative education at CPS has had challenges that were worth investigating Through our research we found a few key issues both at central office and at the school/classroom level that could be solved by providing better tools, support and guidance The following pages shed light on what issues we found, identify key tools and support that we will provide through central office, and outline our expectations going forward Why are we here?

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4 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION Cooperative education (a.k.a. coop or work study) at CPS is intended as a year- long, work-based learning experience for our most promising senior CTE students, designed to give them on-the-job advanced skills training in their chosen CTE pathway. Over time, however, the program has changed: Type of Job: Opportunities are often more similar to a generic work release program rather than truly building on CTE-related skills in a well-structured work placement. Length of time in Job: Students are not finding cooperative education opportunities until well after the 20 th day (weve heard of placements as late as February) Programming: 38% of students are incorrectly programmed into coop, meaning that they didnt take training level course. Some have had no prior CTE experience at all before being placed in a coop. Coursework: Under central office direction, courses have been primarily basic soft skills training rather than technical skills training Why are we making changes?

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5 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION Opportunity to improve student selection: Many cooperative education programs enroll students who have not completed any prior CTE coursework (only ~62% of all students are programmed correctly) Top 10 Employers from 2010 CPS Schools: 95 students McDonalds: 23 Northern Trust: 23 After School Matters: 11 Ninas Fashion: 6 El Guero: 5 Jewel: 5 Pizza Hut: 5 Burger King: 4 Kindercare Learning Center: 4 Opportunity to improve student placement: By January 2011, an estimated 1/3 (or more) cooperative education students do not appear to have work placements. And based on a brief analysis of 2010 employer information, the majority of coop employers offer students jobs rather than true cooperative education work experiences. 2011 Student Enrollment School Total Coop Students % Correctly Programmed CVCA333% CRANE HS 1753% CURIE HS97100% CORLISS HS24100% DUNBAR HS1486% ENTREPRENEURSHP HS26100% HARPER HS3474% HUBBARD HS 1060% HYDE PARK HS7099% JULIAN HS4680% KELLY HS 11218% KELVYN PARK HS 205% KENNEDY HS 268% PROSSER HS 20% SCHOOL OF TECH HS 6134% Total56262% Why are we making changes? The Data

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6 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION Why are we making changes? Examples Strong Coop PlacementsAfter School Jobs (Not Coop) Accounting student works alongside accounts receivable team performing entry level accounting tasks. Students receive supplemental employability skills training sessions from company including business etiquette, effective communication skills, and working with others. Information Technology student serves as a valued member of the RUSH Medical Center IT team providing technical support and computer troubleshooting for the RUSH staff Information Technology student works at the register of McDonalds using the electronic order screen Entrepreneurship student works at After School Matters as a lifeguard trainee, learning aquatic rescues, CPR, and other life-saving skills

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7 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION By making minor modifications, we believe that cooperative education can serve its intended purpose: To enable students to see firsthand the connection between classroom education and the work environment, to gain advanced technical skills in their chosen pathway, and to refine their work readiness skills What are the proposed changes? IssuesPlanned Solutions Central office support to help find opportunities & provide professional development to teachers Revised timeline for student placement and summer support for approving placements More rigorous student qualifications, placement requirements and teacher requirements (see next slide) Standardized/updated program evaluation tools linked to new employability assessment Curriculum for related course moved towards technical skills training with a goal of 100% transition by AY13 Cooperative education work placements often unrelated to their CTE field and were hard to find for all students in a reasonable amount of time Students placed in cooperative education work environments did not have technical/ employability skills necessary for job Evaluation tools provided by central office/ISBE were outdated and did not connect to other tools used for CTE work based learning Associated in-class curriculum varied considerably

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8 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ISBE/CPS Cooperative Education Guidelines will require that Cooperative Education Teachers: Create an individualized coop plan for each student directly linked to advanced skills in their chosen CTE pathway and agreed on by employer, student, and teacher. See CPS coop handbook for template. Make regularly scheduled visits to the work sites to include evenings but not weekends. Visits must happen at minimum 1/quarter per student and some form of official contact (be it in person, phone, or email) made with the employer at least 1/month.* Complete online tracking tool every 5 weeks in accordance with grading periods (to report on student placement information) Ensure placement of student in cooperative education work experience by the 20 th day.* (Teacher is ultimately responsible for ensuring job placement, however beginning in AY12, jobs to be identified with assistance from the CTE partnership development team.) Have completed 6 semester hours of cooperative education administration course work before the start of school Meet basic ISBE CTE requirements for one CTE subject area including 2,000 hours of paid non-education based work experience ISBE/CPS Cooperative Education Guidelines will require that Cooperative Education Students: Be a high school senior and at minimum 16 years old Be placed in a role directly related to their CTE pathway (paid or unpaid) Have completed at minimum the training course (2 nd year course) in CTE* Have an individualized coop plan directly linked to advanced skills in their chosen CTE pathway and agreed on by employer, student, and teacher. See CPS coop handbook for template. Have met the CTE employability skills assessment requirement of Yes in all Fundamental Skills and a 2 in all Character Skills. Students that do not meet this qualification can choose in-school work for the first semester if necessary.* Work a minimum of 180 hours/semester which equates to approximately 10 hours/week* Must have a job identified by 20 th day or be reprogrammed* ISBE/CPS Cooperative Education Guidelines will require that Schools: Provide 1 period of related in-class coursework to student Ensure teacher is programmed for work experience and related course Provide.2 to teachers Ensure compliance with above teacher/student requirements* * Updated guidelines for AY11 What are the proposed changes? - Details

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9 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION Teachers, School Administrators, and Central Office Staff will work together to ensure that all students find meaningful training opportunities throughout their cooperative education experience How will placement of students work? March 10 th CTE (Central Office) provides list of eligible students to each school March 30 th CTE Partnership Development team (PDT) provides PD to teachers on how to source opportunities, how to work with partners, types of placements, etc Late April Mid-April to End of School CTE PDT works to find student cooperative education opportunities Teachers Ensure students follow up on opportunities Train students on how to work with Central Office over summer CTE PDT Continues to find student opportunities CTE Coop Coordinator to serve as approver of opportunities over the summer months Summer Break CTE PDT continues to provide opportunities Teacher responsible for completing individualized coop plan & staffing students by 20 th Day Beginning of School 20 th Day Early April Schools email CTE if they are interested in having cooperative education (contact Sandra Castillo) sacastillo@cps.k12.il.us sacastillo@cps.k12.il.us Schools let CTE know which students are being programmed into coop CTE updates teachers on student status and conducts refresher PD CTE Summer Institute Central Office Resources 2 professional development sessions Contact person for cooperative approval over the summer Help in finding 1/3 Coop Opportunities Standardized Forms & Guidelines CTE (Central Office) hosts a brief info session for cooperative education teachers

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10 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION What are the new tools being provided? Updated HandbookRevised Evaluation Tools

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11 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION Next Steps: Provide Sandra Castillo with a list of students (IDs & cluster) by April 15 th so that we can begin sourcing opportunities Provide CTE with feedback on evaluation tools by May 1 st

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12 CTE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION Questions?