From "The Management Blog", post by Harold L. Sirkin April 22, 2014

"The truth is, as I noted a year ago, “college isn’t for everyone—but work is, or should be.” And preparing the next generation for success in the workplace (on which count many of our public schools receive failing grades) should be just as important as, or even more important than, preparing students for college (on which count many of our public schools also receive failing grades)."

Read entire post: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-22/well-all-be-better-off-if-we-can-just-agree-that-college-isnt-for-everyone#r=nav-r-blog

STEM programs are everywhere, but their impacts have been difficult to assess, writes guest columnist Glenn Hampson, published in the Seattle Times, April 21, 2014.

"By the broadest definitions, a bewildering 20 percent of U.S. jobs (from plumbers to nuclear engineers) are classified as requiring a high level of knowledge in at least one STEM field. By the narrowest measure, this figure is around 5 percent." 

Read the entire article: 
http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2023428854_glennhampsonopedstem22xml.html 

A new publication from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) reviews the challenges that states and schools face in developing stackable credentials and strategies that can overcome these challenges. 
Read more at http://www.acteonline.org/ctepolicywatch.post.aspx?id=6082&blogid=2289#.U1AX5lVdV8E.

How would you like to receive a paycheck while being trained in a high-skill occupation that has a starting salary around $50,000? If that sounds appealing, you might want to consider participating in a Registered Apprenticeship program. Read more from the US Department of Labor Apprenticeship Bloghttp://social.dol.gov/blog/apprenticeship-101-earn-while-you-learn/ 

Story from KCAW about the Design and Fabrication program started at Sitka High School in 2012, which is now being replicated by other secondary and postsecondary programs in the state. The original Sitka program and the current Bristol Bay Campus program are partially supported by funding from state CTE Plan grants.

From the NASDCTEc Blog series. 

Breaking our Baccalaureate Addiction 
Written by Kate Blosveren, Associate Executive Director

Posted: 08 Apr 2014 12:18 PM PDT (excerpted below - read entire post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NASDCTEc_Blog/~3/upEDnPzou0Y/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email)

It’s not that kids aren’t “college material,” but that the bachelor’s degree is increasingly immaterial

As long as CTE is framed as the non-college option, rather than a pathway to a broader set of college options, we are perpetuating CTE as an inferior, rather than an equally viable (and more reliable), choice.

.   .   .

Finally, we need to flip the system so “career” comes before “college.” Students’ career aspirations should dictate their postsecondary pathways rather than the other way around. It’s not easy, it’s not clean – in fact, it’s a paradigm shift – but it’s what it’s going to take to get our economy back on track and all students their shot at the American dream.

Kate Blosveren, Associate Executive Director

Alaska ACTE will host its annual CTE Professional Development Conference October 20-22, 2014, at the Anchorage Downtown Marriott Hotel. For more details, consult the Alaska ACTE conference website.