ACT's 2015 College and Career Readiness Workshops are open for registration.

September 29 in Anchorage
September 30 in Fairbanks

Each workshop is about 3 hours long and is provided at no charge for educators, principals, school counselors, district testing coordinators, and curriculum professionals.

Workshop Schedule

• Welcome/Kickoff
• Meet your graduating class
• ACT High School Profile Report
• Meet your incoming students and follow them through their high school journey
• ACT Aspire Reports
• ACT Engage Reports
• The ACT High School Report
• ACT WorkKeys Reports
• ACT KeyTrain and ACT National Career Readiness Certificate
• Wrap-up

Members of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) will earn 3 clock hours for participating in the workshop.*

For more details and to register, visit this page.

A recent survey conducted by the national non-profit "Youth Truth" shows less than half of high school students feel well prepared for college and career, even though nearly 90% of them said their goal is to have a college degree and a career.

Read the full article here.
View or download a one-page survey summary here.

ACT is now accepting applications for its 2015-2016 College & Career Readiness Campaign honorees.  Categories are: 1) High School Senior; 2) High School; 3) Community College; and 4) Employer. 

Alaska applications are due no later than November 13, 2015.
Forms and other details are available on the ACT website at http://www.act.org/readinesscampaign/applications.html. 

From the EED Info Exchange Newsletter, July 10, 2015:

Comment on Proposed Regulations Re: College and Career Readiness Assessments

The State Board of Education & Early Development is seeking comment on proposed regulations to allow persons with certificates of achievement to take a college and career readiness assessment and receive a high school diploma. The department also proposes to clarify the circumstances in which students may waive college and career readiness assessments.

The legislature has repealed the requirement that high school students take a college and career readiness assessment, but the new law does not go into effect until the 2016-2017 school year. There will be two graduating classes (Class of 2015 and Class of 2016) that could contain students who were denied a diploma only because they did not take a college and career readiness assessment. The proposed regulations give those students a path to a diploma.

To see a summary and the complete proposed regulations, and to learn how to submit written and oral comments, go to https://education..alaska.gov/regs/comment.cfm. Written comments must be received no later than 4:30 p.m. on August 7.

               Also, you may submit written questions relevant to the proposed action to Eric Fry at eric.fry@alaska.gov or Department of Education & Early Development, Attn: Eric Fry, 801 West Tenth Street, Suite 200, PO Box 110500, Juneau, Alaska 99811-0500. The questions must be received by 4:30 p.m. July 28, which is 10 days before the end of the public comment period. The department will aggregate its response to substantially similar questions and make the questions and responses available on https://education..alaska.gov/regs/comment.cfm.

Opportunity for Oral Comment on Proposed Accountability Regulations

The State Board of Education & Early Development will provide an additional opportunity for oral comment on proposed regulations related to school and educator accountability. The department proposes regulations to implement statewide student assessments, give school districts more time to implement educator evaluation regulations, and remove requirements that student learning data compose a certain percentage of educators’ evaluations.

The proposed regulations were sent out for written comments in April and May. The board took oral comments at a hearing on June 4. However, the board did not act on the proposed regulations at that time. The proposed regulations are now on the agenda for an audio-conferenced board meeting on August 24. Consequently, the public is invited to submit oral comments at noon August 24.

A summary of the proposed regulations, the complete text, and information on how to submit oral comments will be posted next week at https://education..alaska.gov/regs/comment.cfm.

The State Board of Regents and the State Board of Education & Early Development held a joint meeting June 3, 2015. Agenda items included UA’s concurrent enrollment definition and Regents’ policy; UA's College Readiness definition; Alaska teacher education; and K-12 standards and assessments and their alignment with UA.

For more details about the meeting, please visit any of the following:

·         Board of Regents meeting documents: http://www.boarddocs.com/ak/alaska/Board.nsf/Public

·         Board of Education meeting documents: http://education.alaska.gov/State_Board/pdf/15-June-Packet.pdf

·         Alaska Business Monthly Magazine article: http://www.akbizmag.com/Education/UA-Board-of-Regents-meets-with-State-Board-of-Education-and-Foundation-Board-of-Trustees/

From the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development's "EED Information Exchange," March 27, 2015:

Department and ACT Recognize College and Career Readiness Efforts

This year, Alaska has joined ACT’s College and Career Readiness Campaign, which provides states the opportunity to recognize – across the education and workforce continuum – exemplary college and career readiness efforts in four categories: Student Readiness, College and Career Transition, Career Preparedness, and Workplace Success. The campaign began in 2013 with six states participating, and this year over 30 states have joined.

During the State Board of Education & Early Development meeting on March 19 in Juneau, the department recognized Alaska’s 2015 nominees. This year, the department selected nominees in three categories: Student Readiness, College and Career Transition, and Career Preparedness.

The Student Readiness category recognizes an exemplary high school senior who embodies successful readiness for college and career. Alaska’s 2015 Student Readiness nominee is Ariel Hasse of Mat-Su Career and Technical High School.

The College and Career Transition category recognizes an exemplary high school that embodies successful preparation for college and career. Alaska’s 2015 College and Career Transition nominee is Kotzebue Middle/High School in Kotzebue.

The Career Preparedness category recognizes an exemplary community college that advances successful preparation for student careers. Alaska’s 2015 Career Preparedness nominee is Ilisagvik College in Barrow.

Each state-selected nominee has received a certificate of recognition from ACT. The Student Readiness nominee, Ariel Hasse, also will receive a scholarship from ACT toward attendance at the postsecondary institution of her choice.

One national award recipient will be chosen in each category. On June 9, ACT will host the National Gala for College and Career Readiness in Washington, D.C. to celebrate all nominees across the participating states. Each of Alaska’s nominees will be considered in the coming months for the national award in each of their respective categories. ACT will cover the travel expenses of the four national award recipients and one guest of each recipient to attend the National Gala.

ACT will recognize Alaska’s nominees at: http://www.act.org/readinesscampaign/. For more information about the campaign, please contact Erin Thompson, CCRA Program Coordinator, at 907-465-6535. 

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has just issued a report - Opportunities and Options: Making Career Preparation Work for Students - which calls on states to adopt three main recommendations in order to ensure all students are career-ready:

• Enlist the employer community as a lead partner in defining the pathways and skills most essential in today's economy.
• Set a higher bar for the quality of career preparation programs, enabling all students to earn a meaningful postsecondary degree or credential.
• Make career readiness matter to schools and students by prioritizing it in accountability systems.

Read more on the CCSSO Website or download the entire report (21 page PDF).

Prepared by Citrus College in California, this 9-minute video talks about preparation for the realities of tomorrow's labor market, and speaks to making informed decisions about postsecondary options, early exploration of career choices, and the need for technical skills.

Direction and Motion Graphics: Brian Y. Marsh brianymarsh.com
Written and Narrated by: Kevin Fleming teloses.com

The complete transcription of the video with data references is available here: citruscollege.edu/academics/cte/Pages/default.aspx

Alaska’s Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED) offers a wide variety of test preparation, practice tests, and a wealth of information about preparing for life after high school, all at no charge to Alaskans.

Peterson’s Test Preparation Packages give students practice tests and resources for many of the assessments they may take, including WorkKeys, PSAT, SAT, PLAN, ACT, GED, CLEP, ASVAB, TOEFL, civil service tests, PRAXIS, and more.

Also included are checklists for students and parents for each year of high school, a scholarship search, career-specific practice tests, a virtual career library, and a wide variety of other resources and information.

Visit http://sled.alaska.edu/databases/az.html#T, and click on "Testing and education Reference Center to get started.  You may be asked to establish an account before accessing some of the resources, but that is a quick and simple process - remember, it's available at no charge to Alaska residents!

By Scarlett Wilson, Published September 21, 2014

So you’ve just finished year 11 and you’ve been thrown into the big wide world – which can be a pretty scary time to say the least. It can be difficult to decide what to do after you finish your GCSEs and it doesn’t help that there are some many options to choose from. But a pretty common question is; “Do I go to college or do an apprenticeship?”

This can be a stressful time, because you’ve got to try and make your mind up about what you actually want to do in life. It’s important to think carefully about your decision – you don’t want to be back to square one in six months because you’ve decided you don’t want to be an apprentice anymore. Remember that this this is your life so you’ve got to think carefully about what suits you!

We’ve come up with some pros and cons of choosing an apprenticeship over college. Hopefully this will help you make the right decision.

Read the entire article here. 

From Bloomberg Businessweek
By Karen Cates
July 29, 2014

In a recent article, I suggested that we should stop feeding high school students the myth that college is right for everyone. Higher education has a role for many young people, but as an instructor in college classrooms for almost 25 years, I have met plenty of young people who weren’t well-suited to it.

For some, college represents great stress, failing grades, and an inability to succeed in the classroom despite extra help. This has nothing to do with being smart. It has everything to do with the lack of alternatives for young people who deserve a better definition of success post-high school.

Parents, leaders, educators, and employers should work to discover children’s strengths and provide options to develop t_hem. Many readers agreed with my last article, but I received a lot of e-mails concerned that our lawmakers and educators might adopt as a solution Europe’s early “tracking” programs, which divert children (without choice) to college or a trade profession. One of the hallmarks of American culture is the idea that we are free to choose our own paths.

Read the entire article. 

The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development has created six posters highlighting technical careers and the CTE APS - a great way to advertise this opportunity to our students! These posters may be printed, posted on websites, used in publications, etc. by Alaska schools and CTE training programs. Download the printer-ready posters in PDF format below.

The Pathways to Prosperity Network is now two years old, with eight state members—California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and Tennes_see—doing significant work in creating career pathways in grades 9-14. Two more states, Arizona and Delaware, joined the Network in June 2014. This report is a letter to the field about what’s been accomplished to date. As is often the case in such initiatives, the results thus far are due to a combination of good luck, good timing, deep knowledge of implementation, and a simple but urgent message and strategy. The unique stories of the developments in each state are included in this report as well as observation and description of key aspects of this work across the states in the Network as a group.

Download or read the report here.

By Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post
(posted Juy 6, 2014)

Poor alignment of American businesses with the schools that train their workers is creating a "skills gap" that may make it hard to fill as many as 650,000 technical- and science-based jobs by 2018.

The country needs a shift in how industry and educational institutions relate to each other, economists and business executives say.

"We do not take an approach — either at the national level or state level — that creates an ease of communications between employers and educational institutions that are going to impart skills and background to potential employees," said Joe Fuller, a Harvard Business School researcher. "This is why we have 12 million to 13 million unemployed people and 650,000 job openings in manufacturing right now."

Recent college graduates typically have only about half the skills they need in the workplace, according to John Miller, chief operating officer for Denver-based consulting firm Hands-On Learning.

Read the entire article.

June 4, 2014

A Dear Colleague Letter on Career Counseling [PDF, 361KB] was jointly released by the U.S. Departments of Education, Labor and Health and Human Services to provide education, workforce development, social services, and private-sector leaders with information about ways that high schools and human services agencies can work with the American Job Center network to ensure that students and their parents have relevant and timely information with which to make informed career decisions. In support of the Administration's goal of leading the world in college completion by 2020, the three Departments are committed to giving students informa­tion about college and career options, and opportunities that can help them make informed choices for their futures.

Alaska’s Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED) offers a wide variety of Peterson’s Test Preparation Packages, practice tests, and a wealth of information about preparing for postsecondary training, all at no charge to Alaskans.

Peterson’s Test Preparation Packages give students practice tests and resources for many of the assessments they may take, including WorkKeys, PSAT, SAT, PLAN, ACT, GED, CLEP, ASVAB, TOEFL, civil service tests, PRAXIS, and more.

Also included are checklists for students and parents for each year of high school, scholarship search, career-specific tests, and much more.

Available through the Digital Pipeline website at http://sled.alaska.edu/databases/az.html#T.
Then click on Testing and Education Reference Center (TERC).

This article first appeared in Education Week February 25, 2014, and is posted here with permission from the authors.

It is a summary of their ongoing work on Individual Learning Plans (ILP - which Alaska is calling a PLCP) for ALL high school students and provides a definition of a high-quality ILPs and findings on several exemplary implementation strategies.
Download the entire article (PDF).

EED provided a training/presentation to participants at the 2013 PDC on how CTE programs could connect with the newly-adopted state standards in math and English/language arts.

Download the presentation here.

For all resources related to the new standards, visit the EED Standards website.

A recent report authored by the College & Career Pathways division at the Community and Technical College examines a new model for college and career readiness. The model consists of six areas: Goal Setting, Attitudes, College Knowledge, Academics, and Habits.
For more details, please contact Dr. Dayna DeFeo, UAA's College & Career Readiness Coordinator. djdefeo@uaa.alaska.edu  or 907.786.6464.