The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 1998 (Perkins III) emphasizes state and local accountability. It establishes comparable student definitions and measurements for all Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. Perkins III is based on expectations that students’ performance will improve. This improvement is expected in four core areas of emphasis, including

Academic Standards and Vocational Skill Attainment

Indicator 1. Student attainment of challenging state-established academic, and vocational and technical skill proficiencies.

Graduation Rates

Indicator 2. Student attainment of a secondary schools diploma or its recognized equivalent, proficiency credential in conjunction with a secondary school diploma, or a postsecondary degree or credential.

Placement Rates

Indicator 3. Placement in, retention in, and completion of, post-secondary education or advanced training, placement in military service, or placement or retention in employment.

Participation of Non Traditional Students

Indicator 4. Student participation in and completion of vocational and technical education programs that lead to non traditional training and employment.

The State Board of Education approved a state accountability system that measures CTE program performance using a series of Performance Measures.

Perkins III, the Arizona Performance Measures, and the state accountability system measure and document the continuous improvement in state and local program performance. Key to this measurement is the identification, collection, analysis and interpretation of program performance data.

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http://www.ade.state.az.us/CTE 

Inserts:

• Core Indicators and 2003 Performance Measures
• Arizona Department of Education CTE Program List 2002-2003
• Academic Standards Addressed by CTE Programs

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Department goals mirror student performance measures as defined by the state (see insert) as well as TUSD’s past performance. CTE Department goals for this year are

Integrate Reading, Writing and Mathematics into the Career and Technical Classroom

Provide Student Leadership Development Opportunities Through Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSO’s)

Recruit and Retain Non-traditional Students into Career and Technical Education Programs

Keep Classroom Instruction Aligned with Current Business/industry Needs

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The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The Act is the most sweeping reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) since ESEA was enacted in 1965. It redefines the federal role in K-12 education and will help close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and minority students and their peers. It is based on four basic principles:

Stronger accountability for results—Each state will create assessments that measure what children know and learn in reading and math in grades 3-8. Student progress and achievement will be measured according to tests that will be given to every child, every year. Assessment results and State progress objectives must be broken out by poverty, race, ethnicity, disability, and limited English proficiency to ensure that no group is left behind. School districts and schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward statewide proficiency goals will, over time, be subject to improvement, corrective action, and restructuring measures aimed at getting them back on course to meet State standards.

Expanded options for parents—The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act significantly increases the choices available to the parents of students attending Title I schools that fail to meet State standards. Parents will be allowed to transfer their child to a better-performing public or charter school immediately after a school is identified as failing. Title I funds can also be used to provide supplemental education services—including tutoring, after school services, and summer school programs—for children in failing schools.

Greater flexibility for states, school districts, and schools—The NCLB Act gives States and school districts unprecedented flexibility in the use of Federal education funds in exchange for strong accountability results. New flexibility provisions in the NCLB Act include authority for States to transfer federal dollars they receive among several education programs without separate approval.

Emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work—The NCLB Act states unequivocal commitment to ensuring that every child can read by the end of third grade and links funding to proven methods of reading instruction through the President’s Reading First plan. The bill also creates a new Teacher Quality Program and allows local school districts to use flexible funds for hiring new teachers, increasing teacher pay, and/or improving teacher training and development so that a highly-qualified teacher is in every public school classroom by 2005.

Visit The No Child Left Behind web site at: www.nochildleftbehind.gov/ 

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Arizona’s response to the federal No Child Left Behind legislation is “Arizona LEARNS” (House Bill 2658) which Governor Hull signed into law on May 21, 2002. Arizona LEARNS, The Department of Education’s accountability bill, does the following:

—–Requires the baseline achievement profile (AIMS) to be used to determine a standard measurement of acceptable academic progress for each school and a school classification;

—–Requires the achievement profile for K-8 to include: i) the measure of academic progress by computing the percentage of pupils enrolled in the school for at least one academic year who have achieved one year of academic progress and ii) by computing the percentage of pupils who meet or exceed the standard on the AIMS test as prescribed by the State Board of Education;

—–Requires the following school academic performance indicators for high schools: i) by computing the percentage of pupils who meet or exceed the standard on the AIMS test; ii) the annual dropout rate and the annual graduation rate; and

—–Requires the Department Of Education to determine the criteria for each school classification using a research based methodology which must include the performance of pupils at all achievement levels, account for pupil mobility, account for the distribution of pupil achievement at each school and include longitudinal indicators of academic performance.

In an excelling K-8 school, at least 90% of the pupils have met or exceeded the standards in reading, math and writing. For high schools, excelling is defined as 90% of the students having met or exceeded the standards as measured by the AIMS test plus the dropout rate is no more than 6% and the graduation rate is at least 90%.

The accountability bill only defines one school classification which is excelling and leaves the others (improving, maintaining, underperforming and failing) to be defined using the research based methodology. Classification designations are subject to final adoption by the State Board of Education.

Within certain designated time constraints, underperforming and failing schools must

• Report written status to each residence within the attendance area of the school

• Develop an improvement plan or improve the existing plan—superintendent supervises implementation of the plan

• Present the new or revised improvement plan to the public

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