State Profile For Alaska

Data sources used in this profile (PDF,177Kb)

State Director

Mrs. Helen Mehrkens, State Director
Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
P.O. Box 110500
Juneau, AK 99811-0500

CTE Web Site(s) as Applicable

Secondary: http://www.eed.state.ak.us/tls/cte/

Career Readiness Certification Program: http://www.careerready.alaska.gov/

Mission

The mission of the Alaska Career and Technical Education staff is to assist schools in providing students with skills necessary for a successful transition to postsecondary education or work and a desire for life-long learning in a global society.

CTE Statistics

Number of Public High Schools:	245
Number of Public High Schools Offering Solely (or primarily) CTE courses:	0
Number of Students in Public High Schools:	41,399
Number of Secondary Students Enrolled in CTE:	18,549
Number of Public Community Colleges:	2
Number of Students at Public Community Colleges:	1,101
Number of Postsecondary Students Enrolled in CTE:	17,064
Perkins Funds Received:	$4,465,084

**Many postsecondary students enrolled in CTE are taking courses through the University system, not just two year public institutions.

CTE Governance Structure

Perkins Eligible Agency:	Department of Education
Agency Administering Secondary CTE:	Department of Education
Agency Administering Postsecondary CTE:	University of Alaska
Programmatic Control For Secondary CTE:	State Board of Education
Programmatic Control For Postsecondary CTE:	Board of Regents and the Labor/Workforce Board

CTE Funding: Non-Perkins

State Secondary Funding:
State Postsecondary Funding:
Local Secondary Funding:
Local Postsecondary Funding:	N/A

State Director Roles and Responsibilities

The State Director has the title of State Program Director, Career and Technical Education. The State Director’s primary areas of responsibility include all areas resulting from responsibility for Perkins administration and leadership. The state does not have designated state funding for CTE, it is funded at the local level through a general foundation formula or budget appropriation from the legislature to the school district or institution and subject to local control.

CTE Connections to Secondary Education and High School Reform

Career technical education plays a minimal role in high school reform efforts. Alaska does not have a high school reform initiative at this time. Interest is growing, however, and CTE staff has been asked to take the lead on some pilot projects.

Implementation of Career Clusters

Alaska believes that Career Clusters offer an infrastructure for a seamless educational transition between all learner levels. The state sees Career Clusters as a method to improve the quality of CTE and as a tool for students seeking more guidance on career opportunities.

In order to effectively implement Career Clusters, Alaska has effectively integrated Career Clusters into the state plan. They have also required local Perkins plans to incorporate Career Clusters, required accountability information to be collected by Career Clusters, and benchmarked existing program standards against Career Cluster knowledge and skill statements. Alaska has also used Career Clusters to support effective transitions between secondary and postsecondary education.

Indicators

Source

The data in the above chart was taken from the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act Reports to Congress on State Performance (see below). The Consolidated Annual Report, or CAR, is a mandatory fiscal and accountability report submitted by each state to the U.S. Department of Education. It provides performance information on Perkins indicators. A red X means a state did not meet its adjusted level of performance and a green checkmark means that the state did meet its goal. A blue bar in the Secondary Indicators table means that the state does not offer students the opportunity to earn both a high school diploma and other credential (e.g., a skill certificate) or that the data was not otherwise provided by the state. A blue bar in the Postsecondary Indicators table indicates that the state did not provide data. CAR narratives for individual states are hyperlinked below.

Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act Reports to Congress on State Performance

State profiles for each of the core indicators (academic attainment, attainment of diplomas or degrees, placement and retention in further education or employment, and participation and completion of non-traditional training programs) for secondary and postsecondary programs. Also included are federal allocations, enrollment by gender, and a brief description of program improvement and data quality efforts for each state.

• Performance Program Year 2006-2007 (PDF, 2.6 MB)
• Performance Program Year 2005-2006 (PDF, 6.6 MB)
• Performance Program Year 2004-2005 (PDF, 1.8 MB)
• Performance Program Year 2003-2004 (PDF, 3.5 MB)

CAR Narratives for individual states

• 2003-2004
• 2004-2005
• 2005-2006
• 2006-2007

Last updated on 09/22/2009