State Profile For Arkansas

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

State Director

Mr. William Walker, Jr., Director
Department of Workforce Education
Three Capitol Mall
Little Rock, AR 72201

CTE Web Site(s) as Applicable

Secondary: http://dwe.arkansas.gov

Postsecondary: http://www.arkansashighered.com/

Career Readiness Certification Program: http://www.arkansasatwork.org

Mission

To provide the leadership and contribute resources to serve the diverse and changing workforce training needs of the youth and adults of Arkansas.

CTE Statistics

Number of Public High Schools:	286
Number of Public High Schools Offering Solely (or primarily) CTE courses:	1
Number of Students in Public High Schools:	122,369
Number of Secondary Students Enrolled in CTE:	94,513
Number of Public Community Colleges:	22
Number of Students at Public Community Colleges:	47,771
Number of Postsecondary Students Enrolled in CTE:	29,705
Perkins Funds Received:	$13,254,233

**Source: Arkansas Department of Education 2003-04 - the Number of Public High Schools and the Number of Public High Schools Offering CTE.

CTE Governance Structure

Perkins Eligible Agency:	Department of Workforce Education
Agency Administering Secondary CTE:	Department of Workforce Education
Agency Administering Postsecondary CTE:	Department of Higher Education
Programmatic Control For Secondary CTE:	State Board of Workforce Education and Career Opportunities
Programmatic Control For Postsecondary CTE:	State Board of Higher Education

CTE Funding: Non-Perkins

State Secondary Funding:
State Postsecondary Funding:
Local Secondary Funding:
Local Postsecondary Funding:

State Director Roles and Responsibilities

The State Director has the title of Director of the Office of Workforce Education. The Director is a political appointee who reports to the Governor. The Director’s primary areas of responsibility are secondary CTE, adult education, and rehabilitation services.

CTE Connections to Secondary Education and High School Reform

Career technical education plays a very high role in high school reform efforts. Arkansas CTE was involved in the statewide high school reform initiative and has attended national high school reform meetings with the state’s general K-12 agency staff. The CTE department has co-sponsored a number of reform efforts/initiatives with the K-12 agency. The State Director is providing support and taking part in conversations related to the state’s high school reforms efforts, but is not part of the leadership team. The State’s Deputy Director for CTE is a member of the state’s high school reform leadership team.

Implementation of Career Clusters

Arkansas believes that Career Clusters are the basis for high school reform and provide the infrastructure for a seamless educational transition between all learner levels. Career Clusters are also seen as a tool for career guidance, a platform to organize sequences of courses around, and a way to improve the quality of CTE.

In order to effectively implement Career Clusters, Arkansas has adopted a state policy that supports Career Clusters. In addition, the state is using several strategies to support the implementation of Career Clusters. For example, Career Clusters are being used to support effective transitions between secondary and postsecondary education. Arkansas requires that all accountability information is collected by Career Clusters and is using Career Cluster knowledge and skills to benchmark existing programs, as well as, redirecting state resources and personnel to support Career Clusters.

Several delivery methods are being used to implement and deliver Career Clusters, including National Academy Foundation academies, High Schools That Work and Tech Prep.

Arkansas’s career and technical system is based on the national model of 16 career clusters and 81 pathways. The state’s existing approved programs of study were the basis for the cluster/pathway system. At the secondary level, at least one program of study is approved from each of the clusters. In all, 55 secondary programs of study are approved in 33 different pathways. There are 35 pathways that are on the high-skill, high-wage, and high-demand list for the 2008-09 fiscal year. There are 44 programs of study currently offered at the postsecondary level in these pathways. There are 20 programs of study currently offered at the secondary level in these pathways. For the complete list, see page 9 of the Arkansas State Plan.

Implementation levels of programs of study

• Secondary: all 16 nationally-recognized career clusters are implemented.


• 2-year Postsecondary: all clusters are implemented except for Architecture and Construction, Arts, A/V Technology and Communications, and Government and Public Administration.


• 4-year Postsecondary: Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Business Management and Administration, Education and Training, Finance, and Health Science are implemented.

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