State Profile For District of Columbia

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

State Director

Mr. Christopher Lyons, State Director of Career and Technical Education
Office of Career & Technology Education, State Superintendent of Education
51 N Street NE, Seventh Floor, Room Y
Washington, DC 20002-3347

CTE Web Site(s) as Applicable

Secondary: http://www.osse.dc.gov

Mission

The Office of Career and Technical Education used Federal resources, standards setting, and performance accountability to foster the rebirth and renewal of career-technical education (CTE) in the Nation’s Capital. A 21st Century revisioning of traditional vocational education, CTE today has an expanded role to play as a District-wide, state-of-the-art college and career preparation system, designed to help ensure that all District learners are prepared for succsss in postsecondary education, lifelong learning, and the emerging Innovation Economy.

DC’s long-range goal is to upgrade all CTE programs in the District to the status of State-approved, “Tech-Prep/Early College,” programs of study, fully meeting the mandate of section 122c(1)(A) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV): coherent, unduplicated course sequences, which:

• span both secondary and postsecondary education, ideally on a dual-enrollment, dual-completion basis;
• combine rigorous core academics with advanced technical knowledge and skills;
• are organized around nationally-validated, industry-based skill-driven standards, assessments, and curricula;
• lead to a skill certificate or an industry-recognized credential, and an AAS degree or higher; and
• prepare students for both college and open-ended, high skills, high wage, high demand careers.

CTE Statistics

Number of Public High Schools:	34
Number of Public High Schools Offering Solely (or primarily) CTE courses:	9
Number of Students in Public High Schools:	18,313
Number of Secondary Students Enrolled in CTE:	2,390
Number of Public Community Colleges:	0
Number of Students at Public Community Colleges:	0
Number of Postsecondary Students Enrolled in CTE:	1,861
Perkins Funds Received:	$4,349,598

CTE Governance Structure

Perkins Eligible Agency:	District of Columbia Commission for Career & Technical Education (DC CCTE)
Agency Administering Secondary CTE:	Office of the State Superintendent of education, Office of Career & Technical Education
Agency Administering Postsecondary CTE:	Division of Postsecondary Career & Technical Ed., University of the District of Columbia
Programmatic Control For Secondary CTE:	DC Commission for CTE
Programmatic Control For Postsecondary CTE:	UDC Board of Regents

CTE Funding: Non-Perkins

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

State Director Roles and Responsibilities

The State Director of Career and Technical Education, a member of the DC Management and Supervisory Service (MSS), and like all OSSE staff, an “at will” employee, serves as the Executive Secretary of the DC Commission for Career and Technical Education, and reports to the Assistant Superintendent of the Division of Postsecondary Education and Workforce Readiness (POWER) of the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). The State Director’s primary responsibility, under the provisions of section 112(a)(3) of the Carl D. Perkins Act, is state-level administration of the Federal program of support for secondary and postsecondary CTE under the Perkins Act, including management of the State Performance Accountability System under section 113.

High priority challenges facing the DC Office of CTE in PY 2010 and beyond include:

• Annual revisions, under CCTE leadership, of the “DC Five-Year State Plan for CTE for Program Years 2009-2013,” and coordination of agency and public review, as necessary;
• Negotiation of an annual MOU with the DC Division of Youth Rehabilitation Services, covering transfer and use of funds for CTE programs and transition services for inmates of the DC youth correctional facility, New Beginnings;
• Issuance of “Uniform Guidelines for Eligible Recipients,” and execution of annual grant awards to DCPS and public charter high schools ($3 M total) for secondary CTE program improvement, and to the University of DC (in the amount of $717,360) for postsecondary CTE programming;
• Convening the “DC Consortium for Secondary and Postsecondary CTE” as a proactive vehicle for cooperation and coordination across all LEAs and institutions participating in the Perkins program;
• Organization, in collaboration with the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and other appropriate OSSE units, of a systematic program of subrecipient monitoring and evaluation, and civil rights compliance;
• Development of a strategy and timetable for adoption of State-approved technical skill standards, assessments and certificates, for seamless, secondary/postsecondary CTE Programs of Study;
• Administration of the section 113 State Performance Accountability System, including follow-up surveys, a regional data exchange consortium, and interface with OSSE’s “SLED” data warehouse;
• Submission, by December 31 each year, of OVAE’s “Consolidated Annual Performance, Accountability, & Financial Status Report” (CAR), and negotiation of annual performance targets (“FAUPLs”); and,
• Technical assistance to LEAs, and State coordination of program development, CTE teacher certification and professional development, gender equity programs, and CTE Student Organizations.

CTE Connections to Secondary Education and High School Reform

The DC Five-Year State Plan for Career-Technical Education for the 2008-2013 program years recasts CTE in the District of Columbia as a key component of a broad, “root and branch” transformation of public secondary education, and a sweeping reorganization of public and public charter high schools around programmatic themes, career academies/clusters, and college and career preparation programs of study.

Essential elements of this new framework for high school reform include:

• A commitment to universal high performance education for all students, Pre-K-adult, untracked, individualized, and self-paced;


• Implementation of a Pre-K-adult career development system, highlighted by the development of an Individual Graduation Plan (IGP) for each student by the end of the eighth grade;


• A rigorous and universal “4x4” core academic curriculum: four credits each in English, math, science, and social studies, plus two years of a world language, and a half year each of art and music;


• A four-credit college and career preparation program of study for each student, reflecting either an International Baccalaureate (IB), CTE, or traditional liberal arts/AP curriculum;


• One or more “flagship programs” or “programmatic themes” for each high school, with DC-wide enrollment and transfer facilitated throughout the entire portfolio of schools;


• Organization of the CTE curriculum into 16 career clusters and 60+ State-approved programs of study, meeting State standards of program quality, accessibility, and performance.

Implementation of Career Clusters

The DC Office of CTE views the national Career Clusters model as a roadmap for seamless educational transition between learner levels, an essential component of high school redesign, a tool for career guidance, a platform for organizing programs of study, and a key vehicle for CTE renewal and rebuilding in the District of Columbia.In addition, individual high schools in the District have implemented Career Academies (smaller learning communities) adapted from the Career Cluster taxonomy. The state will also be benchmarking existing and newly developed program standards against Career Cluster knowledge and skill statements. Finally, Career Clusters are being used to support effective and accelerated transitions into postsecondary education, and local Perkins plans and proposals are required to incorporate the Career Clusters framework.

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 09/17/2009