State Profile For New Jersey

Data sources used in this profile (MSWord,54Kb)

State Director

Ms. Marie Barry, Director
Office of Career and Technical Education, New Jersey Department of Education
P.O. Box 500
Trenton, NJ 08625

Web Site

http://www.state.nj.us/njded/voc/index.html

Mission

Purpose: provide leadership and resources to enable all learners to gain knowledge and skills needed to achieve career and employment goals, meet civic duties and accomplish educational objectives.
Key Long-Term Objectives:
1. Provide opportunities for learner to obtain academic and occupational proficiency.
2. Encourage and foster coalitions among NDE, local school districts, families, employers, and service agencies to enhance students’ education and development.
3. Provide all learners with a connected education pathway which leads them into the workforce in order to meet the economic development and diversification needs of Nevada, utilizing statewide employers and community agencies.

CTE Statistics

Number of Public High Schools:	320
Number of Public High Schools Offering Solely (or primarily) CTE courses:	55
Number of Students in Public High Schools:	347,448
Number of Secondary Students Enrolled in CTE:	104,873
Number of Public Community Colleges:	19
Number of Students at Public Community Colleges:	140,459
Number of Postsecondary Students Enrolled in CTE:	53,937
Perkins Funds Received:	$26,921,692

CTE Governance Structure

Perkins Eligible Agency:	Department of Education
Agency Administering Secondary CTE:	Department of Education
Agency Administering Postsecondary CTE:	Department of Education administers postsecondary vocational schools, while the Commission on Higher Education administers collegiate level programs.
Programmatic Control For Secondary CTE:	State Board of Education
Programmatic Control For Postsecondary CTE:	Commission on Higher Education

CTE Funding

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 Career and Technical Education. The Director’s position is a career position that reports to the Assistant Commissioner, Division of Educational Programs and Assessment, Department of Education. The Director’s primary areas of responsibility are all secondary CTE programs, all non-collegiate postsecondary CTE programs, GED, Charter Schools, High Schools That Work, Tech Prep, and the administration of all secondary and postsecondary Perkins grants.

CTE Connections to Secondary Education and High School Reform

Career technical education plays a significant role in high school reform efforts. CTE in New Jersey has been directly involved with reform initiatives. While directly involved, CTE is not responsible for all areas of high school reform. CTE has been working with High Schools That Work for several years and we have solidified our role in working with a small group of school districts involved in the program.

Implementation of Career Clusters

New Jersey believes that Career Clusters provide the infrastructure for a seamless educational transition between all learner levels. Career Clusters are also seen as 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, New Jersey has adopted a state policy that supports Career Clusters and has integrated them into the state plan. In addition, the state has passed legislation to support Career Clusters. New Jersey is also using several strategies to support the implementation of Career Clusters. For example, the state has redirected state resources and personnel to support Career Clusters and has sponsored several pilot sites. In addition, New Jersey has crosswalked all approved programs according to CIP Codes and Career Clusters, and worked collaboratively with the occupational and employment information personnel to insure relevant comparisons of data.
Several delivery methods are being used to implement Career Clusters, including National Academy Foundation academies, career academies and charter schools.

Indicators

The data for 2003-2004 in the above chart was taken directly from the Consolidated Annual Reports (CAR Report 2003-04). The CAR is a mandatory fiscal and accountability report submitted by each state to the U.S. Department of Education. It provides performance information on 14 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.

The data for 2004-2005 was taken from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998, Report to Congress on State Performance, Program Year 2004-05, Washington, D.C., 2007.

Last updated on 02/20/2008