Overcoming Obstacles to CTE in Alt Ed

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO CTE IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION

Limited Resources Continued: Funding

Here are three approaches you can take to find funding for CTE programs at your Alt Ed site(s):

1. Check with your LEA ’ s CTE department to find out what kind of CTE funding is available.

2. Even if there isn ’ t any CTE - specific funding, you can try creative funding options like connecting with local industry partners and asking them to sponsor elements of your plan (such as asking a local dentist ’ s office to donate dentistry equipment). 3. Prepare and plan ahead to apply for future rounds of funding by putting your project on the desk of your district ’ s grant - writing team. In all cases, it helps if you have a plan, know how much it will cost and can advocate for the implementation of your program.

Obstacle #2: variable enrollment

THE “ REVOLVING DOOR ” OF STUDENTS: Enrollments at Unpredictable Intervals

The credit - recovery model and variability of student enrollment at Alt Ed sites is one of the biggest challenges to making traditional CTE programs work in Alt Ed. Not only is there a requirement for 300 hours (or two full years) of CTE to constitute a pathway, but some programs also have pre - requisites or co - requisites and nearly all traditional CTE curriculum is scaffolded. Many Alt Ed programs are receiving students during different marking periods in the year, and they may toggle back and forth between different Alt Ed sites throughout the year as well.

So how are you supposed to ensure your students are meeting the CCI (College and Career Readiness Indicator)? Here are some techniques you can use to tackle this:

A. Implement CTE curriculum that is NOT SCAFFOLDED. If you are offering a Construction Trades program that begins with safety, then construction math, then history of the trades, and so on - what happens when a student shows up in February? Do you ask them to catch up on the past 5 months ’ worth of content? If you offer a program with stand - alone units, students can jump in any time. You can meet them where they are.

If the student leaves the site for some time and comes back later, they can simply begin a new unit when they return without make - up lessons. This approach gives you terrific versatility.

Imagine being able to say, “ Welcome back! Would you rather try Plumbing, Electrical or Wall Framing? ” and let that student have voice/choice right away.