CWPJAC Minutes September 15, 2017

REPORT OF ACTION

California Workforce Pathways Joint Advisory Committee Members Present

State Board of Education Representatives

• Feliza Ortiz-Licon
• Patricia Rucker
• Ting Sun, Chair

Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Board of Governors Representatives

• Joseph Bielanski
• Pamela Haynes, Vice Chair
• Valerie Shaw

Ex-Officio Members

• Gustavo Herrera, Young Invincibles
• Alma Salazar representing David Rattray, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

Agenda of the California Workforce Pathways Joint Advisory Committee

1. California Workforce Pathways Joint Advisory

• Call to Order
  Chair Sun called the meeting to order at approximately 10:01 a.m.
• Introductions
  Chair Sun facilitated introductions of all meeting attendees.
  
• Essential Questions
  Chair Sun shared the following essential questions:
  • What are the high quality elements of a college and career pathway?
  • How well are we serving our students?
  • What longitudinal data sharing infrastructure is needed to understand student progress?
• Housekeeping
  Chair Sun provided housekeeping information, including that the meeting was audio recorded for internal reference purposes.
• Approval of May 12, 2017 and July 13, 2017 Meeting Minutes
  Chair Sun could not obtain approval of the May 12, 2017 meeting minutes because the quorum was not met, the May minutes, along with the July meeting minutes, will be reviewed for approval at the September meeting.

2. Agencies Working Together
   Donna Wyatt, California Department of Education (CDE) and Van Ton-Quinlivan, California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) provided a brief summary of a joint meeting that took place with Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Eloy Ortiz Oakley, California Community Colleges Chancellor as context for the presentations on the agenda.

3. Elements of a High Quality College/Career Pathway
   Donna Wyatt, CDE and Van Ton-Quinlivan, CCCCO discussed elements of a high quality pathway addressing integrating academic and career content standards, work-based learning activities, and student support services that address career development.

4. Work-Based Learning
   Program Overviews

• CDE’s Work-Based Learning Workgroup
  Michelle McIntosh, Administrator, Career Technical Education Leadership and Instructional Support Office, CDE presented on the CDE’s work-based learning workgroup that is helping the CDE find and create valid, reliable, measurable work-based learning activities that can be incorporated into developing the College/Career Indicator.
  
  Feedback from committee members:
  
  
  • Vice Chair Haynes shared information on the college’s’ Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) which are used to measure student outcomes for every course taken, which could be a way to help get more “meat on the bones” for work-based learning experiences.
  • Member Ortiz-Licon expressed concern about how to build capacity at a school site because it is very hard to obtain these experiences for high school students. Finding an internship placement, including transportation for students is difficult. It is also hard to distinguish a student who is working and obtaining work experience compared to a student who is receiving in depth work-based learning guidance both at the school site and work site.
  • Chair Sun expressed excitement on this work and the importance to clearly define the activities for them to be measurable, and raised concern on how the schools will be able to track these experiences at the student level.

• 21^st Century Skills – New World of Work
  Rajinder Gill, Co-Creator and Director, New World of Work, CCCCO, and Hayden Springer, Foundation for the California Community Colleges presented on the New World of Work program, which has identified a “Top 10” list of 21st Century Skills and has developed 21st Century Skills resources that have been designed to combine academic instruction with work-based learning including digital badging.
  
  Feedback from committee members:
  
  
  • Vice Chair Haynes mentioned that we have a lot of great work happening, and stated that we need to stop working unilaterally. The words “alignment” and “parallel” should to be applied to our work to open communications and to help the field see a road map of best practices.
  • Member Ortiz-Licon supports digital badging and would like to see K–12 incorporate digital badging.
  • Member Bielanski is interested in presenting the career ladders training to help students see that they are not “locked in” to a job.
  • Gustavo Herrera mentioned that digital badging would need to be “non-digitalized” for students who do not have access to the necessary technology.

• Apprenticeships
  Nick Esquivel, Apprenticeship Specialist, CCCCO presented on how apprenticeships can offer students the opportunity to receive on-the-job training via their employer paired with employer selected Related and Supplemental Instruction (RSI). Many of the RSI apprenticeship programs enable students to earn an Industry Certificate and/or Associate Degree.

• Pre-Apprenticeships
  Charles Felice, SHS Green Academy presented on the Salinas High School’s (SHS) Green Academy, which prepares students for success in post-secondary education, career options in the construction industry, trade unions or alternative energy/environmental fields by offering a comprehensive educational experience, consisting of engaging academics and rich hands-on learning.

Lunch

• Discussion on Work-Based Learning
  The committee discussed some topics to develop common principles.
  • Van Ton-Quinlivan suggested some joint work on work-based learning definitions and metrics.
  • Member Shaw cautioned that we need to see if and how far this committee will drill down the definitions and how to differentiate what are high quality work-based learning activities. We also need to be careful on how we define and collect the metrics.
  • Chair Sun asked about developing a framework that will support the many programs that are in existence, which has coherence and cohesion that will help students navigate the K–12 and higher education system without students feeling that they are being “tossed around.” She requested staff to start developing some guidelines or principles, and then determine whether to go deeper and look at definitions.
  • Alma Salazar shared that the core competencies like the ten essential skills listed in the New World of Work are the skill sets employers are seeking regardless of industry sector.
  • Member Ortiz-Licon suggested considering programs that have already done alignment well to move towards vertical articulation.
  • Member Haynes said that at the core of the sessions is the building of trust, and that a high level of trust is needed to do this work. We are going to look at the work from different perspectives, and will be building this as we go. Some of it is already built and we need to bridge over the work without losing the articulation piece.
  • Patricia de Cos mentioned that we need to make sure, as we move forward, to not lose the threads of these conversations and highlight the great work happening in the field. The draft principles need to be general enough to allow these shining stars to continue their work and highlight the great work already being done, and to build on common themes.
  • Member Rucker mentioned that the ultimate goal of all this work is preparing students to matriculate either into the workforce or further their education, given that all parents want their children to matriculate to the workforce. It’ll be important to be careful that what we choose to define will either eliminate some of the good work we are doing or not take into account ways the plan can be used as a guide to bring other programs on board. What is the purpose of the plan? Is it a compliance tool, or is it intended to be used to define the field of CTE in California as a way of guiding the field what to do to move the system forward.

5. Student Support Services
   Program Overview

• California Career Resource Network
  John Merris-Coots, Education Programs Consultant, High School Innovations and Initiatives Office, CDE presented on the CDE’s California Career Resource Network (CalCRN), which provides career exploration and planning resources to strengthen the career readiness skills of California’s middle and high school students.
  
  Feedback from committee members:
  • Member Rucker mentioned that she would like SBE staff to do more resource mining within the CDE because she would like to learn about what other tools are available that the joint committee members are not aware of.
• California College Guidance Initiative
  Tessa Carmen De Roy, Ed.D., Executive Director, California College Guidance Initiative presented on the California College Guidance Initiative, which provides a data and planning infrastructure to helps increase postsecondary preparation and attainment for students in California.
• Get Focused…Stay Focused!
  Jennifer Ramos, Cosumnes Oaks High School, Elk Grove Unified School District and Diane Hollems, Regional Consortium Chair –South Central Coast Region, CCCCO presented on the Get Focused, Stay Focused! Program, which began as a high school dual enrollment ninth grade transition course and was designed to increase participation in dual enrollment opportunities at Santa Barbara City College. Curriculum, along with counseling and advisement strategies, are included to create a whole-school program model.
  
  Feedback from committee members:
  
  
  • Member Rucker highlighted the importance for students to be exposed to a “broad course of study,” and that the “broad course of study” looks different for a college bound student and a English Language learner.
  • Alma Salazar was interested in seeing outcome data broken down by subpopulations.
• Pathways to Paychecks
  Teri Munger, K-14 Pathways - Regional Technical Assistance Provider, Greater Sacramento Region, CCCCO presented on the Pathways to Paychecks program, which connects high school students to pathway programs through career stations that give students the opportunity to explore various professions, participate in hands-on activities and demonstrations, as well as interact with professionals.
• Regional Occupational Program Career Specialists
  Tracie Zerpoli, Superintendent, Tri-Cities Tri-Cities Regional Occupational Program (ROP) presented on how Tri-Cities ROP provides College and Career Pathways Advisors to help high school students navigate their career pathway journey through both group and individual support from career awareness to career preparation.
  
  Feedback from committee members:
  
  
  • Member Ortiz-Licon highlighted the importance of parental involvement and support to help their child through this process.
  • Member Haynes questioned the meaning of “scaling up,” as it could mean expanding a program to serve more students or migrating best practices to other regions as well. We need to ensure that the pathways are clear and contain on and off ramps because sometimes life gets in the way. Career exploration is important for all students and has been missing.

6. Public Comment
   Kit Alvarez – San Bernardino County ROP

• Schedule Meetings
  Future Meeting Dates for 2017:
  • Friday, September 15, 2017, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  • Monday, November 6, 2017, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  • Proposed meeting dates for 2018 are yet to be determined.
• Proposed Areas of Focus
  Below are proposed areas of focus, which are inter-related.
  • Career Guidance / Counseling
  • Dual Enrollment
  • Data Sharing
  • Work-based Learning
  • System Alignment
  • Defining and Promoting Quality Career Pathways
• Member Ortiz would like to answer the “why” question.
• Member Rucker suggested that we learn about all the state plans to see where the overlap is, WIOA, Perkins, and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
• Chair Sun would like to explore a draft of principles.
• Vice Chair Haynes would like to share the chancellor’s office’s Strong Workforce plan.

7. Open Discussion

• Member Shaw would like our work to go beyond just writing a plan, she would like to see us help with the advocacy of these great programs.
• Member Bielanski suggested that an approach would be to highlight high impact practices.
• Member Haynes mentioned that the community colleges use guiding principles for a successful program for the field; thus, what we develop needs to have value for the field.
• Member Ortiz-Licon thinks the purpose of this committee is to develop a state plan for Perkins, and to put forward principles at a high level.
• Chair Sun shared that the draft principles might be rough at the start.
• Member Rucker agrees that our charge is to write a state plan, and also agrees that there is a need to identify practice since the field has substantially grown and changed since the last iteration of the act. The new Every Student Succeeds Act also focused on developing the capacity at the state and local level with continuous improvement in mind.
• Alma Salazar would like this body to articulate a vision for career pathways to maximize mobility for those we serve, and that the “value add” is critically important.
• Chair Sun agreed and added that a strategic vision would be great and an outline of opportunities and barriers, which could be used as a needs analysis on what is needed to leverage in the plan. Chair Sun would like future presentations to have more scaffolding to understand lessons learned and needs, so the joint committee can take the information to provide a strategic vision.
• Ex-Officio Member Herrera would like to see more from a student perspective.
• Chair Sun would like to explore parent engagement, preparation of educators, and the idea of the on and off ramp, how do we get a clear pathway from K-­12 to community college to university to the workplace.
• Member Rucker would like to know more about the consequences of how we fund programs, how the teaching credential changes may impact programs, and what the a-g certification work means for CTE courses.

The next meeting is scheduled for December 15, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m at the CDE in the boardroom.