CTE - A Recipe for Success.
The Way Forward for Decatur Public Schools?
Mike and I constantly reference our “back of the napkin” calculations:
Here’s our simplified version: Five hundred students begin their freshman year in DPS high school. Of those 500, approximately 74% will graduate. From there, around 67% of those students will enroll in college and, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 37% of those individuals will earn a 4 year degree. Those are totally best-case scenarios, because the 67% and 37% numbers are national averages, without factoring in low-income. So, that means in a best-case scenario, out of the 500 incoming freshmen, we could hope to see about 92 with eventual 4-year college degrees.
What makes this exercise more troubling is we recently read on the Roadmap 2030 website that they have used the data warehouse maintained by DPS61 to perform this same calculation, and the results are even more alarming. According to the National Clearinghouse data, in 2019 we had 399 total high school graduates. Here are the number of students that completed their post-secondary education
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If you applied the percentages listed in our scenario, we should have expected 92 students to have earned a bachelor’s degree, but the actual number is 24. (The percentage of students with an associate’s degree is nothing to write home about either!)
So again, the question becomes: “What are we doing for the other 476 students that make their way through our high schools?”
And if we’re going to be completely honest, the answer is: Not near enough. Not even close.
Considering the data surrounding the Class of 2019, Mike and I are convinced, now more than ever, that a Career and Technical Education (CTE) approach is vital to the future success of Decatur Public Schools. Furthermore, it is imperative that CTE is a major component of what comes from The Roadmap 2030 initiative.
At 30,000 feet, a CTE approach could significantly improve DPS61 by addressing workforce readiness, student engagement and economic development. Here is how:
1. Work Force Readiness
partnering with local industries to provide firsthand training in high- demand fields like healthcare, manufacturing, IT and skilled trades.
offering certifications & enhancing internships, apprenticeships, and job-shadowing opportunities with area businesses
2. Boosting Student Engagement & Graduation Rates
giving students real-world learning experiences that make their time in school more relevant and engaging
create personalized learning paths for students not planning to attend a 2-year or 4-year college
greatly discourage dropping out of school by providing practical career pathways that align with student’s interests and strengths.
3. Strengthening the Local Economy
addressing local skills gap by preparing students for careers that are in high demand
encouraging students to stay in Decatur and the surrounding region after graduation, supporting the local workforce
partnering with Richland Community College, Heartland Technical Academy and local business to align CTE programs with regional economic needs.
4. Improving Accessibility
providing all students, across all socio-economic levels, with the opportunity to access a career-focused education
supporting non-traditional students, including those who may struggle in a traditional academic setting, by offering alternative pathways to success.
expanding CTE options to all middle school and high school students to ensure early exposure to career pathways.
After reading this list, one might say: “But guys, we already have some of this in place such as the Heartland Tech Academy at Richland, the InspireEd program, and the Ag Academy. We are already doing CTE.”
Respectfully, our response is “No. We are not.”
But there is much more that can be done. Bear with me while I put my “foodservice professional” hat on - we have some incredibly good programs that amount to nothing more than a list of side items on a menu. They are simply unique ingredients that are part of a more complicated recipe!
Implementing a true CTE program in Decatur Public Schools would be nothing short of a paradigm shift! We would need to adopt a whole new approach to our high schools and perhaps even the middle schools – something that can be endorsed by the district’s work with their Roadmap 2030 initiative. Further, these ideas are being promoted at the state level as well
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In 2024, Illinois’ educations leaders introduced Illinois Vision 2030 – what they are calling a “blueprint for excellence in K-12 public education.”
More specifically, they encourage CTE in their key messaging:
“We want to engage students about their pathways to college and career sooner – as early as elementary school (grades K-5). This means working with local business to cultivate awareness and engagement opportunities that allow students to explore in-demand and emerging career fields – including the trades, agriculture, health care, AI, quantum computing, electric vehicles, advanced manufacturing, and the green economy.”
While some readers may question some of the specifics listed in this statement, it is quite clear this is the way forward in education. This statement alone is granting school districts throughout Illinois – including Decatur DPS61 – permission to embrace CTE and make substantive moves in that direction.
So, what more should we do? This will require some heavy lifting and a lot of challenging work by people more adept at CTE than Mike and me. However, that does not prevent us from offering our “two cents worth.” So, here you go:
1. Academics are still key. Just because you’re not going to college and have chosen a trade doesn’t mean academics are not important. It is just the opposite. The ability to read is obvious, but a base aptitude in mathematics and some general science is paramount to success. I encourage everyone to look at the Carpenter Apprenticeship Math Pre-test. This is not remedial math! It requires a solid foundation in basic algebra and geometry. As such, it would be critically necessary to develop course work in math & science centered around trades. You can get a young person all fired up about being a carpenter, plumber, or electrician, but if they don’t have the basic math skills to get their foot in the door, then it’s all for naught.
And this just does not apply to “getting in the door” – it can be critical for advancement as well! I have seen firsthand how struggling with math can PREVENT promotion & advancement. I had a student at Millikin who worked at Caterpillar and lost out on an internal job opportunity because he could not do the required math (this young man worked on the shop floor, not in an administrative office). I have also seen a young man in the Marine Corps denied advancement in job duties, rank & compensation because he struggled with algebra (he also served two active-duty tours in Iraq). The academic piece in CTE is REAL and CRITICAL!
2. Economic Viability. We want to ensure that a CTE program presents all the opportunities it can, but it would be helpful to ensure that a program leads to meaningful economic outcomes for the students. There are pathways that require post-secondary training and some that do not. Naturally, those in the emerging fields may require additional schoolwork but let’s also be sure to present pathways, like the skilled trades, which lead to immediate employment upon graduation. Should continuing education be required, then we should encourage studies that are focused, have a clearly defined endpoint and then quickly lead to employment.
Let us also be realistic with our expectations surrounding economic viability. As we have pointed out in earlier articles, the earnings potential (especially in the trades) can be tremendous, yet these careers also require a great deal of hard work & commitment over time. These are not “get rich quick” schemes. As such, the concept of entrepreneurship should not be found anywhere in the CTE curriculum. The entrepreneurship tract is currently offered through the Heartland Tech Academy. DPS Chalkboard passionately believes we are doing the students a disservice for even suggesting they consider that pathway!
3. Get them while they are young. The key to a successful CTE program in high school is exposure during middle school. When you look at CTE programs across the country, all of them recognize the need to engage the students before they get to high school. For example, Humble Independent School District in Texas offers a tremendous opportunity to their middle school students (6, 7 & 8) by offering introductory courses in CTE; many of these provide students with actual school credit towards high school graduation.
That entire list can be found here: Humble ISD CTE Middle School Courses. In fact, at the 6th grade level, Humble ISD offers what is called the CTE Exploration Wheel – a course (four-9 week modules) spanning the entire school year that expose them to all of CTE offerings available!
4. Illinois State Standards. With the advent of Common Core, the state of Illinois has spent the past 10-15 year blending those standards into the Illinois State Standards the guide K-12 education. In fact, one could say that those standards are so entrenched in our public schools that the “means have become more important than the ends.” Need proof? The academic standards for Kindergarten is outlined in a document totaling 118 pages. Who knew that knowing your colors, your letters, counting to 20 and being able to write your name was so complex & complicated. The perceived importance of the Illinois State Standards has become so pervasive that educators are hesitant to try anything new for fear of not being able to directly connect the pedagogy to a prescribed state standard. Never fear, there are several states that we here in DPS61 can look towards for guidance.
Here is an example of how a CTE Program (Construction Technology) is aligned with an Academic Area (Math):
CTE Standard
Recognize common fall hazards and employer requirements to protect workers from falls.
Academic (Math) Standard
Explain and use the relationship between the sine and cosine of complimentary angles.
Reasoning/Rationale
Length of a ladder to keep a safe angle from the wall.CTE Standard
Build a small stair unit
Academic (Math) Standard
Interpret the parameters in a linear or exponential function with
integer exponents utilizing real world context.
Reasoning/Rationale
Trend & rise; horizontal and vertical change in stairs (slope) pitch.
These “crosswalk” workarounds are almost comical, but if we must play the game to ensure state funding – just have other states have mapped out, we can play the game.
And there are many more examples throughout the country. In Texas, school districts have tremendous leeway in developing specific CTE classes that meet the state’s requirements for science & math credit needed to graduate high school. Florida has even taken things a step further. There are some districts where a high school diploma can be earned entirely by completing a 4 year CTE curriculum. What a great opportunity for a student who’s not interested in college to earn their diploma and embark on a career path of their choosing!
CTE – Career & Technical Education. In our opinion, this approach is the way forward for Decatur Public Schools. The data bears this out. Those 24 students from the Class of 2019 who earned a bachelor's degree after four years of college were probably going to do so anyway – regardless of their high school coursework. It’s the other 476 that we should focus on!
No matter what the Roadmap 2030 group recommends, no matter what direction the board of education wants central administration to go, the first question that needs to be answered is “What are we doing for the other 476 students that make their way through our high schools?”
I’d love to see if we could partner with military and offer high school students JROTC.