VII.B. - Program Delivery | Idaho State Board of Education

VII.B. – Program Delivery

1. Program Delivery

Career technical education programs are made available at three (3) levels in Idaho -- secondary, postsecondary, and workforce training.

2. Secondary Programs

Secondary Programs are provided through participating local education agencies and career technical centers. Secondary programs are established by the Division and may be categorized as either a cluster program or a pathway program.
Cluster Program: provides introductory and intermediate courses as an introduction to a career technical area and the opportunity to learn workplace readiness expectations. A cluster program must meet the following requirements:
1. Consist of a variety of foundation and intermediate courses within a single Career Cluster. The program does not culminate in a capstone course.
2. Offer a program that is three or more semesters (or the equivalent) in length.
3. Demonstrate a strong career/workplace readiness skills alignment.
4. Participate in a related Career Technical Student Organization.
5. Maintain an active Technical Advisory Committee to guide program development and foster industry engagement.
6. Require a nationally validated, industry-based Workplace Readiness Assessment created to evaluate skills and attitudes needed for success in the workplace administered by an approved assessment developer as part of the program.
Pathway Program: provides specific career area occupational preparation, the opportunity to learn workplace readiness expectations, and the knowledge and skill development required to transition into a similar postsecondary program. A pathway program must meet the following requirements:
1. Consist of a sequence of courses that culminate in a capstone course and aligns with career technical education pathway standards approved by the Career Technical Education State Administrator.
2. Offer a program that is three or more semesters (or the equivalent) in length.
3. Demonstrate a strong career/workplace readiness skills alignment.
4. Participate in a related Career Technical Student Organization.
5. Maintain an active Technical Advisory Committee to guide program development and foster industry engagement.
6. Require the Workplace Readiness Assessment as part of the program.
  
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7. Demonstrate alignment to similar postsecondary program outcomes as well as to relevant industry recognized standards.
8. Offer work-based learning experience opportunities for students (paid or unpaid).
9. Require a pathway-identified Technical Skill Assessment for all students enrolled in the capstone course (concentrators).
10. Require a nationally validated, industry-based technical skill assessment administered by an approved developer.
All junior and senior concentrators are required to take the technical skill assessment associated with their program. In the event a senior concentrator is enrolled in a pathway program that does not yet have an approved technical skill assessment, that student will take only the workplace readiness assessment until the pathway program technical skill assessment has been approved.
All seniors enrolled in more than one career technical education course are required to take the workplace readiness assessment.
Secondary Program Approval

The Division accepts applications each year from local education agencies to establish new secondary career technical programs, change a program type or reactivate an inactive program. To be considered in a given fiscal year the application must be received no later than February 15. Only approved programs are eligible to receive added-cost funds, or additional career technical education funding including, Idaho Program Quality Standards, Program Quality Initiative, Workforce Readiness Incentive Grant, and federal Perkins funding. In order to receive added-cost funds, a program must also be taught by an appropriately certified career technical education teacher. Career technical education teacher certification requirements are established in IDAPA 08.02.02. Applications must be submitted in a format established by the Administrator.

The Division will evaluate applications on standard criteria. Approval of new programs and reactivation of inactive programs will be based on available funding; priority will be given to pathway programs. A local education agency must demonstrate that, as part of its decision for creating, changing, or reactivating a career technical program, the local education agency has considered the recommendations from a local technical advisory committee. If such a committee does not already exist, the local education agency must create a committee for the express purpose of evaluating local and/or regional need for the proposed career technical program and for providing guidance on the application for such program. Applications must indicate if the program is a cluster or a pathway program and will be evaluated according to the specific program type. Denial of applications will be based on failure to meet the application requirements, including but not limited to missing deadlines, information, failure to meet minimum program requirements or failure to respond to any request for additional information within the timeframe

PPGA TAB 3 Page 3 specified in the application. Local education agencies will be notified of their application status on or before April 30 of the application year. Prior to receiving added-cost funds, the local education agency must submit the applicable statement of assurances, as outlined in the application approval letter.
1. Comprehensive high school new cluster programs will be evaluated on the following criteria:
  1. Meeting minutes that reflect recommendations from the local technical advisory committee
  2. Alignment with one of four approved cluster program areas
  3. Provides basic workplace readiness skills
  4. Connection to a Career Technical Student Organization (CTSO) supported by the Division
  5. Representation on the technical advisory committee in alignment with the program area industry
  6. Realistic, applied learning, provided through lab and industry-related activities
  7. Facilities to accommodate the program with equipment and space
  8. Agreement with the Statement of Assurances, as defined in the application
2. Comprehensive high school new pathway programs will be evaluated on the following criteria:
  1. Meeting minutes that reflect recommendations from the local technical advisory committee
  2. Alignment with one of the approved pathway programs established by the Division
  3. Provide basic workplace readiness skills
  4. Consists of sequential, intermediate and capstone courses that meet the minimum requirements
  5. Connection to a Career Technical Student Organization (CTSO) supported by the Division
  6. Technical advisory committee that includes representatives from the identified occupational pathway
  7. Realistic, applied learning, provided through lab and industry-related activities
  8. Work-based learning opportunities
  9. Regional need for the program, established through labor market data
  10. Alignment with approved pathway standards
  11. Alignment to related postsecondary program
  12. Facilities to accommodate a pathway program with the appropriate and relevant equipment and space for the pathway
  13. Agreement with the Statement of Assurances, as defined in the application
    
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3. Career Technical Center (CTC) pathway programs must meet the evaluation criteria for a new pathway program, as well as the criteria outlined in IDAPA 55.01.03.
Allowable Use of Added-Cost Funds

Added-cost funds are distributed to school districts to cover instructor and program expenses beyond those normally encountered by Idaho public schools at the secondary level. Allocations are calculated based on career technical education teacher full-time equivalency (FTE) and must be used to support all career technical education programs in the school districts. Added-cost funds may only be used for expenses directly related to an approved career technical education program in five (5) categories:
1. Instructional and Program Promotion Materials and Supplies
  1. Single copy reference materials, including single-user electronic reference materials
  2. Consumable student lab and classroom manuals
  3. Consumable materials and supplies that support the instructional program
  4. Workplace Readiness Assessment (WRA) and Technical Skill Assessment (TSA) exam costs (excluding retakes) for those exams administered outside the Division-funded testing window
  5. Web-based licensed products to support program instruction and management
  6. Materials and supplies used in CTE program promotion
2. Equipment
  1. Equipment costing $500 or more per unit cost and having an expected life greater than two years (software is not considered equipment)
  2. Computers and peripherals necessary for program instruction above and beyond equipment provided to academic classrooms
3. Salaries
  1. Time beyond the normal academic year to be defined as the last school session calendar day of the current year and before the first session calendar day of the subsequent year, which should be a documented agreement between the district and the CTE instructor
  2. Time during the normal academic year for CTSO advisors who travel and stay in hotels to attend state and national leadership conferences with their students, beyond the normal school week to include one (1)
    
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  3. For health professions programs only, time beyond the normal school day, i.e., evenings and weekends, for licensed professional teachers delivering required instruction to students at clinical sites
4. Contracts
  1. Services contracted by the district for maintaining and repairing CTE equipment and for operating and maintaining CTE labs and shops (e.g., equipment service contracts and hazardous waste disposal)
  2. Fees and expenses for supplemental specialized instruction (e.g., certified CPR trainer, OSHA certification instructor, short-term specialized instruction from subject matter expert, supplemental staff to supervise students in a clinical environment)
5. Travel and Professional Expenses
  1. Instructor travel costs and fees for CTE-related professional development (e.g., conferences, seminars, workshops, state-sponsored meetings, summer conference, and back-to-industry experiences related to the CTE program)
  2. Instructor travel costs and fees related to CTE student activities and CTSO activities (e.g., conference registration fees, mileage, per diem, lodging)
  3. Instructor membership dues for professional associations and CTSO affiliations related to program area.
  4. Up to ten percent (10%) of the CTE added-cost funding for student transportation within the state to a state-approved CTSO leadership conference or event
6. Added-Cost Funds may not be used for:
  1. Print textbooks, electronic textbooks, and/or other electronic media used as the primary source of content delivery
  2. Technology related to general instructional delivery (e.g., projectors, cell phones)
  3. Classroom equipment, supplies, and web-based licensed products that are provided to all district teachers and classrooms
  4. Fundraising equipment and supplies
  5. Equipment not related to program instruction
  6. Salaries and benefits for certified employees (i.e., teachers who hold certification) and classified employees (i.e., employees other than certified or professional teachers)
  7. Salaries and benefits to replace furlough days
  8. Salaries and benefits for district pre-service and/or in-service days
    
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  9. Salaries and benefits for substitutes
  10. Contracted salaries or benefits to provide the basic instructional program
  11. Fees to obtain or renew teaching credentials and/or professional licenses
  12. Tuition and transcripted credits, including professional development credits
  13. Individual student travel fees and expenses

9. First Steps: Understanding the World of Work courses taught by an instructor holding

a career technical educator certification may be included as part of a cluster or approved pathway program regardless of the content area endorsement the instructor holds.

10. Postsecondary Programs

Postsecondary Programs are provided through the state system of six (6) regional technical colleges. Postsecondary programs are defined in Board Policy III.E and are reviewed by the Administrator. In accordance with Board Policy III.G., the Administrator shall meet with the Technical College Leadership Council (TCLC) on a regular basis. The regional technical colleges are:
1. College of Western Idaho (Nampa)
2. College of Southern Idaho (Twin Falls)
3. College of Eastern Idaho (Idaho Falls)
4. Idaho State University College of Technology (Pocatello)
5. Lewis-Clark State College (Lewiston)
6. North Idaho College (Coeur d'Alene)
Workforce Training Programs are primarily provided through the six (6) regional technical colleges to provide upgrading and retraining programs for persons in the work force and to support regional industry needs. These offerings range from brief seminar classes to intensive courses which normally are fewer than 500 hours of annual instruction.

11. Pathway Standards

To be considered for approval, career technical education programs must meet approved pathway standards or be in an approved emergent area:
1. Agricultural, Food, and Natural Resources
2. Business and Marketing Education
3. Engineering and Technology Education
4. Health Professions and Public Safety
5. Family and Consumer Sciences and Human Services
6. Trades and Industry
  
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7. Workplace Readiness
8. First Steps: Understanding the World of Work (career pathways)
Pathway standards shall be reviewed on a five (5) year rotating basis. Reviews shall be facilitated by the Division’s applicable program quality staff. Review committees shall be made up of, at a minimum, industry representatives and secondary and postsecondary educators specific to the occupation pathway being reviewed, including State Department of Education staff as applicable to the program area. Pathway standards updates shall consist of, but are not limited to:
1. Standards Setting - The formal process for setting standards will be “industry- driven” and will involve Program Quality Managers, as well as a diverse group of businesses and industry members, educators, and others.
2. Criticality Survey - Once the technical standards and student learning outcomes have been developed and vetted through the initial standards writing team, the standards are shared with a larger group of related industry representatives through a critical survey.
3. Standards Publishing - Draft standards are publicly posted and timeline established for implementation.
4. Test Item Development - Using the criticality survey as a blueprint, secondary and postsecondary instructors, assessment vendor, and program quality managers write test items for the secondary Technical Skill Assessment (TSA).
5. Pilot - TSAs are aligned with Idaho industry-recognized standards and measure technical knowledge. The TSA is a nationally validated, industry-based assessment, administered by an approved vendor and is the end of program assessment for pathways.
6. Test Item Analysis - Test item analysis uses the test questions and data derived from the pilot assessment to determine the quality of the test items and to assess the test as a whole. Items that are not effective may be revised or eliminated to include both the question and possible answers. Item analysis typically focuses on four major pieces of information: test score reliability, item difficulty, item discrimination, and distractor information.
7. Set Cut Score - Secondary and postsecondary instructors, assessment vendor and program quality managers determine the cut or passing score for the assessment.
8. Badge or Microcredential Creation – program quality managers will work with the Performance Management Microcredential Coordinator to develop the microcredentials aligned to the new standards and a completed list of industry- validated set of badges.
9. Implementation Plan - The set of standards are aligned to the TSA each year. If standards are revalidated and a pilot is created during a school year, the pilot should be offered in the same school year, but the TSA for that same school year should align to the existing standards. The newly adopted standards will take affect the following school year and align with the TSA.

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VII.B. – Program Delivery – 06-2024