Appendix H (Dr. Toni Damon’s Testimony) ........................................... 2

Number two, maybe removing the strict block scheduling that focused on academic remediation and interventions in the 9th grade and 10th grade. Allow students entering CTE programs as freshman and sophomores the opportunity to develop and create an innovation that originally led them to apply for the career and technical school in the first place…

Lastly, I close with Pennsylvania Department of Education provides CTE subsidy as early as 9th grade, and now I learned as early as 5th grade. I have met with parents, students, and Dobbins roster chair and administrators in regard to this. There is no reason or explanation why the School District of Philadelphia does not allow 9th grade students at the CTE school to begin their CTE training as soon as they start high school. Benefits of this move far outweigh the costs. It is recommended that we explote [sic] this to generate additional revenue to the school budget as we begin to prepare the students for early college and career tech.

Marie Patterson: Transcript pgs. 225-227.

Students in career and technical schools, who may be interested in learning a career, are instead forced onto a strict academic track. While students were previously required to be proficient in the Keystone Exam subjects of Algebra 1, Literature, and Biology in order to graduate, that requirement was eliminated four years ago.

…[A]lthough all students are required to take the Algebra I, Literature, and Biology Keystone Exams for purposes of federal accountability and reporting, CTE concentrators who successfully complete the graduation pathways set forth in Act 6 are deemed to have achieved statewide graduation requirements. However, all students must also satisfy the graduation requirements adopted by the Local Education Agency's (LEA) governing board in order to graduate.

Graduation Requirements for Career and Technical Education Act 6 of 2017. Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Additionally, four-year career and technical education programs are also explicitly detailed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Act 6 defines a CTE concentrator as a student who, by the end of a reporting year, will be reported as successfully completing at least 50 percent of the minimum technical instructional hours required under 22 Pa. Code Ch. 339 (relating to vocational education). The student must be enrolled in a PDE-approved CTE program to be considered a CTE concentrator.

For a 4-year program that provides a minimum of 1,320 hours of vocational program instruction, a CTE student achieves concentrator status after completing 660 hours of vocational program instruction. Most students enrolled in a 4-year program should reach concentrator status at the end of the sophomore year.

Id.

Lastly, Local Education Agencies (LEA), like SDP, have the final say over grading and scheduling at career and technical education schools.

Each LEA determines the minimum grade requirement for each course related to the academic content area.

Id.

While a core curriculum is important and students must be proficient in reading and math, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has allowed for the focus at career and technical education schools to be exclusively on the success of students learning trades, not subjects tested on the Keystone Exam. The evidence has long supported the importance of ninth grade as the most valuable period for high school students. Expanding career and technical education classes to ninth graders offers important opportunities and can expose a student to another option beyond a textbook.

Intergovernmental collaboration is necessary for effective career and technical education programs.

The state is a crucial partner when it comes to creating career and technical education programs that are aligned with careers in growing industries. First, they determine which certifications are required for career and technical education programs.

The state has a very prescribed list of those industry certifications that they will give the District credit for…I call it the industry matrix, the industry certification matrix, which outlines all of the programs, all the certifications that are aligned to the programs, and what year in which the students are to take it.

Michelle Armstrong: Transcript pgs. 74-75

Second, the state helps establish new programs by providing technical assistance and other curriculum development.

…case in point, our new solar program. They worked with us to share with us what are those elements necessary in order to create the program…They have been a great partner on technical assistance for that, and we have worked to open up that program.

Michelle Armstrong: Transcript pg. 77

Local and state partnership is crucial to effectively evaluate, improve, and grow our career and technical education programs. In addition to the technical support and collaboration on curriculum, education funding, grant funding for workforce development programs, and support for career and technical educators are important roles the state plays in ensuring our local workforce system is operating at the highest level.