§ 2344. State leadership activities

U.S. Code > Title 20 Education > CHAPTER 44—CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION (§§ 2301—2414) > SUBCHAPTER I—CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ASSISTANCE TO THE STATES (§§ 2321—2355) > Part B—State Provisions (§§ 2341—2344) > § 2344. State leadership activities

(a) General authority

From amounts reserved under section 2322 (a)(2) of this title, each eligible agency shall conduct State leadership activities.

(b) Required uses of funds

The State leadership activities described in subsection (a) shall include—

(1) an assessment of the career and technical education programs carried out with funds under this subchapter, including an assessment of how the needs of special populations are being met and how the career and technical education programs are designed to enable special populations to meet State adjusted levels of performance and prepare the special populations for further education, further training, or for high skill, high wage, or high demand occupations;

(2) developing, improving, or expanding the use of technology in career and technical education that may include—

(A) training of career and technical education teachers, faculty, career guidance and academic counselors, and administrators to use technology, including distance learning;

(B) providing career and technical education students with the academic and career and technical skills (including the mathematics and science knowledge that provides a strong basis for such skills) that lead to entry into technology fields, including non-traditional fields; or

(3) professional development programs, including providing comprehensive professional development (including initial teacher preparation) for career and technical education teachers, faculty, administrators, and career guidance and academic counselors at the secondary and postsecondary levels, that support activities described in section 2342 of this title and—

(A) provide in-service and preservice training in career and technical education programs—

(i) on effective integration and use of challenging academic and career and technical education provided jointly with academic teachers to the extent practicable;

(ii) on effective teaching skills based on research that includes promising practices;

(iii) on effective practices to improve parental and community involvement; and

(iv) on effective use of scientifically based research and data to improve instruction;

(B) are high quality, sustained, intensive, and classroom-focused in order to have a positive and lasting impact on classroom instruction and the teacher’s performance in the classroom, and are not 1-day or short-term workshops or conferences;

(C) will help teachers and personnel to improve student achievement in order to meet the State adjusted levels of performance established under section 2323 of this title;

(D) will support education programs for teachers of career and technical education in public schools and other public school personnel who are involved in the direct delivery of educational services to career and technical education students to ensure that teachers and personnel—

(i) stay current with the needs, expectations, and methods of industry;

(ii) can effectively develop rigorous and challenging, integrated academic and career and technical education curricula jointly with academic teachers, to the extent practicable;

(iii) develop a higher level of academic and industry knowledge and skills in career and technical education; and

(iv) effectively use applied learning that contributes to the academic and career and technical knowledge of the student; and

(E) are coordinated with the teacher certification or licensing and professional development activities that the State carries out under title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 [20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.] and title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 [20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.];

(4) supporting career and technical education programs that improve the academic and career and technical skills of students participating in career and technical education programs by strengthening the academic and career and technical components of such career and technical education programs, through the integration of coherent and relevant content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant career and technical education, to ensure achievement in—

(A) the core academic subjects (as defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 [20 U.S.C. 7801]); and

(B) career and technical education subjects;

(5) providing preparation for non-traditional fields in current and emerging professions, and other activities that expose students, including special populations, to high skill, high wage occupations;

(6) supporting partnerships among local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, adult education providers, and, as appropriate, other entities, such as employers, labor organizations, intermediaries, parents, and local partnerships, to enable students to achieve State academic standards, and career and technical skills, or complete career and technical programs of study, as described in section 2342 (c)(1)(A) of this title;

(7) serving individuals in State institutions, such as State correctional institutions and institutions that serve individuals with disabilities;

(8) support for programs for special populations that lead to high skill, high wage, or high demand occupations; and

(9) technical assistance for eligible recipients.

The leadership activities described in subsection (a) may include—

(1) improvement of career guidance and academic counseling programs that assist students in making informed academic and career and technical education decisions, including—

(A) encouraging secondary and postsecondary students to graduate with a diploma or degree; and

(B) exposing students to high skill, high wage occupations and non-traditional fields;

(2) establishment of agreements, including articulation agreements, between secondary school and postsecondary career and technical education programs in order to provide postsecondary education and training opportunities for students participating in such career and technical education programs, such as tech prep programs;

(3) support for initiatives to facilitate the transition of subbaccalaureate career and technical education students into baccalaureate degree programs, including—

(A) statewide articulation agreements between associate degree granting career and technical postsecondary educational institutions and baccalaureate degree granting postsecondary educational institutions;

(B) postsecondary dual and concurrent enrollment programs;

(D) other initiatives—

(i) to encourage the pursuit of a baccalaureate degree; and

(ii) to overcome barriers to participation in baccalaureate degree programs, including geographic and other barriers affecting rural students and special populations;

(4) support for career and technical student organizations, especially with respect to efforts to increase the participation of students who are members of special populations;

(5) support for public charter schools operating career and technical education programs;

(6) support for career and technical education programs that offer experience in, and understanding of, all aspects of an industry for which students are preparing to enter;

(7) support for family and consumer sciences programs;

(8) support for partnerships between education and business or business intermediaries, including cooperative education and adjunct faculty arrangements at the secondary and postsecondary levels;

(9) support to improve or develop new career and technical education courses and initiatives, including career clusters, career academies, and distance education, that prepare individuals academically and technically for high skill, high wage, or high demand occupations;

(10) awarding incentive grants to eligible recipients—

(A) for exemplary performance in carrying out programs under this chapter, which awards shall be based on—

(i) eligible recipients exceeding the local adjusted levels of performance established under section 2323 (b) of this title in a manner that reflects sustained or significant improvement;

(ii) eligible recipients effectively developing connections between secondary education and postsecondary education and training;

(iii) the adoption and integration of coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards and technical coursework;

(iv) eligible recipients’ progress in having special populations who participate in career and technical education programs meet local adjusted levels of performance; or

(v) other factors relating to the performance of eligible recipients under this chapter as the eligible agency determines are appropriate; or

(B) if an eligible recipient elects to use funds as permitted under section 2355 (c)(19) of this title;

(11) providing for activities to support entrepreneurship education and training;

(12) providing career and technical education programs for adults and school dropouts to complete their secondary school education, in coordination, to the extent practicable, with activities authorized under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act [20 U.S.C. 9201 et seq.];

(13) providing assistance to individuals, who have participated in services and activities under this subchapter, in continuing the individuals’ education or training or finding appropriate jobs, such as through referral to the system established under section 2841 of title 29;

(14) developing valid and reliable assessments of technical skills;

(15) developing and enhancing data systems to collect and analyze data on secondary and postsecondary academic and employment outcomes;

(16) improving—

(A) the recruitment and retention of career and technical education teachers, faculty, administrators, and career guidance and academic counselors, including individuals in groups underrepresented in the teaching profession; and

(B) the transition to teaching from business and industry, including small business; and

(17) support for occupational and employment information resources, such as those described in section 2328 of this title.

(d) Restriction on uses of funds

An eligible agency that receives funds under section 2322 (a)(2) of this title may not use any of such funds for administrative costs.

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§ 2344. State leadership activities