ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career - The Toolkit

  • Mapping and Monitoring Curriculum
  • Professional Development
  • Creating and Managing CTE at Your School
  • Making Postsecondary and Industry Connections
  • Promoting Local, State, and Federal Policy
    • Local/state
    • Federal/national
  • Using Research and State Resources
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Promoting Local, State, and Federal Policy: Federal/National

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Betraying the College Dream: How Disconnected K-12 and Postsecondary Education Systems Undermine Student AspirationsAndrea Venezia, Michael W. Kirst, Anthony L. Antonio; Stanford University Bridge Report, 2003

This report summarizes the findings of a 6-year national study and concludes that “states have created unnecessary and detrimental barriers between high school and college—barriers that are undermining students’ aspirations and postsecondary success. The current fractured systems send students, their parents, and K–12 educators conflicting and vague messages about what students need to know and be able to do to enter and succeed in college.” To remove these impediments, the report lists promising actions for immediate reform and other steps that states, K-12 schools and districts, postsecondary institutions and systems, and the federal government can take to help all students successfully transition from high school to college.

Download/view: PDF (4.7MB)
Multiple Pathways and State Policy: Toward Education and Training Beyond High School Patrick M. Callan and Joni E. Finney, The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education

This report, commissioned by Jobs for the Future and their Redesigning High School project, makes the case for increasing Americans’ access to and attainment of postsecondary education, addresses the challenges faced by government and educational institutions to achieving this goal, and identifies elements—such as educational accountability, governance, and public finance—that need to change to effect large-scale educational reform.

Download/view: PDF (46KB)
Supporting High Quality Career and Technical Education through Federal and State PolicyBetsy Brand, American Youth Policy Forum, (2008)

This 16-page policy brief examines several issues affecting the development and expansion of career technical education (CTE). It provides 12 recommendations for federal and state policy makers. It also asserts that the federal government can provide leadership in improving high schools, supporting knowledge and skill development for all youth and acknowledging the key role that quality CTE can play in these efforts.

Download/view: PDF (226KB)