THE
STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF
Jean C. Stevens, Associate Commissioner
Office for Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing
Education
Room
875 EBA (518) 474-5915
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April 9, 2007 |
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To: |
District
Superintendents Superintendents
of Schools |
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From: |
Jean C. Stevens |
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Subject: |
The Career and Technical Education Data Reporting System |
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As in prior
years, the Career and Technical Education Data System (CTEDS) report must be
submitted to the State Education Department in April. This year’s reporting
deadline is April 27, 2007. There is,
however, a significant change in reporting for the 2006-2007 school year. This
year, districts are also required to report CTE data on the Student
Information Repository System
(SIRS).
The data must
be reported through both systems since SED is transitioning from a paper
reporting method to an electronic one. We must collect the data in two formats
in order to ensure consistency in the data reported through these two formats.
Until we can verify consistency, we will have to continue both paper and
electronic collection modes. You can speed the transition to electronic reporting by
ensuring that the information in the paper report is consistent with that in
the electronic report.
Once we can be assured the new
system is capturing all needed data, we will be able to move completely from the
CTEDS paper system to the more efficient electronic SIRS. The elimination of
the CTEDS system is possible only when we are certain that the data collected
through the repository system accurately replicate the data collected through
CTEDs. After that time, CTEDs will be used only to collect data from the
follow-up surveys of the CTE students who graduated.
Over the past
several years, the number of school districts reporting on career and technical
education (CTE) students through CTEDS has declined significantly. It is
imperative that we work together to enhance CTE data collection to better
reflect the actual state of CTE programs and students.
I am asking
each of you to review the process by which CTE students are reported, and then
complete both data reports this year.
Please keep the following in mind:
· All school districts are required to
report on all of their CTE students, not just those receiving Perkins funding.
As we transition to the electronic reporting system, it is important to remember
that tech prep students are to be reported in SIRS.
· As described in the CTEDS
instructions, a CTE student is an individual enrolled at an accredited
secondary school, seeking a high school diploma and enrolled in a CTE
program. A CTE program is defined as
organized educational activities that:
1.
Provide
individuals with the academic and technical knowledge and skills they need to
prepare for further education and for careers in current and emerging
employment sectors; and
2.
Include
competency-based applied learning that contributes to the academic knowledge,
higher-order reasoning and problem-solving skills, work attitudes, general
employability skills, technical skills, and occupation-specific skills of an
individual.
· Whether offered in high schools or BOCES,
Business, Technology, Agriculture, Health Occupations, Trade and Technical, and
Family and Consumer Sciences are all part of Career and Technical Education and
should be reported as such.
· Federal Perkins legislation has
raised the bar for accountability by incorporating the possible use of
sanctions for states that do not meet performance standards.
The following is an overview of the
changes in the reporting process and the CTEDS and SIRS protocols that must be
followed:
|
Data System |
School Year |
High Schools and Comprehensive High Schools |
BOCES |
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CTEDS |
2006-2007 |
Report all CTE students in home school (remember to
include those taking Business, Technology Education, Agriculture, Family and
Consumer Sciences) |
Report all BOCES CTE students |
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SIRS |
2006-2007 |
All of
the above, plus all CTE students enrolled at BOCES (remember to include Tech
Prep students) |
BOCES do not complete SIRS data
reports. All CTE reporting through the SIRS system is the responsibility of
the student’s home school. |
If the data
reported by the CTEDS matches that reported in the SIRS (also referred to as
the data warehouse), next year’s reporting will rely on SIRS alone. This will change the role that BOCES plays in
the reporting process. Once communication links for data sharing between BOCES
and the school districts are established, a more efficient data collection
system will have been achieved through SIRS. Therefore, it is critical to
establish this communication and data sharing link between BOCES and component
school districts during this transition year.
Your diligence in reporting will not
only help us meet federal accountability requirements, but will ensure that
accurate and complete data is used to establish appropriate statewide CTE
policy. As there are no mailings of hard
copy forms, schools and districts must
download them from our site. CTEDS forms can be found at:
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/cteds/home.shtml
After the
accuracy of the data has been confirmed, the Chief School Officer should sign
the certification and forward the complete CTEDS-1 by April 27, 2007 to:
The
New York State Education Department
Information
and Reporting Services, Room 863, EBA
The SIRS manual, including various definitions, can be found
at:
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/SIRS/documentation/UserManual.doc
If you have further questions
regarding the CTEDS report or the necessary reporting requirements, please feel
free to contact Kevin McCarthy at (518) 474-7965 or kmccarth@mail.nysed.gov.
For questions or further information
about CTE and Tech Prep in SIRS, please contact Gregory Amrhein at (518)
474-7965 or gamrhein@mail.nysed.gov.
Thank you for
your attention to this important initiative.