Career Education FAQ

NON-PRIMARY ENROLLMENT AND CTE

Should a school submit a CTE Concentrator record for a student who is enrolled as a non-primary student?

Submitting certified or non-certified programs for a non-primary school.

General Career Education Questions

What is Career Education data reporting? Career Education as it is known, and has been collected since the 2018-19 school year, consists of two data reporting purposes: College and Career Readiness (CCR) data reporting as required by the 2017 WI Act 59, and Career and Technical Education (CTE) as required by the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, most commonly referred to as the ‘Perkins V’. Overall, both reporting requirements capture college and career readiness data that is used to satisfy both state and federal reporting.

CCR data reporting is required for all public school districts for students in grades 9-12.
CTE data reporting is required for participating Carl Perkins districts for students in grades 11-12.

Please refer to the following documents for an overview of CTE and CCR data reporting:

What are the data elements required for Career Education reporting? IMPORTANT: Districts have been required to submit CTE data, including all CTE course offerings through Roster, for grades 9-12, since the 2018-19 school year. CTE courses are an integral part of the CTE data reporting process because they serve as the starting point for collecting all other CTE data.

All CCR data elements are reported for students in grades 9-12 from all public schools.
All CTE data elements are reported for students in grades 11-12. However, it is important that CTE courses will need to be submitted through Roster for grades 9-12.

CAREER EDUCATION DATA REPORTING ELEMENTS
	College and Career Readiness (CCR) For students in grades 9-12 All public school districts	Career and Technical Education (CTE) For students in grades 11-12 Carl Perkins Districts
Course and Program Participation	Dual Enrollment AP Course (grade performance type) Non-certified Career Education Program Entrepreneurial Student Business Internship/Local co-op School-based Enterprise Simulated Worksite Supervised Supervised Agricultural Experience Certified Career Education Programs State Co-op Education Skills Standards DPI Occupational DPI Employability Skills Youth Apprenticeship Industry Recognized Credential (IRC)	Non-certified Career Education Program Entrepreneurial Student Business Internship/Local co-op School-based Enterprise Simulated Worksite Supervised Supervised Agricultural Experience Certified Career Education Programs State Co-op Education Skills Standards DPI Occupational DPI Employability Skills Youth Apprenticeship
Course and Program Completion	Certificated Program Status Type (for Certified Education Program participation) Grade Performance Type
Student-level Characteristics	2019-20 school year data and earlier: State-endorsed Regional Career Pathway Status (for districts in piloted Regions only, no longer required starting in 2020-21) Participant Completer	CTE Concentrator Instructional Area Code (IAC) Career Pathway type (Cluster) Program Area(s) Single Parent Status

What grade levels should I report for Career Education?

All CCR data elements are reported for students in grades 9-12 from all public schools with the exception of the State-endorsed Regional Career Pathway Status type, which is only required for districts in the piloted Regions.
All CTE data elements are reported for students in grades 11-12. However, it is important that CTE courses will need to be submitted through Roster for grades 9-12.

What is College and Career Readiness (CCR)? In addition to having knowledge in academic content areas, the Wisconsin way of college and career readiness values skills and habits. Our graduates must be critical thinkers, able to communicate effectively, collaborate with others, and solve real world problems. In 2017, Wisconsin Act 59 passed to include new College and Career Readiness (CCR) requirements for the Accountability Report Cards. View more information about CCR requirements.

What is Career and Technical Education (CTE)? Career and Technical Education (CTE) prepares students for a wide range of careers that reflect the contemporary workplace and plays a major role in addressing the workforce and economic needs. CTE encompasses a broad range of activities including academic coursework, career based learning opportunities, and connections to relevance in the world of work. For more information, refer to the Career and technical Education webpage.

Who submits CTE data? CTE is supported through the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V), when the Perkins IV was amended on July 31st, 2018. As part of Perkins accountability, districts who participate in Carl Perkins funding are required to submit CTE data. Over 95% of all public LEAs, including non district charter schools participate in Perkins funding.

What are the Career Education data elements that will be used to satisfy both CCR and CTE data reporting? How does CTE and CCR reporting relate to one another? Career Education reports on a wide variety of college and career readiness data which also satisfies CTE reporting requirements. The following CCR data elements will also satisfy CTE reporting:

Certified Career Education Programs
- Youth Apprenticeship
- State Co-op Education Skill Standards
  - DPI Occupational
  - DPI Youth Leadership
  - DPI Employability
- Industry Recognized Credential
  - State-approved WTCS, Embedded Technical Diploma
  - State-approved WTCS, Technical Diploma
  - State-approved WTCS, Associates
  - State-approved business and industry
  - Not state-approved
Certified program status type
Grade Performance Type

College and Career Ready (CCR)

It is important to understand how CCR and CTE data reporting relate to one another as it will help you understand Career Education data reporting as a whole. Learn more about the data reporting relationship between CCR and CTE in a video or review the CCR and CTE relationship diagram.

How do I submit Dual Enrollment? Districts will need to submit a dual enrollment ‘program name’ for each Dual Enrollment course offered. Review a complete list of program names and guidance on specific program names to submit. To determine the appropriate program name, the district should determine where the instruction of the course is offered. If the course takes place at the high school, the district should select the correct Institution of Higher Education (IHE) based on the articulated agreement between the high school and the IHE.

Do I need to identify if the dual enrollment course is Start College Now, Early College Credit Program (ECCP), Transcripted Credit, or Advanced Standing for data reporting? DPI will only require the program name and type listed above for data reporting purposes. However, your district Student Information System (SIS) may still have a place to enter or record dual enrollment courses as Start College Now, ECCP, Transcripted, or Advanced Standing.

Districts should continue to report dual enrollment courses as Transcripted or Advanced Standing, etc on student’s official transcript as required by PI 26.04 (6) for Technical Skills Attainment Transcript Requirement. Student Official Transcript data is NOT collected in WISEdata.

CTE and CCR

What are Certified Career Education Programs? Programs under which a student can earn certification as part of their participation in college and career readiness experiences. The types of Certified Career Education Programs are:

Youth Apprenticeship
State Co-op Education Skills Standards--DPI Occupational
State Co-op Education Skills Standards--DPI Youth Leadership
State Co-op Education Skills Standards--DPI Employability Skills
Industry Recognized Credential State-approved WTCS--Embedded Technical Diploma
Industry Recognized Credential State-approved WTCS--Technical Diploma
Industry Recognized Credential State-approved WTCS--Associates
Industry Recognized Credential State-approved Business and Industry
Industry Recognized Credential Not State-approved

How are Certified Career Education Programs submitted to WISEdata?

2021-22 School Year and Later:
- If the program is associated to a course: submit course offerings and a section for the course. Submit a student section association and student CTE program association which must include a certificated program status type.
- If the program is not associated to a course (ie, IRC): submit student CTE program association which must include a certificated program status type.
2020-21 School Year and Earlier:
- If the program is associated to a course: submit course offerings and submit a grade record which must include a certificated program status type.
- If the program is not associated to a course (ie, IRC): submit student CTE program association which must include a certificated program status type.

What is Certificated program status type? What is this status type used for? A ‘certificated program status type’ is required for each Certified Career Education program a student participates in and helps indicate whether the student earned certification while in the program. The status types are:

Student met the requirements of the certified program and was or is to be awarded a certificate
Student is continuing in the certified program
Student has left the certified program before completion
Student has completed the program but did not meet the requirements for the certificate

Why are grades required for Career Education reporting? A ‘Performance Base Conversion Type’ is required for all courses for students in grades 9-12, for all public schools. The grade performance type is important for determining student completion for CCR and CTE data reporting requirements, and has been in effect since the 2018-19 school year.

The grade performance types are:

Code	Short Description	Description
P	Pass	Passing grade earned for coursework based on local standards and policy.
F	Fail	Failing grade earned for coursework based on local standards and policy.
N	Not Completed	No grade earned for a course in which a grade may be earned. The student is ineligible to receive a grade earned or course credits.
NG	Not Graded	Coursework for which no grade (including pass/fail) may be earned.

Career and Technical Education (CTE)

How does Career Education data reporting change how I normally submit CTE data now that it’s collected in WISEdata? In the past, Carl Perkins districts submit two reports to either their fiscal agent or directly to DPI:

Composite Enrollment Report (CER): This report collects students in grades 11th and 12th. The CER captures student enrollment and demographics data along with program participation, earned credentials, and the identification of CTE concentrators and participants. This report is due July 15.
Graduate Follow-up Report (FUP): This report collects students identified as Concentrator Completers in the previous reporting year CER report by the district. A student is a Concentrator Completer if the student has graduated and is a CTE Concentrator who has completed the third CTE course in their chosen pathway. This report is due May 15th.

CER data collection will now be integrated into WISEdata to improve the overall data collection process in order to ensure 1) greater security of student data, 2) increase data accuracy and consistent data, 3) provide for more streamlined collection process and management of the data, 4) reduce burden at the local level.

As a result, the CER data will now be entered and submitted through your district’s Student Information System (SIS). Districts will be responsible in reviewing data validations and error warning messages through the WISEdata portal.

There are no changes or impacts to the Follow-up (FUP) report. The reporting and collection of the FUP remains to be the same as reported in previous years. This means that the Career and Technical Education Coordinators (CTECs) who serve as the district(s) Carl Perkins fiscal agent, will continue to receive their FUP excel template from DPI through the secure FTP site, Accellion. All FUP report(s) must be submitted to the appropriate DPI contact through Accellion by the deadline of May 15th.

When should I submit my CER data in the SIS? DPI encourages you to make progress on Roster and Career Education data submission to WISEdata continually throughout the year as it happens, and is needed to be complete prior to the December snapshot date. Snapshots include Roster and Career Education data. The next Snapshot will take place December 6, 2022. View snapshot preparation guidance. You can also review the WISEdata Events calendar for information about each date.

However, since DPI Help Desk begins data quality checks in August to prepare for the December snapshot, it may also be helpful to have your CER data submitted by August of each calendar year.

What happens after I enter my CTE data? Like all other data submissions, your CTE data will go through the data import process and data validations and quality metrics process. Click here to review the entire WISEdata life cycle and understand how your data will travel through the Ed-Fi API, WISEdata Portal, and to WISEdash.

How and where should I review my data validation messages and warnings? Review your data validation messages by using the WISEdata Portal frequently. The WISEdata Portal is an application used to verify that data is pushed from your student information system (SIS) to DPI through the WISEdata API. Once you submit data from your student information system (SIS) to the DPI, the data will be analyzed for accuracy through a validation cycle where business rules are applied to your data and processed by DPI. Depending on the quality of the data, validation messages are generated to give you feedback on data that needs review and/or correction. Review the WISEdata Validation Messages Mini Tutorial.

Who should be included in the review of my CER data? The WISEdata portal is the first point of data checks and validations. This process will most likely include data stewards in the district (such as the WISE data Coordinator) who may need to reach out to the district CTE Content experts. DPI encouraged districts to assemble a district level Roster team to work together to understand the Career Education data reporting requirements and process.

Who participates or enrolls in CTE? Generally, students in grades 9-12 can enroll in CTE courses offered by the school districts. CTE courses can be taken within a student’s chosen pathway.

What is a CTE course? A CTE course is a secondary course offered through the Wisconsin program areas listed below and must be taught by a CTE instructor licensed for that specific discipline:

Agriculture and Natural Resource
Business and Information Technology
Family and Consumer Sciences Education
Marketing Management and Entrepreneurship Education
Technology & Engineering
Health Science*

However, there is an exception to Health Science education as there is no CTE Health Science Education license. As such, health science education courses may be taught by a health education instructor, a licensed science instructor, or a family and consumer science teacher.

The definition above is defined by DPI and is used as guidance for local school districts when determining CTE courses and development. Before districts identify the appropriate Roster code for CTE course offerings, districts will need to verify the course is taught by a licensed CTE educator within the specific discipline as this determines whether or not the course is CTE.

How do I submit my CTE courses through Roster? WISEdata Roster uses the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) SCED for course code reporting of which CTE is a part. The SCED will provide a list of CTE courses that DPI will publish with a 'Career and Technical Education' flag for the courses. In order to properly submit CTE courses through Roster, districts must first ensure the course code contains a CTE course flag indicator and meets the definition of a CTE course. To view all courses identified as CTE from the SCED, download the DPI course codes and filter “CTE Course” to “Yes.” It is imperative that all CTE courses be submitted with a course code that contains the CTE course flag indicator as this may impact your district’s CTE data reporting.

While we understand the SCED course list may not match perfectly to all district CTE course offerings, it is important that districts review course descriptions and select the course that best aligns with the CTE course being offered. If you are unable to map a CTE course you offer locally to the DPI-populated course list with the CTE indicator flag, reach out to your vendor and/or DPI for assistance.

I have a CTE course that is not Health Science Education but the course is not taught by a licensed CTE licensed teacher in the specific discipline. How do I flag these courses as CTE? Districts will need to make sure the course is taught by a licensed CTE educator within the specific discipline, as this determines whether or not the course is CTE. Health Science Education continues to be an exception as there is no CTE Health Science Education license. As such, Health Science Education courses may be taught by a health education instructor, a licensed science instructor, or a family and consumer science. It is important that all CTE course codes contain a CTE course=Yes flag as this will indicate to DPI the course is CTE.

Example 1: The desired code for your Child Development and Parenting CTE course is currently not flagged as CTE in SCED 5. In this scenario, the district should consider exploring other codes with a CTE course=yes flag. Examples of other Child Development CTE course codes are Child and Adult Care Services or Child Development.
Example 2: The desired code for your Clothing and Sewing CTE course is currently not flagged as CTE in SCED 5. In this scenario, the district should consider exploring other codes with CTE course=yes flag. Examples of other Clothing and Sewing CTE course codes are Apparel Construction or Clothing and Textiles.

I am trying to submit a non-CTE course but the code has a CTE flag. What should I do in this scenario? Submitting a course code with a CTE=Yes flag indicates to DPI the course is CTE. If the course is not CTE, submit a course code where the CTE course=No. Submit the code where the course description best aligns with the offered course and CTE course=No.

Example 1: The desired non-CTE Computer Science course code is flagged as CTE course=Yes. In this scenario, the district should consider exploring other codes with CTE course=No flag. Examples of other non-CTE Computer Science course codes are Multimedia Design, Interactive Design, Digital Imaging, Particular Topics in Management Information Systems, and or Web Design.

Where can I find the latest course codes (SCED)? How can I download the codes? You download the latest SCED course codes. Click the Download all courses as CSV button for the school year you need codes for.

How do I know if a course code is a CTE course on the SCED download? Once you have downloaded the list of courses, filter for column F ‘CTE course’ and select ‘Yes’ to view all of the CTE course codes.

How do I map career cluster(s) to a CTE course? WISEdata Roster uses the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) SCED 9.0 for course code reporting, of which CTE is a part. The SCED 9 will provide CTE course to cluster mapping, which will be available on the DPI course list. For each CTE course, 'Cluster' (career pathway) mapping will be available in the Identification Code field. Most courses are a 1:1 match when mapping course to cluster, but there are some courses that have many mappings.

How do I submit grade for a student who is enrolled in a CTE course? Submit the grades endpoint data in association to Roster Grading Period and Student Section Association.

Grade Type should always be Final based on the final grade/mark given for a particular term.
Performance Base Conversion Type should be submitted as Pass/Fail/Not Graded/Not Completed
- Note, for districts that do not directly identify Pass/Fail/Not Graded/Not Completed but instead base grades on the letter or number grade rubric, the SIS will map the grades to the Pass/Fail/Not Graded/Not Completed indicator in the API.
Letter Grade Earned or Numeric Grade Earned is optional but strongly encouraged.

What is a CTE Concentrator? How do I submit a concentrator? A student is identified as a concentrator if the student completed a minimum of two CTE courses within a chosen pathway and is enrolled in a continuing CTE course in that pathway for the reporting year

A concentrator may also be a student who has completed three CTE courses (or more) within a chosen pathway and is not enrolled in any CTE courses in the reporting year.

Since the 2020-21 school year, a student is identified as a CTE concentrator if the student has completed a minimum of two CTE courses within a chosen pathway throughout high school. Once a student is reported as a CTE concentrator for a school year, they should continue to be reported as a CTE concentrator until high school completion.

Submit a student as a concentrator by marking the student as a CTE Concentrator in your district’s Student Information System (SIS). Specific questions and guidance on how to mark and/or navigate the SIS should be addressed to your SIS vendor contact person. Depending on your district, this feature and functionality may vary in process.

All students identified as CTE concentrators will each have a ‘CTE Concentrator Summary’ record submitted to DPI.

What is a CTE participant? How do I report a participant? A student is a CTE participant if the student was enrolled in and completed (passed) one or more CTE courses for the reporting year.

Districts will not have to manually identify or flag a student as CTE Participant through the SIS. Instead, DPI will determine Participants based on students enrolled in CTE course offerings submitted via Roster. Students who are enrolled in a CTE course with a performance type of passed or failed will be identified as CTE Participants. Therefore, it is important that you submit course codes with a CTE flag=Yes.

What other data elements are required to be submitted with a CTE concentrator versus a participant? Districts will need to submit the additional information for each CTE Concentrator:

Career Pathway Type (career cluster level)
A single Instructional Area Code (IAC)
Program Area(s)

There are no additional data elements that will need to be submitted for CTE Participants.

What is Single Parent status? Single Parent status is a characteristic that denotes whether a student who is unmarried or legally separated has sole or joint custody of a minor child or children at any point during the reporting year. This also includes pregnant female students who are unmarried or legally separated.

Is Single Parent status required for all concentrators? Participants? Single Parent status is required for CTE data reporting and therefore is required for all 11th and 12th grade students.

What is an IAC? The Instructional Area Code (IAC) should reflect the focus of the student’s planned sequence of secondary CTE courses leading to skills for employment after graduation and/or the continuation of studies at an institution of higher education. It is also known as the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code. Submit a single IAC for each CTE concentrator. View a complete list of IAC.

Non-Primary Enrollment and CTE

Should a school submit a CTE Concentrator record for a student who is enrolled as a non-primary student? No. CTE Concentrator records are only submitted by the school of primary enrollment.

Submitting certified or non-certified programs for a non-primary school. If a student is enrolled at a school with a non-primary enrollment type, the school should not submit certified or non-certified programs at the student level. However, non-primary schools can submit those programs at the course level, which will show that the student is enrolled in the course.

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Career Education FAQ