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What is Career Education?
Career education (CE) is a robust educational experience designed to provide diverse learning opportunities for high school students. CE allows students to evaluate potential career paths and then participate in classes and other academic opportunities to develop skills that will help them succeed in their chosen path once they enter the workforce. Career education is an "umbrella" term that encompasses many programs.
Career and Technical Education (CTE) is supported through the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, commonly referred to as ‘Perkins V’. As part of Perkins accountability, all districts who participate in Carl Perkins funding are required to submit data for students in grades 11 and 12. Over 95% of all public local education agencies (LEAs), including non-district charter schools, participate in Perkins funding.
There are overlaps between CCR and CTE data reporting. Therefore, many College and Career Readiness (CCR) data reporting requirements also satisfy CTE data reporting requirements. For reporting guidance, please visit the CTE Data Resources page.
DPI collects career education information in WISEdata for two primary reasons:
- measuring college and career readiness (CCR), and
- career and technical education (CTE) reporting required in connection with federal Carl Perkins Act funds.
Career Education Component - CCR:
What is CCR? CCR, or college and career readiness, is a guiding principle throughout Wisconsin schools, applied in age-appropriate ways from our earliest grades all the way through high school. Schools and districts prepare students to be college- and career-ready by providing a variety of opportunities through academic content areas, as well as by teaching skills, mindsets and habits. Our graduates must be critical thinkers, effective communicators, collaborative teammates, and real world problem solvers.
Career Education Component - CTE:
What is CTE? CTE, or Career and Technical Education, 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.
What is a CTE course? According to DPI, a CTE course is a high school level course offered through the Wisconsin program areas taught by a CTE instructor licensed for that specific discipline. Local schools and districts should follow this guidance when determining CTE courses and development for their specific options. Before districts identify the appropriate roster code for CTE course offerings, districts must verify that the course is taught by a licensed CTE educator within the specific discipline, as this determines whether or not the course is CTE. Generally, students in grades 9-12 can enroll in CTE courses offered by the school districts.
Wisconsin recognizes Six CTE Program Area types. These are commonly referred to as the six CTE Departments:
- Agriculture and Natural Resource
- Business and Information Technology
- Family and Consumer Sciences Education
- Marketing Management and Entrepreneurship Education
- Technology & Engineering
- Health Science*
*NOTE: Wisconsin does not offer a 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.
Who Submits CE Data?
All public school districts are required to report CE data for students in grades 9-12. Districts must use the latest roster codes for grades 9-12 when submitting data on CE courses and programs. This is necessary to accurately report CTE data in connection with Perkins requirements. Districts only report CTE concentrators in grades 11 and 12 under Perkins.
Grade Levels to Report:
CCR data reporting is required for all public school districts for students in grades 9-12. Please refer to the Career Education Data Reporting document for an overview of CE data reporting.
Why Report CE Data?
Career Education and its two primary components, CCR and CTE, have state and federal reporting requirements.
College and Career Readiness (CCR) data reporting is required by the 2017 WI Act 59.
Career Education Data Flow
Like all other elements collected in WISEdata, each school or district's career education data goes through the data import process and data validations and quality metrics process. This presentation reviews the entire WISEdata life cycle so that you can understand how your data moves through the Ed-Fi API to the WISEdata Portal and to WISEdash.
Please refer to the Career Education Data Reporting Scenarios page for details on data flow.
Career Education (CCR & CTE) Data Elements
Cluster Title (formerly Career Pathway Type)
CTE Department/Program Area Type
IAC Code Type (Instructional Area Code)
Report all CTE data elements for students in grades 11-12. Additionally, submit all CTE courses through Roster for grades 9-12. CTE courses are the starting point for collecting all other CTE data.
CTE and CCR reporting relate to one another because they are both components that fall under the larger "umbrella" called Career Education. CE reports on a wide variety of college and career readiness data that may also satisfy CTE reporting requirements. Review the CCR and CTE relationship diagram to learn more. You do not need to submit any additional data elements for CTE participants. DPI encourages you to submit career education data to WISEdata continually throughout the year as it happens.
The DPI Help Desk begins data quality checks in August to prepare for the annual December snapshot. Reporting must be complete prior to the annual December snapshot date since snapshots include Career Education data. Career education and CTE data is due at the December Snapshot. View the Snapshot Preparation Guidance page for current dates, helpful tools, and best practices. Review the WISEdata Events calendar for information about upcoming dates, training or webinars available for preparation.
WISEdata Portal: Exports, Validations and Data Metrics
Career Education data relies heavily on other data you submit, particularly enrollment and Roster data. Career education data quality checks, real-time metrics, and data details appear in the WISEdata Portal. Visit the CTE Data Resources for training documents and resources about CTE reporting requirements.
View current data in WISEdata Portal. Use the Exports tab to review data as it is currently flowing to WISEdata. Use these Excel files to check students, course counts, class size, and categories. This is live data that will eventually be captured in snapshots.
- CTE Concentrators
- CTE Participants
- Course Offerings
- Career Connected High School
- College Career Ready
WISEdata Portal displays validation errors and warnings for Roster, CTE, and CCR data. If you have errors, you resolve them by reviewing the data entered into your SIS. Then, re-sync to update the WISEdata Portal. Check with your vendor on how to re-sync data. Review your data validation messages frequently. For more support, see the vendor resources in WISEData Portal, including :
1. Log in to WISEdata Portal.
2. Click Resources in the blue toolbar.
3. Select Vendor Resources.
4. In the row for the "CTE Workshop with Skyward SMS - Recorded Session (23/24 SY)", click the URL to watch the session.
- Or, in the row for "CTE Workshop with Skyward SMS - Powerpoint (23/24 SY)," click the URL to read the presentation slides.
Career Education Resource Links
Career & Technical Education landing page
Career and Technical Education Data Reporting
CTE Data Resources (WISE Guide is located here)
Knowledge Base Articles (KBAs)
Student Data Privacy in Wisconsin
WISEdata Elements landing page: search all data elements
WISEdata Release Notes (Historical)
Career Education FAQ and Use Cases
CTE Courses Dual Enrollment Perkins
CTE COURSES
How do I submit my CTE courses through Roster? In order to properly submit CTE courses through Roster, first ensure the Roster code contains a CTE course flag indicator and meets the definition of a CTE course. To view all courses identified as CTE from the Roster, download the DPI courses sheet and filter “CTE Course” to “Yes.” You must submit all CTE courses with a Roster code that contains the CTE course flag indicator, as this may impact your district’s CTE data reporting. While we understand the Roster course list may not align perfectly with all district CTE course offerings, it is important to review course descriptions and select the course that best aligns with the CTE course 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 or DPI for assistance.
I am trying to submit a non-CTE course, but the code associated with the course I want to submit has a CTE flag. What should I do? Submitting a Roster code with a CTE=Yes flag indicates to DPI the course is CTE. If the course is not CTE, submit a Roster code where the CTE course=No. Submit the code where the course description best aligns with the course you are offering and also is flagged as CTE course=No.
- Example: The code you would like to use for your non-CTE Computer Science course is flagged as CTE course=Yes. Explore other codes flagged with CTE course=No. Examples of other non-CTE Computer Science courses are "Multimedia Design," "Interactive Design," "Digital Imaging," "Particular Topics in Management Information Systems," and "Web Design."
Where can I find the latest Roster codes? Download the latest DPI Roster codes from the Courses WISEdata elements page. Click the Download all courses as CSV button for the appropriate year to obtain a spreadsheet of course descriptions and codes for that school year.
How do I know if a Roster code is a CTE course on the courses download? Once you have downloaded the spreadsheet of courses, filter on the column titled "CTE course" and select "Yes" to view all of the CTE Roster codes.
How do I map career pathways to a CTE course? Please submit a WISE Help Ticket for questions about mapping CTE courses.
How do I submit grades for a student who is enrolled in a CTE course? Courses should be graded. In your SIS, submit students' final grades for courses. Double check your SIS setup for Roster to ensure grades are turned on to send. Each SIS vendor offers assistance. To ensure that your grades are flowing appropriately, check WISEdata Export, Roster Sections - Grades/Marks.
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DUAL ENROLLMENT
How do I submit Dual Enrollment? Each SIS vendor also has a dropdown menu for selecting the type of Institution of Higher Education (IHE) associated with the course. Review a complete list of program names and guidance on specific dual enrollment program names to submit. The CTE Data Resources webpage has a Roster work plan to help districts organize the course-level data elements to enter in the SIS.
You need to schedule students into properly identified dual enrollment courses in the high school. You need to enter final grades for these dual enrollment courses to properly show completion. Note that only dual enrollment courses with a passing grade entered will be included in school and district report cards and Carl Perkins accountability reporting. Please be aware that editing transcripts to show Early College Credit Program (ECCP) or Start College Now (SCN) grades does not report completion status in WISEdata. WISEdata reads data directly from the course enrollment data elements submitted.
WISEdata Portal's Vendor Resources has a CTE Data Reporting webinar to help with this process. For dual enrollment courses taught by college or university professors, Students taking a college course must be associated with a section, course, and a local (district) teacher. In this scenario, you may assign a monitoring educator from your district. The actual teacher at the college is NOT submitted to Roster.
Do I need to identify the specific type of dual enrollment course? DPI only requires the program name (dual enrollment) and type. See the Dual Enrollment data element page for more information.
Many CTE instructors refer to dual enrollment courses as Transcripted or Advanced Standing. Districts should report these courses in WISEdata using the program types listed in the Dual Enrollment data element page. They should also continue to report these courses on student’s official transcripts as required by PI 26.04 (6) for Technical Skills Attainment Transcript Requirement. Student official transcript data, however, is NOT collected in WISEdata.
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PERKINS
CTE data reporting is required by the federal Perkins act. This reporting includes course information at the 11th and 12th grade levels from the secondary (high school) districts receiving Carl Perkins funds. The collected enrollment information is then used to:
- respond to the federal performance report mandated by the state,
- gather information related to the districts for the State Plan,
- assist districts in measuring progress to mandated core indicators of performance, and
- provide data that inform the Office of Civil Rights process.
Submit the following data elements with a CTE Concentrator:
-
Career Pathway Type (career cluster level)
-
A single Instructional Area Code (IAC)
- Program Area(s)
Should a school submit a CTE Concentrator record for a student who is enrolled as a non-primary student? No. Only the school of primary enrollment submits CTE Concentrator records.
I have a CTE course that is Health Science Education but the course is not taught by a licensed CTE licensed teacher in the specific discipline. 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 the exception as there is no CTE Health Science Education license issued in Wisconsin. As such, Health Science Education courses may be taught by a health education instructor, a licensed science instructor, or a family and consumer science instructor. It is important that all CTE courses be submitted using codes that contain a CTE course=Yes flag in the DPI Roster codes sheet for the appropriate year. This indicates to DPI the course is CTE. Visit the Health Science Programming in Wisconsin web page to see example courses in Health Science.
I have a course taught by a non-CTE teacher that has similar CTE content. What SCED code should I use? Starting with SCED 8 (which aligned with the 2021-22 school year), there is also a non-CTE version of every CTE SCED code on the Courses download (available on the Courses page). Each SIS vendor has directions to use their filters to select the non-CTE version of SCED code.
If you are looking for the non-CTE code for a given course using the Courses download, use the “Find and Replace” feature in Excel. Copy the CTE SCED code from column A, and paste it into the ‘Find what:’ field. Click “Find Next.” Double check that the CTE Courses column reads “No” in column F. This provides you with the non-CTE Roster code for an equivalent course.
- Example 1: The code you would like to use for a Child Development and Parenting CTE course is currently not flagged as CTE. Instead, explore other codes with a CTE course=yes flag. Examples of other Child Development CTE Roster codes are ‘Child and Adult Care Services’ or ‘Child Development’.
- Example 2: The code you would like to use for your Clothing and Sewing CTE course is currently not flagged as CTE. Explore other codes with CTE course=yes flag. Examples of other Clothing and Sewing CTE Roster codes are ‘Apparel Construction’ or ‘Clothing and Textiles’.
How do I report a CTE Participant? A student is a CTE participant if the student was enrolled in and completed (passed) one or more CTE course for the reporting year. Districts do not have to manually identify or flag a student as a CTE Participant through the SIS. Instead, DPI determines participants based on students enrolled in CTE course offerings submitted via WISEdata. Students enrolled in a CTE course with a performance type of passed or failed are identified as CTE participants. Therefore, it is important that you submit CTE courses with codes where CTE flag=Yes in the DPI courses sheet for the appropriate year. Districts can review their CTE participants by downloading the WISEdata Portal Export: CTE Participants.
How do I submit a CTE Concentrator? Since the 2020-21 school year, a student is identified as a CTE Concentrator if they have completed a minimum of two CTE courses within a chosen career pathway throughout high school. Each school CTE team creates career pathways for students to follow, as this is a requirement for Carl Perkins V. Once a school reports a student as a CTE Concentrator for a school year, they should continue to report them as a CTE Concentrator until high school completion. Each year, this requires manual approval in the SIS, even for prior year Concentrators.
Submit a student as a Concentrator by marking the student as a CTE Concentrator in your SIS. Each SIS vendor has instructions to assist in this process. Data entry staff should also work with their CTE team to understand the designed career pathways offered in the school. All students identified as CTE Concentrators will each have a "CTE Concentrator Summary" record submitted to DPI. Address specific questions and guidance on how to mark and navigate the SIS to your SIS vendor contact. Districts can review their CTE Concentrators by downloading the WISEdata Portal Export: CTE Concentrators.
See the Career Education Resource Links for more support.
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