SCS survey urges input on program

Dec. 13—Sampson County Schools is required to conduct a Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) for their Career & Technical Education (CTE) program every two years to determine the direction and funding of the CTE program in the school system and give indications for where and how to spend resources. A survey is now open to gauge public input as part of that assessment.

John Goode, CTE and federal programs director for SCS explained, "Basically, the survey is one piece of what we're doing to try to collect information from all of our stakeholders, students and parents."

He emphasized, "Eventually, we will also be surveying local businesses and industry." He elaborated on the reason for adding such surveys, saying, "What we're looking for is some indication of how our program is performing. We want to see how well our program aligns with the local labor market."

With the name "Career & Technical Education," the program has multiple aims; the goal is not simply to expose students to specifically innovative and relevant technology at a younger age but also to set them on the right track to be successful in finding a life and career path as they move closer to their high school graduation and enter their next stage.

The CTE program is one that relies heavily on public response and input.

"We want to look at the community and what the perception of our program is and balance that against the current career pathways that we offer to see if we're on target, if we're producing students with relatable job skills, or if we need to make some changes," said Goode.

Furthermore, he shared, "Our funding for the next two years will be based on our CLNA."

Given the direct focus on ensuring that the CTE program provides equal access for all students, the significance of the CLNA feedback is that much more substantial in acquiring funds and deciding the direction and function of the program itself.

Goode feels strongly that things are on a solid trajectory.

"I think we're fortunate that we have some excellent teachers within the CTE program within Sampson County Schools, and they're doing some excellent work," he attested.

He touted the example of the "Project Lead the Way" class at Hobbton Middle School, taught by Daniel Huskey.

"I visited his classroom," Goode shared, "and those kids were working on a robotics project. They were building robots and learning how to drive them around the classroom."

"There's a process that teachers have to go through to become a "Project Lead the Way" teacher," he informed, with Huskey's class currently the only "Project Lead the Way" class. Said Goode: "Based on what we're seeing with Mr. Huskey, I'd love to see it in some of our other schools as well."

Goode added, "As with any program, we have room to grow. And I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the CLNA to help our understanding as to how to best direct that growth. We really have some great stuff going on in a lot of CTE classrooms all over the county already, though."

He continued, "Dr. (Jamie) King has some ideas that he would like to see, and he and I are thinking along the same lines in terms of the programs that we would like to see added, as we definitely would like to, and expect to, see the CTE program grow. We're looking at adding some programs, like public safety and maybe a program on drone technology, for example."

"Equal access — that's something we're always, always looking at," said Goode.

Classes in technology and innovation aren't the only piece of the CTE, as "career" is also featured in the title.

As for the "career" portion of the CTE program in broad strokes, Goode explained, "At the end of the day, you want to have a program that gives our students the skills that local employers want and need, the skills that make them a marketable job candidate."

Exposure to emerging tech is a part of how a CTE program is meant to operate in the long term as students find and develop their interests, which may be rooted in technology. Regardless of those interests, part of the idea is to establish the foundation of a career plan that goes along with those interests, school officials said.

Goode explained, "Some of the new legislation that's coming out of the General Assembly has established that students will develop a career development plan in grade 7." This is by no means a career path being decided upon and set in stone at such a young age, as he continued, "that plan will be revisited in grade 10."

He further specified, "If you look at the legislation that funds any CTE program in the state, it generally runs from grade 5 through 12." The thought process behind starting the program so young isn't to confine, but rather to prepare.

"You want to reach down to grade 5 to begin introducing them to career exploration."

"The purpose is simply exposing them to the idea of what type of career they might be interested in, given that your interests drive what type of work you may want to do in the future," Goode explained. "Then as they get older, you want to start putting that into some type of formal outline of a plan in the middle school years, still basing it on a student's interests and the corresponding possibilities for a career."

"I think the idea behind the legislation coming out of the General Assembly," Goode deduced, "is that they want students to start formalizing those thoughts with a career development plan in grade 7 and then develop that as they grow and change."

"So that, by the time they're in high school," Goode continued, "they can seriously consider what pathway they want to become involved in." As interests change, so too can the "plan" — it isn't a binding path. Still, Goode pointed to one of the potential benefits, saying, "it might lead directly to continuing their education at a trade school or community college."

"A lot of students today feel like the four-year option is the only option that they have, but there are some excellent opportunities to go to Sampson Community College, or any other two-year community college, and learn a trade," he said.

One of the potential benefits of successful CTE program planning is in the long-term consideration of such a path, with career exploration having been subtly introduced while students are still in elementary school.

In this scenario, Goode pointed out, "You don't have nearly as much invested in terms of tuition, and then you can come out with very marketable job skills and can make a very good salary — in some cases, better than what you could make with a four-year degree."

Continuing to consider this in the local Sampson County context, he brought up the idea.

"We have a natural pipeline if we can start building that bridge in the high schools, and even in the middle schools, really, then, we can follow it through in the high schools, and then have the opportunity to direct students straight to Sampson Community College because they have some fantastic trade programs there," he remarked.

"The point is this," Goode said, "We don't need every student to go to a four-year college or university because we desperately need people employed in those skilled trades areas."

Examining the performance of the program in Sampson County, he shared, "We have 3,200 Total CTE participants in the county, and of that number, about 530 are concentrators, which are students that have taken two or more classes including what we call a Completer class."

"Looking at last year's figures, We had a 97.44% graduation rate among those concentrators," he continued proudly. "I think CTE definitely has a positive impact on graduation rate. I don't think there's any doubt there, so as we work to increase accessibility and the number of programs involved, we hope this level of performance can spread."

Exposing students to the concept of career exploration through CTE but prioritizing finding and developing interests isn't about limiting the imagination or telling them they can't grow up to be astronauts, so to speak, but rather "introducing the students to different careers and pathways that could provide services to their neighbors and members of the community, for example," as Goode put it.

"We need astronauts," he said, "But at the same time, we need electricians, we need plumbers, we need people in the health sciences desperately, and all of these are areas that are accomplished by career and technical education.

"So I think we can take the information that we get from the CLNA," Goode said confidently, "and use it to the advantage of developing the program here and providing our students with a program that gives them job skills they can put into play right out of the door after high school."

Questions or comments about this survey, the CLNA process, or Sampson County Schools CTE program may be directed to John Goode at 910-592-1401 ext. 20140 or via email at jgoode@sampson.k12.nc.us.

The survey can also be found in the news section of Sampson County Schools' website, www.sampson.k12.nc.us/news. The deadline to respond is Dec. 21.