>THE REVIEW

>

>(Vocational and Technical Education; High Schools; Adult Education and 

>Literacy; and Community Colleges)

>May 31 2005

>Susan K. Sclafani, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary

>Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE)

>U.S. Department of Education

>

>Angela Desrochers-Editor

>

>The Review is an update from the Office of the Assistant Secretary at the 

>Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education.

>

>Full Review can be viewed here: 

><<http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html>http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html> 

>

>

>

>Greetings from the Assistant Secretary

>

>We have come to the end of another year, and it is a good time to reflect 

>upon our accomplishments and plan for the future.  Although the President 

>recommended a more flexible approach to funding a high school initiative 

>that married rigorous academics with the relevance of career and technical 

>education, Congress has moved forward with reauthorization of the Perkins 

>Act.  The House and Senate have each passed bills that will go to 

>conference in the next months.  With a realization that academic 

>preparation is key to successful careers in technical education, both 

>bills focus on how states may best provide that combination.  We expect 

>that accountability for results will be a component of the final 

>legislation, as well as the Workforce Investment Act (WIA).  WIA is moving 

>forward with a focus on adult education serving the needs of current and 

>future workers, and it maintains its focus on the use of data in program 

>improvement.

>

>

>This year, the Office of Vocational and Adult Education has worked to 

>assist states in their implementation of effective formula grants, and it 

>has enabled states to come together in small groups to focus on specific 

>areas, whether data quality in Perkins or reading instruction or pay for 

>performance in adult education.  At meetings of state directors, the 

>states have had the opportunity to share ideas and promising practices 

>that enrich every state s offerings.  In addition, the office sponsored a 

>joint financial management seminar to ensure that financial experts in 

>each state were working closely with program staff to maximize the 

>opportunities the funding provided.

>

>  Full Story: 

> <<http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html>http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html> 

>

>

>Secondary, Career, and Technical Education

>

>Assistant Secretary Susan Sclafani Participates in TV Show About Science 

>Education

>

>Assistant Secretary Susan Sclafani was a participant in the May broadcast 

>of the U.S. Department of Educations TV show Education News Parents Can 

>Use .  The May program focused on science education and the need to 

>properly prepare students for a global economy.

>

>Dr. Sclafani discussed why it is important to afford students 

>comprehensive science education what parents can do to ensure qualified 

>professionals are teaching their children, and what quality instruction 

>should look like at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

>

>Full Story: 

><http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html#susantv>http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html#susantv 

><http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html>

>

>Deputy Assistant Secretary Hans Meeder Departs OVAE After Nearly Four 

>Years of Service

>After almost four years of service to the Bush Administration, Deputy 

>Assistant Secretary Hans Meeder left OVAE on May 11.  In his capacity as a 

>Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy for OVAE, Mr. Meeder focused on 

>policy, research, and planning for the Carl Perkins Vocational and 

>Technical Education Act and the Adult Education and Family Literacy 

>Act.  He also directed the department-wide High School Initiative, 

>Preparing America s Future.

>

>Mr. Meeder left the Department of Education in order to set up a 

>consulting practice that will focus on high school reform, career 

>technical education, community colleges, and adult education.  Please 

>contact Ginger DeMint at Ginger.DeMint at ed.gov 

><<mailto:Ginger.DeMint at ed.gov>mailto:Ginger.DeMint at ed.gov> with any questions.

>

>Hill Round Up

>

>Congress continued to work throughout May on legislation that would 

>reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act and 

>the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act.  The House Committee on 

>Education and the Workforce also held two hearings that highlighted the 

>need to improve the academic achievement of high school students.

>

>On May 4, 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Vocational 

>and Technical Education for the Future Act (H.R. 366), which would 

>reauthorize the Perkins Act.  The U.S. Senate passed comparable 

>reauthorization legislation, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical 

>Education Improvement Act of 2005 (S. 250), in March 2005.  House and 

>Senate members are expected to work this summer to resolve the differences 

>between the two bills and agree upon final legislation. More information 

>about H.R. 366 can be found on the website of the House Committee on 

>Education and the Workforce at: 

><<http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/109th/education/voced/voced.htm>http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/109th/education/voced/voced.htm>

>

>Full Story: 

><http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html#hill>http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html#hill 

><http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html>

>

>Data Quality Institute to be Held in Phoenix Arizona

>

>DHSPCE/SAAG will be hosting a Data Quality Institute (DQI) for state 

>directors of career and technical education in response to the 

>accountability data requirements of the Perkins III legislation.  The 

>institute will be held June 14-16, 2005, in Phoenix, Arizona; the theme of 

>the institute will be Strategies to Implement Data Quality.

>

>This institute is one in a series of previously held institutes on topics 

>having to do with ensuring quality data collection and reporting.  These 

>institutes demonstrate OVAE s continuing efforts to ensure that data is 

>complete, accurate, and useful in measuring the outcomes and impacts of 

>the Perkins formula grant programs.

>

>For more information, please go to www.edcountability.net 

><<http://www.edcountability.net>http://www.edcountability.net> or e-mail: 

>John.Haigh at ed.gov <<mailto:John.Haigh at ed.gov>mailto:John.Haigh at ed.gov>

>

>

>Adult Education and Literacy

>

>One Third of US Adults Take Work-Related Courses

>

>One third of all US adults take job-related courses or training outside of 

>degree, certification, or apprenticeship programs, reports the National 

>Center for Education Statistics.  While increases in adult participation 

>in work-related training were documented during the 1990s, for the agency 

>s recently released 2003 Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons (AEWR) 

>researchers interviewed nearly 13,000 adults to find out why they signed 

>up for courses.  Nearly all adults surveyed reported they took the courses 

>to help them at work.  They found learning opportunities at colleges or 

>universities or went to seminars, training sessions, or workshops offered 

>by employers, unions, government agencies, and others.  Almost all of the 

>participants were employed at the time they took courses and sought to 

>improve skills they already had.  About three fourths wanted to learn 

>something new that applied to their work.

>

>Research suggests that the demand for work-related learning opportunities 

>for adults stems from labor market changes that require higher skill 

>levels from workers throughout a global economy.  Technology is a major 

>force pushing all workers to know and be able to do more on the job-from 

>handling math to run statistical process control systems to making 

>decisions about just-in-time production.

>

>Other Department News

>

>Edward J. Kame'enui Named Department's First Commissioner for Special 

>Education Research

>Edward J. Kame'enui, an international authority on learning problems and 

>special education, has been named the nation's first commissioner for 

>special education research. He will lead the National Center for Special 

>Education Research, a newly established office within the Institute of 

>Education Sciences (IES)-the research, evaluation, and statistical arm of 

>the U.S. Department of Education.  The center was established by Congress 

>in the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

>Act (IDEA).

>

>Full Story: 

><http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html#edward>http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html#edward 

><http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev052705.html>

>

>