Tell Congress to usher in a new era of educator support and integration.

DeWitt, Stephen

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THE U.S. CONGRESS HAS HEARD A LOT FROM CONSTITUENTS

regarding the unintended consequences and negative requirements of both the highly qualified teacher ( HOT) provisions in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEN) statute, and the new waiver requirements related to teacher evaluation. While t he ESEA waiver process ushered in h t he Obama Administration has provided some flexibility related to accountability. the teacher-evaluation components have proved quite problematic in many states.

Congress needs to reauthorize the ESEA law and make improvements that will more permanently address issues related to educator support and performance.

Almost everyone agrees that shifting to a system which better measures teacher effectiveness is a good move. Undoubtedly, many teachers and administrators in the career and technical education (CTE) community are some of the most relieved to see these changes because the current HQ F provisions have caused problems related to academic and GTE integration. However, the new focus on linking Teacher evaluation to student performance brings with it a whole host of other concerns for GTE programs. Determining what the federal role should be related to these discussions has proven difficult.

ESEA Legislative Recommendations

The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) has been vocal regarding the need for change in the area of ESEA's teacher provisions. With the input of practitioners, ACTE developed a set of ESEA legislative recommendations, and we have promoted those recommendations to Members of Congress and their staff on Hill.

One of our key priorities is to include CTE teachers in efforts to improve recruitment, retention and effectiveness. Our recommendations discuss that CTE teachers are an essential part of students' preparation for college and careers, but remain at critical shortage levels in many areas. We believe that ESEA should:

1. Ensure that schools are able to recruit and retain GTE professionals from a variety of backgrounds and through alternative pathways.

2. Involve CTE educators in any new processes related to teacher effectiveness, ensuring that the unique needs of these educators are considered.

Integrating Academics and CTE

In considering the ways that academics and CTE have been blended in many learning environments, it also is important for Congress to consider how any new rules addressing teacher effectiveness impact those situations. Related to this, an additional ACTE ESEA priority requests. support of secondary school reform by strengthening the integration of academics and GTE.

Research on the integration of academics and CTE has shown it to increase student achievement. The ACTE ESEA recommendations ask that a new ESEA law align with programs of study, require schools to integrate academics with CTE, and require federal professional development funds to be used to support integrated approaches.

Career academies, linked learning and other CTE-academic models are helping eradicate the separate CTE vs. academics silos, and research is showing that these integrated models are helping more students to learn.. New ESEA provisions must consider these issues and provide teachers the needed support.

Conclusion

Although the Act has been debated by Congress for several years now, it has yet to be finally approved. There is time to influence debate. Speak to your Member of Congress and the Member's staff concerning ESEA, and ask him or her to support the full set of ACTE recommendations available on the ACTE website at: www.acteonline. org/uploadedFiles/Assets_and_ Documents/Global/files/Policy/ESEA_Priorities_2013.pdf.

Steve DeWitt is the deputy executive director at ACTE. He can be reached at sdewitt@acteonline.org.

By Stephen DeWitt