Several Career and Technical Education events are coming up aimed at helping students land on a career path.
During an Ector County ISD Board of Trustees workshop Tuesday, Executive Director of Career and Technical Education Ryan Merritt gave an overview of the courses offered, upcoming changes in requirements and students statistics.
An effective advising event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 24 at the Odessa College Sports Center. Students from the six middle schools will be bused to the event at different times during that window.
For next year, Merritt said they want to ensure they have a parent event that mirrors this.
Students will have a chance to learn about the ECISD CTE programs of study. They’ll also have an opportunity to talk to high school students, teachers, college faculty and make more informed decisions about their four-year plans.
High school teachers and Odessa College faculty will be on hand.
In past years, these events have happened at the middle schools and in some cases not all teachers could attend.
A regional energy collaborative led by the Education Partnership of the Permian Basin is also in the works, funded by the Permian Strategic Partnership.
Career Placement Fairs in collaboration with the Workforce Board of the Permian Basin and ACCESS are also in the works.
They want to connect employers that are wanting to hire upcoming graduates, Merritt said.
ECISD will recruit employers to bring as many welding companies as possible to the Frost Building to interview students. Merritt said they are finalizing some dates in the coming weeks “to make this happen and looking forward to connecting students to employers.”
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is planning a middle school to medical doctor program with a grant. The event is planned for 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 26 at TTUHSC.
Merritt said Texas Tech is looking for 40 to 50 students so that they can provide them with guidance and opportunities. TTUHSC wants to identify advanced academic students interested in becoming a medical doctors.
Superintendent Scott Muri said the grant is very specific to TTUHSC.
Merritt said there are 26 CTE programs of study offered in ECISD.
CTE programs are organized is through programs of study approved by TEA. It gives students a guide through elective courses, much like they would have a guide through their core courses.
Information is on the CTE website in English right now, but they are working toward getting the content translated to Spanish as soon as possible.
Eighth-grade students are about to start selecting courses very soon.
Students completed and are concentrated in accounting and financial services; animal science; healthcare diagnostics; and business management. Some 108 students made it through the entire program of study and only 12 made it halfway.
These programs are followed by welding; engineering; culinary arts; early learning; graphic design and multimedia; biomedical science; automotive; family and consumer sciences.
The four-year graduation rate is 29 percent higher than all other students for 2020 graduates. This is required data from the Texas Education Agency and the U.S. Department of Education.
CTE has a 95 percent graduation rate compared to 66 percent for others. Three years of data show similar outcomes.
Merritt said he is expecting graduating class of 2021 to be released in the next few weeks.
Students from economically disadvantaged families graduated at a 38.9 percent higher rate in 2020. This also is three years of data that shows similar outcomes.
Duplicated student count is just over 11,000 seats.
“It’s important to work with our partners at Odessa College to figure out how we don’t duplicate programs if it’s not necessary to do so. You also have to think through what CTE programs you want to continue to offer at comprehensive high schools and specialized high schools,” Merritt said.
Female students progressing through CTE programs of study at a higher rate; 109 more girls concentrated in and completed CTE.
Merritt said the trend is going toward more female students. This is something “we should talk more with advising and counseling about.”
Merritt said advising needs to be adjusted so more male students follow the programs of study as well.
CTE learners are performing at a higher level on the English end of course exams in terms of meeting standard on the exam.
Merritt’s presentation showed CTE expands vocabulary and provides opportunities to read and write within their career interest areas.
“State data shows the same thing, but as you look at different districts across the state that’s not always the case. But in ECISD, that’s what we have for the English end of course,” Merritt said.
CTE learners are performing at a higher level on Algebra I end of course exams. The presentation says CTE takes abstract concepts and applies them to real-world applications.
In science, CTE learners are performing at a higher level on Biology I end of course exams. CTE offers STEM-related programs of study giving students an enhanced science experience, the presentation shows.
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.
Dual credit enrollment at Odessa College over the past five years shows enrollment of 1,683 students for fall 2022.
“Overall, the five-year growth looks good. There was a COVID dip in fall 2020, but they did not experience as much,” Merritt said.
The cost for dual credit comes from the career and technical education budget.
The top four programs by enrollment at Odessa College are welding, office, auto and culinary.
For fall 2022, there were 305 students; 279 in office; auto , 251; and 180 in culinary.
In 2021-22, students earned 978 industry-based certifications and for 2021-22, 602.
“These are on the TEA approved list which is important for accountability and reimbursement,” Merritt said.
The state is also phasing out the Microsoft Word certification.
Merritt said the last group that will count for is this year’s sophomores. There were 353 students enrolled in 2021-22
and 245 for 2020-2021.
