Public Comments on Proposed Update the Career and Technical Education (CTE) State Determined Levels of Performance (SDPLS) for the Eight Perkins V Performance Indicators

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) is seeking public comments on its proposal to update the Career and Technical Education (CTE) State Determined Levels of Performance (SDPLs) for the eight Perkins V Performance Indicators. The new SDPLs will cover the 2024-2027 school years and will comply with The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21^st Century Act (Perkins V) Section 113 (b)(3)(B)(ii) and North Carolina General Statutes (115C Article 10).

The proposed new SDLPs are displayed in the tables below:

Rationale

The original CTE State Determined Levels of Performance identified in the North Carolina State Plan were based on the average of the previous two years (2017-2018 and 2018-2019) of performance prior to the full implementation of Perkins V.  Data collection under Perkins V began during the 2019-2020 school.  A new State Plan must be established for the second four-year cycle beginning with the 2024-2025 school year and must include updated SDLPs or benchmarks for performance goals.

• Each initial benchmark is based on the average of the actual performance from the two prior years plus 0.01. This represents a benchmark that is higher than the average of the two most recent data points.
• Subsequent benchmarks are calculated by adding a benchmark gap to each initial benchmark. The process is repeated for the remaining three years to yield benchmarks for each year. The benchmark gap is calculated by subtracting the initial benchmark from 100, multiplying by 0.10, and dividing by four. This demonstrates the amount of increase needed each year to close the gap to 100 by 10% over a 4-year period.
• The only exception is with 4S1 - Non-Traditional Concentration, in which the attainment goal of 50 is used instead of 100.

Performance Indicator Descriptions

1S1:  Four-Year Graduation Rate

CTE concentrators who are part of the Four-Year Cohort Graduation Rate (CGR) and earn a regular high school diploma by the end of the fourth year of high school (fifth year for CIHSs) or the summer session immediately following.

2S1:  Academic Proficiency in Reading/Language Arts

CTE concentrators who are career and college ready (proficiency levels 4 or 5) by the end of grade 10 on the English II EOC regardless of when they took the assessment.

2S2:  Academic Proficiency in Mathematics

CTE concentrators who are career and college ready (proficiency levels 4 or 5) by the end of grade 11 on either the NC Math 1 or NC Math 3 EOC regardless of when they took the assessment. Students are classified into two pathways to determine which score counts in this indicator:

• Standard Pathway: Taking the NC Math 1 course for the first time in grade 9 or higher (NC Math 1 EOC).
• Accelerated Pathway: Taking the NC Math 1 course for the first time in grade 8 or earlier (NC Math 3 EOC).

2S3:  Academic Proficiency in Science

CTE concentrators who are career and college ready (proficiency levels 4 or 5) by the end of grade 11 on the Biology EOC regardless of when they took the assessment.

3S1:  Postsecondary Placement

Positive placement of CTE concentrators from the previous reporting year who in the second quarter after exiting secondary education reported positive placement in advanced training, military service, national or community service, Peace Corps, employment, or Postsecondary Education.

4S1:  Nontraditional Program Concentration

CTE concentrators for the reporting year who are concentrators in a pathway designated as nontraditional for the student’s gender. This indicator only includes pathways that lead to nontraditional fields.

5S1:  Program Quality – Attained Recognized Postsecondary Credential

CTE concentrators from the numerator of 1S1 who earned a recognized postsecondary credential aligned to a foundation prerequisite, prerequisite, or concentrator course in their pathway of concentration.

5S4:  Program Quality – Other

CTE participants in grades 9-13 who met proficiency on the Proof of Learning (POL) including a Performance-Based Measure (PBM), CTE State Assessment (CTESA)/third party/local (local course assessments). This indicator does not consider courses with credentials as POL.

The period for public comments begins February 2, 2024 and continues until March 4, 2024. All public comments and questions will be logged and responded to within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. Public Comments may be submitted using the following link: Public Comments – SDLPs 2024