Career and Technical Education, Accountability, and Program Quality Indicators Under Perkins V

States and the U.S. Department of Education are wrestling with this question as they re-envision CTE resources and accountability under the 2018 Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, commonly known as Perkins V. The Perkins Act provides funding to states for CTE programs, primarily in public high schools and colleges. As with any federal funding stream, Perkins obligates recipient states to meet reporting and accountability requirements to help ensure that funds are used well. Perkins V sought (1) to give states more flexibility in how they administered CTE, and (2) to have states strategically connect the outcomes of CTE programs to the “education and skill needs of employers.” One component of Perkins V that speaks to both of these aims has recipient states select a measure of high school CTE program quality from a list of three options, each of which potentially says something about how attuned students are with workforce and college skills before they graduate from high school