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Career and Technical Education

CTE Content Areas

Oversight and Guidance

External Review

CR 100.5 (d)(6)(iv)(a)(3) a certification that the board of education or board of cooperative educational services has formed a committee that shall include local, State and/or regional experts composed of, but not limited to, educators, labor, business and industry, and other community representatives, and members of component boards of education of the applicant board of cooperative educational services, to review the self-study and the career and technical education program, identify any gaps in meeting the State criteria and local needs and recommend strategies to address these gaps.

Definitions:

  1. Self-study committee—Local, state and/or regional experts composed of, but not limited to, educators, labor, business and industry, and other community representatives, and members of component boards of education of the applicant board of cooperative educational services
  2. Self-study—see section on self-study
  3. Gaps in state criteria and local needs—Deficiencies within the program of study such as missing content, outdated materials, and/or ineffective or insufficient assessment selection.
  4. Recommended strategies—An industry perspective of changes or improvements that could be made to a program of study to ensure it better aligns with the changes and needs of industry
  5. State criteria—The learning standards within the program content
  6. Local needs—Requirements set by the school district

 

External Review Purpose

  • Review the self-study and the career and technical education program
  • Identify any gaps in meeting the State criteria and local needs
  • Recommend strategies to address identified gaps

 

External Review Committee

The external review committee is formed to review, address, and approve the self-study report, as well as the components of the CTE program. Membership on the external review committee will vary according to the type of program and needs of the school district or BOCES. Members should have knowledge and experience in the content area that they are reviewing.

If a school or center holds external reviews for multiple programs on the same day breakout sessions by program need to take place so that external review participants have an opportunity to evaluate the program relative to their field of expertise.

Membership must include:

  • Secondary teachers 
    • Example: CTE teachers 
  • Other academic core subject teachers  
    • For BOCES only: When academic credit is included in the approval process the external committee must include a minimum of two academic subject teachers from at least two different component schools who will review the academic content for each integrated and specialized credit requested. 
  • Business and Industry Partners—A minimum of two representatives from business or industry within the program area under review 
    • Example: A restaurant owner participating in the external review of a Culinary Arts program.  
  • Postsecondary educators—A representative from postsecondary education in the career area under review  
    • Example: Obtain feedback about the program of study from the postsecondary contact from the college/university for which the program holds an articulation agreement.   

Additional membership may include but is not limited to:

  • Community representatives
  • Representative/advocate for students with disabilities
  • Parents
  • Workforce Investment Board member/ Youth Council
  • Board of education representatives
  • School and program administrators and counselors

 

External Review Process

The external review committee will utilize their industry experience and content knowledge to review the self-study report and all proposed components of the program of study. The review of these materials is done to identify any deficiencies and needs of the program that may exist. This review also provides an opportunity for industry partners to recommend improvements to the program of study prior to submission to the superintendent of school or the district superintendent for board of education action.

Should the external review committee find that proposed program of study and its components to be satisfactory, the committee may recommend that the program is without deficiencies and should be directly forwarded to the superintendent of the district superintendent for board of education action.

 

Documentation

Each member of the external review committee must document their recommendations and feedback in addition to their participation in the review process. External review committee members must provide a dated signature (digital signatures are acceptable) as proof of their participation in the external review processes.

If physical or electronic signatures are not feasible, it is also acceptable to submit a copy of an email from the external review participant in which they identify/acknowledge the following:

  1. Their title/role in the review
  2. Their participation in the review
  3. Feedback/suggestions for the program

This documentation should be received by the school district or BOCES and then compiled with the application materials just as if the signature sheet were being submitted.