More Resources President's Budget Request for 2008

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

On behalf of Secretary Spellings, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you to discuss our fiscal year 2008 budget request for Career, Technical, and Adult Education.

My name is Troy Justesen, and I am the Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education. My office is responsible for administering programs that support youth and adult learners as they prepare for postsecondary education, careers, and self-sufficiency.

Career and Technical Education

The President's fiscal year 2008 budget supports our policy of requesting funds for programs that will assist in high school reform and help ensure that all students, especially at-risk students, are academically prepared for the transition to postsecondary education and the workforce.

Career and Technical Education State Grants

Our request of $600 million for Career and Technical Education State Grants under the newly reauthorized Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 will help support that goal. One of the major changes the reauthorization made in the Perkins Act was to increase its focus on the academic achievement of career and technical education students, a purpose that is consistent with the objectives of the No Child Left Behind Act, or NCLB, and the Administration's goal of extending the principles and reforms of NCLB to the high school level in order to strengthen high school education across the country. Programs of study or career pathways carried out under the reauthorized Perkins Act must include a rigorous sequence of academic courses based on challenging postsecondary and employment standards.

The new Perkins Act incorporates several important changes that provide opportunities for strengthening accountability at the State and local levels and improving program performance. The statute now requires States to use "valid and reliable" measures of the core indicators of performance and should improve program results through increased State and local accountability and data reporting. The 1998 Perkins Act gave States wide latitude in selecting their performance measures and in defining the students whose performance is included in those measures, making it difficult to gauge States' progress, as the data were often not valid, reliable, or comparable.

The reauthorized Perkins Act also holds States and local recipients to a higher standard of accountability. It requires improvement plans where performance lags behind expectations and allows for financial sanctions after 3 or more years of failing to meet performance targets. Although the Administration's policy in the recent past has been to request no funds for this program due to poor performance, these improvements merit a request for funding for this year. However, due to a very tight budget environment and with other programs addressing higher priorities, a higher funding level is not requested.

The Administration is seeking a $1.2 billion increase for Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies under NCLB, with most of that increase going to high schools. These additional funds will help improve academic achievement and graduation rates for at-risk high school students, many of whom are career and technical education students.

Career and Technical Education National Programs

The Administration also requests $10 million for Career and Technical Education National Programs to help States improve their data collection practices, support a new national research center on career and technical education, fund activities geared to improving career and technical education programs in high schools and community colleges, and continue the State Scholars Initiative, which encourages high school students to take challenging coursework in English, math, and science, thereby increasing the number of students who are eligible for Academic Competitiveness grants.

Changes in accountability provisions in the Perkins Act will require investment in improvements in data collection and data quality. States must adopt valid and reliable measures of their performance, and the Department will use National Activities funds to provide technical assistance to States in these areas.

Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical Institutions

The Administration requests for fiscal year 2008 $7.4 million for the Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical Institutions —TCPCTI—program, which provides competitive grants to operate and improve certain tribally controlled postsecondary career and technical institutions. Funds provide continued and expanded educational opportunities and training for Native American students attending those institutions, along with basic institutional support of career and technical education programs.

Tech Prep Education State Grants

For fiscal year 2008, the Administration requests no funding for the Tech Prep Education State Grants program. Although the new Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 reauthorized Tech Prep Education State Grants as a separate grant program to provide support for developing structural links between secondary and postsecondary institutions that integrate academic and career and technical education, the program duplicates activities allowed under Career and Technical Education State Grants. In addition, the Administration's NCLB reauthorization proposal will support the creation of stronger linkages between secondary and postsecondary institutions.

Furthermore, the 2004 National Assessment of Vocational Education—NAVE— identified several weaknesses in the Tech Prep program. That evaluation found that States did not generally use Tech Prep State Grants program funds to support programs that were substantively different from those funded with Vocational Education State Grants; that the Tech Prep program had not been successful in creating distinct, rigorous programs of technical study that link high school and postsecondary education; that Tech Prep programs were less likely to be offered in secondary schools with high proportions of economically disadvantaged, minority, or disabled students; and that the program had not lived up to its promise of creating rigorous programs of study.

Implementation of the Reauthorized Perkins Act

The Department is actively engaged in implementing strategies to help States meet the requirements of the reauthorized Perkins Act in a manner that gives States the time and flexibility they will need to comply with those requirements. For that reason, we have given States the option of submitting 1-year transition plans in order to receive funds under the first year of the new legislation. This strategy allows States the time to conduct public hearings regarding their plans for career and technical education within the State; to consult with stakeholders about those plans; to develop valid and reliable performance measures; and to adjust their data systems as needed so they may gather baseline and performance data on new measures of performance.

The Department is also providing technical assistance to States. In October of last year, we met with States to review the changes in the Act and to explore areas where States desire assistance. We have developed an updated State Plan Guide to assist the States as they prepare their new plans for the program, and expect to issue the final version of the Guide this month. We have used our website to provide ongoing guidance; we have published answers to a number of questions that States submitted informally, and we expect to continue to update this list as new questions arise.

The Department plans to provide non-regulatory guidance on the issue of indicators of performance for the program. The 2004 NAVE found that the data States collected as part of their accountability systems under the previous Perkins Act had limited validity and reliability, making it difficult to gauge program improvement or States' progress. For example, 24 States measured the academic achievement of their CTE students through such indirect measures as high school graduation or completion of a specific number of courses. To address this problem, the Department will issue guidance on performance measures that meet standards of validity and reliability. The Department also plans to continue funding Data Quality Institutes to work with States on improving the quality and consistency of the performance data they collect, and the Department will continue to work with States to determine areas where further guidance and technical assistance are needed as implementation of the reauthorized Perkins Act continues.

Adult Education

The President's fiscal year 2008 budget includes a request of $579.8 million to fund Adult basic and literacy education State grants, National leadership activities, and the National Institute for Literacy. We believe the request for level funding will be sufficient for States and we expect the program to be reauthorized this year.

Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants

The proposal includes a request of $564.1 million for Adult Education formula grants to States. Funds to States help meet the ongoing need for adult education services, particularly given the persistent need for services for high school dropouts and the growing need for services for adult immigrants to obtain English language skills. States make grants to local entities to provide adult basic education, English literacy, adult secondary education, workplace literacy, and family literacy services. Included in the amount for Adult Education State Grants is the continuation of a $68 million set-aside for English Literacy/Civics Education State Grants.

Each State sets annual performance targets, with approval from the Secretary, in the areas of literacy skill improvement; placement in, retention in, or completion of postsecondary education, training, unsubsidized employment, or career advancement; and attainment of a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent. The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, or AEFLA, authorizes the Secretary to award up to 1.72 percent of the total Adult Education appropriation to States that exceed the agreed-upon performance levels for this program and other employment programs.

In 2006, the Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants program went through the rigorous Program Assessment Rating Tool—PART—review and received an Effective rating. This rating reflects program achievements in the areas of student outcomes, data quality, and program evaluation. The program is one of only four programs in the Department of Education to receive the Administration's highest rating.

National Leadership Activities

The President's request includes $9.1 million for Adult Education national leadership and evaluation activities. The Department has made significant investments in research, the identification of effective practices, and training for educators in order to better serve the needs of adult English language learners. Specific future activities funded under this program are subject to change following the reauthorization of the AEFLA. However, fiscal year 2008 funds will likely support the completion of a multi-year study evaluating the impact of the effectiveness of adult literacy interventions for English as a Second Language—ESL—learners. In addition, funds will likely support technical assistance activities for grantees in the areas of the National Reporting System, technology, and standards and assessments. Funds may also be used for an independent evaluation of adult basic education and literacy programs, with the results used to inform the adult education field.

National Institute for Literacy

The President's request includes $6.6 million for the National Institute for Literacy, or NIFL. Funding for NIFL supports program activities and administrative expenses as well as the work of NIFL's Advisory Board. The Administration expects the program, authorized under the AEFLA, to be authorized in fiscal year 2007, and believes that level funding is sufficient for NIFL to continue activities that provide leadership in the area of improving literacy instruction. While specific activities are subject to change pending reauthorization, activities will likely continue to include the dissemination of information and resources, translation of research into guidance and tools that can be used in practice, identification of high-performing programs, development of practices and policies that produce positive outcomes, and support for research on literacy acquisition.

Program Performance

The Administration wants to make sure that Government programs work well for the American people. Last year, to ensure greater Government transparency and accountability to the public, the Administration launched a new website: ExpectMore.gov. The site includes information for taxpayers on the programs that have been assessed for effectiveness using the PART. These PART reviews help increase accountability for results by giving the American people information about where the Government is successful, and where improvement is needed. I encourage the members of this Committee and others interested in our programs to visit ExpectMore.gov.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I will be happy to respond to any questions you may have.

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