Accountability

Congress made accountability for results a central focus of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV), setting out new performance accountability requirements for states and local programs. These requirements were established "to assess the effectiveness of the state in achieving statewide progress in career and technical education, and to optimize the return of investment of Federal funds in career and technical education activities," pursuant to section 113(a) of Perkins IV.

OVAE funds several ongoing initiatives to help states develop and implement accountability systems that yield valid, reliable, and complete data on the progress of career and technical education students:

• Data Quality Institutes - these annual institutes bring together state teams comprised of state career and technical education directors and their accountability staff teams to improve the quality and consistency of the definitions and measurement approaches that states use to report data on the Perkins core indicators of performance.
• Next Step Work Group (NSWG) Conference Calls - OVAE holds monthly calls with state career and technical education directors, secondary and postsecondary accountability staff, and other interested individuals to discuss emerging issues in Perkins accountability.
• Individual Technical Assistance to States - OVAE offers customized technical assistance to states on Perkins accountability issues. Up to eight states are selected to receive technical assistance each year through an application process conducted each fall.
• Peer Collaborative Resource Network (PCRN) - OVAE hosts the PCRN Web site, a resource and information-sharing forum for state and local career and technical education (CTE) administrators and practitioners.

A Supplemental Accountability Checksheet

In this section: