In March of 2025 Advance CTE’s Opportunity Gap Analysis (OGA) workshop will launch its newest iteration of the collaborative, train-the-trainer data initiative with the upcoming work-based learning (WBL) cohort. This newest cohort brings an additional emphasis to defining, inventorying, and collecting data on WBL experiences in order to assess equal access opportunities for all learners. As of Fall 2024 Advance CTE has led in-depth gap analysis training with 39 state teams from across the country. This is the fourth post in a blog series where Senior Policy Associate Jessi Maddox interviews previous participants of the OGA workshop to share the impact and the lessons learned from implementing the training in their state. 

Advance CTE reached out to the Fall 2024 cohort to discuss their participation in the workshops and with initial implementation of the Opportunity Gap Analysis in their states. Two state teams composed of CTE leaders from the New York State Education Department (NYSED), and the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) shared their expectations and experiences related to OGA. Each team brought a unique perspective to the collaborative peer learning environment provided throughout the six-month OGA cohort, and their work to disseminate the gap analysis process beyond their internal team persists after the close of the workshop and subsequent communities of practice. 

Tell us who you included in the workshops as part of your state team:

New York: Our team was made up of Perkins and Civil Rights associates from within the Office of CTE at the New York State (NYS) Education Department, as well as the director of our CTE office and the director from our NYS CTE Technical Assistance Center (CTE TAC). 

New Jersey: The team representing the New Jersey Department of Education was made up of the Office of Career Readiness Director, Manager, and four Perkins Program Officers representing secondary and postsecondary eligible recipients. 

What expectations did you have for the workshop prior to the initial training?

New York: As NYS works to improve our data collection systems, we are also working as an office to develop stronger evaluation skills so that we can improve our technical assistance to the field. We were hoping this training would provide us with more tools in which to assist our field as we work to improve access to and success in CTE for all learners.

New Jersey: The Office of Career Readiness had a few expectations for the workshops and subsequent in-state implementation: review resources related to opportunity gaps and disproportionality; review and understand the data behind conducting an opportunity gap analysis; determine how to relay key information to secondary and postsecondary eligible recipients; and emphasize during dissemination in our state the importance of performing a gap analysis and how the data can lead to informed decision-making; and gain insight into how other states in the cohort are leveraging the OGA. 

Has your state conducted in-state training(s) using the Opportunity Gap Workshop model and/or related resources? If so, what were the initial reactions of the participants to the training?

New York: We conducted our in-state training on September 10 & 12, 2024.  We used it as a train-the-trainer experience for the remainder of our Office of CTE team and the CTE TAC.  The overall reaction was that this training would be useful for our Perkins recipients during the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) cycle to assess barriers to access and success. The root cause analysis sections will be very useful to recipients as they strive to make data-driven decisions related to enrollment in CTE. Not only are the OGA tools useful to Perkins recipients, it is also an opportunity to identify gaps which may exist throughout all of our NYSED-CTE Approved Programs. The CTE TAC Field Team, along with support from the NYSED’s Office of CTE, will be able to work hand-in-hand with schools to elevate services that increase access and success in CTE, especially within special populations as defined by Perkins V.

Not only are the OGA tools useful to Perkins recipients, it is also an opportunity to identify gaps which may exist throughout all of our NYSED-CTE Approved Programs. – New York

New Jersey: After attending the OGA workshops, New Jersey became increasingly dedicated to working with secondary and postsecondary eligible recipients on this initiative. The entire Office of Career Readiness team participated in internal professional learning workshops with the assistance of the Office of Educator Effectiveness. Our collaborations with this office resulted in our team making connections with the OGA training to New Jersey’s Professional Learning Standards. The NJDOE also recently contracted with the Public Consulting Group (PCG) to assist in holding a cohort series of in-person and virtual data-driven workshops centered on Opportunity Gap Analysis. The sessions are as follows: 1) Nontraditional and Special Populations in CTE, 2) Data Literacy for CTE (conduct an OGA together), 3) Goal setting in CTE (determine evidence-based activities for improvement), and 4) Data-driven Action (CLNA data). 

Describe your team’s goals for how you hope the Opportunity Gap Analysis training will impact CTE in general within your state:

New York: Our team hopes to offer this training to our Perkins recipients throughout the CLNA cycle in the fall of 2025 so that they can evaluate the gaps in enrollment and access to CTE across programs, look for bias and dive into the root cause of these gaps.  Once we begin implementing the OGA process around NYS, it could reveal the need for additional technical assistance, professional development, and resources which can be provided and developed by our CTE TAC team. 

[B]y working at the local level, we hope to ensure that access and opportunity are at the center of all programmatic and fiscal decision-making. – New Jersey

New Jersey: We expect Perkins-eligible recipients to attend the cohort series of workshops and use the OGA tools to remove barriers to enrollment and develop pathways for all students to participate in high-quality, rigorous CTE programs. Additionally, by working at the local level, we hope to ensure that access and opportunity are at the center of all programmatic and fiscal decision-making.

Describe how the Opportunity Gap Analysis training provided in your state will or has led to updates and improvements in data policies and procedures:

New York: We are fortunate in our state that the data collection systems, while not perfect, allow us at the state level access to enrollment data, and disaggregation across special populations, race, and ethnicity as defined by Perkins V. We now hope to turnkey train this new analysis technique to our recipients.

New Jersey: As a result of our internal state staff training on the OGA process, we are better prepared to leverage insights to update our CLNA and Perkins local application to raise the bar on student access to, and performance in, CTE. 

What improvements to access for CTE learners are you hoping to see after going through the CTE opportunity gap analysis process?

New York: Once a recipient agrees to go through this training with one of our CTE TAC Associates, we are hoping to see their findings and awareness documented on the CLNA.  We would work with them to see if their findings and potential solutions could benefit from using Perkins funds on this initiative, or if their solutions can be accomplished through local means. As needed and necessary, schools identified as requiring additional assistance above and beyond Perkins allocations can receive those added supports from our CTE Technical Assistance Center.

New Jersey: We hope that grantees will remove barriers and provide positive supports for students to enable them to fully participate in CTE opportunities at both the secondary and postsecondary level. By analyzing enrollment data, grantees can identify trends and strategically allocate Perkins funding to engage learners from underrepresented or overrepresented special population subgroups. For instance, grantees might enhance outreach efforts to secondary and postsecondary students to boost enrollment in CTE programs. Secondary recipients could organize events for middle school students and their families to highlight CTE opportunities. Postsecondary institutions might expand dual/articulation agreements or offer guidance on curriculum revisions to attract students to CTE programs.

What lessons learned, or outcomes, from your workshop and facilitation experiences would you most like to share with states considering participating in an Opportunity Gap Analysis cohort?

New York: We have learned that a full evaluation of the disaggregated data is crucial to uncovering gaps that administrators and CTE leaders may not have known existed. The process and toolkit developed by Advance CTE is easy to implement, especially if data is readily available through school and/or state data systems. Using the resources provided by Advance CTE to look at the data and identify gaps helps to create conversations, both internally and with stakeholders, in lessening gaps and elevating access and success in CTE for all learners within our schools and Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) across NYS.

We have learned that a full evaluation of the disaggregated data is crucial to uncovering gaps that administrators and CTE leaders may not have known existed. – New York

New Jersey: One positive outcome out be workshops scheduled to take place March 11 through April 29, 2025. We believe that a series of quality workshops will assist grantees through the what, why, and how of conducting an OGA at the local level and to use the results in data-driven decisions regarding student access to high-quality CTE programming.

We discovered that the success of this project relies on the cooperation and participation of various offices within our department. For instance, the data management team played a crucial role in providing access to the most current data and analyzing it. By collaborating with the Office of Educator Effectiveness, our efforts with OGA aligned with the NJDOE’s goal of raising student achievement by delivering high-quality instruction through teacher support and professional learning. Through collaboration with multiple offices, OGA evolved into an initiative supported not only by the Office of Career Readiness but also by the entire Department. 

Through collaboration with multiple offices, OGA evolved into an initiative supported not only by the Office of Career Readiness but also by the entire Department. – New Jersey

If your organization is interested in defining and exploring the WBL opportunities available to learners in your state in addition to the gap analysis process find out more about the upcoming WBL cohort of the OGA workshops, or apply directly for this six-month collaborative training to access a suite of resources and support to analyze access to WBL at all education levels.