CTE in the News
Check out the latest in CTE research and news!
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Amazon adds robotics apprenticeship to upskilling initiative
Dan Berthiaume
As part of its $700 million Amazon 2025 employee retraining initiative, the e-tail titan is launching the Mechatronics and Robotics Apprenticeship (MRA) Program. The program, which is registered with the U.S. Department of Labor, gives employees the opportunity to apply for an apprenticeship that will train them on the skills and technical knowledge needed to fulfill mechatronics or robotics technical maintenance role. Read MoreBuilding a more competitive US manufacturing sector
McKinsey Global Institute
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored manufacturing’s role in providing products that are critical to health, safety, national security, and the continuity of multiple industries. It has also revealed the extent to which global supply chains are exposed to shocks and disruptions. All of this has occurred at a moment when new technologies, process innovations, input trends, and demand patterns are reshaping manufacturing worldwide, creating opportunities in many cases.
These events have deepened the urgency for the United States to build on an agenda that recognizes the importance of domestic manufacturing for a strong economy and national resilience, both today and in the future. But it will be important to pursue this agenda with a clear view of global competition, since many countries, including China, are continuing to expand their capabilities and compete on dimensions beyond labor costs.
MSSC Nationwide Certification Programs For Front-line Technicians in Manufacturing and Logistics (M&L)
Manufacturing Skills Standard Council
Officially endorsed in 1998 by the federal National Skill Standards Board, the MSSC, an industry-led, 501(c)(3) non-profit, is America’s leader in training and certifying the foundational technical competencies for front-line technicians (entry-level up to first line supervisory) in advanced manufacturing and supply chain logistics.
Future of Caucus Work
Marilyn Barger, et al
Manufacturing jobs will change more than most sectors. Check out the future of caucus work with this presentation.
CRRSAA: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF II)
U.S. Department of Education
The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund II (HEERF II) is authorized by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA), Public Law 116-260, signed into law on Dec. 27, 2020. In total, the CRRSAA authorizes $81.88 billion in support for education, in addition to the $30.75 billion expeditiously provided last spring through the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Public Law 116-136.
A 50-State Analysis of Area Technical Centers
https://areatechnicalcenters.org/
States face transformational disruptions in education and work that have further widened skill and equity gaps. Area technical centers (ATCs) are under-utilized public educational institutions that are powerful tools in expanding equitable pathways for learners to gain postsecondary credentials that lead to meaningful careers while helping states meet their statewide attainment goals.
BUILDING BETTER FUTURES FOR LEARNERS: AN OVERVIEW OF AREA TECHNICAL CENTERS
Advance CTE
A survey by Advance CTE of all 50 states, DC and U.S. territories found
that the majority of respondents strongly agree or agree that ATCs help them meet statewide postsecondary goals through delivery of industry-recognized credentials, postsecondary nondegree certifications, short-term certifications and apprenticeship programs.
What Jeff Kondel had done for our program has truly put us on the map at Manatee Technical College. He has gone way above and beyond to help our program get where it is today. The ROOTS engineering package…can help people, our young student learners, become high-tech learners in the shortest amount of time… This package allows the maximum amount of learning in the shortest amount of time, making it one of the most efficient educational packages I’ve ever seen in my 40 years of teaching.
I believe that if we are going to be competitive in [the] United States, we need a paradigm shift in education; in that, ROOTS engineering will play a major role.
Your robotics package is an innovative breath of fresh air in this arena. Starting with the total cost of robotic ownership, it has been somewhat prohibitive for educators to get the trainer dollars to spend to get a comprehensive suite consisting of multiple robotic cells so that the students can actually spend a reasonable amount of time to learn the language and the programming sequences to allow for simple routines. The next hurdle is the time and expense that is required to send the instructor to the ‘factory’ classes and have them away for weeks at a time. This model alleviates the travel and expense of training the trainer… the curriculum and the content map are effortlessly and organically fine-tuned during the training as well. Dense educational value is very important to me. The ROOTS educational package provides the absolute best experience for the students…



