Stakeholder Engagement Report
Passage of the federal Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act provides all states the opportunity to re-examine priorities for career and technical education at the secondary and post-secondary levels. A requirement under this legislation is the involvement of multiple stakeholder groups in developing the state plan.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) contracted with the University of Wisconsin-Stout (UW-Stout) Emerging Center for Career and Technical Education Excellence (Center) to gather input from career and technical education (CTE) stakeholders across the state of Wisconsin through face-to-face listening sessions and through electronic survey instruments. These stakeholders included community members, business/industry representatives, educators, and students or recent graduates. Questions asked of stakeholders at the listening sessions and through the surveys were developed in collaboration with DPI staff to ensure data collected would meet DPI’s requirements. Data was collected from February 19 through April 19 of 2019, followed by data analysis and preparation of a report for DPI.
Beginning February 27, notice of the first public listening session on March 8 was distributed via email by DPI. Notification of four additional public sessions was emailed March 6 and again prior to each session by DPI staff. A total of eight face-to-face sessions (Table 1) were held in the following regions of the state: Central (Wisconsin Dells), Southwest (Fennimore), Northwest (Rice Lake), Northeast (Green Bay, Three Lakes), Southeast (Pewaukee), and North Central (Curtiss).