Narrative: b. 2. D.

Once the Transition Plan was submitted to the U.S. Department of Education in May 2007, Minnesota began to construct a framework, guidelines, and communication strategies for making information about programs of study (POS) available to local recipients of Perkins funds. Elements of the Minnesota POS plan included:

• A 20 person statewide team, comprised of several State Perkins staff and key personnel from school districts and colleges, was sent to Washington DC to attend a workshop on the development and implementation of POS at the local level, and the management of POS at the state level. An outgrowth from the meeting was the formation of sub–groups from the team, along with guidance from the State, which focused on developing a POS template for use by local consortia. The template, as shown in Appendix F, is to be used as one piece of an overall plan to develop and implement POS in the high schools and colleges within local consortia.
• The State has provided:

1. Oral and written guidance regarding the development of career pathways/POS within each local consortium (See Appendix E).
2. Preliminary data work on using Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) codes, career clusters and career pathways to align existing programs in community and technical colleges with the cluster and pathway structure. A similar crosswalk is being established for secondary CTE programs.
3. Initial work to build a relational database that links secondary CTE programs to related CTE programs at the postsecondary level within the cluster/pathway framework.
4. Existing labor market information (LMI) produced regularly by the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), particularly as it relates to current and emerging high–skill, high–wage, or high–demand occupations. An analysis has been done at the college level to identify high–skill, high–wage or high–demand career pathways in Minnesota (See Appendix G).

• The State will explore a variety of electronic and face–to–face mechanisms that explain, to students, families, and counselors, Minnesota’s career pathway/POS organizational framework particularly through the development of interactive career planning resources. These mechanisms will be incorporated into existing Minnesota career planning resources, specifically the Minnesota Career Information System (MCIS), CAREERwise Education and Minnesota Careers (MnCareers).