Director’s Annual Report: Executive Summary
June 2014
Partnerships for Innovation is a collaboration of Nebraska’s secondary and postsecondary partners
focused on building a better statewide CTE system to improve student learning and better meet economic development
priorities. PFI will do this by introducing innovation in CTE Delivery Systems to include Career Academies, Professional
Development and Programs of Study with Coordinated Curriculum.
Programs of Study Development: PFI assisted with the enhancement and facilitation of reVISION; a Program of Study
development process which integrate labor market information and Nebraska’s Economic Industry Clusters in high
schools. PFI worked directly with the following school districts: Plattsmouth, Papillion-LaVista, Umo Ho Nation, Santee,
Winnebago, and Walthill. PFI created an H3 website video tutorial used during the reVISION and NDE Fall workshops.
PFI regularly shares grant opportunities with schools and assists in the application development. PFI also links local
businesses with schools interested in partnering.
PFI has provided the statewide membership to Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc. (EMSI) since 2007. This membership
provides community colleges the opportunity to quickly identify labor projections in their communities and throughout
the state. PFI funded the EMSI Socioeconomic Impact Study for each community college. The reports and an aggregate
state report can be found on the PFI website under Data & Reports.
Career Academy Leadership: PFI assisted the Nebraska Department of Education with the Career Academy Rule 47
development. PFI hosted a statewide Career Academy meeting in the spring for Career Academy Coordinators to share
the components of the Rule. PFI has offered technical assistance to existing Academy programs at the secondary and
postsecondary levels.
Professional Development: PFI provided support for the Fall Workshops, held at Nebraska community colleges and
Educational Service Units across the state. More than 650 secondary and postsecondary faculty attended updates on
state model programs of study and curriculum enhancements while provided the opportunity to network. NDE staff
reported a strengthened relationship between secondary and postsecondary faculty as a result. The chart is a
breakdown of the educators served by the professional development funds issued by the Partnerships for Innovation.
Professional Development Activity
CASE Agriculture Education Training
Developmental Education CTE/Academic Alignment
Community College Leadership Workshop (directly)
STEM Project Lead the Way Support
NCE Fall Workshops at Community Colleges
AIM Faculty Academy Scholarships for HS IT teachers
NCAC and NACEP Conferences
Capital Career Center
Directly Served
15
30
17
13
652
16
19
22
Nebraska Career Connections: PFI provided substantial financial support for Nebraska Career Connections - a youth and
adult job seeker online tool used for quality career exploration, planning and preparation.
Total registered users 253,049 (2013-14)
New Users: 10,887
Returning Users: 17,756
Total number of assessments completed to date 422,002 (2006 – 2014)
Kuder Career Interest Assessment: 199,235
Kuder Skills Career Assessment: 121,833
Kuder Skills Career Assessment, Adult: 20,473
Kuder Work Values Assessment: 80,461
Erika Volker, Director
402.305.9480 [email protected]
Total Log Ins: 78,594