The federal Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century, also known as Perkins V, provides federal funding to recipients to ensure students enrolled in career and technical education programs are able to fully develop the academic knowledge, technical skills, and employability skills needed to enter the workforce and pursue continued education in their chosen field.
This site covers these commonly asked questions about Perkins funding:
Additional resources on this page include:
In Massachusetts, programs eligible for funding are: State-approved Chapter 74 CTE programs, state-approved Innovation Pathways programs, Secondary Career Connections Programs (N74), Post-Secondary CTE Programs, and CTE Programs at State Incarceration Institutions.
All Perkins Funded programs must:
For current grant recipients, questions regarding allowable expenses would be addressed by your RASP Liaison, Alex Chiu .
First, confirm your district has been allocated funds. Perkins funding is administered through the Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning (RASP) /Federal Grant Programs team. Perkins funds are typically determined in late spring and available to apply for through summer with a Fall deadline.
To further align the systems and expectations of Massachusetts Career and Technical Education, DESE has integrated the Secondary level Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) into a user-friendly tool that looks holistically at students' high school experience.
This new resource was piloted in Spring 2023 is available on DESE CCTE's website for use. This tool will be referenced in the updated Perkins Application. The self-assessment tool can be found here. DESE will also be introducing updated reports and resources to support the use of this tool. DESE will be holding information and technical assistance sessions to support implementation. Information about these sessions will be available here in Spring 2023.
Then complete the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment Guide and Worksheet . Use this information to identify, develop, revise, and implement your programs and apply for grant funding through the grant posting. The FY2024 Perkins Application will reflect updated language to recognize common findings from the CLNA process. More information will be updated here and technical assistance and information sessions will be held as the application is release.
In addition to measures used to evaluate state approved programs such as Chapter 74 and Innovation Pathways, Perkins Core Indicators are used to measure programs quality and opportunities for improvement for programs using Perkins funding. The Department has set State Determined Performance Levels (SDPLs) for each indicator. In limited cases, Districts, institutions & consortiums may propose Locally Determined Performance Levels (LDPLs). For questions regarding LDPLs, please contact CCTE@mass.gov .
Perkin Core Indicators can be used for program improvement using these resources:
Failure to submit required reports on time may result in the school district/postsecondary institution/consortium not receiving Perkins V Allocation funds.
Districts & collaboratives with Secondary Programs are required to report CTE Enrollment SIMS.
Graduate Follow Up. An important component of Perkins programs, including Chapter-74 approved programs, is the Career Technical Education Graduate Follow-up of graduates. This is used to calculate and report on a Perkins V Core Indicator: Postsecondary Placement (3S1) as part of the accountability system for federally funded Perkins programs. Refer to the CTE Data Instructions for more. To submit graduate follow-up results, districts use the CTE Grad Follow-up Results application in the Security Portal. Access is managed locally: the district's Directory Administrator may assign to a district staff person the security role "CTE Grad Follow-up Results". This district staff person can then enter and submit (or 'certify') the data. For more about grad follow-up, see Instructions or contact your liaison.
Massachusetts first implemented updated Federal legislation, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act in Spring 2020. Our current state plan which defines the ways in which outlines Career and Technical Education in Massachusetts and identifies how our state uses federal funding for Career and Technical Education is due to be updated in Spring 2024. Leading up to that state plan, DESE will be soliciting feedback and updating resources and procedures to improve upon the financial and programmatic support DESE provides to Career and Technical Education.
Beginning with Superintendent meetings and including engagement with educators, administrators, workforce, students, families, and other stakeholders throughout the next year there will be many opportunities to provide feedback and input in the updating of the State Plan.
Opportunities to provide feedback will be updated on this website throughout the process. In the meantime, please submit general comments or questions using this form.
Who to contact:
Last Updated: February 17, 2023
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02148-4906
Voice: (781) 338-3000 TTY: (800) 439-2370
Disclaimer: A reference in this website to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public and does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.