Who We Are

This project, known as the Joint Special Populations Statewide Advisory Committee (JSPAC), is part of a joint effort between the California Department of Education and the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office to develop the academic, vocational and technical skills of secondary and postsecondary SPECIAL POPULATION students who elect to enroll in vocational and technical education programs.  Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 State Leadership funding supports the ongoing efforts of the JSPAC in their efforts to:

1.      Identify and disseminate specialized curriculum materials and resources to support services to Special Populations.  Such materials can include books, videos, software, and other materials designated for students or to support professional development;

2.      Expand linkages with other programs for which equity and service to Special Populations is mandated by funding sources and for which that service is critical to program success; share information on best practices; coordinate and leverage resources to maximize the number of students who can be served; and incorporate the expertise, resources, and support those having a stake in assuring all students succeed in school and the workforce, including business and labor, and community-based organizations;

3.      Continue to expand the strong relationship between the CCCCO and CDE in service to students who are members of special populations and involve other Special Populations staffing in all Perkins VTEA planning and implementation; and

4.      Create linkages with other state and federal agencies serving the identified Special Populations and offer jointly developed professional development and technical assistance opportunities.

Thirty committee members, representing the diversity of California K-Adult (10 members), Community College (10 members), and Industry (10 members), meet a minimum of three times per year to plan activities that will support the purpose of the project.   A representative from the California Department of Education and a representative from the California Community Colleges serve as co-chairs to the committee.

Requirements of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Act of 1998:

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Act of 1998 requires that states and local districts address the needs of special population students.

Special population students are defined as:

• Individuals from economically disadvantaged families, including foster children
• Single parents, including single pregnant women
• Displaced homemakers
• Individuals preparing for nontraditional training and employment
• Individuals with disabilities
• Individuals with limited English proficiency

Required State Activities to Address of the Needs of Special Populations

The Chancellor's Office and California Department of Education are required to address the unique needs of special population students.  Specifically they must meet accountability, administration, state plan, and state leadership requirements.  The state must:

• Describe California's program strategies for special populations (Sec. 122.c.7)
• Describe how special populations are provided equal access and not discriminated against (Sec. 122. c.8 A-C)
• Spend Leadership funds to support programs for special populations (Sec. 124.b.8)
• Spend Leadership funds to assess how the needs of special populations are being met (Sec. 124.b.1)
• Describe the progress of special population students (Sec. 113.c.2)

In the area of nontraditional training the state must:

• Describe how funds are used to support nontraditional training (Sec. 122. c. 17)
• Spend funds to provide preparation for nontraditional training (Sec. 124.b.5)
• Report the number of students training in nontraditional programs (Sec. 113.b.2A iv)
• Evaluate nontraditional programs (Sec. 121.1.A)

Local Activities to Address the Needs of Special Populations are Required:

The local plan must:

• Describe how representatives of non-traditional and special populations training (and others) are involved in the development, implementation, and evaluations of vocational and technical education programs.  (Sec. 134 b 4)
• Adopt strategies to overcome barriers that result in lowering rates of access to, or success in, programs for special populations. (Sec. 134. b. 7. A)
• Provide programs that are designed to enable special populations to meet the State adjusted levels of performance. (Sec. 134. b. 7. B)
• Describe how individuals who are members of special populations will not be discriminated against on the basis of their status as members of special populations. (Sec. 134. b. 8)
• Describe how funds will be used to promote preparation for nontraditional training and employment. (Sec. 134. b. 9)

Local funds must be spent to Develop and implement evaluations of how the needs of special populations are being met. (Sec. 135 b 5)

Funding Implications
It is critically important that California follow all these requirements because the funding California receives from the federal government will depend on the success of all students, particularly those who are members of special populations.

The state's annual report to the federal government must include descriptions of:

• The performance of special populations.  The state must "describe major challenges or reasons for special populations not reaching performance levels."
• The state's support for special population programs.

(Consolidated Annual Performance, Accountability and Financial Status Report for the State Basic Grant under the Carl D. Perkins Act of 1998 for 2000-2001, pages 12 - 13.)

"Incentive grants will be awarded to States that exceed agreed-upon performance levels. Grants may be reduced to States that do not meet agreed-upon performance levels.  Each State must annually evaluate the performance of its grantees (i.e. districts) using the performance indicators and enter into a local improvement plan with grantees that are not making progress." (Core Indicator Framework, U.S. Department of Education, January 2000, page 2.)

In addition to the potential impact of performance on funding, allocations to local districts is based on the number of economically disadvantaged students being served. The vast majority of special population students are economically disadvantaged, particularly single parents and displaced homemakers.  The more successful a district is in recruiting and retaining these students, the more funds it may be eligible to receive.

BENEFITS

Broader Implications for Serving Special Populations:

Beyond the funding implications, there are broader reasons for ensuring that special population students benefit from vocational education.

• The magnitude of individuals representing special populations in California makes it imperative that their needs be addressed.  To wit:
  Over one in five of all K-12 California students is Limited English Proficient   (LEP) and 7% (over 89,000) of Community College students are LEP;
  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) serves 4.5 million Californians.  Over 55,000 students with disabilities are enrolled in Community Colleges;
  Women dominate the poverty statistics. Fifty-four percent of poor families are maintained by women alone, the majority of whom are single parents or displaced homemakers;
• Women today earn on average 75% of the wages of men. This is primarily because of the career areas they choose to enter.  If they were employed in a broader range of occupations, i.e. occupations nontraditional for their gender, their economic status would improve.
• Our nation's economy depends on a well-trained and growing work force. We cannot afford to leave special populations out of the work force.
• Individuals in special population categories are most likely to left out of economic rewards.  They often experience barriers to receiving training and entering into the workforce. To ensure that all Americans have access to bright economic futures, these barriers must be addressed and special population students must be given state of the art training. It is simply the right thing to do.