Burbio School Tracker 1/20: Beyond Traditional

1. As part of our foundational district information dataset Burbio delivers state and district-level enrollment data, sourced from Federal reporting and integrated into every layer of our district analysis and policy dashboards. The Department of Education recently announced enrollment figures for the 2024-25 academic year, and we continue with analysis this week.  

The chart below summarizes year-over-year changes by district locale. Note that City districts, which were frequently the fastest-decliners during the Covid-era, saw an enrollment decline that is lower than Town and Suburb and the same as Rural:

2. Burbio's Signals Tracker reads millions of pages of district discussions and summarizes them for clients, who use the information to identify immediate selling opportunities. The Signals can be pulled into CRMs via API and combined with client's proprietary AI models.

This week, we analyze Signals from recent school board meetings to highlight the top trends in CTE expansion:  

• Infrastructure and Specialized Facility Construction of Innovation Centers and dedicated CTE buildings, including large-scale projects like welding labs, greenhouses, and buildings designed to provide realistic work environments for students.

• Investment in High-Tech Pathways: Many districts are moving beyond traditional trades to implement programs such as aviation maintenance, professional piloting, and aerospace engineering, cybersecurity and drone technology to meet evolving workforce demands.

• Strengthening Industry Partnerships and Dual Enrollment, leveraging partnerships with community colleges and local businesses to provide students with dual-credit opportunities and seamless transitions to post-secondary education.

• Diversification into Healthcare and Medical Sciences, including fields such as biotechnology, dental assisting, sports medicine, and patient care technology, which requires adding high-end equipment like simulation technology and medical lab workstations.

• Expanding CTE Exposure to Middle and Elementary Schools through career awareness and exploratory programs, which can include CTE tours, career fairs, and "Pathway Exploration" activities to help them make informed decisions before entering high school.

3. Burbio's State-Level Funding Tracker features continuously updated, state-specific grants for PreK-12 schools. As grants are announced, clients are alerted and can reach out to eligible districts to inform them about the grant and offer assistance before the application process. Below is a chart that summarizes the market size for grant categories. The majority of grants issued by states apply to multiple categories so it's important to look at each category size in isolation and not add all the figures together:

4. Burbio's State Policy dashboard includes information such as state board meetings, budgets, Title I funds, state AI policies, curriculum lists, and more. Burbio summarizes state board of education meetings and highlights the issues covered. This week we highlight budget and investment priorities from state board meetings in Q4:

• In Oklahoma, the state board has requested just over $4 billion, a slight increase from last year. Among the highlighted funding lines are $14 million for an Early Childhood Initiative, $17.5 million for Reading Sufficiency, $42 million for teacher retention, and $11.9 million for Dedicated Literacy designed to "Strengthen literacy programs and resources across all grade levels."

• In Rhode Island, the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education approved five new capital projects, including statewide investments to expand and modernize CTE and early childhood education facilities, modernization of outdated state education workspaces, targeted HVAC investments, a charter school upgrade, and a "Facility Equity Initiative" using pay-go funding to prioritize high-need LEAs.

• In Massachusetts, the Board approved budget priorities, which include continuing the Governor's Literacy Launch Initiative, an intervention plan for the state's lowest-performing schools, expanding Early College and CTE access, educator recruitment, and high-dosage tutoring.

• Mississippi's Board submitted its budget request with priorities such as adolescent literacy, math coaches, and a CTE strategic plan, among others.

• In Michigan, the state updated Goal 4 of its ongoing Top 10 Strategic Education Plan, "Expand Secondary Learning Opportunities," covering investment priorities for the initiatives, which include CTE, Special Education, IB, AP, Dual Enrollment and Early Middle College.