Carl Perkins Reporting

Reporting Requirements

Congress made accountability for results a central focus of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. (Perkins V, or the Act,) setting out new performance accountability requirements for states and local programs.  These requirements were established "to assess the effectiveness of the state in achieving statewide progress in vocational and technical education, and to optimize the return of investment of Federal funds in vocational and technical education activities," pursuant to section 113(a) of Perkins V. 

Under Perkins V, states are required to report annually on 13 core indicators of performance.  States are also required to report disaggregated data on the performance of students in special population categories described in the law, as well as gender, race, and ethnicity.  Perkins V also requires states to report on the effectiveness of their tech-prep programs, and, therefore, states must report data for tech-prep students by each sub-indicator separately, as well as 11 other indicators described in the law.

In accordance with Perkins V requirements, the federal Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) negotiates annual performance levels on each of the core indicators with each state and then holds them accountable for achieving results.  Each state submits its performance data in a Consolidated Annual Report (CAR) by December 31 each year and must implement a program improvement plan if it fails to meet at least 90 percent of one or more of its performance levels.  A state may face tougher sanctions under Perkins V if it fails to implement an improvement plan and fails to meet a single indicator by the 90 percent threshold for three consecutive years. 

Core Indicators of Performance

Postsecondary Level:

• Technical skill attainment
• Credential, certificate, degree completion
• Student retention or transfer
• Student placement
• Nontraditional participation and completion

Secondary Level:

• Academic attainment in reading/language arts and mathematics
• Technical skill attainment
• Secondary school completion
• Student graduation rates
• Secondary placement
• Nontraditional participation
• Nontraditional completion

In addition to federal reporting requirements, Delgado is required to submit monthly and quarterly reports to the Louisiana and Community College System (LCTCS) Office on a regular basis. Additionally, all reports are submitted as part of an annual audit, conducted by LCTCS Compliance Representatives, which takes place in March of each year.