Section 7 - CTE Accountability and Reporting Data

Secondary Accountability and Reporting Data

In Minnesota, there are over 340 secondary districts of various types, including charter schools, intermediates, and education districts, among other official entities serving 9th-12th grade students who implement state-approved CTE programs. 

State-approved CTE programs are those which:

  • Provide evidence of student leadership, career development, experiential learning, and safety (Minn. R. 3505.2550).
  • Ensure the teacher of record holds an appropriate CTE license (Minn. R. 3505.1100).
  • Establish a local Program Advisory Committee (Minn. R. 3505.1000, 3505.2500, 3505.1400).
  • Submit a signed statement of assurances by the current district superintendent or licensed CTE director, and Special Education Director, as appropriate (Minn. R. 3505.2550).

Although all 9th-12th grade CTE programs are welcome to submit a Program Approval form for review, only those districts and entities that are part of a Perkins consortium are, once approved, eligible to receive federal funding through their respective Perkins consortium and/or are eligible to access CTE revenue resources (Minn. Stat. §124D.4531).

Each Perkins member district or entity must annually submit student enrollment data for each state-approved CTE program offered during the most recent school year within their district to MDE (Minn. Stat. §124D.452; Minn. R. 3505.1800). Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, these student enrollment records,  must be submitted to MDE via Minnesota Common Course Catalog (MCCC) data collection system. MCCC is a course classification and data collection system intended to provide uniform information about courses that are taught by Minnesota teachers and completed by Minnesota students. The MCCC was implemented to meet state and federal requirements, including: Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.35 Student Academic Achievement and Growth; Minnesota Session Laws 2009, Chapter 96, Article 2, Section 60 Implementing Rigorous Coursework Measures Related to Student Performance; and HR 2272 America COMPETES Act of 2007 SEC. 6401. Required Elements of a Statewide Longitudinal Data System.

The Authorized User(s) responsible for submitting data to MDE are granted access by their district’s Superintendent or IoWA proxy through the EDIAM system. The secure data collection system is open for data submission from early spring to October 1, each reporting year.

Student enrollment data are summed across 9th-12th grade students’ high school experience in order to determine level of engagement and CTE status. Any student at or above the status of CTE Participant (successful completion of one or more state-approved CTE courses) is then included in the federal funding formula for state and local allocations, as well as in federal accountability reporting.

MDE staff provide technical assistance and support for data collection and interpretation, federal and local reporting needs, as well as continuous improvement. Staff at MDE collaborate with district administrators and authorized users, as well as Student Information System vendors, on an ongoing basis in order to provide training resources and critical updates.

Technical assistance is delivered through a variety of formats such as webinars, pre-recorded training videos, consortium-specific group trainings by request, conference presentations, and individual or personal communication. Contact MDE staff for scheduled webinar dates, as well as any specific training or data needs you may have.

The Perkins data have a high degree of accuracy and integrity because elements are linked with additional data sources and are summed across multiple years of data.

After all student level data have been verified, flags for participants and concentrators are created by summing the number of successful CTE course hours within one career field across a student’s entire high school experience until age 21 and prior to graduation.

Data are linked with the following sources:

  1. MARSS: This system contains student demographic information and high school completion codes, specifically: student identification number, date of birth, and name.
  2. Migrant Flag: This system is used to identify students who are documented migrant students. This information is used to link demographic data to assessment data and to report data to the U.S. Department of Education through the state’s CAR. It is not part of MARSS. It is stored in its own database.
  3. MCA/MTAS: These achievement test results are necessary for reporting academic achievement (2S1 and 2S2).
  4. SLEDS (Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System): This system contains information from both the Minnesota State system as well as from the National Clearinghouse (see Postsecondary Data sources for a description of the National Clearinghouse). This information allows MDE to fulfill the federal reporting requirements for 3S1 Post-Program Placement.
  5. Foster Care: A data sharing agreement allows MDE to fulfill the federal reporting requirements and provide student counts for this subgroup.
  6. Ed-Fi: Syncs disaggregated student level data from a district or charter's Student Information System (SIS) directly to MDE's Ed-Fi servers. The steps to complete this process are unique to each SIS vendor. SIS vendors provide specific set-up guidance to their districts and charters on syncing data.

Reporting and Accessing Data

Secondary data reports fall into two broad categories:

  1. Accountability
    • Enrollment: These reports display the number of CTE participants and concentrators, by career cluster. These reports are organized according to the federal reporting structure.
    • Performance Indicators: These reports align with the operational definitions listed at the beginning of this section (1S1, 2S1, 2S2, 2S3, 3S1, 4S1, 5S3) and are organized according to the federal reporting structure. These are the reports to use when determining whether local levels of performance have been met and where gaps in performance for individual student groups might exist.
  2. Continuous Improvement

    There are a series of data reports within this category which were developed for all audiences vested in assisting CTE students toward realizing their potential, as well as implementing strategies to the benefit of CTE programs and align with CLNA needs.

Postsecondary Accountability and Reporting Data

All twenty-five postsecondary institutions in Minnesota that receive funding under Perkins V are two-year colleges that are part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.

Postsecondary colleges do not make separate Perkins data submissions to the state. Instead, Perkins performance and enrollment data are processed using existing statewide record systems as the primary data source and supplemented with additional statewide record systems and data as needed.

Postsecondary Data Tables

Perkins V data tables are available for direct querying by institution and system staff who have submitted Operational Data Security Request forms and have been granted access. These users must also have SQL, Microsoft Access, or other local querying capabilities.

In addition, a collection of paginated reports and Power BI reports are available to consortium leaders who have been granted appropriate security rights to access the data.

Data Sources

Using the Integrated Statewide Record System (ISRS) and other statewide record systems as the sources of data for reporting, an automated system was created to extract data and calculate postsecondary accountability indicators. This process concludes with the creation of two standard, censused reporting tables used by both the system office and institutions to produce Perkins V accountability and enrollment reporting.

As a result, all colleges, consortia, and system office staff use the same standards and definitions for accountability reporting.

The primary data sources used to produce the Perkins V reporting tables include:

  • Integrated Statewide Record System (ISRS): ISRS is Minnesota State’s student record system. It includes data on student enrollment, majors, degrees and awards, courses, financial aid, and graduate follow-up survey results for all system institutions. ISRS serves as the primary data source for identifying Perkins students within a cohort, classifying special populations, and providing most of the data points used to assess performance. Because ISRS contains official student record and transcript information, significant system resources and effort are dedicated to ensuring the accuracy of this data.
  • National Student Clearinghouse (NSC): Since 1999, NSC records have been loaded into the system’s data warehouse each semester for all enrolled students. This existing data transfer process supports a variety of reporting needs, including identifying students who complete a Perkins program and continue their education at institutions within and outside the Minnesota State system. NSC data supplements ISRS by providing information on transfers to institutions outside the system.
  • Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) – UI Wage Data: Through a data-sharing agreement with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), system research staff access summary Unemployment Insurance (UI) wage detail data. This dataset includes quarterly wage and employment information for individuals working in covered employment in Minnesota. It is used as the primary source for reporting student employment outcomes following program completion and is supplemented, when needed, by graduate follow-up survey data from ISRS.

Summary Data Reports

Perkins V summary data reports at the state, consortium, and institution levels are available through Power BI and are accessed through the System’s Office 365 site using the Perkins V Reporting app. Only system office CTE and research staff, consortia coordinators, and other limited institution staff are granted access to the data reports. All users must be approved by the System CTE Director.

To access the Perkins V Reporting app, users must log in to the System’s Office 365 site with their StarID and StarID password, then navigate to the Power BI app or home page using the app launcher in the upper left corner of the screen.

The reports included in the Perkins V Reporting app provide data on participant and concentrator enrollment, performance on core indicators, and disparities (or gaps) in performance compared to established performance levels or the total population. Some reports also include trend data and disaggregated information by demographic group, special population, or career cluster/program.

Student Data Privacy

Consortia, district, and college staff may be given access to data and data tools that allow viewing of student-identifiable data. Staff are legally obligated to ensure the confidentiality and privacy of this data. Data privacy rules fall under the umbrella of both the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and must be followed accordingly.

In short, these acts exist to ensure that personal and private student data are not disseminated publicly. It is the responsibility of consortia staff to be familiar with these acts and to share private (disaggregated) data in an appropriate manner with authorized personnel only.

Student-identifiable data includes any data or information that, alone or in combination, would generally allow a person to identify a student with reasonable certainty and may include, but is not limited to:

  • Student demographic information
  • Immunization and health records
  • Disciplinary records
  • Student progress reports
  • Grade point average
  • Assessment results
  • Attendance records

Summary data can be released, but only if aggregated to a level where the privacy of individuals is protected. This includes the release of directly identifiable data as well as data where the identity of individuals could be reasonably inferred through calculation.

Data Use and Reporting

Printed reports that include student-identifiable data should be avoided whenever possible. When hard copies are necessary, they should be collected after use and stored securely or destroyed.

Student-identifiable data must not be included in presentations or publications shared with groups whose members are not authorized to view this data. This includes advisory committees and workgroups that include individuals external to the institution. It also includes the sharing of data within a consortium between secondary and postsecondary partners when appropriate authorization has not been granted.

Care should be taken when preparing any public reports to ensure that student-identifiable data are not disclosed. This includes reports such as the Annual Performance Report (APR) and the local application.

Computer and Software Requirements

Any computer that receives, stores, or is used to manipulate student-identifiable data must meet basic security requirements to ensure that private data is not released publicly.

  1. Private data must be stored behind a secure firewall with password-protected access limited to approved personnel.
  2. Private data must not be stored or copied onto transportable flash drives or other portable media. When data are accessed through a local area network, copies must not be saved to desktop hard drives.
  3. Data sharing, when required, must be limited to only the data elements necessary for the intended purpose.

Consortia staff should maintain readily available contact information for their institution’s data privacy personnel. In the event of an inappropriate release of student-identifiable data, this individual must be notified immediately so that appropriate action can be taken.

Student Data Privacy Resources

Policy & Procedure History
Date of Implementation: 07/01/2026
Date of Last Review: 0/0/0