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The Department offers the following guidelines and information regarding equitable student access to CTE programs:
Career technical education schools and programs at comprehensive high schools shall develop and implement an admission policy that is consistent with federal and state law and any relevant guidelines issued by the Department or the U.S. Department of Education. Each policy shall include the following:
Awareness of Career Technical Education and high school options while in middle school enables students and their families to make informed choices about their education. Districts with middle schools that have access to CTE programs through their high schools or through their municipality's membership to a regional CTE district must have and implement a Middle School Pathway Exploration Policy. Learn more about Middle School Pathway Exploration Policies and attestations.
Students who reside in cities and towns not maintaining approved vocational technical education programs in the career technical program area sought by the student may apply for admission to a school of another city, town or district offering the desired instruction as set forth in M.G.L. c. 74, § 7. Additional regulations regarding Non-Resident student enrollment is included in 603 CMR 4.00: Career Technical Education Regulations.
Guidelines for the Career Technical Education Chapter 74 Program Nonresident Student Tuition Process Pursuant to M.G.L. c.74
Career Technical Education Chapter 74 Program Nonresident Student Tuition Application
Specialized Agricultural and Natural Resources Programs Nonresident Student Enrollment Advisory
Information on Nonresident Transportation
Career Technical Education Chapter 74 Nonresident Tuition Rates for School Year 2025-2026
Career Technical Education Chapter 74 Nonresident Tuition Rates for School Year 2024-2025
Career Technical Education Chapter 74 Nonresident Tuition Rates for School Year 2023-2024
Career Technical Education Chapter 74 Nonresident Tuition Rates for School Year 2022-2023
Career Technical Education Chapter 74 Nonresident Tuition Rates for School Year 2021-2022
This section provides an overview of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (the Department) implementation of the Federal Guidelines for Eliminating Discrimination and Denial of Services on the Basis of Race, Color, National Origin, Sex and Handicap in Vocational Education Programs (MOA Guidelines), specifically as they relate to secondary career technical education (CTE) student eligibility, recruitment, and admission.
The MOA Guidelines require states to conduct civil rights reviews in districts that receive federal funds and offer CTE. These Methods of Administration (MOA) reviews require states to "adopt a compliance program to prevent, identify and remedy discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, or handicap." Guidelines at II.B. The compliance program must include:
Note: (a subrecipient is defined in the MOA Guidelines at II.B., and it includes a local educational authority that receives financial assistance through DESE)
The Department's MOA process has been approved by OCR and includes three steps:
In connection with CTE student eligibility, recruitment, and admissions, the Department's MOA pre-onsite monitoring activities include a desk review of all districts reporting more applications than available seats. The Department calculates a comparison index, identifies potential disproportionality, and determines which schools or programs require technical assistance or further MOA review.
The MOA Guidelines prohibit using selective admissions criteria "that have the effect of disproportionately excluding persons of a particular race, color, national origin, sex, or handicap," unless the criteria "have been validated as essential to participation in a given program and that alternative equally valid criteria that do not have such a disproportionate adverse effect are unavailable." Guidelines at IV.K. The Department reviews enrollment data submitted by districts each fall to identify districts whose data indicates potential disproportionate exclusion of one or more protected classes of students.
The Department compares admitted students to students in sending communities using a comparison index. The comparison index is a method of comparing a CTE district's population to students residing in its region to check for a comparable demographic profile. To calculate the comparison index, all students in the grade levels served by the CTE district who reside in member districts, except those that are served in out-of-district placements, are included in the sample. For each year, the total number of students in the sample in the grades served by the CTE district in the subgroup is divided by the total number of students in the sample in the grades served by the CTE district. This figure is then adjusted using the Wilson Score Interval (WSI) method to calculate a "lower-limit" (a one-sided 99% confidence interval below the unadjusted index). This final figure is the comparison index.
If a CTE district's proportion of students in a particular subgroup falls below the comparison index, this means that there is 99% statistical confidence that the subgroup population in the CTE district is below the mean of the comparison sample. Said another way, the comparison index indicates with 99% confidence that the enrollment of a given student population at a CTE district is or is not comparable to that of the enrollment of their sending region.
To determine if districts are enrolling particular demographic groups (Students of Color, Students with Disabilities, and English Learners) at disproportionate rates, we calculate the difference between the attending 9th grade students at that district and the comparison index for that district. The comparison index is what we would expect the 9th grade enrollment to be at the CTE district, using data from the region and adjusting for grades served, size of the district, and variability. When the difference between the attending 9th grade students and comparison index is negative, it indicates a 99% confidence level that the enrollment is under-representative of that district's region.
The Department reviews at least two years of data and flags potential disproportionate student populations where:
Using this information, the Department identifies (1) districts that are newly identified for potential disproportionate exclusion in one or more protected groups, (2) districts that have had potential disproportionate exclusion in one protected group across more than one school year, and (3) districts that have potential disproportionate exclusion in two or more protected groups over more than one year. For districts that have potential disproportionate exclusion over more than one year, the Department then considers whether districts have made progress in the current school year as compared with past years, and whether the differences have been persistent or are a newer issue.
After reviewing the Department's findings, the Commissioner determines which districts' data indicate disproportionate exclusion and therefore will be part of the formal MOA review process, and which districts may require technical assistance.
The Department then schedules an on-site meeting at those districts entering the formal MOA review process. Department staff provide the MOA-Onsite-Documentation tool for districts to compile all necessary information in advance of that meeting. At the on-site meeting, the district and Department staff review the documentation together, and Department staff may request additional information or discussions with specific district staff. Following the visit, the Department will issue a Letter of Finding (LOF). In cases where the LOF contains findings that require action, the district will submit a Voluntary Compliance Plan (VCP) to the Department's Office of C.
For each finding that requires action, the district must describe the proposed corrective actions the district will implement together with:
The Superintendent must take the following steps in developing the VCP:
Department staff will provide technical assistance to the district throughout the VCP process. The Department's written review of the VCP will describe whether and to what extent the district must provide progress reports. If the Department cannot approve the VCP as written by the district, it will provide a written explanation with its reasons, along with a Department-written VCP for the district to review and implement.
The Department has issued guidance documents regarding key stages of students' trajectory through CTE pathways, from information-sharing with prospective students and their families, to admissions policies and practices, to student outcome tracking.
The Department has also developed several interactive CTE data tools to assist districts in reflecting and acting on student admissions data, including waitlist and enrollment information. The Department further hosts several hours of "drop-in" technical assistance sessions for districts, to answer questions about the tools.
Additionally, the Department offers individual support and grant resources to districts to support improving policies and procedures for eligibility, recruitment, and admissions. Inquiries about the MOA process for recruitment, can be directed to CCTE@mass.gov .
Last Updated: August 22, 2025