This article describes a curriculum integration project designed to help students better contextualize their learning: The High M.A.R.C.S. Project linked mathematics, art, research, collaboration, and storytelling. The article explains the project in detail, discusses sample student work from the project, and describes how the project work was…

Technology educators do not have the time, energy, or resources to develop state-of-the-art curriculum changes and should work with commercial vendors to produce the best curricula. (JOW)

An award-winning tech prep program at Miami Valley Joint Vocational High School and Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, redesigned the curriculum around the idea that students work in teams and engage in hands-on projects. (JOW)

Reflects on 1980s educational reforms, the emergence of technology education and the essentialist perspective, the curriculum challenge posed by tech prep, and the reemergence of progressivism. Suggests that technology education has not articulated an appealing purpose or design. (SK)

Review of 15 tech prep programs in Illinois identified crucial elements influencing the teacher's role in school-to-work: (1) level of support and resources; (2) resolution of barriers to integration of academic and vocational education; (3) meaningful staff development; and (4) administrator support. (SK)

The demand for employees capable of functioning in high-performance workplaces will only increase. There must be significant changes in technology-education curriculum for secondary programs and technology-education programs that participate in school-to-work and tech-prep programs. (JOW)

Delphi panels of 22 national and 28 Missouri tech prep experts identified the following essential elements of tech prep: involvement of community colleges, area vocational-technical schools, and high schools; role in refocusing career exploration; blurring of college prep/vocational education distinctions; and collaborative planning between…

Project ProBase (problem-based technology curriculum) is a National Science Foundation funded project designed to develop an innovative curriculum that more adequately prepares high school technology education students for success in advanced technical studies at the community college level. The purpose of the project is to design and test…

Discusses the purpose of articulation arrangements between high schools and vocational and postsecondary institutions, and provides a sample articulation agreement. Describes the technical competency profile, a method of identifying required competencies for an associate degree. Reviews a model process for developing articulation agreements…

Defines contextual learning, or presenting new information to students in familiar contexts. Argues that community colleges must be ready for an anticipated increase in contextual learners due to its use in tech prep programs. Describes elements of contextual learning, its application in the classroom, and ways that colleges can prepare for…

The societal effects of rapidly changing technologies signal the need for an educational system combining the best in vocational and academic learning. Career paths join a liberal arts academic core with hands-on technological options. A New Hampshire high school's tech-prep/school-to-work partnership with local higher education institutions and a…

Discusses 11 problems hindering the implementation of the tech prep movement. Reviews a North Carolina project to develop a model approach to tech prep, highlighting required core and suggested courses at the secondary level and recommended elements at the postsecondary level. Lists components of a model tech prep system. (10 citations) (AJL)