This study examined the academic performance of Tech Prep students (referred to as participants) in comparison to non-Tech Prep students (referred to as non-participants) entering a two-year community college from sixteen different high schools in Stark County, Ohio. This study provided a quantitative analysis of students' academic experiences to…

Discusses the problems surrounding the counting of tech prep students. Suggests that one problem is the lack of a single definition for the term "tech prep." Suggests that if it is to be evaluated as a program, it needs more resources. (JOW)

The Minnesota Tech Prep Self-Evaluation System is a framework based on ideas from Deming, Juran, and the Baldridge award. Testing with 17 Minnesota tech prep consortia found it effective in identifying areas needing improvement and promoting dialog among those involved in tech prep implementation. (SK)

Responses from 35 of 52 state tech prep coordinators indicated that 77% had evaluation plans; 68.6% had mechanisms for identifying tech prep students. Most frequent evaluation components were articulation, staff development, curriculum, and marketing. Most used evaluation criteria were job placement, postsecondary enrollment, graduation rate, and…

Tech Prep education programs play a vital role in the education of American youth. During the past decade, with funding from the Perkins Act, Tech Prep consortia have consolidated and developed programs for students. The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 required each state to identify performance levels relevant to…

Twenty-four schools, 1,350 high school students, and 251 postsecondary students were involved in the formative evaluation used by Rhode Island to assess their tech-prep programs. The evaluation provides tangible documentation that tech prep has a positive impact on participating students. (Author/JOW)

Discusses a national study that compared tech prep with career and technical education. Looks at promising practices including formal articulation, career pathways, work-based learning, professional evaluation, curriculum integration, and evaluation. (JOW)

This booklet describes PACE (Promoting Academic Excellence in Mathematics, Science & Technology for Workers of the 21st Century), an Eisenhower Math and Science Education project, and presents an evaluation of the program. PACE seeks to improve learning opportunities and achievement in mathematics and science for students in target schools…

This document provides a process for evaluation of Florida's tech prep programs. It first summarizes the philosophy guiding tech prep activities in Florida and then it outlines the tech prep evaluation process. The evaluation process section includes the following: the goals and objectives of the process; its characteristics; the continuous…

Describes the Minnesota Tech Prep Consortia Evaluation System, which collects outcomes data on enrollment, retention, related job placement, higher education, dropouts, and diplomas/degrees awarded. Explains outcome measures, database development, data collection and analysis methods, and remaining challenges. (SK)

School-to-Career (STC) describes a system of integrated school-based and work-based learning that integrates academic and occupational learning in the Austin Independent School District (AISD), Texas. STC, or Career and Technology Education (CATE) students are grouped into categories according to level of participation as CATE Elective, CATE…

Tech prep has been considered "dead" by some commentators, but that assessment is usually made only in cases in which tech prep was merely a new label for an unchanged course or program. In many cases, tech prep has become more widely implemented and accepted as real changes have been made. Many of the concepts of tech prep will remain even if the…

A statewide effort was conducted in Kentucky to design a longitudinal assessment of tech prep, an educational reform strategy for high schools. Construction of the evaluation design included consideration of quantitative and qualitative data for school programmatic decisions, as well as funding accountability requirements at the district and state…

The Kentucky Tech Prep Evaluation system was developed to establish and maintain a database and data analysis for assessment of the effectiveness of tech prep programs in achieving specific goals and in helping schools improve cognitive and noncognitive performance as reflected in the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS)…

Discusses the development and trends of the "Shadow College," a flexible and responsive set of programming options that exists at the periphery of most two-year institutions. Reviews the Shadow College's relationship to regular collegiate programs and offers guidelines for evaluation of this alternative educational system's…