This document represents the findings of the Greater Akron and Canton Regional Chambers of Commerce under an Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and Ohio Department of Development Graduate Retention Initiative (GRI) Planning Grant. The document also includes a proposal for the implementation phase of the initiative with a geographic scope…

This article provides a broad overview of the history of career-focused education in the United States and the reauthorization of the federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006. The Perkins act required that the recipients of its funding offer at least one program of study, and this reauthorization included four…

Discusses implementation of tech prep in rural areas and notes that relatively little research has been done on behalf of small town schools. Teachers' comments regarding tech prep implementation provide additional insight into the situation. (JOW)

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…

A literature review examined the scope, conceptualization, and implementation of applied academics in the 1990s. Applied academics courses have been deemphasized in favor of applied teaching methods. The impact on student performance and attitudes is mixed; more research is needed. (Contains 79 references.) (SK)

Looks at fundamental tech prep concepts that must be reinforced to ensure progress: (1) it must be grounded in an integrated curriculum; (2) articulation is necessary; (3) school-to-work programs and tech prep must be linked; (4) it should be outcomes focused; (5) it should ensure access for all; and (6) collaborative implementation is the…

A Portland, Oregon, high school adopted the tech-prep/school-to-work career pathway structure five years ago. This model offers a framework for a student's career development, based on a broad selection within a career path, such as human services, business and management, industrial and engineering systems, and other endeavors. Choice is flexible…

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)

Tech prep is a program of at least 2 years of structured high school training that leads to a postsecondary degree or certificate. Tech prep programs contain a rigorous common core of mathematics, science, communications, and technology at the secondary level that are geared specifically to a technical career path. Based on the Delaware…

Interviews with secondary and postsecondary teachers and administrators in Minnesota tech prep consortia found that most understood the role of articulation agreements, but little attention was paid to actual compliance. Postsecondary institutions received little funding for implementing agreements. Consortia did not appear to be achieving the…

This manual was written to help educators with little or no experience to create a tech prep program. The guide presents a step-by-step process for planning, development, and implementation of the program. The manual contains 10 chapters organized in 4 sections. The two chapters of the first section introduce tech prep, provide a rationale for…

Discusses the background and purpose of 1994's School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA). Focuses on the implementation of STWOA's three components (i.e., school-based learning, work-based learning, and connecting activities), highlighting the role of tech prep in joining school- and work-based instruction. Argues that community colleges are…

Describes efforts of an Iowa high school principal and a community college tech-prep coordinator to develop a school-to-work program based on working partnerships among the regional education agency, local education agencies, students, parents, community colleges, and businesses. Following development and marketing phases, career maps provided the…

This resource handbook provides a brief overview of ideas, facts, and resources offered during the Partnership for Academic and Career Education's (PACE) 10th annual Summer Institute. The institute's goal was to inform participants about nontraditional careers open to students, with special emphasis on midlevel technology careers and to recommend…

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…