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Improving Career/Technical Education


PUBLICATIONS
Ready for Tomorrow: Six Proven Ideas to Graduate and Prepare More Students for College and 21st-Century Careers

 Measuring Technical and Academic Achievement: Employer/Certification Examinations' Role in High School Assessment

 Actions States Can Take to Place a Highly Qualified Career/Technical Teacher in Every Classroom

FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Gene Bottoms
Senior Vice President
(404) 875-9211
Dick Blais
Director, Curriculum and Instructional Product Development for Career/Technical Studies
(518) 753-2019
Heather Sass
Director, Career/Technical Teacher Preparation Project
The High Schools That Work school improvement framework is based on the belief that most students can master complex academic and technical concepts if schools create an environment that encourages students to make the effort to succeed. A key condition of such an environment is high-quality career/technical (CT) studies that connect to students’ interests and goals and prepare more students for success in postsecondary studies, advanced training and careers. As part of its broad high school reform effort, HSTW works with states, districts and schools to improving the quality of their career/technical programs.

Curriculum and Instructional Product Development for Career/Technical Studies


SREB recently launched a new initiative to work with states to develop career-focused programs of study that join a “ready” academic core with a sequence of CT courses embedded with academic content. Each state in the project will develop at least one career-focused program of study — linked to the economic and employment needs of the state — with course syllabi and related instructional materials. States will have access to the course syllabi and curricular materials developed by other states in the project. For each participating state, the project will produce:
  • recommendations to better join academics and CT studies to realize the potential of CT education in improving high school achievement and graduation rates.
  • a process for aligning CT courses with the most essential college- and career-readiness standards.
  • course syllabi and instructional materials for a sequence of CT courses for a given career path, with sample authentic projects and assignments and sample end-of-course assessment items.
  • a sequence of academic and CT courses for each career path that encompasses the academic and technical knowledge and skills essential for students to pass employer certification exams and enter some type of postsecondary education (e.g., associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree programs, career training or an apprenticeship).
  • training materials to assist CT teachers in implementing CT courses embedded with essential college- and career-readiness standards and intellectually demanding assignments.
  • a repository of tested, proven materials for new and redesigned CT courses.

States interested in working with SREB to develop high-quality CT programs of study should contact Gene Bottoms or Dick Blais.


Preparing Alternatively Certified Career/Technical Teachers


SREB is working in collaboration with the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE) to develop an evidence-based model for preparing new career/technical teachers. SREB research has sown that up to 75% of new CT teachers arrive in the classroom through alternative preparation programs that provide little to no preparation in how to teach.

The evidence-based teacher induction model aims to equip new CT teachers with the skills they need to intellectually and emotionally engage students in rich, academically rigorous activities that prepare them for college and careers. New CTE teachers will participate in the induction model through a variety of professional development and support services:
  • two ten-day summer institutes prior to and following their first year in the classroom, built around four professional development training modules (instructional planning, instructional strategies, student assessment and classroom management)
  • three two-day workshops every nine weeks throughout their first year
  • coaching in the first year of teaching from an experienced instructional coach
  • mentoring from a colleague in the teacher’s district
  • support from the teacher’s school or center administrator
  • online communities of practice with cohort peers
During the 2009-2010 school year, SREB is field-testing the professional development modules with groups of new CT teachers in Oklahoma and South Carolina. During the 2010-2011 school year, the full induction model — including the coaching, mentoring, administrative support, and communities of learning — will undergo field testing. Reports of field test results will be posted here and shared with the larger CT field through journal publication and presentations at academic conferences.

For more information about this project, contact Heather Sass.
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