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Implementation of Tech-Prep with students is just beginning. In school year 1993-1994, 19 of the 29 local high schools had decided to participate in Tech-Prep staff training and curriculum development; 2 schools had students actually participating in Tech-Prep classes. This profile draws on initial examination of Tech-Prep development in these two high schools--Illinois Valley Central and Deer Creek-Mackinaw--and at Illinois Central College. The program development progress described here also reflects the strong role in consortium activities played by the area's dominant employer, Caterpillar, Inc. The company employs about 25,000 people in the area and directly or indirectly affects the fortunes of about 60 to 70 percent of all area businesses.
Tech-Prep reforms in central Illinois are closely related to other recent or ongoing local education changes and to state-level guidance on the definition of Tech-Prep. Illinois Valley Central High School introduced "Block 8" scheduling in 1993, shifting from traditional 50-minute class periods to 84-minute periods and reorganizing the school week so that students take each of their classes twice or three times a week rather than every day. This schedule change is particularly suitable for applied academics classes and vocational laboratories, which involve extra time for setup and execution of experiments and hands-on exercises. This school, like some others in the state, has also been taking steps to eliminate the general education track, dropping low-skill classes in math and other subjects and requiring all students to take algebra for two or three semesters. The local conception of Tech-Prep has been very heavily influenced by the program definition adopted at the state level, particularly the requirement that consortia develop, for each occupational cluster, a clear sequence of courses from ninth grade through college, with well-defined multiple exit points for students who want to pursue only a one-year vocational certificate, an associate's degree, or a four-year degree.
Although the Illinois Central consortium is making changes that other consortia have "packaged" as a Tech-Prep program, the consortium has placed little emphasis so far on creating a distinctive program identified as Tech-Prep that students explicitly choose to enter. Instead, the consortium has implemented components associated with Tech-Prep in a way that may affect a wide range of students. The salient features of the development efforts so far are:
These three topics are discussed next, followed by a brief description of consortium governance and resources.
The foundation for linking high school and college programs is high school and college administrators' commitment to a standard "Tech-Prep agreement." The terms of this agreement were formulated by the directors of the three regional employment education systems and the community college, and are being used as a model for general agreements statewide. Agreements based on this model were signed in spring 1993 by each of the 21 school districts, committing them to:
Much of the consortium's attention has focused on developing programs of study that spell out sequences of recommended courses in grades 9 to 12 and in college for a wide range of occupational programs. Course sequences have so far been developed for 23 existing college programs in five broad career areas: (1) information systems; (2) manufacturing technology and computer-assisted design; (3) electronics; (4) agricultural technology; and (5) engine power technology. Students preparing to enter the 11th grade choose courses within one of these five broad areas. Each area branches into a more specialized program at the college level, differentiated by the degree and focus of specialization, the credential attained, and the extent of postsecondary study required. For example, a manufacturing technology student after high school could choose among programs that culminate in a one-year certificate in welding, an associate's degree in welding technology, or a four-year bachelor of science degree in manufacturing technology (after articulation to a university program is completed). The program sequences for these related degrees are the same at the high school level, but they diverge at the college level.
Programs of study specify recommended academic and vocational courses at the high school level for these five career clusters. They also identify which of the 23 college-level programs they can lead into. For example, high school manufacturing technology students are expected to take four years of English, four years of math (Applied Math I and II, geometry, and algebra II), Applied Biology/Chemistry, and Principles of Technology.1 From the high school occupational offerings, they are expected to take, during the four years of high school, two semesters of mechanical drawing and an introduction to drafting and computer-assisted design (CAD), metals technology, four semesters of manufacturing technology, and more advanced drafting and CAD courses. At the postsecondary level, the manufacturing technology program branches into five associate's degree programs: (1) mechanical design technology; (2) robotics/automated manufacturing technology; (3) manufacturing technology; (4) numerical control technology; and (5) welding technology. Illinois Central College has begun negotiations with Bradley University, Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University, and Western Illinois University to articulate its associate of science (A.S.) degree programs with their baccalaureate degree programs.
Articulation agreements on granting college credits for high school courses have been greatly extended during the years since the first Tech-Prep grant was received. Representatives of the three regional delivery systems have negotiated articulation agreements with Illinois Central College on behalf of the 21 school districts, which adopt the agreements for courses they offer, subject to verification by the college that their high school course curriculum is closely aligned to the articulated college course. Agreements have been signed for 11 specific occupational courses--shorthand, speedwriting, typing, welding, mechanical drafting, architectural drafting, engine power, accounting, machine trades, numerical control, and word processing.
Obtaining college credit for high school courses requires that students take an initiative, but they may not yet clearly perceive the opportunities for earning college credit. Students must have received no less than a B in the high school course, and credit can be granted only after the student has earned a grade of at least a C in a college advanced level course for which the articulated course was a prerequisite. The college does not automatically award credit to students who fulfill these requirements. Students must apply for the credit no later than 24 months after they graduate from high school, and must complete a credit request form, approved by the high school principal and the college dean of career education, for each course. Perhaps because 1993-1994 was the first year of student participation in Tech-Prep, most of the students who took part in a fall 1993 focus group were unaware that they could earn college credits for their high school work.
Academic requirements are being raised as part of the definition of programs of study, but not consistently across consortium schools. In general, the programs of study require four years of English, four years of math, two years of science, two years of social science, and four years of physical education, in addition to the prescribed sequence of occupational courses. However, not all schools in the consortium have instituted the same requirements; for example, Deer Creek-Mackinaw High School, in fall 1993, still required only a minimum of two years of math and one of science for students in occupational programs. Schools that are increasing requirements are also introducing course-duration flexibility to help all students get through more than the most basic math courses; for example, schools offer both the basic algebra course and geometry in two-semester and three-semester sequences.
Applied approaches to academic instruction are being introduced at the high school level, both in newly developed courses and in adjustments to existing academic instruction. A wide range of commercially available applied curricula have been purchased by the consortium and are already in use in at least some consortium schools, including Applied Math, Applied Communications, Applied Biology/Chemistry, Principles of Technology, Biological Science Applications in Agriculture, and Physical Science Applications in Agriculture. Some science teachers, even those who are using more traditional curricula, report that they are adopting teaching approaches or lab exercises suggested in these applied curricula. The selection of applied academic curricula has been left up to individual high schools.
Throughout the consortium, schools are emphasizing the use of schoolwide cross-curricular projects that draw on the skills of students from various academic and occupational classes. In some cases projects give students opportunities to integrate and apply what they learn in different disciplines. In school year 1993-1994, for example, El Paso High School conducted a kitchen remodeling project. Home economics students suggested the remodeling they thought necessary for their classroom kitchen. Various classes were then involved in particular phases of the work--drafting students to design it, the CAD class to prepare final drawings, the business class to solicit bids for materials, the speech class to argue the need for the project before the school board, a foreign language class to make the same presentation in another language, building trades students to carry out the construction, and an English class to publicize the project through press releases and newspaper articles. Illinois Valley Central High School has prepared a handbook describing more than over 150 cross-curricular projects involving at least two teachers and subject areas; these projects involved a total of 44 teachers. For a project on soil erosion, for example, English classes maintained a journal of the project, geography students created maps and models, and science students ran tests to identify soil types. Some projects give participating students a chance to combine what they learn in different classes. For example, in one project led by a child development instructor and a Spanish teacher, high school students learned techniques of working with small children in teaching Spanish songs.
At Illinois Central College, some steps are being taken to update technical curricula. College faculty, working in cooperation with teachers from several high schools, developed a revised, more advanced electronics course to avoid redundancy with the Principles of Technology course and with the upgraded texts and experiments used in the high school electronics courses. Some faculty have begun to revise existing courses in technical math, technical communications, and technical physics to introduce more applied learning opportunities. Some instructors, however, in areas that lead to special certificates with requirements are defined by industry groups, are reluctant to revise their curricula, out of concern that they might deviate from certification requirements.
Supported by Tech-Prep funding, Illinois Central College has initiated creative efforts to integrate academic and vocational learning. The college has prepared a Methods of Integration booklet, for dissemination to other colleges, illustrating 11 examples of strategies, methods, and projects already in place for integrating technical and academic learning. The booklet highlights, for example, the college's electronics technology mathematics course, which is designed to show students the direct application of mathematical concepts in electronics, from linear equations and basic trigonometry in the first year through differential and integral calculus in the second year. The booklet also documents projects at the college that involve students in hands-on work integrating scientific, mathematical, and technical material. For example, in a gasoline to electric vehicle conversion project, students converted a donated sports car, replacing its gasoline engine with an electric motor and storage batteries. The system was designed, fabricated, and tested by college students in their technology lab, drawing on what they had learned in physics, math, mechanical design, manufacturing/CAD, and electronics classes.
Projects such as these can help build partnerships between schools and industry. In the vehicle conversion project, for example, the car was taken to consortium schools, where students in vocational programs could perform experiments and analyses on it. Students designed improvements to the vehicle and wrote reports, service manuals, and press releases about it. An industry advisory committee was formed to provide technical oversight for the project.
Consortium and school staff have downplayed a distinct Tech-Prep Program, but they do publicize the changes that are under way. School posters, the most visible publicity directed to students, emphasize a "future that works" but do not draw attention to the term "Tech-Prep," which is printed in small letters at the bottom. Information about Tech-Prep is distributed to parents and students in various forms such as flyers and bulletin board displays. Each high school develops its own description for its Tech-Prep handbook. These materials emphasize that Tech-Prep can lead to four-year college, a message intended to counter concerns that it might block chances for higher education.
As a result, it was difficult in fall 1993 to gauge students' reactions to Tech-Prep reforms and their awareness of the secondary-postsecondary career pathways that Tech-Prep is intended to create. The consortium schools do not systematically ask students to elect Tech-Prep as a program, and each school can define for itself the criteria for reporting the number of students involved in or affected by Tech-Prep. Focus groups with 11th-grade students at the participating high schools were made up of students taking an occupational course included in one of the defined Tech-Prep programs of study. These students, when asked about the significance of Tech-Prep, described some of the reforms under way in their schools--new ways of teaching, more applications of academic material to occupations, more teamwork in class, cooperative learning, and an increase in computer work. They understood less about program sequence, acknowledging only that Tech-Prep was "something about their future," and were generally unaware of options for earning college credit in high school. Student awareness could be expected, of course, to be somewhat sketchy in the first years of program implementation, particularly among 11th-graders who are only midway through their high school careers as the reforms are being phased in.
Work exploration is a possible future component of Tech-Prep in the Illinois Central College consortium. It could conceivably build on the existing paid cooperative work experience program, but some obstacles would have to be overcome. For example, at Illinois Valley Central High School, the work experience program, although it has grown recently and places about 25 students a year, includes only a few students who are in a program of study defined as Tech-Prep. According to the half-time program coordinator, the introduction of Block 8 scheduling, although an improvement for lab-based classes, makes co-op placement difficult because the occupational classes that students would miss by going to work are no longer regularly scheduled each afternoon but, instead, occur only a few days a week. However, the Illinois Valley Central superintendent believes that an expanded work exploration program, including students bound for four-year colleges who want to explore professional careers, would be valuable.
Tech-Prep teams at each of the 19 actively participating high schools and at the college have been essential for the planning and implementation of Tech-Prep. Each school's team is made up of an administrator, a guidance counselor, and teachers of math, English, science, and vocational/technical subjects. Each team has developed a local school mission, goals and objectives for Tech-Prep, and an action plan that specifies (1) how the team plans to integrate curricula, (2) how applied academic curricula will be implemented, and (3) what cross-curricular projects will be developed.
The consortium is supported by an active advisory council, composed of local business and industry representatives. During the first several years of the Tech-Prep initiative, this council helped supervise an assessment of the employability and technical skills desired by employers, hosted tours for students, and participated in panel discussions on Tech-Prep planning. Council members have presented information to high school students and their parents, donated testing equipment to high schools, and hosted academic teachers for week-long practicum placements at Caterpillar, Inc., Methodist Medical Center, and the State Conservation Department, to help students see how skills are applied in the workplace.
The Illinois Central consortium is combining funds from both federal and state sources to carry out its planning and implementation activities. In school year 1992-1993, the consortium received a Title IIIE Tech-Prep grant of $115,000 and a state Tech-Prep grant of $58,000. About three-quarters of these funds were used for staff development, curriculum development, and lab equipment and materials. The remainder went primarily to general administration. In addition, the consortium has received state funding from the Vocational Instruction Practicum program; in combination with Tech-Prep funds, these resources have been used for the short-term placements of high school and community college academic teachers at worksites.
[V. Fresno, California]