A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

The Emergence of Tech-Prep at the State and Local Levels - 1995

Consortium Leadership

The existence of a consortium board, and the board's leadership could influence Tech-Prep implementation. A governing board can facilitate communication among member districts, schools, and postsecondary institutions; review problems and issues; formulate new ideas; and make consortium-wide policy decisions. These tasks are likely to be much more difficult to accomplish without a board and effective leadership.

The national survey contained several questions on governance structure of Tech-Prep consortia as of fall 1993. It asked about the existence and composition of a governing board responsible for Tech-Prep policymaking, and the date on which the board was established. If a board chairperson had been designated, it also asked consortium coordinators to identify the type of organization that the chairperson was from.

Most consortia have a governing board to guide Tech-Prep development

More than 90 percent of consortia have a governing board or equivalent policy/decision-making body that is responsible for Tech-Prep planning and implementation. Not all of these boards focus exclusively on Tech-Prep, however. Evidence from the in-depth study sites indicates that some may be regular district boards or councils that oversee all secondary education issues, including, but not limited to, Tech-Prep. Others may be regional workforce preparation committees that explicitly include representatives of schools, employers, the chamber of commerce, Private Industry Council, and other organizations. About five percent of the boards were established more than four years before the consortium's first Title IIIE grant was received; some were established 10 or more years earlier. Given their early establishment, these boards most likely oversee educational programs or reform initiatives beyond Tech-Prep.

Most governing boards are formed shortly before Title IIIE grants are received

Establishing or designating a governing board that ultimately will be responsible for Tech-Prep may be the first step in preparing a grant application for Tech-Prep funding. Eighty-six percent of the consortia with governing boards had established these boards before receiving their first Title IIIE grant; more than 80 percent of these had done so within the two years before grant receipt.

Secondary and postsecondary institutions are represented about equally on governing boards

Similarly high proportions of consortia reported having secondary staff and postsecondary staff on their Tech-Prep governing boards (Figure IV.3).4 The similar likelihood of representation of secondary and postsecondary administrators and teachers may be as much a reflection of the way in which the consortium coordinator position or fiscal agent was designated as of the levels of actual involvement in Tech-Prep. Some states chose postsecondary institutions as the fiscal agent for consortium Title IIIE funding, both to ensure equitable treatment for all school districts involved in the consortium and because colleges often have more flexibility than secondary districts in disbursing funds. In other states, the fiscal agent or consortium coordinator was identified at the secondary level. Virtually all of the respondents to the survey were identified as the consortium coordinators and, most often, were also the fiscal agent for federal funding. About half of the respondents were based in postsecondary institutions, and about half in secondary agencies or schools. 

                                  FIGURE IV.3                REPRESENTATION OF TECH-PREP GOVERNING BOARDS:      PERCENTAGE OF CONSORTIA WITH ANY BOARD MEMBERS FROM EACH GROUP  TYPES OF MEMBERS  School District Admin. ----------------------------------------->89%  School Administrators --------------------------->61%      School Counselors ---------------------->47%  Voc. District Admins. --------------->32%    Voc. School Admins. ----->12% Voc. Center Counselors ---->10%      Academic Teachers ---------------->35%    Vocational Teachers ------------------>41%  Postsecondary Admins. ------------------------------------------>92%  Postsecondary Faculty ---------------------->48%    Postsec. Counselors ------------>26%       Bus./Corp. Reps. -------------------------->59% Bus./Ind./Trade Assoc. -------------->30%       Labor Org. Reps. ----->13%               Students --->8%      Tech-Prep Parents ---->11%   Board of Ed. Members -------->18%                        +--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+                        0        20       40       60       80       100                                     PERCENTAGE OF CONSORTIA  SOURCE: Inventory of Local Tech-Prep Planning and Implementation, Fall 1993

Business and industry are well represented on Tech-Prep governing boards

Representatives of area businesses and corporations serve on more consortium boards than do teachers or counselors (Figure IV.3). Approximately 60 percent of the consortia with governing boards had private sector representatives on their boards; only about 40 percent had vocational teachers on their board.

Leadership of the boards is split roughly evenly between secondary and postsecondary representatives

Tech-Prep governing boards are about equally likely to be chaired by a representative from a secondary school district or individual school and from a postsecondary institution. About 40 percent of the consortia have designated a secondary representative as board chairperson, and 40 percent have designated a postsecondary representative as chairperson. Another 10 percent of the boards are chaired by a representative of a vocational district or center. Fewer than 3 percent of consortia are led by a business or corporate representative. Smaller consortia tend to have secondary staff as a chairperson, whereas larger consortia tend to have a chairperson from a postsecondary institution or business.

4 Representation on a governing board indicates instituional membership and is not necessarily a measure of active participation and support. We examine the relative roles of secondary and postsecondary institutions in later chapters.
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