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

VIII. Approaches To Staff Development And Promotion Of Tech-Prep

Staff development and promotion are important aspects of Tech-Prep in both the planning stages and later in ongoing operations. An important part of any new initiative is marketing it to a broad constituency, to promote acceptance and involvement among the target community--in this case, teachers, counselors, school administrators, business, industry, labor, and, of course, students. To implement the reforms and produce the institutional changes envisioned by Tech-Prep proponents, consortium staff must become knowledgeable about basic program concepts and must be prepared to undertake new roles and responsibilities. The Tech-Prep Education Act acknowledges the importance of these components and allows or even encourages consortia to use Title IIIE funds for teacher and counselor in-service training.

We asked consortium coordinators to respond to a short set of questions about staff development and marketing during school year (SY) 1992-93. Because these activities are ongoing, we believed it would be too difficult to measure the number of times they occurred or the number of staff who participated in them. However, we did ask coordinators to document the methods of any consortium-wide marketing that had been used, the types of individuals that participated in any staff development activities, and the degree to which specified staff development topics were emphasized.

Most consortia made efforts to market Tech-Prep during the 1992-93 school year

About 85 percent of the consortia had conducted consortium-wide marketing to promote interest in and acceptance of Tech-Prep among the student population, parents, and other community members. Seventy-two percent of the consortia that received their first Title IIIE grant in FY 1993 (136 of 188) were actively promoting Tech-Prep during the 1992-1993 school year, compared with 89 percent of those that received their first grant in FY 1992 (458 of 514). The later grantees may have been less likely to market Tech-Prep because they were still in the early planning stages and not yet recruiting students.

The incentives to promote Tech-Prep and the likelihood that consortia do so may depend in part on how consortia define Tech-Prep. Evidence from the ten in-depth study sites suggests that some consortia view Tech-Prep principally as an effort to articulate vocational courses, and students are considered to be "in Tech-Prep" when they enroll in these courses. In this case, marketing Tech-Prep may not be necessary, because students and most teachers do not differentiate the "Tech-Prep" part of the vocational course. The national survey data partly support this hypothesis. Consortia that defined participation solely on the basis of a student's taking or completing a vocational course were less likely to report some kind of marketing effort than consortia using other definitions.

Consortia used a variety of marketing techniques to promote interest in and acceptance of Tech-Prep. More than 80 percent of the consortia that marketed Tech-Prep in SY 1992-93 used press releases, presentations at high schools and community colleges, or presentations to businesses and business groups. About half of the consortia promoted Tech-Prep through Tech-Prep videos; newspaper, television, or radio advertising; or development and distribution of Tech-Prep logos and products. Most consortia used multiple marketing methods.

Presentations were considered the most effective method of Tech-Prep promotion

Consortium coordinators reported that some marketing methods worked better than others (Figure VIII.1). Presentations at secondary and postsecondary schools and to businesses were rated as "very effective" in promoting interest in and acceptance of Tech-Prep by more than half of the consortia that used this method. Another 40 percent rated this method as "somewhat effective". Few reported that these presentations were not at all effective. In contrast, only about one-fourth of those using press releases or radio and television announcements reported these methods as very effective in improving interest in and acceptance of Tech-Prep. 

                               FIGURE VIII.1               MARKETING METHODS RATED AS VERY EFFECTIVE BY                           TECH-PREP CONSORTIA   MARKETING METHOD             Videos =======================>49%     Press Releases ===========>23%           Advising ==============>31%           Radio/TV ============>25%     Announcements      Presentations =========================>56%        at Schools      Presentations ========================>53%     for Employers  Tech-Prep Products ============>24%          Brochures/ ====>10%        Newsletters                    +--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+                    0        20        40        60        80       100                        PERCENTAGE OF CONSORTIA USING EACH METHOD  SOURCE: Inventory of Local Tech-Prep Planning and Implementation, Fall 1993

Staff training appears to be a major part of Tech-Prep development

All 702 consortia reported conducting staff development activities related to Tech-Prep for a variety of staff during SY 1992-93. Moreover, staff development was one of the largest categories of spending by Tech-Prep consortia, accounting for an average of almost one-fourth of all expenditures for Tech-Prep (Chapter IV).

Consortia have focused staff development on consortium and secondary school staff. More than 95 percent of the consortia reported including consortium staff, secondary school administrators, secondary academic teachers, secondary vocational teachers, and secondary counselors in some form of Tech-Prep staff development in SY 1992-93.1

Postsecondary staff have also participated at high rates in Tech-Prep staff development. Most consortia reported including postsecondary staff in staff development activities, although the proportion is somewhat lower than that for secondary school staff. Postsecondary faculty and postsecondary counselors participated in some form of staff development in 85 and 75 percent of the consortia, respectively.

Many consortia were still introducing staff to the basic concepts of Tech-Prep in SY 1992-93

Developing an understanding of the general concepts of and strategies for Tech-Prep was the main focus of staff development activities (Figure VIII.2). When asked to rate staff development topics on the degree to which they were emphasized, almost three-fourths of the consortia reported that general Tech-Prep concepts were "highly emphasized." We expected a higher proportion of newer grantees than older grantees to focus on this topic, with the older grantees focusing on topics more closely related to implementation strategies. However, consortia receiving their first Title IIIE grant in FY 1992 and in FY 1993 were equally likely to emphasize general Tech-Prep concepts in staff development efforts. Larger consortia emphasized this topic more than did smaller consortia. 

                             FIGURE VIII.2            MOST HIGHLY EMPHASIZED STAFF DEVELOPMENT TOPICS               TOPIC    General Concepts ===================================>72%       of Tech-Prep         Integration ==================================>69%   Hands-on Learning ===================================>71%  Secondary/Postsec. =================================>65%        Cooperation  Career Development =======================>45%       Job Placement ====>10%           Marketing ====================>41%          Evaluation ======>16%   Business/Industry =======================>46%          Relations                    +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+                    0         20        40        60        80       100                                    PERCENTAGE OF CONSORTIA  SOURCE: Inventory of Local Tech-Prep Planning and Implementation, Fall 1993

The fact that many consortia, particularly large ones, are emphasizing basic concepts of Tech-Prep in staff development may be an indication of both the challenges of Tech-Prep implementation and the expansion of Tech-Prep beyond small pilot projects. Research suggests that teacher and counselor resistance to change, "turf" issues, and negative attitudes toward vocational education are significant barriers to Tech-Prep implementation (see Silverberg 1993 and Chapter X). Consortia may consider repeated staff exposure to the basic concepts of Tech-Prep--its objectives, components, and approaches--as a way of overcoming these barriers. Moreover, as discussed earlier, most consortia seem to implement Tech-Prep incrementally, beginning in a small set of districts or schools and expanding to other schools over time. With expansion to new schools within a consortium, additional staff may need a general introduction to Tech-Prep. As a result, we may continue to observe staff development on basic concepts of Tech-Prep in many consortia, even those that began implementation several years ago.

Staff development activities also strongly emphasized new approaches to curricula

Staff development activities focused as much on developing curricula that improve the integration of vocational and academic instruction or promote "hands-on" learning as on general Tech-Prep concepts. Seventy percent of the consortia rated these two important aspects of well-developed Tech-Prep curricula as "highly emphasized" staff development topics (Figure VIII.2). This proportion was similar across consortia, regardless of their age, metropolitan status, or size.

Building relationships is another important staff development theme

Improving relationships between secondary and postsecondary staff, and between schools and business, industry, and labor groups were important topics of staff development for some consortia (Figure VIII.2). Sixty-five percent of the consortia reported a high emphasis on cooperation among secondary and postsecondary faculty in staff development activities. More than 300 consortia, or about 46 percent, reported strongly emphasizing improving relationships with business, industry, and labor.

Job placement and evaluation receive relatively little attention in staff development activities

Few consortia reported emphasizing either student job placement assistance or program evaluation in staff development (Figure VIII.2). Instead, consortia are concentrating on more immediate implementation issues, such as curriculum development, perhaps because these components must be in place when students begin participating in Tech-Prep.

Consortia may view employment as the long-term objective of Tech-Prep--a milestone that will be achieved four years after students enter the program--rather than as part of the program. Only 18 percent of the consortia that described a consortium-wide care program included regular training or employment as a required Tech-Prep activity. Thus, consortia may not yet place a high priority on staff development in this area. During the next several years, two factors are likely to lead to greater emphasis on job placement in staff development. First, more students will approach completion of their Tech-Prep program and will be seeking career-oriented employment. Second, the passage of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act is likely to encourage schools to develop capacity to find work assignments for students at employer sites, during the secondary school years and summers.

Similarly, consortia may not consider evaluation a priority in staff activities and, therefore, in staff development efforts. Rather than viewing evaluation as a continuous source of program improvement information, many consortia likely consider evaluation as an activity to be conducted after the program is fully implemented and stable.

1 Respondents may have misunderstood the term "consortium staff" in the context of staff development. More than 97 percent of the consortia reported that consortium staff participated in staff development related to Tech-Prep, but only about 70 percent of the consortia actually had designated staff responsible for consrtium-wide activities.
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