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 Level - 1995

Approaches to Staff Development and Promotion of Tech-Prep

Staff development and promotion are important aspects of Tech-Prep. Tech-Prep concepts must be "sold" to a broad constituency--teachers, counselors, school administrators, business and labor, and students. Staff must become knowledgeable about basic program concepts and must be prepared for new roles. The Tech-Prep Education Act acknowledges the importance of these components and encourages consortia to use Title IIIE funds for teacher and counselor in-service training.

Most consortia made efforts to market Tech-Prep during the 1992-93 school year. About 85 percent of the consortia had conducted marketing to promote interest in and acceptance of Tech-Prep among the student population, parents, and other community members. More than 80 percent of these consortia 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 with videos; newspaper, television, or radio advertising; or development and distribution of Tech-Prep logos and products. Most consortia used multiple marketing methods. Newer consortia were somewhat less likely to be marketing Tech-Prep, probably because they were still in the planning stage and not yet recruiting students.

Promoting interest in Tech-Prep is less critical and less common where Tech-Prep is principally an effort to articulate vocational courses, and where 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 may not differentiate between Tech-Prep and preexisting vocational programs. Consortia that defined participation solely on the basis of a student's taking a vocational course were in fact less likely to report marketing efforts than consortia using other definitions.

Many consortia were still introducing staff to the basic concepts of Tech-Prep in SY 1992-93. Almost three-fourths of the consortia--both FY 1992 and 1993 grantees--reported that general Tech-Prep concepts were "highly emphasized" in staff development efforts during school year 1992-93. This emphasis may reflect the incremental nature of implementation. Consortia generally begin Tech-Prep activity in a sub-set of districts or schools, and then expand to other schools. As this expansion occurs, additional staff are likely to 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 focused almost as much on approaches to developing curricula that improve the integration of vocational and academic instruction or promote "hands-on" learning. About 70 percent of the consortia rated these aspects of Tech-Prep curricula as "highly emphasized" staff development topics. In contrast, only about 10 percent of all consortia reported emphasizing either job placement assistance or program evaluation in their staff development activity.
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