DOCUMENT RESUME ED 361 545 CE 064 527 TITLE Tech Prep Degree: Preparing Tomorrow's Workforce. Design, Development and Implementation of a TECH PREP Core Program. Final Report. INSTITUTION Quad-City/Tri-County Vocational Regions, East Moline, IL. SPONS AGENCY Illinois State Board of Education, Springfield. Dept. of Adult, Vocational and Technical Education. PUB DATE Jun 92 NOTE 115p.; For an earlier report, see ED 347 349. PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Articulation (Education); Associate Degrees; Community Colleges; *Curriculum Development; High Schools; Integrated Curriculum; Models; Partnerships in Education; *Regional Planning; Regional Schools; Two Year Colleges; *Vocational Education; *Vocational Schools IDENTIFIERS 2 Plus 2 Tech Prep Associate Degrees ABSTRACT A four-stage project was undertaken to develop an exemplary tech prep core program to serve students in the Quad-City/Tri-County Vo Tech Regions school districts and Black Hawk Community College (BHCC) in Illinois. A core group planning committee consisting of education and business/industry representatives used the DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) approach to define core knowledge and skills needed by students in three occupational cluster areas: business, health and human services, and manufacturing. Private sector representatives and academic and technical educators collaborated to identify competencies for specific programs. To date, 4 + 2 + 2 programs are being finalized in electromechanical technology and health technology, and 4 + 2 programs are being finalized in production technology, business technology, agricultural technology, and technology systems. All project objectives related to articulation among the participating secondary-level schools and between them and BHCC have also been completed. (Appendixes include the tech prep core curriculum model, entrance/exit criteria for tech prep students, lists of project team members from the participating schools, project publicity materials, end-of-year reports from the participating institutions, and tech prep pilot courses for FY92.) (MN) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** rf..! 3. sts TECH PREPDesign, Illinois State Adult, Vocational and Development and Board of Technical Education DEGREE: Implementation of aEducation Vocational Education Program TECH PREP Core Improvement Section Preparing Tomorrow's Louis Mervis Workforce Program Chairman June 1992 A Joint Project of: Robert Leininger State Superintendent Funded by: Tri-uounty VoTech Region of Education Quad-City VoTech Region Carl Perkins Black Hawk College Vocational Education Act Western Illinois University JMA2100 Project Director: $94,000 Karen Johnson Quad-Cityrfri-County VoTech Regions Project Coordinator: Gabriel A. Verstraete Quad-City/Ili-County VoTech Reaions Funded Agency: Quad-City/Tri-County VoTech Regions United Township High School 1275 42nd Ave East Moline, IL 61244 This publication was prepared pursuant to a erant with the tilinois State iioarJ 1.1 F.Jucaion. Department ol Adult. Vorattonal and Technical Education and funded 100% through the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act.Grantee, ae encouraged to [reels express their Judgements in professional and technical matters. However, points of view or opinions do not necessartlx represent officla: Illinois State Board of Education position or policy. -An Equal Opportun.ly.Atfirmattve Action Employer' Iii FINAL REPORT ABSTRACT Official Project Title: Design, Development and Implementation of a TECH PREP Core Program Department of Adult, Vocational and Technical Education Funding Agreement Number: JMA2100 Project Director: Karen E. Johnson Project Coordinator: Gabriel A. Verstraete Funded Agency: Quad-City/Tri-County VoTech Regions Location of Funded Agency: 1275 42na Avenue East Moline, IL 61244 Time Period Covered: July 1, 1991-June 30, 1992 Goals of the Project and its Relevancy to Vocational Education: An exemplary TECH PREP Core program will be established which willstrengthe.n and improve the technical competence of youth and adults throughoutthe Black Hawk College District for education and training to meet the demands to tomorrow'swork place. 4 Quad Cities/Id-County EFE Systems/ Black Hawk Community College Program Overview The focus of Tech Prep at Quad-City/Id-CountyVoTech Regions/Black Hawk Community College (BHC) is on providing all students withskills for higher education, as well as job opportunities. Toaccomplish this, a comprehensive model, applicable to all program areas, is being implemented. ACore Group Planning Committee, composed of education and business/industry representatives,utilized the DaCUM approach to define core knowledge and skills needed bystudents in three occupational cluster areas: business, health & human servicesand manufacturing. PriNiate sector representatives have worked with academic andtechnical educators to identify competencies for specific programs. Six Tech PrepDegree programs have been identified and are in the process of being finalized. B) Program Highlights Curriculum Development Business/industry representatives have identified the competencies, knowledge, and skills needed by all students. The DaCUM model serves as the basis for developing a corecurriculum. Private sector representatives, working with academic and technicalfaculty, have identified specific program competency areas. The Core Group Planning Committee, composed of representativesfrom academic and vocational program areas, secondary and post secondary areas, and business/industry, have developed a corecurriculum based on the DaCUM. The focus of curriculum is on integration of academics andvocational content and development of skills in critical thinking, team building, decisionmaking, and problem solving. Business/Industry Involvement Representatives from John Deere have made presentations about TechPrep to Chambers of Commerce and other local audiences. Eight business/industry representatives have worked with educators on the DaCUM matrix of knowledge and skills necessary to work in the three career cluster areas. Local businesses have committed to providing internship experiencesfor Tech Prep students. Leadership Team Structure - Leadership teamstructure is represented by members from all three Tech Prep partnerships. Each of the pilot sites has a design team made up of academic and technical C." faculty from secondary and postsecondary schools and representativesof local businesses/industries. Secondary school administrators haveselected lead teachers, and lead teachers and their principals selectedother team members. Business/industry representatives from keyindustries volunteered to serve on the design teams. Black Hawk Community College hasdeveloped its own Design Team and has staff members on all High SchoolDesign Teams. For more information about theQC/TC EFE/BHC project, contact either: Gabriel A. Verstraete Karen E. Johnson Project Coordinator Project Director 1275 42nd Avenue 1275 42nd Avenue East Moline, IL 61244 East Moline, IL 61244 309-752-1675 309-752-1691 GOAL: The long range goal of this Tech PrepCore project would be that over theproposed four stages (years) of this project, anexemplary Tech Prep Core program wouldbe established which would strengthen andimprove the technical competence of youth and adults, throughout the Black HawkCollege District for education and training to meet the demands of tomorrowworkforce. Major Accomplishments Toward StatedObjectives of the Project: Progress: Objective 1 Model implementation We have completed our Tech Prep core CurriculumModel during this past year (see appendix A-1). Early in the 91-92 school year, aModel Design Committee headed by the project director and project coordinator, wasformed. This committee was made up of representatives from all theTech Prep sites (BHC, United Township High School (UTHS), Moline, Rock Island, Kewanee,Riverdale, Orion, Sherrard, Wyoming, Westmer and Geneseo) involved in the project.These schools represent 10 of 18 high schools in the Quad-City/id-County VoTechRegions and range in enrollment from a small school of 157 students to a largeschool of g 2400 students. With the development and completion of the 9-12 Tech Prep corecurriculum model agreed to by all schools we have successfullyaccomplished objective #1. Objective 2 Entrance/Exit criteria for Tech Prep students (seeobjective 3 narrative) Objective 3 Outcomes/Competencies for Tech Prep students In our grant the above two objectives are very closelytied together and therefore will be treated as one in this narrative portion. Duringthis past quarter, both the entrance criteria for incoming 9th grade Tech Prep studentsand the exit criteria for Tech Prep completers at the 12th grade have been established (seeappendix A-2). This work was completed by the projectleadership team. Current high school students may enter the program at any time by meeting the entrancecriteria.It has been further agreed that the high school exit criteria would alsobecome the Black Hawk College entrance criteria. The specific outcomes andcompetencies have been addressed in our DaCUM that was developed two years ago.With the completion of our Tech Prep core curriculum each school identifiedwhich orientation and concentration level courses would qualify as Tech Prep coursesbased on the criteria established