On the Right Track
Congress’ re-authorization of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act over a year ago, seems to be finally taking effect as most states develop new standard’s in their Career, Technical Education (CTE) programs within their perspective Departments of Education. Facts and strong empirical data have finally sunken in and is beginning to actually shape curriculum.
Career and Technical Centers are being built and/or retooled to address the skills needed to tackle the current labor demands. Is CTE where it needs to be? Absolutely not however, the stigma attached to “vocational education” is becoming increasingly weakened. At last, these new Technical Education Centers are no longer “Your Grandfather’s Vocational Schools”.
Credit for this initial “turn around” can be attributed to many factors. However, there are three or four factors that certainly stand out. The re-authorization of Perkins not only provides critical funding for Career, Technical Education programs on a National level but also signifies the validity of CTE while letting the stakeholders know that it is not going away. Secondly, perseverance by the Associations dedicated to Career and Technical Education in continuing to lobby the importance of giving young people the skills necessary to complete globally as well as what the direct impact that this type of training can and will continue to have in any successful workforce development strategy.
Another factor that deserves particular recognition is the coming down out of the clouds by the two-year community colleges. For decades now, community colleges around the country have seen themselves as being much higher on the academia scale. Too often their entrance requirements included a “placement test” which in many instances where more difficult than traditional entrance exams such as the PSAT, SAT and ACT. These “placement test”, in most cases, resulted in students having to enroll in some level of non-credit remedial classes either in Mathematics, English/Reading or both. Depending upon what level the student scored at, the number of classes required before they could enroll in a credit course often became discouraging and kept many students from ever reaching their goal of learning the particular career skills that they originally sought.
Now thankfully, community colleges are beginning to see the light. Realizing that their dropout rates are extremely high, with no relief in sight, and more importantly, much of the Carl Perkins Act funding is geared toward the community college skills training, they have finally said “uncle” and have begun enrolling students in certificate and credentialing programs. For students who desire to stay the course and complete a four-year degree the community colleges are now articulating dual-credit courses with area high schools allowing eleventh and twelfth grade students to earn transferable college credits while still in high school. Moreover, community colleges are articulating on the other end with four-year institutions. These articulation agreements can really serve students by giving them a leg up in their education goals. They also serve the college retention efforts and can save students and parents a great deal of money.
Finally, the hope for breaking down the barriers set by higher education first proposed by Dr. Dale Parnell in his 1985 book titled “The Neglected Majority” that outlined a plan for educating “ordinary” people who weren’t pursuing a post secondary education. It was Parnell’s passion to “educate the workforce” beginning with high school students, that would lay the groundwork for the Tech-Prep 2+2+2 model. His book provided a framework for developing legislative language for a tech prep associate degree program that would build stronger relationships between high schools and community colleges.
Believe it or not the Tech Prep movement began in the 90’s with some local programs attempting to link the last two years of high school with a two-year community college. As a result of the hard fought success of these local programs, a framework for the Tech Prep 2+2 pathway was included in the Carl D. Perkins Act of 2006 and has subsequently been added to the re-authorization bill signed into law in July of 2018. As the third tier of the 1.2 billion dollar, three tier program, Tech Prep will continue to be divided up between states based on population. Allowing educational institutions to combine at least two years of high school education followed by at least two years of education at a college or university, which provides students with an industry-recognized credential, certificate, or degree.
In the next installment, a more in depth look at “The Neglected Majority as the foundation for the new enthusiasm in Career and Technical Education and how it is still relevant today. Educating the workforce for today’s economy still means creating opportunities and clear pathways for young and old alike, to a rewarding career.
