Located in:
b. 2. K. How Funds Will Be Used Effectively to Link Academic and Career and Technical Education at the Secondary Level and at the Postsecondary Level in a Manner That Increases Student Academic and Career and Technical Achievement; and
Current Narrative:
The commonwealth is working with the Tech Prep consortia to identify statewide committees. The statewide committees are comprised of business and industry related to a given “Program of Study.” There are also statewide committees that include representatives from secondary and postsecondary entities. This includes academic and technical instructors and counselors/college admissions personnel. The Programs of Study that are developed align secondary and postsecondary academic and technical courses. This alignment lends to articulated credit. The statewide committees will develop an articulation agreement that identifies the areas that can be articulated.
The developed “Program of Study” identifies academic and technical standards relevant for given careers. Once the standards are identified, they are sequenced in a manner that leads to planned courses and non-duplicative sequencing. Each grade level serves as the foundation for the next grade level.
The State adopted academic standards of Career Education and Work also support the development of “Programs of Study,” and individual student career plans. The plans ensure students will graduate from high school prepared to enter a postsecondary program that meets their career goals.
State Board of Education regulation requires all school districts and career and technical centers to integrate the Pennsylvania academic standards into courses. The State has been providing in-services, conferences, workshops and pre-service sessions on integrating Pennsylvania academic standards into technical content areas. State supported research has also been conducted and results disseminated that evidence integration of academic standards into technical content has led to increased student achievement levels on the state academic assessment.
The commonwealth will commit funds through a competitive process to enable the part-time career and technical centers to strengthen the linkage between the part-time career and technical centers and the participating school districts. The efforts will ensure that the participating school districts are meeting the state academic standards and working toward meeting Adequate Yearly Progress for all students, including those students enrolled in the “Programs of Study.”