Programs of Study and Technical Skill Attainment

Programs of Study and Technical Skill

Attainment

What we plan to cover today:

•Program of Study

•Technical Attainment

•Resources Available

Program of Study

Program of Study

• A Program of Study is a sequence of instruction (based on recommended standards and knowledge and skills) consisting of coursework, co-curricular activities, work-site learning, service learning and other learning experiences. This sequence of instruction provides preparation for a career.

Career Clusters Web Site: http://www.careerclusters.org/definitions.php

• Programs of Study were added into Perkins IV as a way to achieve a new vision for CTE by more consistently and thoroughly connecting secondary and postsecondary education.

• A Program of Study provides direction for students to prepare them to transition into postsecondary education and careers.

Why Programs of Study

• A Program of Study can be:– A tool for collaboration between secondary and

postsecondary institutions. (Perkins IV, Sec. 122(c)(I)(A)(i))

– A framework for curriculum revision and alignment with secondary education and postsecondary education.

(Perkins IV, Sec. 122(c)(I)(A)(ii))

– A tool to ensure that CTE is meeting the needs of students, business, industry, and labor. (Perkins IV, Sec. 134(b)(5))

Why Programs of Study

Program of Study Components

• Secondary– Meet Iowa Code for Comprehensive High

Schools – Meet Iowa Code for graduation requirements– Include three sequential units of CTE course

work– Include Iowa Core Curriculum 21st Century Skills– May include concurrent enrollment– Prepares students to be successful in

postsecondary education– Links to postsecondary CTE programs


• Secondary and Postsecondary– Must be competency based– Address skill standards specific to the industry

(All aspect(s) of the industry)– Includes coherent and rigorous curriculum– Includes work-based learning– Addresses non-traditional and special

population student(s) in the program


• Secondary and Postsecondary– Addresses where soft skills are taught within or

outside the CTE program which includes applied learning, higher-order thinking skills, reasoning and problem-solving skills, work attitudes, general employability skills, leadership and knowledge of all aspect of the industry

– Consists of Non-duplicative courses from secondary to post-secondary

– Utilizes an advisory committee– Collects and reports data for performance

requirements


• Postsecondary– Leads to a community college degree, award or

industry recognized certification– Links to a four-year degree

Program of Study

• The DE recommends that Iowa Schools and Districts to utilize the US Department of Education’s 16 Career Clusters and the Career Pathways, Standards, Benchmarks and Indicators available for each cluster.– www.careerclusters.org

Career Clusters - Definition

• Career clusters are groupings of occupations/career specialties used as an organizing tool for curriculum design and instruction. Occupations/career specialties are grouped into the Career Clusters based on the fact that they require a set of common knowledge and skills for career success. The Knowledge and Skills represented by Career clusters prepare learners for a full range of occupations/career specialties, focusing on the holistic, polished blend of technical, academic and employability knowledge and skills. This approach enhances the more traditional approach to career and technical education in which instruction may focus on one or two occupations and emphasize only specific occupational skills.

Career Pathways & Knowledge and Skills (Definitions)

• Career Pathways are sub-groupings of occupations/career specialties used as an organizing tool for curriculum design and instruction. Occupations/career specialties are grouped into Pathways based on the fact that they require a set of common knowledge and skills for career success.

• Knowledge and Skills are industry-validated statements that describe what learners/employees need to know and be able to do for career success within a Cluster and/or Pathway.

75% of Programs

• The Iowa 5-year Perkins Plan approved by the federal government states that within the next 5 years, 75% of programs at each Local Education Agency (LEA) shall have a Program of Study developed. – Example: If you have 8 programs at your secondary

school, 6 of them or 75% would need to be Programs of Study by FY ‘13

Program of Study

• The Department of Education has elected to utilize the national terminology of Program of Study.

• A drawing board is part of a Program of Study.

• Career and Technical Education Programs offered at the secondary level are integrated into a Program of Study.

Program of Study

• A Program of Study must be developed jointly with the secondary and postsecondary school.

• Each high school or district’s drawing board is customized identifying specific course names and linked to a program at the community college.

Preliminary Planningfor Developing a Program of Study

Step 1Identify the individuals from each of the partners that will be included in the discussions for the Program of Study. Examples would include Advisory Committee Members, AEA representatives, Community College representatives

Step 2Develop a timeline for which programs at the LEA will be made into a Program of Study in order to achieve the 75% requirement by 2013

Step 3Determine resources needed to complete the Program of Study. This may include the 5.4% given to each Community College to work on this activity and/or may include the LEA’s Perkins allocation and affect the Perkins yearly application

Step 4By reviewing your current programs (each LEA), determine if the focus will be at the cluster level or the pathway level

Steps for Developing a Program of Study

Step 5 In cooperation, LEAs, CTE advisory committee and the community college, complete the CTE Program Self Assessment (including the Technical Skill Assessment portion)and identify the current status for each criterion statement.

CTE Program

Self-Assessmen

t


Step 6 Utilizing information from discussions with stakeholder groups and findings from the Self-Assessment, develop a strategic plan and timeline to move non-exemplary items on the self-assessment to the exemplary level.

Step 7 LEAs, community colleges and advisory committees collaborate to review the community college standards and benchmarks, national CTE standards and benchmarks and local standards and benchmarks and make judgments about technical content. (i.e. DACUM process)


Step 8Modify Standards and Benchmarks as necessary to meet the needs of the student, LEAs, community colleges, industry and the community.

Step 9Determine placement of Standards and Benchmarks into programs and courses.


Step 10: Working with the Advisory Board, the LEAs and the Community College, develop a drawing board for each program at the LEA connecting it to a specific community college program(s).

POS Drawing

Board Tool


Step 11 The completed drawing board should be made available to all stakeholders and placed in the school/course handbook and if possible incorporated into the career information system. Plan to educate stakeholders (parents, counselors, students) on the use of the Drawing Board in the development of the 8th grade plans. (personal plan of study)

Step 12 Implement strategic plan activities as appropriate as indicated on your timeline.


Step 13 Continue to update the Self-Assessment form as you accomplish the action steps within your strategic plan.

Step 14 Both the completed drawing boards and the self-assessments should be made available to the Department of Education during Perkins monitoring visits and accreditation visits.

Part 2Technical Skill

Attainment

Part 2 – Technical Skill Attainment

• Perkins IV requires that eligible recipients describe how they are addressing (1) Promoting continuous improvement in academic achievement, (2) Promoting continuous improvement of technical skill attainment, and (3) Identifying and addressing current or emerging occupational opportunities, in addition to other requirements as specified by the Act.

Part 2 – Technical Skill Attainment

• The technical skills assessed, the instrument utilized to assess those skills, and proficiency level to be attained to pass the assessment must be approved by a third party. The third party may be a nationally or state recognized industry organization, a provider of reliable and valid third party assessment instruments, or a regional or local advisory committee for the career and technical education program being assessed. If at the secondary level, the program is linked to a community college through a Program of Study, then the community college must also approve the assessment instrument.

Part 2:Commonly Used Terminology



Part 2:Assessment

• A System of tools that is used to determine the extent to which students are acquiring or have acquired the knowledge and skills listed in the curriculum and delivered via instruction (Niebling, et al., 2008)

Niebling, B.C. Roach, A.T., & Rahn-Blakeslee, A. (2008). Best practices in Curriculum, instruction, and assessment alignment. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.) Best practices in school psychology, (4)5, 1059-1072. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Part 2:Validity and Reliability of Assessment

• Validity- The extent to which the assessment instrument measures what it is supposed to measure

• Reliability - The extent to which the assessment results are stable or consistent

Part 2:Steps for Determining Technical AttainmentStep 1Utilizing the Technical Skill Assessment portion of the

self-assessment form, the LEAs, CTE advisory committee and the community college should determine how each program will be assessed. Items to consider include availability of commercial assessments related to the program area, expertise in developing local assessments, industry validated certification availability, and funding. Commercially developed assessments or national standards and industry certifications may not be available for all programs.

Part 2:Steps for Determining Technical Attainment

Step 2 Select method for technical assessment. The three methods are:

• Locally Developed Assessment• Commercially Developed• Industry Validated

Step 3 Stakeholders should review the method chosen for reporting technical skill attainment and determine if other methods are possible or warranted for the future that will move the program toward industry certification. The strategic plan should include information for moving to a different method if applicable.

Steps for Determining Technical Attainment: Locally Developed

LD1 Review, share, and solicit input on the results of the assessment checklist with stakeholder groups (advisory committee, parent groups (if applicable), boards, faculty, etc.). Discussions should include the three requirements from Perkins regarding assessments and decisions need to be made regarding:• Standards and Benchmarks to be assessed• Assessment instrument to be used• Proficiency level for each assessment

LD2 The assessment must be approved by a third party and by the Community College if the program being reviewed is a Program of Study.

Steps for Determining Technical Attainment: Locally Developed

LD3 Determine when the assessment will be given – the DE is recommending a course-by-course assessment process in order to include concentrators.

LD4 Review the assessment instrument chosen to determine validity and reliability.

Steps for Determining Technical Attainment: Commercially Developed

CD1 Review, share, and solicit input on the results of the assessment checklist with stakeholder groups (advisory committee, parent groups (if applicable), boards, faculty, etc.). Discussions should include the three requirements from Perkins regarding assessments and decisions need to be made regarding:• Standards and Benchmarks to be assessed• Assessment instrument to be used• Proficiency level for each assessment

CD2 Utilizing the resources provided and any other outside resources, determine which assessment instrument meets the needs to measure the identified Standards and Benchmarks.

Steps for Determining Technical Attainment: Commercially Developed

CD3 Review the assessment instrument chosen to determine validity and reliability.

CD4 The assessment instrument must be approved by the Community College if the program being reviewed is a Program of Study.

Steps for Determining Technical Attainment: Industry Validated

IV1: Industry assessment should identify the Standards and Benchmarks to be taught and the proficiency level for each assessment.

IV2: The assessment instrument must be approved by the Community College if the program being reviewed is a Program of Study.

Resources

Resources

• The League for Innovation for Community Colleges has utilized the term Plan of Study on their web page and have Plans of Study available for all career pathways. See http://www.league.org/league/projects/ccti/ccluster.cfm

• Career Cluster information can be found at www.careerclusters.org

• MBA Research (formerly MarkEd) has developed Programs of Study for many business programs: http://www.mark-ed.org/2.0/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=9&Itemid=55

• Resources will also be made available on the DE Website which will include a listing of commercially developed test companies as well as industry certification: www.iowa.gov/educate

Program of Study Law References

• Iowa Code– 256.7

http://www.legis.state.ia.us/IACODE/2001SUPPLEMENT/256/7.html

– 256.11 http://www.legis.state.ia.us/IACODE/2001/256/11.html

– 258.3A http://www.legis.state.ia.us/IACODE/2001/256/11.html

– 358.4 http://coolice.legis.state.ia.us/Cool-ICE/default.asp?category=billinfo&service=IowaCode&ga=83&input=358.4

– 281 http://www.legis.state.ia.us/ACO/IAChtml/281.htm

• Perkins IV– Sec. 122 http://www.iowa.gov/educate/index.php?

option=com_content&task=view&id=265&Itemid=1428

Documents

Programs of Study and Technical Skill Attainment