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| Key Characteristics
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Before Dan took Tech Prep courses at Liberty High School, he was disengaged in school and rarely spoke out in class. When Liberty adopted a rigorous Tech Prep program that included him in activities simulating the workplace, Dan found school more relevant and became motivated to do well. He learned how to write a resume and prepare for a job interview; in time, he grew comfortable with working in groups and making oral presentations. A few weeks after high school graduation, Dan was hired by a local textile plant to maintain industrial equipment and do electrical work.
Liberty High School has eliminated its general track courses and replaced them with a Tech Prep program that provides students like Dan with integrated academic and vocational courses, prepares them for meaningful employment, and encourages them to pursue postsecondary education.
The group agreed that the general track courses in area high schools should be replaced with courses relevant to real-world experiences that would prepare students for employment and further education. In 1987, these leaders established the Partnership for Academic and Career Education (PACE) to help implement Tech Prep and youth apprenticeship programs. PACE staff support Liberty and other high schools in the tri-county area. By 1990, Liberty had eliminated all of its general track curriculum courses and replaced them with Tech Prep.
The English courses--Communications for the Workplace I and II--are open to juniors and seniors, respectively. They are designed to help students develop the communication skills necessary for gaining employment and functioning effectively in the workplace. Students write resumes, conduct mock job interviews, make oral presentations, and work in groups to devise solutions to workplace problems. They are assessed through written essays and tests, interviews, oral presentations, and group projects.
Tech Prep mathematics courses--Mathematics for the Technologies I and II--are open to students who have completed pre-Algebra or higher-level math courses. Students develop problem-solving skills that they will use in the workplace by measuring dimensions and rates at which objects move; calculating ratios and percents; creating scale drawings that represent rooms or buildings; and developing and using graphs, tables, and charts. In one class, for example, a few students measured the weight and height of every student in the class and reported this information on graphs and in tables. In another class, students were divided into groups and each group made a scale drawing of a different floor of the school.
Applied Biology I and Physics for Technologies are open to students who have taken physical science. Students study the role of biology and physics in industry and the community and apply their knowledge in classroom activities. For example, in one class students studying bacteria used their knowledge about parasites to determine the source of a hypothetical outbreak of food poisoning.
Sixteen area businesses provided apprenticeships during the 1993-94 school year, including AT&T Global Communications, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Compu-Software Innovations, Cornell Dubilier, Mayfair Mills, Ryobi Motor Products Corporation, Sealevel Systems, Inc., three car dealerships, and the Pickens County School District. At Cornell Dubilier--a manufacturing plant that provides an apprenticeship in business management--the student's initial responsibilities included bookkeeping and secretarial work; eventually she will become an administrative assistant, a mid-level technology position. Sealevel Systems Inc. provided an apprenticeship to a student who has studied electronics. He started as a technical assistant and is learning to assemble and repair computers. He will eventually become an electronic technician also a mid-level technology position.
Vocational teachers, technical college faculty, and employers have developed workplace competencies for the four occupational fields in which apprenticeships are available. These competencies help teachers and employers devise activities at the career center, technical college, and workplace. In computer electronics, for example, the teacher at the career center and the chairman of engineering technology at Tri-County Technical College developed competencies in problem solving, reading, mathematics, communications, and teamwork. The electronics teacher helps students develop skills in these areas while employers provide opportunities for students to use them.
PACE staff provided numerous in-service training opportunities on active learning strategies, which assisted Liberty High School personnel to take advantage of a new block scheduling pattern containing 90-minute class periods. PACE staff also assisted district and school curriculum coordinators and teachers to adapt 15 curriculum units for applied English to better meet local needs. The units, developed by the Agency for Instructional Technology (AIT), are designed to teach a particular communication skill and include such topics as group participation, communication with clients and customers, and discussion to solve interpersonal conflict.
Liberty's principal maintains that students in the Tech Prep/youth apprenticeship programs see better the relevance of their coursework for future employment and education. He points to an increased enrollment at local technical colleges and general student enthusiasm as evidence of the program's success. One teacher noted that Tech Prep courses are becoming more popular as teachers and students recognize their ability to relate education to future learning both in and out of the workplace. Finally, teaching methods being used in Tech Prep are being adopted for all courses.
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[Flexible Scheduling and Academic Challenge Entice Dropouts to Return to School]