Tech Prep Tuesday - May 18, 2010

(posted May 2010)

Tech Prep Tuesday Newsletter
May 18, 2010

Local Districts Featured in AchieveTexas Best Practices Guide

Three consortium member school districts are currently featured in the new AchieveTexas in Action Best Practices Guide. The guide collects some of the best of what Texas educators are doing to implement AchieveTexas, the state’s college and career initiative.

Copperas Cove ISD is featured in an article about implementing AchieveTexas. In the article, Karen Denney, Career and Technical Education (CTE) Coordinator, stresses that buy-in from the teachers is crucial to the program’s success. The district is also utilizing several creative approaches to promote AchieveTexas and CTE programs to students and parents.

Temple ISD is featured in an article about linking the classroom and the real world. The district’s CTE Director, Alison Belliveau, encourages participation with Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) so that students become more involved in their education. Teachers and counselors also participate in educator externships to work in business for a day and share what they learn with their students.

Belton ISD Counselor Kay Archer is featured in a “Counselor to Counselor” article in the guide about co-curricular learning and job shadowing opportunities. In the article, Ms. Archer recommends that students focus on career planning much sooner, so that they aren’t constantly changing majors in college.

Connect3 Conference Slated for June

Region 12 Education Service Center will provide a professional development conference, Connect3, June 8-9, in Waco. Topics for teachers include implementation information on the 16 national career clusters, TEKS training, and the new e-learning platform Project Share. Topics for counselors and administrators include ethics training, legal issues, and graduation plans. A preconference on June 7 will feature specialized trainings and certifications. For more information visit: www.esc12.net/connect3.

What is “Career Ready”?

The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) has released a paper titled “What is ‘Career Ready’?” that outlines three broad sets of skills students need to be career-ready: core academic skills, employability skills and technical skills. ACTE created the paper to broaden the national discussion around the term “career readiness.” A copy of the paper can be downloaded from www.acteonline.org.

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