Community College and Secondary School Collaboration on Workforce Development and Education Reform

Catalyst, The, Spring 2004 by Orr, Margaret Terry

Comprehensive programs. All four colleges had two or more comprehensive secondary school and college career-focused programs. All four developed Tech Prep programs with local high schools and followed the federal guidelines - applied academic courses, sequenced technical training in selected career majors, and articulated courses and programs. Two of the colleges had to market Tech Prep as components to their local high schools, succeeding primarily by encouraging individual teachers to collaborate in using applied academic courses. As a result of this varied implementation, few of their students had a comprehensive Tech Prep program experience.

The other two colleges developed a fully integrated approach with their local school districts. Building on Tech Prep's 2 2 approach, these two colleges incorporated STWOA objectives, offering work-based learning as part of the preparation. These comprehensive programs were primarily high school based and articulated into existing community college programs. The graduates of these programs usually attended regular community college courses and were not given any other special designation.

Two community colleges modified their own programs of study to incorporate work-based learning and the applied and integrated curriculum approaches underscored by STWOA and Tech Prep. For example, one added faculty-supervised internships for all students, improving on its former co-op education experiences.

Shared governance. Tech Prep and STWOA funding required that there be regional partnerships or consortia, with the school district, community college, and other educational and business representation, to provide planning and oversight. In some cases, these partnerships and consortia became the springboard for more substantive planning than the two federal initiatives encouraged.

The community colleges were always the lead agency for the Tech Prep grants and sometimes for the STWOA grants. Two of the colleges were part of regional consortia that merged Tech Prep and STWOA; these integrated consortia created elaborate subcommittee structures with representation from the school districts, community college, and business and industry. Collectively, they addressed curriculum, articulation, staff development, guidance and career development and internships.

One community college and its local school district made an early commitment to establishing a K-14 educational continuum with an emphasis on high academic standards, a joint plan on educational reform, academic goal setting, and integrated school-to-work preparation. They integrated their Tech Prep and STWOA initiatives and the governance requirements, forming an integrated council with local business and industry leadership; the council in turn spearheaded various school-to-work transition reforms.

Analysis

Some of the linkages between the four colleges and secondary schools were simply a collection of different activities; for many of these activities, the term collaboration may only be loosely applied, representing service and resource sharing. Other activities were reinforcing and possibly even synergistic.