NCRVE has a small staff of full- and part-time specialists who are prepared to work on-site with schools and communities implementing new school-to-work systems. These field consultants are experienced in implementing change and in helping others. Consultants are also available to work with practitioners via e-mail, fax, and telephone.
The presence of the Center or one of its partners in every region of the country places NCRVE in contact with the enormous diversity of educational institutions and labor markets in the United States. It also connects the Center with practitioners in each geographic region of the country in providing technical assistance. (The eight NCRVE consortium institutions are led by the University of California at Berkeley. The other seven partners are the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana; the University of Minnesota; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; University of Wisconsin at Madison; Teachers College, Columbia University; RAND, based in Santa Monica, California and Washington, D.C.; and MPR Associates, Berkeley.)
The small group of field consultants, together with Center researchers, site directors, and graduate assistants, constitute a list of 70 individuals associated with the Center sites. The technical expertise of these persons falls under the major areas of system building, school-based learning, and work-based learning.
In addition to providing technical assistance in many parts of the country, NCRVE's professional outreach activities include sponsoring national conferences, and linking with other national and regional organizations in sponsoring on-site conferences and presessions to conferences.
To facilitate technical assistance efforts, Center personnel have designed staff development materials entitled "Getting to Work." These materials are designed to be used by facilitators/trainers at a school site, or in a workshop setting to assist participants in restructuring secondary schools in order to prepare students both for employment and for further education. State- and district-level administrators, principals, lead teachers, or other staff development personnel can use the facilitator's guide in conjunction with the participants' materials (modules) to lead short- and long-term training or professional development around a variety of topics.
NCRVE has linked up with several national and regional organizations to sponsor presentations, conferences, and presessions. For highlights of these activities, see Briefs, this page. For further information about these outreach activities, contact Susan Faulkner at (510) 642-3824, FAX 510-642-2124, or e-mail faulkner@violet.berkeley.edu.