The Field Studies

In 1996 and 1997, we employed individual and cross-comparative case study methods to conduct field work in one purposively selected Tech Prep consortium in Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Oregon, and Texas. The data collection took place beginning early in the 1996-1997 academic year and continued into the summer of 1997. The sample of five states included was selected purposively based on expert opinion, document review, and in-depth investigation of the Tech Prep and STW policies and practices in all 50 states[8]. A panel of experts was used to review and verify the selection procedure. The five selected states (and sites within) are geographically distributed throughout the United States, and they are all actively engaged in Tech Prep and STW implementation, although they are at different stages of implementation of key components of both Tech Prep and STW (e.g., integrated curriculum, career guidance, work-based learning).

Within each of the five states, we selected one local Tech Prep consortium for more in-depth field study. The process of site selection was conducted in a careful, purposive manner. First, we conducted meetings (in person and by telephone) with knowledgeable representatives (or key informants). These meetings were designed to provide us with greater understanding of how Tech Prep and STWOA policies and practices were being conceptualized and implemented. We then reviewed Tech Prep and STW-related plans and documents (e.g., agendas, board minutes, brochures, newsletters, grant applications, end-of-year reports) to ensure that we had a clear and comprehensive understanding of what was being attempted in each state. We then sought nominations from Tech Prep experts within and outside of each state, asking for sites where local consortia were thought to demonstrate Tech Prep and STW goals and directives established by the state. We wanted sites where serious attention was paid to Tech Prep and STW, but not necessarily sites that were not facing challenges. We wanted to study sites that were still learning and advancing. We also asked nominators to recommend sites where they knew program evaluation and student outcomes assessment was being done in a serious and thoughtful manner. This criterion was extremely important because it ensured our accessibility to baseline information on student outcomes.

Finally, when one or more sites were identified in each of the five states, we interviewed (in person or by telephone) the identified local Tech Prep coordinators regarding their approach to curriculum, use of program evaluation/student outcomes assessment, engagement with STW initiatives, and interest in participating in our study. Our final selection of the five sites was made based on the aforementioned criteria as well as an attempt to identify distinctly different local approaches to Tech Prep curriculum, ranging from the use of the traditional Tech Prep Associate Degree (TPAD) in one site, to the use of dual credits/advanced placement in a second site, to implementation of youth apprenticeships in third site, and to attempts at whole-school reform in the two remaining sites.

The five sites selected for the study were geographically distributed throughout the country, and they ranged in size and composition. Two sites were rural/small town, two were urban/large metropolitan, and one was suburban[9]. Appendix D provides a brief description of each of the five field sites but a brief synopsis of the each site follows:

• The East Central Illinois Education-To-Careers Partnership is headquartered at the Danville Area Community College in Danville, IL. The consortium is located in a rural region of East Central Illinois serving twelve high schools, a regional vocational school, and the community college. The Tech Prep initiative is directed at grades 9-14. Over 70 business and labor partners are involved, several of which offer youth apprenticeships to Tech Prep students. Although not all of this consortium's Tech Prep programs offer youth apprenticeships, many do. Tech Prep/youth apprenticeships are available in the areas of manufacturing, accounting, banking, health occupations, and food service. The consortium sponsors a Tech Prep Student Leadership organization that prepares students to be ambassadors for Tech Prep. The program provides special training in leadership, communications, and team building. In addition, peer mentoring is encouraged where a community college student is paired with high school student. Since 1993, this consortium has been recognized as a demonstration site for the state of Illinois for Tech Prep and Education-to-Careers (the terminology used in Illinois for School-To-Work.)
• The Miami Valley Tech Prep Consortium is headquartered at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, OH. This consortium is located in an urban area, but the large geographic region served is suburban and rural as well. Besides the community college, eight vocational education planning districts (involving 64 comprehensive high schools) are part of the consortium. Over 100 businesses (manufacturers, automotive dealers, hospitals) are engaged as well. This consortium is noted for its dedicated use of advanced-skills curriculum where students progress to higher levels of competence in academic and technical subjects at both the secondary and postsecondary levels (without the provision of dual credits). It is unique in that the consortium awards scholarships to most students who matriculate from the secondary to postsecondary level in a 2+2 curriculum sequence (grades 11-14). The University of Dayton participates in the consortium, offering students the opportunity to complete the final two years of college with a baccalaureate degree. This consortium has received state and national recognition, most notably the 1996 Parnell Tech Prep Award of the American Association of Community Colleges[10].
• The Golden Crescent Tech Prep/School-To-Work Partnership is headquartered at Victoria College in Victoria, TX. Like many of the partnerships in Texas, the region served by the Golden Crescent Partnership is expansive and primarily rural. It involves nearly 40 high schools or independent school districts (ISDs) directly, and another 20 high schools or ISDs that are outside its region. Since passage of STWOA, this consortium has developed a governance structure and supporting policies to fully combine Tech Prep and STW. Utilizing the curriculum structure required by the state of Texas, the Partnership has defined seven Tech Prep pathways that are approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. These Tech Prep pathways are offered in such as areas as electronics/instrumentation advanced technology, associate degree nursing, and microcomputer technology. Dual credit is a key feature of articulation agreements worked out between the area secondary schools and Victoria College; over twenty high-school vocational-technical courses provide college credit.
• The Hillsborough School District/Community College Tech Prep Consortium is located in a large and growing metropolitan area in central Florida. Thus far, twenty-six different programs of study have been articulated between Hillsborough Community College and the fifteen comprehensive high schools, one technical high school, one alternative high school, and several adult vocational centers that feed students into the college. At the secondary level, the School District of Hillsborough County has designated several courses of study that involve Tech Prep, including the Tech Prep course of study requiring students take appropriate community/postsecondary preparatory courses, plus applied technical courses; the College/Tech Prep course of study where students meet College Prep and Tech Prep requirements; and the Florida Academic Scholars/Tech Prep course of study where students take specific academic course requirements along with Tech Prep to qualify for college scholarships. In 1997, this consortium received national acclaim when it won the Parnell Tech Prep Award from the American Association of Community Colleges.
• The Mt. Hood Regional Tech Prep Consortium is headquartered at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, OR. Located in a suburb of Portland, OR, this consortium serves eight high schools that feed into Mt. Hood Community College. The consortium has a history with Tech Prep that predates the federal Tech Prep Education Act, contributing to its selection as a national demonstration site for Tech Prep for the U.S. Department of Education and a Parnell Tech Prep Award winner for the American Association of Community Colleges in the early 1990s. Currently, several high schools engaged in the consortium are involved in whole-school reform to meet the requirements of the STWO Act. Noteworthy among these is Reynolds High School, where the high school learning environment has been re-organized around four houses or families, named after the great mountains that surround the community--Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Jefferson. Goals of the house organization include to personalize student learning experiences, to assist students in achieving academic and career goals, to support students in making successful transitions, to assist students in meeting Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM) standards, and to integrate instruction that connects learning to real world application (Reynolds High School, 1997).

Two field visits were conducted with each site during the 1996-97 academic year. During our initial site visit conducted in the fall of 1996, in-depth personal interviews were conducted with secondary school and community college personnel (administrators, teachers, counselors), employers, and other key informants. Care was taken to identify persons highly involved with and supportive of Tech Prep and STW as well as those more peripheral and/or skeptical. Whereas the personal interviews were relatively informal and unstructured, they displayed a close relationship to the three major research themes that provided the over-riding focus for the field studies. These themes (posed as questions) were:

• How is Tech Prep conceptualized? What are the distinguishing features (goals, elements, key components) of Tech Prep? How have these components evolved over time? How does Tech Prep relate to School-To-Work Opportunities (STW) and other educational reforms? What barriers or obstacles influence implementation of Tech Prep, STW or other educational reforms?
• How is Tech Prep curriculum structured? Where does Tech Prep fit with respect to college prep, general education, vocational education, or other existing options (tracks)? For the various options, but particularly for Tech Prep and STW, what are the predominant characteristics, goals, and aspirations of students served?
• How are the experiences and outcomes of students participating in Tech Prep and/or STW assessed? Drawing upon local evaluative information, what is known about the patterns of experiences and outcomes of students who participate in Tech Prep and/or STW?

In the spring or summer of 1997, another round of in-depth interviews was conducted, this time with a small cross-section of students (approximately 30 per site) ensuring gender, racial and ethnic diversity. The majority of these students had matriculated (or had intention to do so) from high school to community college in a sequence of courses and experiences associated with Tech Prep/STW. A few interviews were conducted with students who had not participated in Tech Prep/STW to provide comparative data. The interview questions explored students' preparedness for the transition from high school to college and their satisfaction with the school/collegiate experience, progress toward completing a credential, perceptions of the relationships between school/college and work, and perceptions of outcomes attained or anticipated. The student interviews occurred individually or in small groups, lasting from 30 to 60 minutes. Also, students completed a brief questionnaire to provide additional information about their STW transition experiences.

In terms of data analysis, the field data were analyzed to unveil either unique or pervasive themes and patterns pertaining to the research objectives, first within sites and then across sites. Preliminary data analysis was first completed for each site, revealing five unique case studies. Subsequent data analysis focused on cross-site comparisons to identify important similarities and differences in results across the sites (Merriam, 1988). Cross-site comparisons are highlighted in this report.

[9] The rural and urban sites dominated the sample because of the priority placed on serving these regions by federal legislation.

[10] In 1998, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) will be in its eighth year of giving the Parnell Tech Prep Award annually to three community colleges that provide exemplary Tech Prep programs involving area high schools and the local business community. All recipients of the award are selected by a panel of national experts who deem the site has "significantly enhanced the high school/community college/employer connection through the implementation of a Tech Prep curriculum" (AACC, 1997).