| 1.
| A rough overviewof the History of School-to-Work in the state:
- The philosophy that went into building school-to-work. Does it target high academically achieving students (college bound, vocational, or both)?
- The extent that school-to-work fits into the overall school reform agenda.
- Lead offices/players for school-to-work activities--Economic Development Office, School-to-Work Office, Department of Education.
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| 2.
| Extent of the Involvement of Postsecondary Institutions in school-to-work reform:
- Have/are postsecondary institutions at the table? When did they get involved? Who got involved?
- In what capacity do postsecondary institutions get involved (professional development, assessment)? Do Schools of Education get involved with externships and the development of applied curricula? Do admission offices get involved in the development of competency-based assessment tools to replace traditional admissions tools? and so on.
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| 3.
| The state's use of Standards:
- How important are standards in school-to-work reform?
- What type of standards reform is taking place in the state? What are the obstacles in the state to standards? (emphasize the role of postsecondary institutions in standards development)
- Concentrate on key areas: competency- and/or performance-based standards and integration.
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| 4.
| The state's use of new Assessment tools:
- Portfolios--type(s) of college admissions resistance; likelihood that portfolios will benefit students in college admissions process; state action(s) to promote change.
- Competency-/performance-based--degree that postsecondary institutions are cognizant of issues surrounding comparability or portability when using traditional assessment methodologies to admit students.
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| 5.
| New activities surrounding Professional Development:
- Is professional development a state priority?
- Toward whom is it being geared?
- Are Schools of Education involved? How?
- Are other discipline areas in colleges involved? How?
- Are there externships? Any involvement in developing an applied curriculum?
- Any opportunity for teamwork?
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| 6.
| The state's use of Articulation Agreements:
- Is articulation used as a strong institutional linking tool or structured on a course-by-course basis?
- Does articulation focus mainly on Tech Prep and community colleges or four-year institutions?
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| 7.
| Parents--types of resistance and ways to overcome.
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| 8.
| Recommended Contacts/Programs--request additional names/contacts.
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| 1.
| A rough overview of the History of School-to-Workin the school:
- Has the school been sold on school-to-work? What faculty members are skeptical? Why?
- Who are the school-to-work movers and shakers in the school and how are they moving and shaking?
- Has there been any major restructuring in the school based on school-to-work or is the program isolated to a few kids and a few faculty?
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| 2.
| Involvement of Postsecondary Institutions:
- Who works with postsecondary institutions?
- How involved are these faculty members with the postsecondary institutions? How
would you characterize the relationships between key school contacts and
postsecondary people?
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| 3.
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- NewAssessmenttools:
- How are school-to-work programs described on transcripts?
- Is there college resistance to changing transcripts? Explain.
- Portfolios--Do colleges use them? Get more details.
- Performance-based assessments--Do any work at the local level?
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| 4
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- Standards:
- Is the school using state standards?
- What is the effect of the standards on the reforms that are taking place in the school?
- Focus on key areas: competency-based, performance-based, integration, classroom, and so on.
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| 5.
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- Professional Development:
- What type of professional development is taking place in the school? Externships? Internships?
- Who is funding it?
- Outcomes?--success getting faculty participation, business participation, future for professional development, and so on
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| 6.
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- Parents--types of resistance and ways to overcome it.
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| 7.
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- Articulation (perhaps not a major point at the local level):
- Are any students taking college classes while in high school? Explain the system.
- Is articulation information focused on Tech Prep and community colleges?
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