Contact: Betty Wong, 601.278.4669 or bwong@jbhm.com

Career And Technical Education

A Quick Look
The mission of the Ed Group's Career and Technical (Vocational) Education Initiative is to provide leadership, advocacy, support, and service for participating districts.   A major focus of the initiative is for districts to more appropriately utilize available resources in order to better prepare students for the workforce.

A Closer Look
Career and technical education is commonly known as vocational education. Thousands of comprehensive high schools, vocational and technical high schools, area vocational centers, and community colleges offer vocational education programs.   Nearly every high school student takes at least one career and technical education course, and one in four students takes three or more courses in a single program area.   Approximately one-third of college students are involved in vocational programs, and as many as 40 million adults engage in short-term postsecondary occupational training.

But vocational education is changing at the state and national levels.   Its focus is shifting from preparing students for work immediately following high school to contributing to academic achievement and preparing students for post-secondary education.   The Ed Group meets this reform head on with a Career and Technical Education specialist who provides assistance with implementation of the Carl Perkins Vocational Technical Education Act; with program evaluation, development, and support; with Tech Prep issues, including preparation for on-site monitoring; with teacher budget issues; and with state and federal policies, regulations, and compliance.   The specialist provides on-demand consultation and acts as a federal and state liaison.   Furthermore, the specialist offers assistance in management of programs, local planning, collection and reporting of data and in seeking non-traditional and innovative programming and use of funds.

 

For more information on the Ed Group's Career and Technical services, contact your state director.