PAVESNP MID-WINTER CONFERENCE

   TRANSITION TO THE FUTURE

 The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, PA

March 7 - 8, 2004

Below are presentation TITLES, PRESENTERS and SESSION DESCRIPTIONS.

  BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS FOR JUVENILES IN UNDER-21 PROGRAMS

Kevin Choate, Transition Coordinator, Williamsport Area High School/Prison Educator, Lycoming County Prision; James Keeley, Juvenile Corrections Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education; Mary Beth Morrison, Teacher Educator, Workforce Education and Development, Penn State University 

Lycoming County has built partnerships with community agencies, including OVR, STEP, Careerlink, education and others to engage youth in effective transition practices from incarceration to post-incarceration.  It was emphasized that all programs must work with students “where they are at.”  Upon the juvenile’s arrival, the delinquency is reviewed and a program is designed based upon the delinquency.  The transition plan starts immediately.  Fifty percent of the juveniles have IEPs and many are working 3-5 years below grade level.  A program for life skills and basic skills, with an emphasis on survival skills, is developed.  A strong residential staff improves the linkages at critical meeting times, especially where the community, residential staff and the juvenile are involved in plan development.  There are three central issues in the correctional education prison program – treatment, education and employment.

     WUNDERSTANDING THE 10 ASSURANCES FOR MONITORING THE PERKINS PROCESS

Jerilynn Millvan, Perkins Advisor, Pennsylvania Bureau of Career and Technical Education 

The 2004-2005 Perkins Local Plan assurances have been reduced from 13 to 10 assurances.  A summary was given for each of the following areas: 

Perkins Participatory Planning Committee should have a majority of non-school representatives and committee activities should be documented through meeting minutes, meeting the state adjusted standards of performance, accounting for all students with IEPs, equal access for all students, nondiscrimination, nontraditional training, challenging training program, training programs that are relevant to the job market, use of Perkins funds and equipment purchase.

It was noted that reviewers look closely at students’ transition plans, checking to see that they are realistic and worthwhile and that they reflect post school outcomes.

USING YOUR COOPERATIVE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO HELP BUILD COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

Ruth Liebold, Perkins Coordinator, Steel Center AVTS; Lori Warabow, Cooperative Education Coordinator, Steel Center AVTS 

Techniques were discussed on how to create and strengthen community partnerships by implementing work-based learning programs for career and technical students, including special needs students.  Student training portfolios is one technique to create and strengthen community partnerships they contain basic skills and skill level definitions certificate standards.  A student must choose one of the school-to-work options – cooperative education, internship, job shadowing or professional development which is a work/ethic series of classes as part of the portfolio.  They must also participate in Promotional/Partnership Building activities includes organizational membership, community events/service projects, grant funded projects, networking and public relations activities.  Also discussed was the vocational component of the IEP, quarterly work experience reports, internship, daily evaluation forms with employers and employee/student evaluation during cooperative education.  

   REAUTHORIZATION OF THE PERKINS VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ACT AND OTHER LEGISLATION

The Honorable John E. Peterson, US House of Representatives, Pennsylvania District 5 

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, Representative Peterson can influence and guide the direction of funding for career and technical education.  The following points were made about Career and Technical Education in Pennsylvania:

-It is a technology world in every facet of business and we must stay competitive.
-We should have the newest, latest technology in our technical classrooms, but it is not there.
-We do not compete in the big world of technology - we must maximize the use of technology.

Under NCLB he stated, that the goal is to raise the bar for education and that is good.  The challenge is not necessarily meeting NCLB, but how are superintendents in our schools going to raise the bar.  Technical education is where it is at.  Basic skills are important but students are interested in the “technology world.”  Technology must be there first; academics will come for students.  In Career and Technical Education, the hopes of getting jobs fall on the students learning with a “skill-set.”  He also stated that Perkins dollars should be used by the career centers to upgrade curriculum and equipment.  Support services for special needs students should come from Special Education not Perkins funding.

 A PORTFOLIO TOOL KIT...DON'T LEAVE SCHOOL WITHOUT IT!

Nancy Tkatch, Superintendent, Northwest Area School District; Jackie Stash, Director, Northeatern Pennsylvania Tech Prep Consortium; John Choma, Human Resources Vice-President, Motorworld 

The portfolio is a tool used to enhance the marketability of Tech Prep graduates.  The presenters shared the steps they used to develop a student portfolio that showcases students’ accomplishments and abilities.  The goal was to develop a standardized portfolio for Tech Prep students within the consortium to (1) have a standardized set of materials upon graduation to assist in transitioning into college and/or the workforce and (2) create a uniform image of the Tech Prep programs and students to regional employers.  The Portfolio Tool Kit includes templates for creating resumes, cover letters and more, lesson plans, and other resources in a CD-ROM format.  It also provides samples of letters, awards, certificates, etc., as well as, career planning information and interview information.    

 USING THE "TEAM" APPROACH TO HELP DETERMINE APPROPRIATE PLACEMENTS IN A TECHNICAL SETTING

Carla Thimons, Special Programs Coordinator, Lenape Technical School 

The goal of the presentation was to show how to capitalize on the knowledge of the IEP team members, vocational assessment data and other information to help determine appropriate placements for students with special needs in career and technical education settings.  The importance of having vocational career assessment data is critical to successful placement.  The assessment data should include interest inventory, learning and working styles inventory, shop shadowing, student interview, structured shop exploration, work samples, results of hands-on assessment package (i.e., TAPS) and other pertinent information.

The transition plan should drive the IEP meeting and start the dialogue by looking at evidence of a coordinated set of activities that will prepare the student for technical training.  Are the student’s future plans consistent with a formal training program at the technical school, or is it just a hobby versus a career?  With this base of information, goals that connect to the transition plan can be developed.

FINANCIAL AID FOR NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENTS

Bruce Diefenderfer, Regional Director, American Education Services/Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, Harrisburg

A main focus of AES/PHEAA has been to provide information and materials to students planning for higher education.  Most students who go on to postsecondary education need some form of financial aid to assist them in paying costs.   AES/PHEAA has developed financial literacy and student aid resources for high school students and parents.  Information was presented on how financial aid is awarded, types of financial aid, the meaning of various terms, the role of the college financial aid office and the sources of aid available.  It was emphasized that the school deadline for application of financial aid is critical.  The web site that “has it all” is www.pheaamentor.org. 

READING AND WRITING STRATEGIES TO HELP STUDENTS LEARN

Todd Luke, Precision Machining Instructor, Lenape Technical School  

This presentation explained how the instructors at the technical school used successful strategies to improve student literacy in the areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening which helped students learn more effectively.  Developed by Dr. Mark Forget, MAX Teaching is a series of strategies used to improve literacy with the use of textbooks and technical documents from the classroom.  An anticipation guide was used in place of the traditional anticipatory set to motivate students to read.  This technique is used as a substitute for end of chapter questions where students decode the text to find correct answers.  Anticipation stops the “hunting” expedition of worksheets and raises the level of the students’ knowledge of the subject matter.  All disciplines must work as a team to increase the students’ ability to reach the proficiency level on the PSSA.  Every teacher has the ability and obligation to improve his/her skills, in turn motivating their students.  The handouts, with step by step instruction, provide Motivation, Acquisition and eXtension – the real meaning of MAX teaching.

UTILIZING PARAPROFESSIONALS AS SUPPORT IN CTE PROGRAMS

Deborah Handschue, Supervisor of Special Education, Lehigh Career and Technical Institute and Connie Wolfe, Coordinator of Student Services, Lehigh Career and Technical Institute

Lehigh Career and Technical Institute enrolls 628 special needs students with IEPs.  Tips on how LCTI schedules and supports 700 special education students in their career and technology labs and how it provides input to the sending districts was discussed.  Also discussed was the extensive inservice programs that are provided for paraprofessionals. 

During the summer, copies of those parts of the IEP needed to be shared with instructors and paraprofessionals are prepared.  The 23 paraprofessionals are assigned as follows:  five are assigned to permanent program areas and others are assigned to three or more areas depending on the highest number of special needs students.  The schedule is constantly adjusted depending on need.  Some are assigned to math, intervention and/or specific area.  Paraprofessionals are required to chart the amount of time spent with students to satisfy Perkins monitoring requirements.  Paraprofessionals attend inservicing throughout the year and are provided a notebook of information that is continually updated.

A FOUR-YEAR DEGREE - NOT THE ONLY PATH TO A SUCCESSFUL CAREER

Barbara Allen, Product Development and Outreach Coordinator, Center for Workforce Information and Analysis, Department of Labor and Industry 

Far too often, parents and students alike believe that the only way to get a good paying job and have a successful career is with a four-year college degree.  There is often a “disconnect” between the courses of study students pursue and existing career openings and business needs.  While continuous learning is a must to meet the demands of an ever-changing workplace, there are other training and employment options available that can lead to high paying jobs and meaningful careers.  These options were discussed.

Base information may be obtained from O-Net (www.onetcenter.org).  For options to a four-year college, try the military at www.militarycareer.com; Department of Labor, www.doleta.gov/atels; career clusters, www.pde.state.pa.us/bcte; career information, www.acinet.org; labor market information, www.dli.state.pa.us/workforceinfo.  Also presented was the importance of the three R’s, science and work skills – the basic skills that employers want.