This chapter summarizes major findings from the national evaluation of TAACCCT pertaining to systems and organizational changes made by community colleges. These results are integrated with other findings presented in this volume to highlight lessons learned about the implementation of TAACCCT and its legacy for long-term changes in the community…

When linked to program review and improvement, program evaluation can help practitioners to ensure that career-technical education (CTE) and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs offer equitable access and outcomes for underserved student groups.

This report provides initial results of Illinois' Shifting Gears Initiative that operated between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009. This mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) evaluation sought to accomplish three goals: (1) to assess program and student outcomes for two models (adult education and developmental education) for two target groups…

Rising remediation rates among college students are leading to increased time for completion of degree, additional costs for students and colleges, and financial aid being used on courses that do not count towards a degree. In response to these issues, in 2007 the state of Illinois passed the College and Career Readiness Act, Public Act 095-0694,…

Increasing demands for economic competitiveness and educational effectiveness have led states and institutions to implement new approaches to facilitating baccalaureate completion. This study examined one of these approaches, the applied baccalaureate degree, which is designed to incorporate applied associate course work and degrees once…

This document is designed to help local practitioners construct new tech prep systems that bridge the federal Tech Prep Education Act with the new School-to-Work Opportunities legislation. Section I provides a historical and philosophical foundation for new systems. It describes the movement's roots, legislation, and local, state, and federal…

Discusses the changing nature of vocational education in the community college, offers models and strategies for organizing and delivering vocational education, and presents evidence on program effectiveness and outcomes associated with student participation. Notes that for some vocational education approaches--for example, tech prep--little is…

Tech prep has been considered "dead" by some commentators, but that assessment is usually made only in cases in which tech prep was merely a new label for an unchanged course or program. In many cases, tech prep has become more widely implemented and accepted as real changes have been made. Many of the concepts of tech prep will remain even if the…

Discusses a national study that compared tech prep with career and technical education. Looks at promising practices including formal articulation, career pathways, work-based learning, professional evaluation, curriculum integration, and evaluation. (JOW)

A project developed an operational definition of and designed a conceptual framework for evaluating two-year postsecondary educational customized training programs. The definition specifies that customized training requires the following: (1) contracts; (2) payments; (3) relationships to economic development strategies; (4) the delivery of…

A study examined the types of outcomes that are currently measured in postsecondary vocational education and the uses to which data on institutional, program, and student outcomes are being put. Personnel from 54 of the 63 two-year institutions in 25 states that were originally contacted were interviewed. The respondents represented institutions…

A study used concept mapping to identify, classify, and prioritize student outcomes for use in building a foundation for evaluating tech prep programs. The study involved 61 stakeholders from 3 stakeholder groups: 24 educators, 18 students, and 19 employers, who rated 98 student outcomes statements gleaned from educational literature on tech prep…

The evolution of tech prep during the late 1990s was examined in a 4-year longitudinal study of 8 selected tech prep consortia since reauthorization of federal tech prep legislation in 1998. Cross-consortium results pertaining to curriculum reform, articulation, academic standards, and other essential elements of tech prep were examined along with…