Integrating Technology Education and Tech Prep.

Overview & Synopsis

A study identified and ranked those factors which facilitate and those which impede the linkage between technology education and tech prep. The top four states with regard to integration of technology education and tech prep were Illinois, South Carolina, Oregon, and Idaho. Factors that facilitated integration were as follows: technology education's emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking skills; support from the legislature, school administration, and professional associations; concentration on hands-on learning methodology; changing attitudes of staff and administration; teacher incentives; articulation agreements between secondary and postsecondary levels; a valid tech prep curriculum with a required technology education component; and up-to-date computers. Some of the factors which impeded integration of technology education and tech prep are: stigma of "shop"; teachers' resistance to change; turfism; unawareness of what technology education is; lack of understanding of how technology fits into the curriculum; improperly trained new teachers; and lack of time, training, and financial support. Only 18 percent of technology education teachers were actively working to integrate technology education into tech prep. The two areas from which most of the lack of cooperation and involvement stem were lack of communication and resistance to change. Three sets of recommendations were developed, based on facilitating factors, impeding factors, and general recommendations for integration. (YLB)