Student Guarantee Tutition Refund Policy

How confident are you in the training that is provided from your institution? Francis Tuttle is pretty confident and in fact will retrain you under certain conditions!


From their course catalog -

If your employer determines that specific technical competencies identified on your transcript are lacking after completing one of our programs, we will provide retraining to you at no cost.

See page 20 for the policy

Does your institution have a similar policy?

2014 Holiday ECards

As has become one of my favorite traditions I present to you cool holiday ecards!

I can't embed this one, but it is pretty cool and very interactive from Ashland University

UConn

 

Don't have the time or the staff to design and create your own card? Have your students do it! Check out the 2014 Alamo College Holiday ECard Contest to get your own contest started.

Here is one of their 2013 winners

There are of course many more examples that you can find. I just wanted to share a couple ideas to get your thought process moving. 

Handibot

Ever been in a classroom and thought hey, I need a CNC machine and this would be a much more awesome concept to present to my students? Well wish no more!!

Check out Handibot (https://handibot.com/).

It is a portable CNC machine capable of working on numerous materials.

Would you like to see a demo?

Education Resources for Digitial Fabriaction

http://100kschools.org

Immersive Reality

Today we had the opportunity to demo zSpace, an immersive, virtual reality that has endless possibilities in education!

Imagine, holding a beating heart in your hand that you can peel back the layers and even go inside while watching the electrical impulses go around. Being able to interchange batteries and diagnose issues with a rotocopter and getting all eight motors to run.

You can do these things and more with your students and the best part is you can do it all virtually.

Check out the video

 

How would you use this in your classroom?

MotionSavvy UNI: 1st sign language to voice system

This morning I was listening to the radio and heard a story on a new piece of technology that I thought might be a game changer in education.

Watch the video and decide for yourself...

All I can say is WOW!! The ability for students to sign at a tablet and then have that tablet speak for them would tear down barriers in education! I hope to that this product gets the funding and support it needs to come out at their estimated shipping date of September 2015.

This would be an awesome addition to a program like the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program at Moore Norman Technology Center

Check out their website. What do you think about the UNI?

Innovation Roundup

From time to time I am going to start sharing some of the blog posts, innovative ideas, websites, and stuff that I have read about. I hope you enjoy.

How the Maker Movement is Moving Into Classrooms

Google Glass use in Education

Boundless - A textbook alternative. It is pretty low cost and the site provides supplemental material to help you prepare for class.

5 Free STEM Courses - A blog post from Edudemic covering some innovative STEM courses.

Flipped Classrooms - A blog post from Free Technology for Teachers sharing some great flipped classroom resources.

GroupSpot - A place for students at UT at San Antonio to come together with resources to facilitate collaboration.

10x10 - A website to graphically show the news.

ClassTools - Tools you can use in the classroom or make your own.

Creative Commons Guide - A graphical representation of creative commons.

Learn to Program - A blog post with tools to help students learn to program.

I like to use Flickr for my presentation pictures. Great video helping to explain how to give proper credit.

The Education of Tomorrow

by aleksandarsavic.

Summer Conference Cooperative Alliance Update

My presentation from OkACTE Summer Conference

Cooperative Alliance Update from Jeremy Zweiacker

Maker Movement

This week I had the opportunity to attend Vision2020 (OK State Dept of Ed) in OKC. There were several great speakers and I am sure many sessions that would of been great to attend. I tried attending sessions that I felt would help generate ideas as we push career and technical education to the next level.

One such session that I attended was the Mysterious Makers by Shawn Petty.

I have to be honest, the whole Maker culture really fascinates me. I follow Makezine.com and am fascinated by many of the postings. People just making things, and some really cool things! I want to learn more and that is why I decided to check it out.

Wikipedia describes the Maker culture:

"The maker culture is a contemporary culture or subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture. Typical interests enjoyed by the maker culture include engineering-oriented pursuits such as electronics, robotics, 3-D printing, and the use of CNC tools, as well as more traditional activities such as metalworking, woodworking, and traditional arts and crafts. The subculture stresses new and unique applications of technologies, and encourages invention and prototyping. There is a strong focus on using and learning practical skills and applying them creatively."

From that definition alone I think it is a great fit for career and technical education. I can envision students, regardless of career major or CTSO, high school or adult, participating in Maker Faire-CTE.

The Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education thinks it is a great fit as well. They have a short article on the White House Maker Faire and will have some upcoming grants for states and local schools.

There are many opportunities through the Maker Movement. CTE should get involved and be a part of this tremendous opportunity for students to creatively learn.

Whose in?

QR Reader

You have seen them around...

QR codes have several uses in education. Eventbrite uses them for checking in people during registration. I have seen them on high school walls so students can scan and be taken to an ACT registration.They are on the back of ketchup bottles and I have seen them used on table toppers in a lunchroom. I have scanned them in a text book to take my mobile device to a video which explains the concept I just read and we have even used them with our Robotcs buttons!

The possibilities are endless for the use of QR codes. But, in order to access the QR world you need a reader. There are many readers available and all you have to do is browse the App Store of Google Play and you will find one that meets your needs.

Moving at the Speed of Creativity Blog

Moving at the Speed of Creativity

The Speed of Creativity Blog, by Dr Wes Fryer is an awesome resource.

Dr. Fryer is a classroom teacher from Oklahoma and so much more. His online bio list him as a "digital learning consultant, author, digital storyteller, and change agent."

One of the great parts about following Fryer and his blog is the numerous additional resources that you can learn from.

From his wiki to his slideshare and everything in between, he provides great resources for educators to learn from and to implement in their classroom.

I definitely suggest you take a look!

Free Technology for Teachers Blog

If you don't RSS you are missing out! I have a Feedly account and using RSS I am able to scan many blogs and websites for content that might be helpful. Since there are many great resources out there I thought I would start sharing some of the ones that I am subscibed to.

The first blog I want to share is entitled Free Technology for Teachers.

The blog is written by Richard Byrne, a former high school social studies teacher who is now a presenter and blogger. The Free Technology blog has many resources that you can use for free (or close to free) in the classroom.

Some recent postings include how to send emails from a Google Spreadsheet, education games like Moonbase Alpha, a very cool skeleton site (http://www.eskeletons.org) and a lot more.

Take a few minutes to read, subscribe to the feed and learn about some great opportunities to put technology in the classroom. 

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/

Polleverywhere

I have had a couple of opportunities this week to use Polleverywhere. I was introduced to it by a colleague (thanks Levi) and he has used it in the classroom as well as presentations.

On Monday we used it during our state staff meeting. Our director presented and used Polleverywhere to gain interactive feedback about our Core Competencies. On Thursday it was used with the TechCAP program for the same purpose with different presenters.

It was great using the word cloud feautre and watching people react to the words changing in the cloud. Watching the polls it was remarked that you felt like you were watching a horse race!

There are endless used for Polleverywhere. You should check it out and use the free version to see if you like it. I can't wait to use it in more presentations and get students and adults engaged. 


http://www.polleverywhere.com

Social Media Links

This week CareerTech rolled out a new feature on our website.

Before our new feature, a visitor to the website had to click on the News section and scroll to find the social media for our System.

Now, finding our social media is as easy as clicking a button. By finding the familiar icon at the bottom of the site the user is taken directly to a listing of social media sites that are connected to Oklahoma's CareerTech System.

This is a best practice that many, if not most, of our affiliate websites have adopted. If you haven't yet, what are you waiting for?

The "Four Cs"

As part of preparing students to thrive in the 21st Century, some experts are calling for a focus on the “Four Cs” and integration of them into the classroom along with Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.

But what are the “Four Cs”?

The “Four C’s” include:

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving – Are students able to reason effectively? Are students able to use systems thinking? Can a student make judgments and decisions and can a student solve problems?
• Communication – Do students communicate clearly?
• Collaboration – How do students collaborate with others?
• Creativity and Innovation – How do students think creatively? How do students work creatively with others? How do you implement innovation?

How does your institution ensure that the "Four Cs" are a part of a students education? How do you measure the progress a students makes? Let us know in the comments below.

Cooperative Alliance Update

Oklahoma continues to make progress on improving the Cooperative Alliance Program. Recently partners from CareerTech and higher education met at a PLA conference to to learn about the process of awarding credit through Prior Learning Assessment.

Learn more about the conference here: http://www.okcareertech.org/students/cooperative-alliances/educators-meet-to-learn-about-pla

As part of that conference a list of FAQ's were developed. This list was sent out by Melissa Overcash, field services coordinator and the lead for the Cooperative Alliance Program.

Recap of Questions and Answers from April 29^th meeting.

Q:      We are hearing different stories all over the state concerning cooperative alliances.  Who do we believe/listen to?

A:      Unless your information is coming from the Regents (Debbie Blanke or Debra Stuart) or CareerTech (Melissa Overcash) call us, email, etc.  Just ask so that we can clarify and validate.

Q:      We would prefer Primary/Secondary partnerships to be eliminated, so that we will not be limited in choices and opportunities for our students.  Will they be eliminated?

A:      The issue has come up, but it is still in conversation.  The group will need to determine the benefits/detriments.  Dr. Blanke would like a list from the tech centers (benefits/detriments) for conversations and working on a policy.  Please get this information to Dr. Blanke  (both pro and con) by June 1st.

Q:      PLA statewide degree programs—what if certification is not in a degree program at the college we are aligned with? 

A:      The Institution will have to look at all programs.  Which programs have students, are the programs needed, beneficial to students and/or employers, etc.?  What programs are just a paper transaction and not really producing graduates?  If we keep the program, and we don’t have expertise on the campus, how will we justify our faculty with HLC guidelines?  Faculty expertise must be documented for HLC.

Q:       If a college offers an AAS degree in Applied Technology, and we go with PLA, what about a certification like CISCO, and there is no CISCO faculty at that college?

A:       The college MUST have faculty expertise (per HLC guidelines). 

Q:           If colleges already have a degree program in place, does the degree program have to change?

A:           Yes, for example:   Assoc. Degree in Applied Science—college would have to decide what is the value of degree to the students, employers, community, etc.  If they deem value, then they would have to provide expertise in that area.  The colleges must have a plan in place, and can offer the degree if they can show expertise, demand and value.

Q:      What are some creative solutions for us (CareerTech) when no content or expertise is at the college?

A:       The college MUST feel confident in presenting the program to the HLC.  They would need to hire a person with that content expertise.  More than likely, they could not get away with hiring a technology center employee as a technical content “consultant.”  They must have a degree or expertise when using either contract OR PLA.  Expertise = one degree level higher than what the faculty member is currently teaching, or extensive documented experience that the institution feels it can justify as appropriate expertise for an HLC review.

Q:      How do we enroll students?  What do we tell them?

A:      Be very clear that we WILL take care of them.  The colleges have obligations to “teach out” programs that are going to be deleted, and they will allow those already enrolled to complete. For NEW students, we are in transition.  If you start a program, and it is not deleted when the student enrolls, they will be included in the “teach out” plan.   This process is allowed by the Regents to ensure students are accommodated.  The programs may change how credit is awarded, and/or how much credit is granted as well. Students will be given the opportunity to finish the credit in the manner they began the program.

Q:      How will PLA look on a college transcript?

A:      After a student has completed 12 hours at the college, the PLA would be transcripted as ungraded work (P=Pass).  We need to approach our institutions and ask them how PLA work will look on the transcript.  Update:  The course prefix and title should be noted on the transcript so that it will be transferrable.

Q:      Advanced standing for military—are they charged for that?

A:      This may be different at each institution.  Areas with higher concentrations of military personnel may not charge, but those with fewer may have a set fee for assessment.  If there is a fee, it would be that same as any other PLA assessment fees. 

Q:      In the case of a PLA, the institution can’t charge a fee based on credit hours, correct?  This was principle #8 on the CAEL PowerPoint. 

A:       Institutions are very clear that they do not “sell” academic credit.  But they can assess and charge a fee for the assessment; the assessment or its review may vary in cost dependent on the time and expertise required for the review process.   In case of portfolio or skills, the student may pay for review even if no credit is awarded.

Q:      What will the fees be?  Will it still be $8 per credit hour?

A:      $8 per credit hour was based on services offered; we did not know how much time would be required by institution working with CAPs.  The PLA and transcription fees will have to be determined as we move forward in the process.  Fees must be for the cost of services and most institutions feel the process and services have resulted in more costs (staff time, expertise, and travel) than the current rate covers.

Q:      15 hour residency requirement—If a student has 15 hours at one college, then attends a technology center, and finally goes on to a different college and only needs 6 hours, do they still have to have the 15 hours residency requirement?

A:      15 hours of associate’s degree must be at the college that will award the degree.  PLA does NOT count as resident credit.  If a student changes colleges, the student would still have to complete 15 hours in residence at the next college for the degree to be awarded from that college.  PLA cannot be more than 75% of the degree and must have a minimum of 12 hours earned at the college before the PLA would be transcripted.  CLARIFICATION:  Dr. Blanke misspoke on April 29, getting PLA and contract credit confused (too much sinus pressure!!).  SO:  PLA = IS NOT resident credit; Contract = IS resident credit.

Q:           Would hours be resident hours if completed under contract?

A:           We will need to clarify this possibility.  (Yes, this was clarified above after the  April 29 meeting.)

Q:      Will these new courses be transcripted as block or course to course?

A:      Courses will continue to be transcripted as courses within a contract.  PLA assessments could be both one course or a group of courses.  For example:  two assessments may qualify as one course, OR one large assessment could meet the qualifications as covering  multiple courses (such as 3 courses or 9 credit hours).  However it will be agreed upon in the statewide review, published and consistently available at colleges offering the program as published statewide.

Q:      PLA = pass/fail or Contract= grade:  What about the competitive advantage for students trying to enter, for example, OU HSC?

A:      We are conscious of this and will be looking closely at all requirements for those types of programs.  Update:  With information gathered so far, we are not aware of students being disadvantaged by receiving PASS grades.

Q:      Will there be a policy on how long students can “bank” their credit?

A:       No.  They will be assessed, and after the student completes 12 hours at the college, then the credit will be transcripted.  If the assessing body stipulates a timeframe of validity for a certification, this will impact the credit that can be awarded.

Q:      What about the portfolio process?  It is current when it is put together, and then transcripted, so it is good forever.

A:       At this time, we are not seeing the portfolio process being implemented for technical work review.  We have been working toward this process since 2000 in other liberal arts and sciences area, but the work has been slow in this area.  If the student has a well developed portfolio, they can approach the institution with it and request a review and assessment of the portfolio.  Each institution has autonomy, so one may be willing to conduct the review.  Once the portfolio is assessed and credit is transcripted, that transcripted work is good forever, however, degree requirements may change over time that makes particular credit not apply to particular degree requirements.

Q:      In addition to the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology or JRCERT, what accrediting bodies do we need to communicate with in regards to sponsorship concerns?

A:       We are working on this answer. 

If you want to be in the loop about what is happening with PLA send an email to Melissa and we will share information here as we move forward.

Dr Robert Sommers - CareerTech's Seventh Director

March 29, 2013 – Present

Dr. Robert Sommers

On April 1, 2013, Robert Sommers became the seventh state director of the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. In July 2013, Gov. Mary Fallin also named Sommers the secretary of education and workforce development.

Sommers previously served as CEO and managing member of Carpe Diem Learning Systems, an organization created to replicate the high-performing, cost-effective Carpe Diem personalized blended learning model.
For nine years, Sommers served as CEO and superintendent of an Ohio career-technical district, Butler Technology and Career Development Schools, in Hamilton, Ohio. Under his leadership, the district doubled in size, became the highest performing career-technical district in Ohio and became known for creative educational programs, including blended learning schools. The district served more than 26,000 high school through adult students and provided customized training to companies.

For 15 years, Sommers served in several capacities with the Ohio Department of Education. He served as an agricultural supervisor, state FFA adviser, assistant director of program evaluation services and associate director for career-technical education.

Sommers’ teaching experience includes agricultural education in London, Ohio.
Sommers served as Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s education policy adviser, covering elementary through university education policy. During his tenure, Ohio implemented reforms for increased school performance transparency, teacher evaluation, school choice, digital education options and failing school transformation.
While in Detroit, he served as CEO of Cornerstone Charter Schools, where he designed the Cornerstone Health High School, a blended learning school that opened in fall 2012.

Sommers earned a doctorate in educational administration and leadership from The Ohio State University, Columbus, where he also completed his master’s degree in agricultural education. He earned a bachelor of science degree in education at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and has received several education and business awards in Ohio. He has also served in leadership positions in numerous state and national organizations, including chairman of the Performance Taskforce for the National Association of Career and Technical Education.

Dr Phil Berkenbile - CareerTech's Sixth Director

Jan. 7, 2004 – Feb. 7, 2013

Dr. Phil Berkenbile

Phil Berkenbile began his career in Oklahoma as an agricultural education instructor for Morrison Public Schools and later became the superintendent of schools in Morrison. He served in various positions at ODCTE, including agricultural education northwest district supervisor and curriculum specialist, agricultural education assistant state supervisor, associate state director for education services and chief of staff.

He served on several boards and task forces, including chairman of the Governor’s Taskforce on Healthcare and chairman of the Oklahoma Education Technology Trust Foundation. He received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in agricultural education from Oklahoma State University, and in 2006, he received the OSU Graduate of Distinction Award in Agricultural Education.

He has held several national positions including president of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium. Berkenbile assumed this role at a pivotal time, as national and state leaders in education, including those at NASDCTEc, implemented a range of strategies to prepare students to compete in the global economy.

Berkenbile received the prestigious 2012 VIP Award from the Oklahoma FFA Association and the 2010 VIP Citation from the National FFA Organization. The VIP Citation is one of the most prestigious awards a person may receive for supporting FFA and its programs.

During Berkenbile's tenure as state director, ODCTE embraced the National Career Clusters initiative to help students create a strong pathway to careers and created science, technology, engineering and mathematics academies, including those for pre-engineering and biomedical studies, as well as offerings in biotechnology.

Pete Buswell - CareerTech's Fifth Director

Jan. 13, 2003 – May 21, 2003

Pete J. Buswell

Pete Buswell was a businessman from Boston, Mass., who developed global training programs for companies such as IBM, Drake International and Data General before being named director of ODCTE.

Buswell received his master's degree in training and development from Lesley College in Cambridge, Mass. He earned a bachelor's degree in education from Northeastern University.

To .EDU or Not .EDU

It has been a couple of months since we checked technology center websites and tracked the .edu trend. We have been checking since February 2009 to see when, or if, all the technology center websites would transition to a .edu domain.

At that time only four .EDU dominas existed. The largest was the .ORG with 12 followed by .COM with nine, .TEC.OK.US with three and .NET with one. 

Today I am excited to announce that another technology center has joined the list .EDU list!

Tri County Technology Center made the switch from .ORG to tricountytech.edu

With this change we can now announce the retirement of the .ORG domain when it come to technology center websites. We have already retired .NET and the .TEC.OK.US.

Will we retire the .COM domain? Will the last three switch?


.EDU
Autry: http://www.autrytech.edu
Canadian Valley: http://www.cvtech.edu
Central Tech: http://www.centraltech.edu
Chisholm Trail: http://www.cttc.edu
EOC: http://www.eoctech.edu
Francis Tuttle: http://www.francistuttle.edu
Gordon Cooper: http://www.gctech.edu
Great Plains: http://www.greatplains.edu
Green Country: http://www.gctcok.edu
High Plains: http://www.hptc.edu
Kiamichi: http://www.ktc.edu
Meridian: http://meridiantech.edu
Metro Tech http://www.metrotech.edu
Mid America: http://www.matech.edu
Moore Norman: http://mntc.edu
Northeast Tech http://www.netech.edu
Northwest: http://www.nwtech.edu
Pioneer: http://www.pioneertech.edu
Pontotoc: http://www.pontotoctech.edu
Red River: http://rrtc.edu
Southern OK: http://www.sotc.edu
Southwest Tech: http://swtech.edu
Tri County: http://www.tricountytech.edu

Tulsa Tech http://www.tulsatech.edu
Wes Watkins: http://www.wwtech.edu
Western http://www.westtech.edu/


.COM
Caddo Kiowa: http://www.caddokiowa.com
Indian Capitol: http://www.ictctech.com
Mid-Del: http://www.middeltech.com/

Dr Ann Benson - CareerTech's Fourth Director

Feb. 11, 1999 – Dec. 31, 2002

Dr. Ann Benson

Ann Benson launched her career by teaching home economics in her hometown of Coyle. She served as curriculum specialist and assistant state director of ODCTE before being appointed state director in 1999. She led the initiative for basic skills integration in CareerTech courses to strengthen academic performance.

In her first year as state director, she championed the system’s name change from vocational education to career and technology education to more accurately reflect how career and technology education is delivered. Gov. Frank Keating signed House Bill 2128 on May 19, 2000, renaming the Oklahoma Department of Vocational and Technical Education as the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. The governing board was similarly renamed the State Board of Career and Technology Education. Not needing statutory permission, all area vo-tech schools already have substituted the term technology center in their names.

Benson was inducted into the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame in 2003 and the CareerTech Hall of Fame in 2005.

ODCTE also received a $2.2 million grant to manage the national career clusters initiative during Benson's tenure.

Dr Roy Peters - CareerTech's Third Director

Jan. 1, 1986 – Feb. 10, 1999

Dr. Roy Peters Jr.

Roy Peters was born June 3, 1942, the son of lifelong educators Mr. and Mrs. Roy Peters Sr. After graduation from Alex High School, Peters attended the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business education. He later earned a master's degree in technical education and a doctorate in occupational and adult education from Oklahoma State University.

Peters' contributions to career and technology education began in 1964 at U.S. Grant High School, where he taught and was a coordinator of distributive education and business education. He sponsored DECA and FBLA at the school until leaving in 1971. From 1970 to 1972, Peters taught cooperative vocational education at the University of Central Oklahoma for prospective teachers and administrators around Oklahoma.

From 1971 to 1973, Peters served as adult education specialist for the Oklahoma Department of Vocational and Technical Education (now CareerTech). He was responsible for planning, organizing and conducting specialized adult education programs. Peters served as assistant superintendent for instruction at Moore Norman Area Vocational-Technical School from 1973 to 1979 and as superintendent of Canadian Valley Area Vocational Technical School from 1979 to 1984.

Peters continued to climb the career and technology education ladder, serving as associate state director at the state department from 1984 to 1985 and finally taking over as state director in January 1986. In his first year as state director, he oversaw the development of 21 bid assistance centers, which help Oklahoma companies collect $200 million in federal government contracts. During his tenure, the Oklahoma Department of Vocational and Technical Education became the ninth largest state agency and served 300,000 students a year.

By the end of Peters' term in February 1999, 1,200 comprehensive high school programs were operating in more than 500 comprehensive high schools in Oklahoma. The system also had 54 technology center campuses.

After leaving the state agency, Peters served as president and chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Alliance for Manufacturing Excellence, a position he held until retirement. He has also stayed involved with the CareerTech System by leading the effort to raise money for the Francis Tuttle Endowed Chair at OSU and serves as chairman of the CareerTech Foundation.

Peters was inducted into the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame in 2012. He was inducted to the CareerTech Hall of Fame in 2001.

Dr Francis Tuttle - CareerTech's Second State Director

Dr. Francis Tuttle - State Director from 1967-1985

The late Francis Tuttle was director of Oklahoma's State Department of Career and Technology Education for almost two decades. He pioneered the way for career and technical education nationwide.

Prior to coming to CareerTech, Tuttle taught vocational agriculture and served as superintendent of schools at Gotebo, Muskogee and Holdenville.

Following his retirement from ODCTE, the governor appointed him director of the Oklahoma Department of Economic Development. He subsequently was appointed secretary of commerce when his agency merged into the Department of Commerce.
Tuttle’s service to education includes consultations for Sweden, Thailand, the Soviet Union and China. He also served as president of the American Vocational Association.

He was one of the first three inductees into the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame and received the Henry G. Bennett Distinguished Service Award in 1992.

Tuttle was inducted into the CareerTech Hall of Fame in 1990.

Tuttle's time as state director included several firsts:

• In his first act as state director (and five years before any federal law required it), he ordered that salaries be equalized at all levels without regard to gender.
• By a legislative act made effective on July 1, 1968, governance of vocational education transferred from the State Board of Education to the newly established State Board for Vocational and Technical Education. The same statute also established the State Department of Vocational-Technical Education as an independent executive agency.
• The first Skills Centers offered vocational training classes to inmates under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Corrections.

J.B. Perky - CareerTech's First State Director

J.B. Perky

State Director - June 6, 1941 – 1967

The late J.B. Perky worked 44 years in vocational education. During this time, he was a vocational agriculture teacher, district supervisor, state supervisor, state adviser of the Future Farmers of America and state director.

Perky was born in Cleburne, Texas, in 1901. He began his career in vocational education in 1923 as a vocational agriculture instructor in El Reno.

In 1941, Perky was appointed state director.

In 1961, he was appointed to President John F. Kennedy’s Panel of Consultants on Vocational Education to review and evaluate vocational education. That work led to the Vocational Education Act of 1963, which greatly increased appropriations.

Perky was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1962. He retired as state director in 1967 and died in 1970.

Perky was inducted to the CareerTech Hall of Fame in 1990.

CTE Month 2014

CTE Month has come to an end, how did you celebrate?

On our Twitter account we changed our profile picture and more importantly shared CTE Facts everyday. We tried to share facts  that we thought people might not know. Facts like:

We tried to do it everyday, Monday through Friday, and we almost made it! The important thing is that we added more followers (we are up to 1,645!) and we shared the CTE story to those who might not know about it or know about it very much.

We had the opportunity to re-Tweet some good infomration from our CTE partners and help spread their message as well.

We would love to hear what you did for CTE Month 2014 and can't wait to share the CTE story with you in 2015! Share your story in the comments below.

Innovation

Innovation is the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs. This is accomplished through more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments and society. The term innovation can be defined as something original and, as consequence, new that "breaks into" the market or society. One usually associates to new phenomena that are important in some way. A definition of the term, in line with these aspects, would be the following: "An innovation is something original, new, and important—in whatever field—that breaks in to (or obtains a foothold in) a market or society".

wikipedia

CTE Month Video

Check out the second place CTE month video

Happy CTE Month!

Every February is National CTE Month. It is a gret opportunity to showcase your students and what CTE has done for them and how it is helping Oklahoma to provide “A job for every Oklahoman and a workforce for every company.”

Our friends at ACTE always provide some great resources for you as well. National CTE Month Resources

Check out the PSA winner below.

Cooperative Alliance Working Groups - Official Charges

Technical Crosswalk Committee – To develop matrices of course equivalencies for technical coursework offered in Cooperative Agreement Programs (CAPs) that do not have approved programmatic assessments, and submit these equivalent courses for review and approval by the institutions and the COI, and to provide this information statewide for student and institutional use.

·         

National Standards, Certifications and EOI Standardization Committee - To identify all assessments associated with Cooperative Alliance Programs (CAPs), evaluate these assessments for use in awarding extra institutional credit, and develop a statewide inventory for students and advisors.

·       

 Credit Hour Evaluation Committee- To develop a consistent process by which student learning and experiences are reviewed to determine the awarding of college credit in compliance with the federal and state definition of a credit hour, and provide this information statewide.

·         

Contract Template Committee- To develop consistent language for institutional use in creating contracts with technology centers for submission to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) for review and approval, and to provide this information statewide.

CareerTech Strategic Purposes - Major Processes and the Decision Framework

How will we achieve the strategic purposes of our system? The following are the major work units that must be completed to achieve the system’s strategic purposes are:

1. Leadership
2. Strategic planning
3. Customer (students, clients) and stakeholder focus
4. Information management
5. Human resources
6. Financial
7. Marketing
8. Regulatory oversight and system quality control
9. Standards and assessments
10. Instructional design and delivery
11. Research and Innovation
12. Supply-chain management and partnerships
13. Facilities, equipment, transportation, grounds
14. Student support services
15. Technology support services
16. Safety and security

These major units will be further defined through key requirements, procedures and process quality
measures.

The decision framework for these processes will ask six questions:

• Is it ethical?
• Can we afford it?
• Will it improve customer performance?
• Will it improve student and business and industry satisfaction?
• Will it improve staff satisfaction?
• Will it improve stakeholder satisfaction?

CareerTech Strategic Purposes - Curriculum and Assessment Service

Curriculum and Assessment Services – Provide curriculum and assessment products to schools. The customer base is international in scope and includes Oklahoma schools.

Curriculum and assessment plays a vital role in providing quality educational experiences to customers and validating student achievement.

Curriculum and assessment is gauged by measuring:

• Innovation.
• Customer satisfaction.
• Cost-effectiveness.
• Customer demand.

Curriculum and assessment benefits individuals, companies and taxpayers by:

• Providing curriculum and assessments aligned with industry-recognized standards and
• competencies.
• Providing a digital delivery system that is accessible to students, parents and faculty.

CareerTech Strategic Purposes - Customized Training and Consulting

Customized Training and Consulting – Design and deliver training and consulting based upon an organization’s specific requirements. Training is designed to refine an organization’s existing or soon-to-be-hired workforce to produce a specific business result. Consulting is required for an organization to compete more effectively in the marketplace.

Customized training and consulting services fulfills a unique and critical need for Oklahoma businesses.

Oklahoma’s future hinges on business and industry’s ability to successfully compete in a global economy.

A highly skilled workforce is essential for success in today’s challenging business environment.

Customized training and consulting services are gauged by measuring:

• Customer satisfaction.
• Industry-recognized certification or licensure.
• New companies served.
• Repeat customer rates.
• Impact interviews.
• Ecosystem penetration.
• Business penetration rates.
• Ecosystem training and workforce.
• Population penetration.

Customized training and consulting services benefits individuals, companies and taxpayers by:

• Partnering with companies to increase productivity, reduce costs and implement high-quality,
• continuous improvement practices.
• Reducing human injury rates by promoting health and safety practices.
• Upgrading incumbent workers’ skills and expertise to support industry growth and development.
• Engaging entrepreneurs and companies to spur innovation.
• Facilitating business plan development to attract potential investors and startup companies.