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.

CareerTech Strategic Purposes - Career Preperation and Enhancement

Career Preparation and Enhancement – Develop students’ technical knowledge and skills required to succeed in postsecondary education or careers or to advance within careers.

Career preparation and enhancement provides students the technical knowledge and skills required in a creative and innovative society. Today a postsecondary degree and relevant industry-recognized credential are essential in fueling a more vibrant Oklahoma economy.

Career preparation and enhancement is gauged by measuring:

• Industry credentials, certificates and licensure.
• Related placement.
• Wages.
• Competency attainment.

Career preparation and enhancement benefits individuals, companies and taxpayers by:

• Attracting new wealth-generating industries to Oklahoma.
• Providing a highly skilled workforce.
• Reducing the cost of postsecondary education by providing an opportunity to gain college credit.
• Increasing lifetime earning gains for students achieving industry-recognized credentials and degrees.

CareerTech Strategic Purposes - Academic Enhancement

Academic Enhancement – Assure students develop the academic knowledge and skills required by students’ career choices.

Academic enhancement in the 21st-century workplace requires Oklahomans to have education and training beyond high school diplomas to obtain financial security. It is imperative that the workforce has the academic skills needed to be competitive and maintain and improve America’s standard of living.

Academic enhancement is gauged by measuring:

• College remediation rate.
• College credit obtained.
• Academic attainment.

Academic enhancement benefits individuals, companies and taxpayers by:

• Improving students’ college-readiness.
• Reducing college remediation.
• Increasing students’ academic knowledge, achievement and performance.
• Integrating academics with technical skills to ensure a sustainable and competitive workforce.

CareerTech Strategic Purposes - Work and Family Studies

Work and Family Studies – Assure students develop specific life skills that operate in synergy with career skills. This will allow Oklahomans to be more productive by balancing work and family life through personal resource management, health and wellness, time management and other similar skills.

The well-being of individuals and families is a state, national and global concern. Work and family
studies educates individuals in building positive life skills necessary to be productive and responsible
citizens.

Work and family studies is gauged by measuring:

• Financial literacy.
• Health and wellness.
• Life plan management.
• Time management.

Work and family studies benefits individuals, companies and taxpayers by:

• Promoting health and wellness.
• Preparing for managing work and life balance.
• Providing employers a workforce of people who possess professional work habits.
• Creating financially literate and knowledgeable consumers.
• Engaging in community service and outreach.

CareerTech Strategic Purposes - Career Readiness

Career Readiness – Assure students know how to analyze issues, resolve problems, work with others, and adapt to complex workplaces. Creativity, problem solving and critical thinking skills are core to career readiness.

Career readiness prepares individuals to acquire academic and employability skills to be successful in
education and livelihood.

Career readiness is gauged by measuring:

• Creativity.
• Problem-solving ability.
• Collaboration.
• Critical thinking.
• Communication.

Career readiness benefits individuals, companies and taxpayers by:

• Providing a better workforce.
  Providing students marketable and transferable skills.
  Developing and enhancing skills that will facilitate job placement, retention and advancement.

TED-Ed Clubs

What an awesome opportunity for your students.

CareerTech Strategic Purposes - Career Development

Career Development - Assure students have the knowledge and skills to make informed career choices and to create education plans to be prepared for those careers.

Career development is based upon the tenet that all K-12 and adult students should have the information
they need to make informed decisions about their education and career choices. Helping individuals
increase self-understanding of their abilities, interests, values and goals is a vital foundation of the career
development process.

Career development is gauged by measuring:

• Career exploration.
• Career goals.
• Career maturity.
• Educational career plans.

Career development benefits individuals, companies and taxpayers by:

• Ensuring individuals make informed career decisions based on facts and not the latest sitcom.
• Improving student transitions to college and careers.
• Strengthening the connection between students and industry.
• Promoting career exploration through awareness of career options.
• Increasing student engagement and motivation through business collaboration and involvement

CareerTech Strategic Purposes

As part of the Renisance of CareerTech in Oklahoma our system is embracing strategic purposes.

"CareerTech’s implementation of the seven strategic purposes will drive performance and continuous improvement to achieve the needs of Oklahoma. These purposes broadly define the system’s ends, “ what good for whom”."

Over the next couple of weeks we will share with you the seven strategic purposes as outlined in our business plan and include the ways that we will measure each purpose and how it will benefit our state.

We look forward to reading your comments about each. 

Changes coming to Cooperative Alliances

Education beyond high school is the new minimum and Oklahomans must be prepared to compete in a global economy. The current demand of workers with this educational attainment outpaces the current supply and CareerTech's partnership with higher education through the Cooperative Alliances is one way we are working to meet this increased standard.


As a result of Higher Learning Commission rule changes, the Cooperative Alliance Program is being revamped.and presents new opportunities for our system to provide high-quality educational experiences for youth and adult students.

Opportunities for students to earn college credit may take multiple forms including contracts between technology centers and higher education partners or through prior learning assessments.

Four committees have been established that will look at different areas relevant to the transition from the existing agreements to a new "contract" agreement approach that is acceptable to the accrediting commission.

The four committees are:

• Technical Crosswalk Committee,
• National Standards, Certifications and EOI Standardization Committee,
• Credit Hour Evaluation Committee, and the 
• Contract Template Committee.

The work that these committees will perform, with leadership from both CTE and higher education, will be invaluable to the state of Oklahoma as we move forward with our partnership. Nationally, the Cooperative Alliance Programs supports the Complete College America and the NGA's America Works: Education and Training for Tomorrow’s Jobs initiatives In Oklahoma, the Cooperative Alliance Program is aligned with the CareerTech's Strategic Purposes of Academic Enhancement, Career Readiness, and Career Preparation.

The opportunity to eliminate barriers to student success and provide innovation to the program is critical to long-term quality and will improve Oklahoma's economy by providing the education required for students to be successful in the global economy.

CareerTech Renaissance