Oklahoma Programs of Study Summit Held

Approximately 140 educators gathered at the South Penn campus of Moore-Norman Technology Center to hear from national and state experts as they spoke on rigorous programs of study.

Robert Shumer, research associate/lecturer from the University of Minnesota, kicked off the summit, sharing a national perspective with attendees and speaking on behalf of the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education. Presenters included ODCTE staff as well as participants from the Oklahoma Programs of Study Institute.

“Oklahoma students must be prepared to participate in a 21st century economy that is fast-paced, technology-driven, knowledge-based and global,” said Becki Foster, associate state director of careers, innovation and academic services for CareerTech. “Oklahoma Rigorous Programs of study will be a critical piece of connecting academic and technical coursework to the world of work.”

The summit is the result of more than a years’ worth of planning, research and development. The Department of CareerTech was an active participant in the National Research Center for Career and Technical Educations’ first National Programs of Study Institute beginning in January 2012. Using the national model, ODCTE developed an Oklahoma Programs of Study Institute to help local institutions move from programs of study to rigorous programs of study.

Caddo-Kiowa Technology Center, Choctaw High School, Claremore High School, Meridian Technology Center, Mid-America Technology Center, Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, Redlands Community College, Tulsa Community College and Tulsa Public Schools participated in the three-month institute beginning in September 2012.

The summit was developed to help institutions start planning for local Carl Perkins implementation. The participants from the institute presented to their peers what they were doing to move from programs of study to rigorous programs of study on their campuses. Participants were given an introduction to the RPOS framework and given the opportunity to self-evaluate where their schools were in implementation.
ODCTE will continue to provide technical assistance as local schools and consortiums prepare to implement RPOS.

More information on rigorous programs of study can be found here.

(This news item was originally posted at www.okcareertech.org)

Ok Programs of Study Summit

We will hold the Oklahoma Programs of Study Summit as scheduled on Feb 27, 2013. We will move the start time to 9:30 am in order to allow extra travel time and will work to conclude the summit at the advertised 12:30 ending time.

As with any travel, please plan locally as road conditions may vary across the state. Please plan on allowing extra travel time to reach the South Penn Campus of Moore Norman Technology Center. If your local conditions are not safe please do not travel to the summit.

Click here for more information

Oklahoma Programs of Study Summit

SAVE THE DATE - On Feb 27, 2013, ODCTE will host the Oklahoma Programs of Study Summit.

The event is intended to support schools in improving the quality of career and technical education (CTE) instruction provided to secondary and post secondary students. The event will specifically support secondary, technical and post secondary schools in addressing barriers as they move from Programs of Study to Rigourous Programs of Study.

Currently, the Perkins legislation requires that institutions who receive Perkins funds deliver content through Programs of Study. Indications are that under the next version of Perkins, Programs of Study will play an even larger role.This event is designed to begin educating Perkins LEA's about how these changes will affect them.

Participants will hear about Oklahoma's participation in the National Programs of Study Institute. During the morning the nine participants from the Oklahoma Programs of Study Institute will present real world, concrete examples of how they are working to improves RPOS in their institutions.  Participants will leave with a beginning understanding of what Rigorous Programs of Study are and how to assess the current level of implementation of RPOS at their institution.

The event will take place at the South Penn Campus of Moore Norman Technology Center. Invitiations will be emailed to Perkins contacts and registration will be free. It is tentativley set to begin with registration at 8:30am and conclude at 12:30pm.

For more information on Oklahoma's Programs of Study, visit our webpage.

Ok Programs of Study Institute - Session II

In November we held the second session of the Oklahoma Programs of Study Institute. Earlier, we held conference calls and the first session leading up to our final session.

During the second session it was exciting to watch the presentations of the participants projects. These projects encompassed the 10 components of the RPOS framework and described how they were going to make changes, within the context of RPOS, at their institutions.

We gave general guidance as to the scope of the individual projects and what happened is what we hoped would happen. Each institution presented on a project that was tailored to their specific needs and when all nine projects were presented we had covered all 10 pieces of the framework!

Why is this important? It was our goal out of the institute to develop concrete, real world examples that Perkins LEA's could use as they move their institution from POS to RPOS. We wanted to show how Rigorous Programs of Study relate to the real world and that is what we accomplished.

The rest of the time was spent planning out the Oklahoma Programs of Study Summit on Feb 27. The summit will be held at Moore Norman Technology Center and the South Penn Campus. Watch this blog and the Carl Perkins blog for details on this exciting event.

Watch this blog as we begin to share some of the projects and how they relate to RPOS. You will have to come to the summit to get more details, but we will share some teasers with you!

OkPOSI Conference Calls

Between the first and second session of the Institute each team conducted a conference call with ODCTE and those calls were completed this week. The intent of the conference call was to help facilitate the Project plan and provide technical assistance.

There was awesome conversation with all particiapants. The institutions are beginning to put together some great ideas centered around the framework of RPOS and moving forward in developing concrete, real world examples of what RPOS looks like in Oklahoma.

Building upon the success of the conference calls we are looking forward to a great second session. At the second session each institute will present their Project and we will begin to develop and shape the Summit scheduled for February 2013.

It truly is an exciting time to be a part of career and technology education in Oklahoma. RPOS will lead to greater student achievement and we look forward to its complete implementation.

OkPOSI - The Project

As part of the Oklahoma Programs of Study Institute, each team will create an action plan for addressing one or more implementation barriers. Implementation barriers may address specific elements of the RPOS framework or provide an overall strategy for RPOS implementation at the team’s institution.

The Project should address the current status of your institution’s RPOS development and how participation in the Institute will enhance your implementation efforts. In your action plan, please identify one or more implementation barriers and describe the implementation challenges. 

You should specifically describe how the action plan developed during the Institute will be communicated with your partners (secondary, technology center, postsecondary), used as a “blueprint” for RPOS design and used to build capacity for RPOS implementation. 

Between the first and second session of the Institute each team will conduct a conference call with ODCTE. The conference call will be used to help facilitate the action plan and provide technical assistance.

The action plan will be presented to Institute participants during the second session and during the Oklahoma Programs of Study Summit. Action plans will be posted to okcareertech.org to provide assistance to other institutions as they develop their own plan.

Ok Programs of Study Institute - Session I

This week, nine institutions met at Meridian Technology Center during the first session of the Oklahoma Programs of Study Institute. The Institute is designed to further put research from the NRCCTE into practice at the local level and help Oklahoma institutions move from Programs of Study to Rigorous Programs of Study.

Oklahoma recently completed participation in the National Programs of Study Institute conducted by the NRCCTE. Oklahoma was one of four participants and is continuing the work completed at the national level by sharing lessons learned and helping to implement proven strategies at the local level.


During the first session, participants heard an overview of POS in Oklahoma, including information on the National Programs of Study Institute, Oklahoma Programs of Study Institute and the Oklahoma Programs of Study Summit. Discussion was also held covering the research project conducted by the ODCTE with the NRCCTE.

Participants then began to learn more about Programs of Study and the framework from which RPOS will be implemented. A marketing card was distributed and participants discussed the change in terminology from Plans of Study to Individual Career Plans. Perkins view points were presented before participants completed the Programs of Study: Local Implementation Readiness and Capacity Self-Assessment.The day ended with a conversation covering The Project that each institution will complete. 


Participants in the Institute include:

• Caddo-Kiowa Technology Center
• Choctaw High School
• Claremore High School
• Meridian Technology Center
• Mid America Technology Center
• Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology
• Redlands Community College
• Tulsa Community College
• Tulsa Public Schools

The Institute will reconvene on November 15 at Meridian Technology Center.