Ohio's Tech Prep state leadership has contracted with an external evaluation firm to complete a comprehensive evaluation of Ohio's Tech Prep system to inform policy makers and the State on the effectiveness of Tech Prep programs. MGT of America, Inc. was hired in 1995 to complete a five-year evaluation building upon the federal evaluation effort being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

MGT of America, Inc. identified the following key findings from the first year baseline information and data collected in 1995.

• Evidence of high levels of support and engagement on the part of stakeholders -- educators, employers, workers, parents, and students.
   
• A state-level perception that Tech Prep is more a process of attempting positive educational change than it is a specific program, and the willingness of the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Board of Regents to lead the state in the pursuit of "systemic change" through Tech Prep.
   
• A state-level Tech Prep Steering Committee composed of well-informed and supportive members.
   
• The insistence of the state that all six critical components of Ohio's Tech Prep vision be included in all consortia-level implementations.
   
• Signs of emerging systemic change in curricula and teaching methods at the secondary level and higher education level.
   

Year 2 data from the 24 consortium site visits conducted in the spring of 1996 as well as data from surveys to students, parents, employers, and teachers will be available in the fall of 1996. Ohio will have its first associate degree graduates from Tech Prep programs in spring 1997. Ohio has identified Tech Prep as the leading force in providing students new options in the state's agenda for educational and workforce reform. Ohio employers are awaiting the "high tech" graduates to earn their associate degrees so that they can hire the Tech Prep graduates. The true measure of success will be when all Tech Prep graduates are hired and perform at the levels expected by employers.

 

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