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A: Tech Prep is designed to support all academic levels. It supports the student who intends to go to work upon graduation from high school; the student who intends to get an associates or technical degree or certificate; and, the student who intends to continue their education for a baccalaureate degree or higher. Q: My child isn’t ready to make career decisions in the eighth or ninth grade. Will Tech Prep box my kids into a career track instead of the college track? A: Tech Prep does not box anyone into anything. Tech Prep encourages students to take more rigorous academic courses. Tech Prep teaches students to use applied strategies that are effective with a variety of learning styles. We encourage a thought process that will help prepare students for whatever they decide to do in the future. A recent poll of eighth graders showed that 71% of them had either already decided on a career or had narrowed the choice between two or three careers. Q: Will my child be locked into a career pathway that he or she can’t change? A: Again, Tech Prep doesn’t lock anyone into anything. It simply lays out a plan for each child that can be changed at any point. Tech Prep offers multiple entry and exit points. Q: Why push Tech Prep when we have grown up thinking that the only sure road to success is a four-year college degree? A: Today, 80 percent of the good jobs available to graduates are more likely to require two years – not four years – of college. A four-year degree no longer guarantees success in life. Even so, Tech Prep still prepares one for continuation on toward a four-year or higher degree. Q: I have a high school diploma. Why isn’t that good enough for my kid? A: The workplace has changed. One can seldom find a job that will support a family with only a high school education. Only 10% of the jobs in 2007 will be for unskilled labor. Q: Isn’t Tech Prep just warmed over vocational education with a fancy new name? A: If you look at the Tech Prep curriculum lined up against the "college prep" curriculum you will see that there is little difference. In reality, they are both college prep. Tech Prep can help prepare any student to reach whatever educational level he or she chooses. Lay the Tech Prep curriculum and the college prep curriculum side-by-side and you will quickly see they are at least equal, and in some cases the Tech Prep curriculum is more difficult. Q: Who says there will be jobs for my kid when he or she finishes the Tech Prep program? A: The United States Department of Labor, for one. Labor Department data shows that there will be jobs for Tech Prep graduates. As mentioned earlier, by 2007, 70% of all jobs will require more than a high school diploma but less than a four year degree. Only 20% of all jobs will require four or more years of college. That leaves just 10% of all jobs for those with a high school diploma or less. Q: How does one "sign up" for Tech Prep? A: There is no special application to enroll in Tech Prep classes. Students may register for technical courses that give articulated credit through the regular scheduling process at their school. Some courses or programs may require teacher or counselor approval. In the final semester of high school, students have their school records clerk fill out the credit form found on this website. The postsecondary school will handle the credit award. Contact your guidance counselor for side-by-side comparisons. |
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Q: Is Tech Prep intended
for the person who does not intend to go to a four-year university? 