Welcome to AWC Tech Prep
Tech Prep is a national initiative linking career and technical education programs offered at the high school level to degree and certificate programs at the post-secondary level. In the Tech Prep Education Act of 1990, this initiative was implemented to strengthen education programs for youth who might not earn a four-year post-secondary degree.
At the national level, the goals of the Tech Prep Legislation were to:
1. Prepare students for promising careers
2. To improve the quality of both academic and career and technical education and enhance the effectiveness of preparing students for career by more closely integrating them
3. To improve education for the “neglected majority,” those students in the middle quartiles who would most likely finish high school but were unlikely to complete a four-year post-secondary education program.
Employers were concerned that young people lacked both the social and technical skills required to succeed in entry-level jobs. Increasingly, employees in many fields to not require a four-year degree, but do require specific technical training.
In Arizona, Tech Prep takes a local approach to addressing these issues. Eleven local Tech Prep Directors with consortium high school and post-secondary institutions to oversee articulation efforts and provide activities that help connect students to their futures. Arizona Tech Prep has tailored this national initiative to serve each community’s unique population.
Tech Prep provides each student with:
1. A career pathway with an identified sequence of courses which leads to employment, employability and technological skills.
2. Advanced occupational training identified in partnership with business and industry.
3. Articulated programs leading to certification and/or degree.
4. A curriculum integrating academic and occupational learning and application.
For more information on this initiative visit www.aztechprep.org - the State Tech Prep Site.
For daily up-to-date information regarding Tech Prep and Arizona Western College follow our Blog at: www.awctechprep.blogspot.com
