Date of Award
12-1-1991
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Advisor
Dr. David S. Flight
Committee Member
Dr. Charles L. Faires
Committee Member
Dr. Ronald A. Newell
Keywords
academic skills, career education, classroom technology, college-bound students, curriculum implementation, curriculum reform, dual standard curriculum, educational change, employment skills, English instruction, faculty acceptance, general education courses, high school curriculum, high school diploma, instructional innovation, Mansfield City Schools, mathematics instruction, non-college-bound students, Ohio, organizational change, political maneuvering, real-life applications, school district, science instruction, secondary education, student acceptance, teaching practices, technical preparation, tech-prep curriculum, workforce preparation
Abstract
This project describes the process used to implement a technical preparation (tech-prep) curriculum into the high school course offerings of a small city school district in Ohio. The tech-prep curriculum was designed to give students, especially those who were not college bound, stronger academic skills by requiring students to relate such skills to real-life employment situations. The lessons incorporated many of the latest advancements in teaching practices and classroom technology. The need for this project was made evident from a review or the literature which indicated that a dual standard curriculum existed in the typical American urban high school. Analysis of the local situation revealed that the curriculum in Mansfield City Schools was also designed to provide two sets of standards by which students could receive a high school diploma. An effort was made in this project to implement a nationally recognized tech-prep curriculum designed to narrow the gap in academic skills between college-bound and non-college bound students, specifically in the areas of English, mathematics and science. As a result of the implementation of the project, the author found the tech-prep curriculum to be favorably accepted by both students and faculty. Related efforts to significantly reduce the size and dimension of the non-college-prep curriculum over a period of 18 months proved to be impossible within the organizational structure of the high school. Nevertheless, the bureaucratic procedures and political maneuverings that would allow the reduction of general education courses to take place through attrition during the next three school years was put in place as a result of this project.