Tech Prep: A Planning and Resource Guide.

Overview & Synopsis

This guide was developed to help administrators, teachers, students, parents, and the business community understand and implement tech prep programs in South Carolina. (Tech prep is a major restructuring strategy designed to meet the needs of students who want to function effectively in a technological workplace and to ensure that students are better prepared to pursue postsecondary education.) The guide is organized in three sections. The first section describes the South Carolina tech prep model, including its mission and vision, components, and anticipated outcome. The second section presents the requirements for a tech prep program, including requirements for a high school diploma and options after high school. In the third section, career planning is addressed. Career clusters are highlighted, and occupational specialty programs in agricultural education, business and marketing education, health occupations education, occupational home economics education, and trade and industrial education are outlined. Eleven appendixes include the following information: funding resources, South Carolina Tech Prep Consortia and map, regional tech prep locations, state-supported technical colleges, state-supported four-year colleges, private colleges, proprietary schools, apprenticeship principles, types of apprenticeships, and 80 information sources. (KC)