College and Career
Transitions Initiative
The College and Career Transitions Initiative (CCTI) will contribute to strengthening the role of community and technical colleges throughout the United States in:
• Easing student transitions between secondary and postsecondary education as well as transitions to employment.
• Improving academic performance at both the secondary and postsecondary levels.
Through partnerships between community colleges, secondary schools and employers, the CCTI will further the development of academically rigorous:
• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
• Law, Public Safety, and Security.
These programs of study, aligning course offerings at the secondary level with increasingly advanced academic and technical courses at the postsecondary level, will equip students with the skills and credentials required for success in high-growth, high-demand, high-wage career fields.
The focus of the Maricopa County Community College District (Maricopa), College and Career Transitions Initiative (CCTI) project, is the development of a coherent, articulated, sequence of rigorous academic courses and a career course pathway in the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) occupational area of Education and Training. The Maricopa CCTI project will use the Arizona Department of Education’s Career and Technical Education, Education Professions program and the Maricopa Associate in Arts in Elementary Education Degree (AAEE) as the springboard for achieving the outcomes of the project.
Maricopa-CCTI Model
The Maricopa Community Colleges is serving in a leadership role and as a partner with the League for Innovation in the Community College in this U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education grant focusing on the area of teacher education. The National Center for Teacher Education – Academic Affairs is managing Maricopa Community Colleges CCTI efforts. The outcomes of this grant program include:
• Decreased need for remediation at postsecondary level.
• Increased enrollment and persistence in postsecondary education.
• Increased academic and skill achievement at secondary and postsecondary levels.
• Increased attainment of postsecondary degrees, certificates, or other recognized credentials.
• Increased entry into employment or further education.
Three of Maricopa's ten colleges have agreed to participate in the CCTI project. They are Estrella Mountain Community College, South Mountain Community College, and Phoenix College. Each of these colleges has identified a cohort of high school students that they will work with to implement the strategies developed for the project to successfully achieve the outcomes identified by the CCTI.
The Maricopa CCTI model consists of three strategies:
Policy Alignment
Arizona P-12 Teacher Education Career Model
Maricopa Community Colleges has partnered with the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), Career and Technical Education Division’s Education Professions program to identify cohorts of students for participation in the CCTI project. This partnership has included the integration of the ADE Education Professions curriculum framework and the course requirements for the Associate of Arts in Elementary Education (AAEE) Statewide Degree program.
Curricular Alignment
The Arizona Department of Ed Education Professions curriculum framework is designed to prepare secondary students for employment or post secondary opportunities in the education field. Introduced in the 2003 – 2004 school year as one of the secondary Career and Technical Education programs. The Education Professions curriculum provides instruction in education career choices, education structure and systems, theory, pedagogy, developmental stages, learning styles and methodology. The program also provides interactive experiences with students at different age levels, in a variety of content areas in education environments. The Education Professions curriculum framework is designed to articulate with the Introduction to Education courses in the Maricopa Community College Associate of Arts in Elementary Education (AAEE) Degree program, and other Para Professional certificate and degree programs. The AAEE program currently serves elementary education, special education and para professional students. The curriculum framework for Education Professions may be accessed at the Arizona Tech Prep website.
Statewide Career Pathway
This partnership has developed the Arizona P-12 Teacher Education Career Model. As a first step to systemic implementation of the Arizona P-12 Teacher Education Career Model, the National Center for Teacher Education (NCTE) has worked with community college districts throughout Arizona to identify the education courses within the statewide Associate of Arts Elementary Education degree (AAEE) program that are appropriate for dual enrollment articulation within the Arizona P-12 Teacher Education Career Model. The AAEE courses are articulated through community college dual enrollment agreements with secondary and post-secondary entities on a county-by-county basis. The AAEE is articulated for transfer with all of Arizona’s public university Bachelors of Arts in Elementary Education degree programs. Many of Arizona’s private universities have also entered into AAEE articulation agreements.
NCTE plans to integrate the ASSOCIATE IN TRANSFER PARTNERSHIP DEGREES (ATP) currently in place for teacher education students participating in Maricopa Community Colleges into the Arizona P-12 Teacher Education Career Model by the end of 2006. The ATP degree is an articulated academic program of study established among the student, public universities, and the community college the student attends. The integration of the ATP programs will provide students at the secondary and post-secondary two-year institutions with additional career pathways that can lead to seamless transitions through dual/concurrent enrollment options as they move towards secondary, special education, and/or other specialized teaching careers.
Program Alignment
Future Teacher Clubs
Maricopa’s CCTI project works closely with future teacher clubs from partner high schools and community colleges. Future Teacher Conferences have been held to provide students with career, higher education and professional opportunities.
Early Assessment
The Arizona P-12 Teacher Education Career Model includes benchmarks for mandatory assessments, advising, and additional preparation to assure student success and persistence. Secondary students enrolled in the ADE Education Professions program are provided with early assessment for community college course placement in the 11th and/or 12th grade. Community college course placement assessments are administered during the first semester of enrollment in the program. ACCUPLACER is the assessment test being utilized. This is a computer adaptive test used to assess skills in reading, English and mathematics. The test scores are available immediately.
Individualized College and Career Plan
Using the early assessment information from the course placement assessments, each student works with faculty and advisors from both the secondary and postsecondary two-year institutions to develop an individualized college and career plan. The plan provides a framework for meeting individual student academic needs and education career goals, and to develop a rigorous path of academic coursework. Once developed, the high school/college partnership team determines what resources are needed to meet the needs of and achieve the goals for each student. Resources from the student’s high school, linked community college, and local/state community partners are identified and utilized to meet each need and goal.
Faculty Alignment
Electronic Portfolios
The Arizona P-12 Teacher Education Career Model has necessitated the establishment of concurrent secondary and post-secondary professional development opportunities for all faculty, academic advisors, and administrators involved. It was necessary to begin discussions among faculty regarding programs and pathways. To date, faculty have received concurrent and individualized training for an Eportfolio system (www.taskstream.com). This system is the tool for providing the framework for conversations within this project. Eportfolios are being utilized to assist students and faculty participating in the Arizona P–12 Teacher Education Career Model implementation process. This project’s secondary and post-secondary faculty use TaskStream to create portfolio templates and assess students’ portfolios online. It can also be used to create and share standards-based lessons and units that include assessment rubrics. The Web Folio Builder makes it easy for students to create, organize, and share electronic portfolios that demonstrate standards compliance. The Eportfolio component of this project is currently being used and aligned by project high schools, community colleges and universities preparing future teachers in Arizona. The E-Portfolio, developed in TaskStream specifically for the Arizona P–12 Teacher Education Career Model students, is designed to eliminate or assist with transitional issues as they move through the model.
The end goal of this effort is to develop a continuum of electronic portfolios between high schools, community colleges and universities. This effort will allow for the progressive growth and assessment of students knowledge and skills and become the catalyst for continued dialog among faculty.
CCTI Partners
Arizona Department of Education – Career and Technical Education
Cactus High School
Centennial High School
Estrella Mountain Community College
Ironwood High School
Peoria High School
Phoenix College
South Mountain Community College
Sunrise Mountain High School
Teacher Prep Charter High School
Project Items:
Maricopa Career Pathways
Improvement Plan
Implementation Strategies
Lessons Learned
Case Studies
Project Bulletin
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