What is Tech Prep?
Tech Prep is a major initiative that involves restructuring traditional curricula and introducing new approaches at the high school and community college levels. Viewed as one of the most innovative and effective education reform efforts in recent American history, Tech Prep connects the student with adaptive skills to compete successfully in the new workplace. Furthermore, for those students pursuing a Distinguished Achievement Program diploma (DAP), Tech Prep can be used as one of the “measures.” Currently, there are over 1,000 Tech Prep program sites operating nationwide.

What is a Tech Prep Program?

• A six-year plan of academic and technical study cooperatively developed by secondary and post-secondary course content specialists with assistance from business, industry, and labor representatives.
  
  
• Emphasis on teaching methods that meet the needs of all students.
  
  
• One or more formal agreements (called Articulation Agreements) between post-secondary Associate Degree-granting institutions and 4–yr Degree Granting institutions with school districts that outline a process for students to receive college credit for specific courses taken in high school; and
  
  
• A support system of comprehensive career guidance and counseling, staff development, and student support services.

Do Tech Prep programs need State approval?
Yes, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) officially recognize Tech Prep programs only after formal submission of an application and joint review. The process is outlined in the Guidelines for Instructional Programs in Workforce Education (GIPWE), January 1998, a publication of the THECB.

What Are the Benefits of Tech Prep?
The level of education and training needed for jobs today has increased dramatically from previous decades. Most high paying careers today require education beyond high school. Tech Prep gives students a solid foundation for college or other postsecondary education. It gives students choices they may not have known were available. It gives them access to education, skills and jobs. Tech Prep gives students a career focus for their education. Students no longer drift through school without clear goals or without any real vision of their future. Students can set their sights on a career, discover what it takes to get there and begin preparing for a successful future.

The transition from high school to postsecondary education is smoother because of the sequential progression of course work developed cooperatively by schools and employers. These career pathways also give students the opportunity to earn college credits while in high school, thereby saving tuition dollars and completing career requirements sooner. Tech Prep generates higher graduation rates. 90-percent of Tech Prep students graduate from high school, compared to an 85-percent graduation rate for all students. Workplace learning available through Tech Prep helps students see how their academic subjects are actually used in the work world and why they are important to future success.