Vol.6 - Issue 5 - Tech Prep Program Starts Careers - Eighth-Graders On Career Paths

Oct 13, 2026

Vol.6, No.5 coverage highlights a Tech Prep initiative in Calvert County, Maryland that begins career planning in eighth grade and continues career work in ninth. The program organizes students into three career pathways—college prep, advanced technology, and occupational technology—while integrating rigorous academics into vocational training. It describes curriculum planning, teacher roles, measurable outcomes such as enrollment growth, and guidance for students transitioning between tracks.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

In This Issue

Conference Report

Marketing Reform

District Tries

New Assessment

Middle School Priorities

EM Digest

School Improvement

Data File

Student Support

Instruction Techniques

Special Education

Tech Prep Program Starts Careers

Bridge To Jobs

Tech Prep Program Starts Careers (Cont.)

Popular Mechanics

+ Vol.6,No.5 | In This Issue
Conference Report
Marketing Reform
Builds Momentum.....3
District Tries
New Assessment......3
Middle School
Priorities...........4
EM Digest
School Improvement....5
Data File...........6
Student Support.......7
Instruction Techniques...8
Special Education......9 | | --- | FYI The early teens really are as badas many youngsters think,saysa recent study. Research on 483 students in fifththrough ninth grades in the Chi-cago suburbs found that stu-dents in seventh through ninthgrade had more negative lifeevents,such as being suspendedor losing friends,than theiryounger peers.The group alsosaid they felt down twice asmuch as did younger students. Developmental Psychology,January 1993 March 9,1993 Coverage of the National Association of Secondary SchoolPrincipals meeting in Las Vegas last month continues witharticles on technical preparation,marketing reform,perfor-mance assessment and middle schools on pp.1-4. # Tech Prep Program StartsEighth-Graders On Career Paths The Calvert County,Md.,Schools start career planning ineighth grade—and career work in ninth. Eighth-graders plan to follow one of three "career pathways"to college prep,advanced technology or occupational tech-nology skills at Calvert's two high schools and vocationalschool.While it's difficult to plan careers at age 14,early de-cisions can lead to years of training and internships. "The tighter they lock in...the better prepared we can makethem,"says James Marlett,principal of both Calvert HighSchool and Calvert Career Center,its vocational neighbor. The four-year-old system follows a technical preparationprototype,which aims to create technically literate workersby integrating rigorous academics into vocational work.Themodel usually ties the last two years of high school vocationalwork with two years of postsecondary technical training. # Bridge To Jobs Students not bound for immediate jobs or college choose theadvanced technology pathway,selecting from three strands:engineering,health and human services or business.Theycan focus on several precareer areas,such as electrical engin-eering or nursing,earning community college credit for somehigh school work when they study there later(see box,p.2). Students in the occupational path intend to land ajob or in-ternship right after high school.For instance,a studentmight seek pipefitters union certification while taking weld-ing,applied mathematics and English. Integrating academics and vocational work is crucial,saysMarlett.He promotes integration by asking academic ## Tech Prep Program Starts Careers(Cont.) teachers to use working world examples,byhaving vocational teachers ratchet up the aca-demics,and by building applied courses insuch subjects as algebra and chemistry. Calvert borrowed and created much of its newcurricula;Marlett says it took a year and ahalfjust to plan course outlines. ## Popular Mechanics Voc ed that's challenging and fun—such ascomputer assisted drafting—helps popular-ize vocational work.Top students now entertechnical training,Marlett says,and voca-tional school enrollment doubled to 700 stu-dents since tech prep began. Other concrete results of the program are yetto be measured,says Marlett.He's disap-pointed in the 92 percent student attendancerate,but says teacher attendance and motiva-tion for the changes have been high. Best Laid Blueprints… Parent buy-in took more work,however.Tomarket the new setup,the school created sev-eral pamphlets and holds open houses foreighth-graders and parents.Marlett asks teachers to be supplementary counselors forthe thousands of students who need advice.Many students—and their parents—planfor college and then change their minds,soMarlett sees a lot of students switching fromcollege preparatory plans to the advancedtechnology track in i0th or 11th grade.Thismakes for a crunch of coursework,he says,but the transition is

FAQs

What is the Tech Prep program described in the issue?

It is a technical preparation system that starts career planning in eighth grade and links vocational work with rigorous academics. The model supports advanced technology and occupational pathways through integrated courses and postsecondary training.

How do students choose among career pathways?

Students follow one of three “career pathways”: college prep, advanced technology, or occupational technology skills. Advanced technology students select strands such as engineering, health and human services, or business.

What outcomes does the article mention for the program?

The article notes that vocational school enrollment doubled to about 700 students since tech prep began. It also reports an attendance shortcoming, while stating teacher attendance and motivation for the changes were high.

Oct 13, 2026

Uploaded by Anna Hans