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For Immediate Release
March 15, 2006
Illinois Center for Specialized Professional Support
Honored
Wins 2006 “Programs That Work:
Preparing Students for Nontraditional Careers” Award
Springfield, Ill. – Illinois Center for Specialized
Professional Support recently was awarded the 2006 “Programs
That Work: Preparing Students for Nontraditional Careers”
Award. This award, created by The Association for Career
and Technical Education (ACTE), the National Association
of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium
(NASDCTEc), the National Alliance for Partnerships in
Equity (NAPE), and the National Women’s Law Center
(NWLC), recognizes local and/or state educational agencies,
programs, and/or schools that have improved students’
access to and completion of career and technical education
programs that are nontraditional for gender. Illinois
Center for Specialized Professional Support received the
award for the Nontraditional Look (NTO Look) Project,
a multi-phase program which impacted postsecondary achievement
of the Perkins Nontraditional Core Indicator in 2005.
“This award and recognition will help bring to
light the hard work and dedication that Illinois educators
put in on a day-to-day basis,” said State Superintendent
of Schools, Randy Dunn. “ICSPS has done a fantastic
job in helping prepare students for nontraditional careers.”
ICSPS was selected for its program “The Nontraditional
Look (NTO Look).” The Nontraditional Look Project
utilized Perkins-funded grants from the Illinois State
Board of Education and Illinois Community College Board.
The multi-phase program was developed by the ICSPS at
Illinois State University to encourage secondary and postsecondary
partnerships to respond to local needs for recruitment
or retention of students preparing for nontraditional
careers by providing resources, consultant assistance
and financial assistance. Essential elements of the model
include partnering across educational/business boundaries,
self-study, research into effective practices, long and
short-term measurable goal setting, activity design and
implementation, and program evaluation. In the implementation
phase of each site’s project, participants are provided
professional development, technical support, specialized
resources, and financial assistance through “The
NTO Look” Program.
Grants from Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois
Community College Board enable ICSPS to support the success
of the CTE Special Populations which are the focus of
ICSPS’ Statewide assistance. Those Special Populations,
as defined by the Perkins Act of 1998, are individuals
with disabilities, learners preparing for nontraditional
careers, economically disadvantaged, academically disadvantaged,
displaced homemakers, single parents, and individuals
with limited English proficiency.
“The NTO Look Program, utilizing Perkins-funded
grants from the Illinois State Board of Education and
Illinois Community College Board, was designed to provide
resources for Illinois career and technical educators
to recruit and support learners in preparing for careers
which are nontraditional with respect to gender,”
said Lynn Reha, Co-Director at ICSPS. “ICSPS is
pleased that this award will bring recognition to the
efforts of Illinois educators and will promote access
for all learners to education and training for high-wage,
high-skill occupations.”
Learners are encouraged by Career and Technical Education
to prepare for occupations which are nontraditional for
gender because many of the occupations which are nontraditional
for gender are also high-wage, high-skill careers. In
order for an occupation to be considered nontraditional
for gender, 25% or less of one gender must be employed
in that career. NTO Look is an example of a concentrated
effort to encourage individuals to examine and be retained
in fulfilling careers which they may not have considered
previously, and which are nontraditional for gender.
Each of the recognized programs will be honored at ACTE,
NASDCTEc, and NAPE conferences as well as during a briefing
for the U.S. Congress and media on Capitol Hill. The programs
also will be featured in a report that will highlight
effective programs and practices for gender equity within
career and technical education. The report will serve
as a valuable resource for local and state educational
agencies wishing to employ similar strategies to successfully
prepare students for nontraditional, economically self-sufficient
careers.
For more information about the “Programs that Work:
Preparing Students for Nontraditional Careers” Project
please click this link http://www.acteonline.org/policy/resources/PPTWproject_2006.cfm
or contact ACTE, NASDCTEc, NAPE or NWLC.
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