ARTICULATION AGREEMENTS

Tech Prep is a federally funded program that offers students the opportunity to combine secondary courses with articulated post-secondary programs, leading to a certificate, associate degree, or apprenticeship upon completion. Tech Prep programs of study are meant to provide students with workplace skills that will allow them to successfully enter the job market, the military, or further education. Tennessee has 13 Tech Prep consortia, which are partnerships of local school districts, two-year and four-year colleges, Tennessee Technology Centers, and business, industry and labor representatives that coordinate planning, programming, and funding for Tech Prep. All Tech Prep programs are funded through the federal Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Act of 2006.

        The Tennessee model of Tech Prep programs allows a student who completes a secondary vocational-technical concentration to receive benefit of the competencies attained at the secondary level to be recognized at the postsecondary level of instruction. In general, Tech Prep is intended to provide students with an educational pathway that will allow them to enter postsecondary technical education with higher skills in order to finish their postsecondary education sooner or to finish with higher skills in the normal amount of time. In short, students involved in Tech Prep programs may benefit from:

• Advancing more quickly towards their career
• Receiving credit towards college or technical certification for courses completed in high school, often saving money in the process
• Taking courses that are aligned with workplace skills
• Gaining valuable career-related experience

In Memphis, the Southwest Tennessee Tech Prep Consortium is focused on building student competence in academic subjects and workplace skills through applied, contextual academics, and integrated instruction, in a coherent sequence of courses. Each secondary Tech Prep student develops a six-year plan of study to include the four years of secondary study and two years or more of higher education, or an apprenticeship program of at least two years.

Articulation agreements currently exist with the following institutions:

¨      Southwest Tennessee Community College – To fulfill its multipurpose mission to Tech Prep students, the College implements articulation agreements and collaborative activities with high schools, technology centers, colleges and universities to ensure smooth educational transitions for students. Students are offered Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Arts, and Associate of Science degrees, Academic and Technical certificate programs, and courses that prepare them for transfer, employment, and career advancement in areas that include allied health sciences, nursing, business, computer technologies, criminal justice, education, and engineering and related technologies.

¨      Tennessee Technology Center at Memphis – TTCM’s mission is to provide technical training to students in order to meet the occupational needs of employers in the community. The Center works to assist individuals in developing skills for a solid career, and measures the success of its programs by the consistently high placement rate of its program graduates.

¨      The University of Memphis – The U of M is the latest post-secondary member of the STTC Prep Consortium to enter into an articulation agreement with consortium-member high schools.