Implementing High-quality CTSOs to Increase Student Achievement

PIL Facilitator Contact Information:  Please feel free to contact me with any issues.  Mary E Rodman, maryerodman@gmail.com,  412.554.1753 You may text me at any time

New Users:  If  you are new to Canvas as a student-user, please take 20 minutes to watch this video on navigating through Canvas.  It will save you time and answer most, if not all, of your questions related to navigating through this PIL.  

https://instructure.instructuremedia.com/embed/622f1ff9-566b-4f69-94b9-9f5b5b9824c8-184

PIL End Date: The PIL will conclude by June 15 unless other arrangements have been made with the PIL facilitator. 

Introduction

Career and technical student organizations are a required part of every PDE Bureau of Career and Technical Education (BCTE) approved Program of Study (POS).  But all CTSOs do not function to the full potential of meeting the needs of students to which they are capable.  Some CTSOs serve only those students who are selected because of their high level of technical skill to compete at the regional, state, or national level.  This practice occurs more often than not depending upon the fiscal resources, involvement, and expectations of the administration and the accountability placed upon the CTSO advisor.  Left on their own without administrative support and oversight, many CTSOs serve students who least need a CTSO to reach their full potential in academic, technical, career education and work, and leadership skills.

This PIL course is delivered through nine hours of pre-recorded lessons and 21 hours of job embedded assignments.  The pre-recorded lessons are grouped by section into three-like topics:  (1) increasing student participation in each of the co-curricular career and technical student organizations (CTSO); (2) increasing the quality of each co-curricular CTSO through the creation of a broad range, annual Program of Activities or Work, and the selection of an effective CTSO advisor; and (3) using CTSOs to increase student achievement of technical, academic, career education and work, and leadership skills by collaboration between the CTSO advisor and CTE teacher, and adding skills from these areas to the career and technical Program of Study.  At the end of each pre-recorded lesson, you will complete and submit a Concept Check Reflection Activity to which the PIL facilitator will respond and provide feedback.  There will be one significant job embedded assignment due at the completion of each of the three major sections.  At the conclusion of Section 1, you will work with CTSO advisors and students to overcome deterrents to student participation and, as a result, increase the number of students reaping the academic, technical, leadership, and career education and work benefits of the CTSO.  At the conclusion of Section 2, you will create a job description that identifies the administrative expectations of the role and responsibilities of the advisor.  In addition, you will collaborate with CTSO advisors to create and implement a broad range of activities (in addition to technical skill competition) through a written annual Program of Activities or Work.  At the conclusion of Section 3, you will collaborate with career and technical teachers, OAC members, and Board Members (JOC or otherwise) to include academic, leadership, and career education and work tasks to each career and technical Program of Study task list (technical are already a part of each Bureau of Career and Technical Education (BCTE) Program of Study (POS).

Explanation of How the Course Will Increase Student Achievement

 Effective career and technical student organizations (CTSOs) are not social clubs and should not be confused with extra-curricular activities.  These organizations should not be functioning for the sole purpose of competitions, although competitive events within the career and technical program are certainly one part of the local, regional, state, and national organizations’ Program of Activities.  The research strongly supports that active involvement in career and technical student organizations results in an increase in graduation rates, grade point averages, 

Assignments

All of the assignments and requirements for this PIL are indicated below.  There are three sections in this PIL, and each section has three presentations. 

The Culminating Project is the only assignment with a hard deadline of May 1, 2020.  This is one of the reasons why it is included in the Preview to the course, even though it is not due until the end of the course.  All of the assignments may be completed at any time between the beginning of registration through May 1.     This means that all requirements of this PIL MUST be completed by June 15, 2022.  I also included the Culminating Project and Job Embedded Assignment information in the course preview so that as you begin collecting the information, you will know to keep the information you are using for the Concept Check/Reflection Activities.  You need see that you also need information from the Concept Checks for the Job Embedded Assignments.  All of the due dates are pretty much one week apart to keep you on track to completing the PIL.  But don't worry about the deadlines, other than June 15 to finish the course.  

Please plan to complete the assignments no later than June 15, unless you contact me to negotiate other arrangements.  

Registration

Completing the Registration is extremely important because it includes your PPID.  This is necessary to report your Act 45/48 hours.  Complete Registration

The program is set up for 9 hours of presentations.  This time includes the pre-recorded presentations and the time it will take to complete the Concept Check/Reflection Activity required at the end of each presentation.  In many cases, the pre-recorded presentation in PowerPoint or the interview is only 15-20 minutes in length.  The time estimated to complete each Job Embedded Assignment is also included for each of the three assignments.  Together, the three assignments should take approximately 20 hours, but in many cases, if you read the assignment in advance, you can gather the information to complete the assignment through your regular work activities in meeting and talking to staff members.   In some cases, you may already have the required information and not really have to do anything during the expected time period.  When you do the assignment is not important, as long as all assignments are submitted by June 15.

Questions or Assistance

If you have any questions or concerns throughout the PIL, please call me at 412.554.1753 or email me at maryerodman@gmail.com. 

Mary