Background Information: Vocational education is a broad term that can be used to describe a number of career fields and programs, such as technology, marketing, health, and agriculture, just to name a few. The Carl D. Perkins Act of 1984 focused on the reform of vocational-technical education in our nation’s schools, and the reauthorization of the act (now called the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act) in 1998, 2006, and 2018 have fine-tuned these efforts. As a school administrator for this essay, you will be tasked with writing proposals for grants and/or requests for funding projects. Scenario for this essay: You are a High School Principal in Illinois. Your high school has received a grant that will fund a new vocational program for your students. The grant will cover all costs associated with two full-time teachers over five years and an additional one-time payment of $25,000 for program resources. Your administrative team needs to design a vocational program that will meet the needs of your students. The grant committee has requested a visual organizer and a proposal for the vocational program detailing school information and program offerings. The grant committee also requests that your program helps students who are academically gifted and/or academically or emotionally challenged and/or offers alternatives to the traditional K–12 school system, if appropriate. Create an Essay titled: Vocational Program Grant Proposal, in which you do the following: Describe your school, the student demographics, and the community the school serves.
Use Dunlap School District #323 in Illinois as your high school. Justify the need for a vocational program with evidence from other successful secondary programs. Prepare a program statement to explain the following: Career clusters being considered, Short-term and long-range goals of the program, and Benefits to students, school, and community. Also included implementation plan for the program that addresses: Facility needs (assume the space is available at your school), Requirements for the 2 full-time teachers, and Student recruitment strategies. Develop and include a plan for involving key businesses and/or community leaders with your vocational program such as Caterpillar cooperation in Peoria, IL. Formulate and include a budget for spending the $25,000 program resource allowance. Create and include an evaluation strategy for determining program success.
Make sure the program and/or services help students who are academically gifted and/or academically or emotionally challenged and/or offer alternatives to the traditional K–12 school system if appropriate. On the last page make a full-page Vocational Program Infographic for this program.
In your infographic highlight the following: Career clusters, Short-term and long-range goals of the program, Key businesses and/or community leaders to be involved, and Benefits to students, school, and community.
