Supporting Member Districts in Southern New Mexico

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Carl Perkins - Mission Statement

The SWREC facilitates the participation of the five consortium districts in two projects funded through the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 which include:

·        Secondary Instructional Project

·        Tech Prep

History and Overview

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 (Perkins III) is funded by the U.S. Department of Education.  Funding flows from the federal government to the Public Education Department and from there to districts.

Secondary Instructional Project

The goal of this project is to provide students with seamless educational and occupational skills needed to achieve successful employment and become productive leaders and citizens in their communities.

Federal funds for this project are provided by Title I of the Carl Perkins Act.  This project is intended to expand, upgrade and add new technical education skills training opportunities for the students in the Southwest Regional Education Center's Consortium.  Career technical education programs in Agriculture, Business, Computer Technology, Culinary Arts/Hospitality and Trades, Industrial and Technical Education fields receive direct funding to provide:

·        Teacher professional development

·        Articulation and alignment of curriculum

·        Career clusters and pathways development

·         Information for schools and communities about career technical education fields

·        Service learning development

·        Counselor training opportunities to improve "career counseling: and program recruitment

·        Individual career portfolios for each participating student

·        Exploratory and advanced skill training opportunities

·        Coordinated work site experiences and assessments

·        Career building opportunities

Tech Prep

Federal funds for the Tech Prep project are provided by Title II of the Carl Perkins Act.  Funding is provided to the Public Education Department, which in turn funds seven consortia in the state.

Tech Prep programs:

·        Provide technical preparation in a career field such as engineering technology, applied science, a mechanical, industrial, or practical art or trade, agriculture, health occupations, business or applied economics. 

·        Are carried out under an articulation agreement between the high schools and colleges in the consortium.

·        Consist of at least two years of secondary school and 2 years or more of higher education, or an apprenticeship program of at least two years.

·        Have a common core of required proficiency in math, science, language arts, communications and technologies designed to lead to an associate's degree or post secondary certificate.

·        Offerings in the consortium schools include the areas of business, computer aided drafting and design (CADD), agriculture, food preparation/hospitality, and computer technology.

Additional information regarding the Carl Perkins Act can be accessed from the Carl Perkins Links page.