Professional, technical education programs to see structural changes
BOISE – The State Board of Education (SBOE) approved draft legislation Wednesday to standardize entry-level professional-technical education (PTE) curriculum for postsecondary schools in Idaho.
According to PTE division administrator Dwight Johnson, restructuring first-semester PTE courses at the post-secondary level would make dual-credit courses taken in high school transferrable to any college in the state.
“The feedback we get from parents and students is frustration that they’ve taken a dual credit course in high school, and then it doesn’t align with the student outcomes for the introductory course at the post-secondary (level),” Johnson said.
If student outcomes for the dual-credit PTE course don’t align with the corresponding course at the student’s chosen college, Johnson said the student would likely have to retake the course.
In addition, the drafted bill aims to increase the opportunities for high school students in rural areas to have access to online dual credit PTE courses.
“We have to do these things in tandem, because the courses we want to offer through the Idaho Digital Learning Academy, we have to make sure their dual credit courses align with the post-secondary schools,” Johnson said.
Executive Director of SBOE Mike Rush said Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, and Sen. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, are both interested in bringing this draft to the full legislature this term. Mortimer currently chairs the Senate Education Committee.
Johnson said he has been working with PTE department heads from public community colleges and universities across the state to horizontally align post-secondary PTE curricula, and hopes faculty will teach similar student outcomes by next academic year.
“We want to do this as aggressively as possible,” Johnson said. “If we can get these outcomes aligned … then we can translate to the secondary schools and say, ‘If you teach to these learning outcomes, then you can be assured no matter which public, post-secondary institution you go to, those credits will transfer into the major.'”
The proposed draft does not request additional funding from the legislature, as the SBOE has residual funds in their budget to cover the draft’s tenants. However, Johnson said he would likely request funding to increase online dual credit PTE availability next legislative session.
Community colleges, such as North Idaho College, College of Western Idaho, College of Southern Idaho and the Eastern Idaho Technical College would be greatly affected by this change, as well as the technical colleges embedded with Lewis-Clark State College and Idaho State University, Johnson said.
George Wood Jr. can be reached at [email protected]