In Massachusetts there is plenty of attention given to academic curriculum frameworks because of the high stakes nature of MCAS testing, and with Massachusetts moving toward alignment with national Common Core curriculum standards.
In the vocational community we consider the vocational technical curriculum frameworks to be equally important. There have been state curriculum frameworks for our vocational programs for several years now, and our 14 vocational programs are aligned with the current frameworks.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently convened groups of educators and employers to write new frameworks which have been released in draft form . For now, SSVT students will be taught in alignment with the existing frameworks until these new frameworks are adopted.
There is a public comment period on these curriculum frameworks and I encourage all SSVT staff, parents, advisors, alumni to share your perspectives on what a rigorous and relevant vocational curriculum should look like in all of our programs. I also encourage our current students to take a look and talk with your teachers about these documents and/or give feedback to our Vocational Director Mrs. Collins.
Each framework document is packaged around an industry area and may not match up with the titles of our 14 programs, so please contact me if you need assistance determining which framework matches up with our vocational programs.
We will be discussing this information with our Program Advisors at our fall meeting on November 8, 2012.
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