National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090

For Immediate Release

Webcast Focuses on Improving Secondary and Postsecondary Career and 
Technical Education Transitions

The National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education will 
present a webcast entitled "Improving Secondary and Postsecondary Career 
and Technical Education Transitions" on October 20, 2005, 3:00 to 4:30 PM 
(EDT). This interactive event, and previous webcasts, can be viewed on any 
computer with Internet access at http://www.nccte.org.

Career and technical education programs are moving rapidly toward new ways 
to help secondary students make a successful transition to postsecondary 
education, particularly to the community college. This webcast highlights 
the results of a study of two CTE transition pathway programs.

Panelists will describe the key features of two successful programs and how 
those features relate to student experiences and outcomes at the secondary 
and postsecondary levels. The first is a health science career pathway 
program in the Southeast United States, and the second an information 
technology/computer information sciences career pathway program in the 
Northwest United States.

The study results that will be discussed point to the need for strong 
partnerships among secondary (high school), postsecondary (community 
college and university), and business and industry. Partnership 
collaboration is intended to ease student transition from secondary into 
postsecondary institutions and to prepare students to meet emergent 
workforce demands. Results also speak to the significance of career 
exploration and career preparation initiatives that are an integral part of 
a secondary course of study linked through articulation agreements to 
postsecondary institutions. Secondary experiences of this nature help 
students understand the connection between school and college, and motivate 
them to think about college and career options and lifelong learning. 
Moreover, results of the study that will be discussed also address the role 
dual credit plays in linking secondary and postsecondary institution. This 
results in helping students envision and prepare for a transition from high 
school to college where they will pursue associate and bachelor's degrees.

The presenters for this webcast include: Debra D. Bragg, professor of 
higher education and Director of the Office of Community College Research 
and Leadership (OCCRL) at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign 
(UIUC); Jane W. Loeb, professor of educational psychology, UIUC; and Lisa 
Pletcher, Executive Dean, Workforce Development and Continuing Education, 
at Clark College, Vancouver, WA.

In addition to her other credentials, Bragg is co-principal investigator 
for the Career and Technical Education Transition Career Pathway Programs' 
project at UIUC. She is also the executive director of the National Council 
on Student Development (NCSD), an affiliate council of the American 
Association of Community Colleges (AACC), and a member of the policy 
advisory committee for the Midwest Higher Education Compact. Her research 
on high school-to-college transition, including national research on tech 
prep, dual credit, and other pathways that prepare high school students for 
college and careers, has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education 
(USDE) and other agencies and foundations since 1991. Currently, she 
directs a national study on new and emerging academic pathways for the 
Lumina Foundation for Education and is a consultant to the College and 
Career Transitions Initiative (CCTI) of the League for Innovation for the 
Community College, funded by USDE. Bragg received her PhD from The Ohio 
State University (OSU) in comprehensive vocational education with a 
specialization in postsecondary education and public policy analysis. Her 
master's degree in education is from OSU, and her bachelor's degree in 
education is from UIUC.

In addition to her professorship at UIUC, Loeb is co-principal investigator 
for the Career and Technical Education Transition Career Pathway Programs' 
project. She has served in several administrative capacities during her 
career at UIUC. From 1972 to 1981, she was Director of Admissions and 
Records, followed by service as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic 
Affairs. From 1988 to 1994, she was Associate Vice Chancellor for 
Undergraduate Education in the Office of Academic Affairs (now the 
Provost's Office). Her research focuses on access and equity issues in 
higher education, with current emphasis on transitions to college among 
career and technical education students. Loeb has a PhD. in Quantitative 
Psychology from the University of Southern California.

Pletcher was the Executive Director of the Pierce County Careers 
Consortium, (Pierce County Careers Consortium is a multi-service consortium 
serving fifteen school districts, one skills center, and five 
community/technical colleges through partnerships with numerous business 
partners, two industry associations, three chambers of commerce, one 
Economic Development Board and one Workforce Development Council) Lakewood, 
WA, and a program administrator at Bates Technical College, Tacoma, WA, 
prior to taking her current position at Clark College. She is committed to 
responding to the needs of the business community and to providing personal 
enrichment experiences for all residents in Southwest Washington. The focus 
of her leadership is to strengthen the college's responsiveness to the 
community, by offering flexible and customized learning, as well as 
professional development experiences. Pletcher is recognized regionally and 
nationally for her success in developing extensive business and education 
partnerships. She earned her doctoral degree in educational leadership at 
the University of Washington Seattle, WA, and master's degree in 
educational leadership from the University of Puget Sound, WA. Her 
bachelor's degree in education was awarded at Western Washington 
University, Bellingham, WA.

Viewers of the webcast may ask questions of the panel by signing up (no 
charge) for a chatroom account at http://www.nccte.org. The chatroom allows 
you to submit questions during the presentation. Please allow one full day 
for your account to be validated by e-mail confirmation.

To subscribe or unsubscribe from this e-mail list, please visit this web 
page: http://www.nccte.org/ctemail/subscription.asp or send an e-mail to 
nagy.8 at osu.edu or contact Barbara Reardon below.

The work reported herein was supported under the National Dissemination 
Center for Career and Technical Education (PR/Award No. VO51A990004) and/or 
under the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education 
(PR/Award No. VO51A990006), as administered by the Office of Vocational and 
Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education. However, the contents do not 
necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Office of Vocational 
and Adult Education or the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not 
assume endorsement by the federal government. The National Dissemination 
Center for Career and Technical Education and the National Research Center 
for Career and Technical Education are funded by the Office of Vocational 
and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education.

For Additional Information Contact:
Barbara Reardon
The Ohio State University
Director of Communications
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090
Phone: 614-292-2894
Fax: 614-688-3258
Email: reardon.30 at osu.edu
Web site: www.nccte.org