Chapter Three

Program Offerings

The state's regional vocational-technical school system offers 38 different trade programs. Three-quarters are secondary-level programs; the rest are limited to adults. Some programs are available at every school; others are available at just a few schools or only at satellite facilities.

Three secondary-level trade programs are offered at all 17 v-t schools -- Auto Mechanics, Carpentry, and Electrical. Almost half of the secondary-level trade programs are available at seven or more sites; nine programs are offered in a single location. Adult-only programs are available at three or fewer sites, with one exception. Practical Nurse Education is offered at 11 schools.

The number of secondary trade program options available at each school varies. All of the schools offer at least nine secondary-level program choices; a few schools offer 14 or 15 choices. Appendix J presents a matrix showing the specific trade programs offered at each v-t school and satellite facility.

In terms of secondary enrollment, many of the same trade programs have been ranked in the top third of v-t school offerings for many years, although the specific rankings of each may have fluctuated. The most notable change in rankings has come at the top.

In 1986, the trade program with the highest total secondary enrollment was Machine Tool. That program, now called Manufacturing Technology, had 875 enrollees. By 1999, enrollment had declined to 540, and its rank had fallen to seventh.

The top trade program in 1999 was Hairdressing and Cosmetology. It had been sixth in 1986, took the lead in the early 1990s, and then was second to Auto Mechanics from 1995 through 1998. Table III-1 lists the top 10 trades and their rankings in 1999, based on October 1 enrollment levels.

Detailed trade program enrollment data are available for the years from 1993 through 1999. During that time the programs with the highest rates of growth were several newer ones. Microcomputer Software Technician nearly tripled secondary enrollment from 113 students to 319. Hotel/Hospitality Technology grew from 32 students in 1993 to 98 students in 1999, while Health Technology nearly doubled, with total enrollment of 124 students in 1999.

Programs with moderate growth were Culinary Arts (27 percent), HVAC (25 percent), and Drafting-Machine (23 percent). Enrollment in Hairdressing actually declined 5 percent during this period, while Auto Mechanics ended where it began, after rising temporarily between 1995 and 1998.

Revisions in Trade Offerings

From year to year, the trade programs offered within the v-t school system may change. The introduction of a new program to the system or the elimination of an existing program is under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Education. A change in the specific schools offering an existing program can be made by the superintendent of the regional vocational-technical school system.

Since 1990, the State Board of Education has been required by C.G.S. Sec. 10-95i(b) to evaluate existing trade programs at least every five years on the basis of :

• projected employment demand for students enrolled in the program;
• anticipated technological changes;
• availability of qualified instructors;
• existence of similar programs at other educational institutions; and
• student interest in the program.
• board is also supposed to consider geographic differences that might make a trade feasible at one school and not another as well as whether certain combinations of offerings should be required. Following the evaluation, programs can be reauthorized for periods of up to five years.

The first five-year cycle of reviews began in 1994 and was completed in January 1999. Forty trade programs were examined, and all were reauthorized. Except for three programs, every trade was reauthorized for the full five years allowed. Two programs reviewed during 1995 were reauthorized for only three years. One program reviewed during 1996 -- Dental Lab Technician -- was approved for a one-year probationary period (not to exceed five years). In the latter case, the program continues to operate, and no follow-up review has occurred yet.

Written reports are issued for each trade. Originally produced as individual reports, all trades examined during the same year are now discussed in a single document. Program expense data previously included in the reports were eliminated in 1999.

Separate from the reauthorization process, the v-t central office requires schools that experience low enrollment in a program -- generally nine or fewer students -- to prepare a plan discussing how enrollment can be increased. That plan is evaluated at the central office. If approved, enrollment the following year is monitored. If no change occurs, the program may be eliminated, or a new low enrollment plan may be prepared. Program offerings may also have to be dropped temporarily or permanently if insufficient faculty are available to meet demand.

Since 1988, the statutes have also required the State Board of Education to provide a process for the public to request consideration of new trade programs. A formal process for that purpose was finally established in spring 2000. Until then, if new resources became available, suggestions informally received previously were used to identify possible program additions. The new process identifies roles for multiple parties to identify potential new technologies, and it specifies steps to be taken to institute a new program.

Since the 1980s, the v-t school system has added nine new programs and eliminated nine other programs. Tables III-2 and III-3 list the trade programs added and deleted respectively since 1986. Several other programs have undergone name changes in keeping with revisions made in the courses to keep the programs up-to-date. For example, "Machine Tool" has been renamed "Manufacturing Technology," and "Building Maintenance" was renamed "Building Remodeling." In addition, one new program ("Computer Repair") created in 1995 has already been incorporated into other new technology programs created subsequently.

Exploratory Process

Secondary students admitted to vocational-technical schools at the ninth grade level spend their first year exploring all of the trade program options available to them at their respective school. As the year progresses, the students focus on an ever narrowing group of trade programs. At the end of the year, each student selects the program he or she will pursue in the upper grades.

In an effort to improve the information available to students before they select a trade area, a three-phase exploratory program has been created. Initially tested in the mid-1990s at six vocational-technical schools, the program was offered at an increasing number of schools each year after that. The program is now in use at all 17 v-t schools.

Figure III-1 summarizes the three phases of the exploratory process. Major features of the revised process include students receiving a more in-depth exposure to a range of trade program options, better assessment of a student's aptitude and interests, and more parental involvement. Depending on the school attended, students have an opportunity to learn about as many as 15 programs. Under the old program, students only had a single opportunity to gain information about each of the trade programs offered by their school.

Completion Rates

The regional vocational-technical school system has one of the lower dropout rates among high schools in Connecticut. For the 1998-99 school year, the systemwide rate was 1 percent. The cumulative four-year rate for the class of 1999 was 5 percent. Statewide, for the same time periods, the average single year rate was 3 percent, while the cumulative dropout rate was 14 percent.

However, when applied to v-t schools, the dropout rate is a misleading statistic. If a secondary student at a v-t school decides the program is not appropriate at any time during his or her years at the school, the student may transfer to his or her local public high school. The student is not a dropout. Instead he or she is referred to a "leaver." No follow-up is conducted to track whether these specific students stay in school. Therefore, a much more important statistic for the v-t schools is the number of students who actually obtain their high school diploma from the v-t school.

During school year 1999-00, a total of 946 students left v-t schools. This represented 9 percent of secondary enrollment. Figure III-2 shows the proportion of departing students who were from each grade level. The loss rates for individual schools that year ranged from 6 percent to 17 percent.

An analysis of enrollment data for the class of 2000 indicates the number of students who graduated in June 2000 represented only 64 percent of the number who entered the v-t school system in September 1996. The proportion of the class graduating from the individual schools ranged from 43 percent to 81 percent. Figure III-3 compares the number of students entering and graduating from each of the 17 schools.

These non-completion rates were not unique to the class of 2000. October 1 enrollment levels for the year a class of students entered school and the year they were expected to graduate were examined for the classes of 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. That data showed systemwide the v-t schools lost nearly one-third of each class. For the class of 2001, one school lost over half of the class; only two schools lost less than 20 percent of the class. Appendix K presents a series of graphs comparing freshman and senior year enrollment for each of the five classes by school location.

An analysis of completion rates for individual trades also shows uniformly high departure rates across all programs. Sophomore year enrollment data, which covers the year students begin studying a specific trade, and senior year enrollment data were available for the classes of 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.

Systemwide, only a few trades had instances where the number of students still in the program at the start of the senior year was the same as the number who began the program during the sophomore year. In most cases, enrollment declined 15 percent or more.

For example, Auto Mechanics, which has had the highest or second highest total enrollment systemwide since 1995, sustained declines of one-fifth to one-third among those five classes. Some individual v-t schools experienced declines in excess of 50 percent among one or another of those classes. Figure III-4 displays systemwide enrollment data by school class for the five trade programs with the highest total enrollment for the past several years.

Post-Graduation Results

The vocational-technical school system annually surveys secondary school graduates regarding employment and education status. Results are tabulated for each class systemwide, by school, and by trade program. Similar data are collected by high schools statewide.

Figure III-5 shows the distribution of activities reported by the class of 1999 as a whole. Although 58 percent were employed at the time of the survey, only one-third were employed full time in a job related to the trade they had trained for. (The rates among individual v-t schools ranged from 15 percent to 46 percent.) Approximately one-third of the Class of 1999 was pursuing additional education.

The proportion of v-t school graduates pursuing further education has increased since the 1980s. In 1985, only 18 percent of the graduates were in this category. By 1990, it was 21 percent; in 1995, it was 27 percent. Graduates attend a mix of two-year, four-year, and other schools.

Figure III-6 tracks post-graduate activity from 1984 through 1999. The proportion of graduates reporting full-time employment related to their training has increased since bottoming out in 1992, but it is still lower than at any point in the 1980s as depicted in the graph.

From 1985 through 1989, between 41 and 44 percent of the graduates were working full-time in their trade area. By 1992, the proportion declined to 25 percent. Since then it has increased annually to the current level. The percentage of graduates reporting unrelated full-time work ranged between 14 and 20 percent throughout this period.

With respect to graduates who were available for work (i.e., not in education or the military full time), systemwide in 1999, half were employed in work related to the trade they studied. This statistic ranged from 25 percent to 76 percent for individual schools.

In terms of specific trade areas, the education and employment rates varied considerably. The greatest number of graduates of the class of 1999 were enrolled in Hairdressing & Cosmetology. Thirty-seven percent were employed full time in related work, 14 percent were employed full time in unrelated jobs, 13 percent were employed part time, and 28 percent were pursuing additional education. Data were unavailable for 7 percent of the 174 graduates.

Only seven trade programs had more than half of their graduates employed full time in related jobs. Table III-4 lists all of the trade programs with 1999 graduates. Also shown are the number of graduates, the percent employed full time in related and unrelated areas, and the percentage enrolled in full-time education programs.

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