WELCOME TO THE RCU

1
WELCOME TO THE RCU
A partnership of the Mississippi Department of
Educations Office of Vocational and Technical
Education and Mississippi State Universitys
Office of Research
2
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

• History
• Vision
• Mission
• Agriculture and Special Initiatives
• Curriculum
• Instruction
• Assessment and Accountability
• Workforce Development
• New Initiatives
• Q A

3
RESEARCH AND CURRICULUM UNIT

• RCU Website

4
EARLY HISTORY OF VOCATIONAL CURRICULUM
DEVELOPMENT IN MISSISSIPPI

• 1930sEarly vocational curriculum development
  efforts began at MSU
• Became a part of the Department of Agricultural
  Education.
• 1961separate Curriculum Materials Laboratory for
  Trade and Technical Education was established in
  the Department of Industrial Education.

5
BECOMING THE RCU

• Vocational Education Act of 1963
• 1965The Research Coordinating Unit for
  Vocational and Technical Education (RCU) was
  established at MSU

6
BECOMING THE RCU

• 1969The two instructional materials centers at
  MSU combined forming the Mississippi Curriculum
  Coordinating Unit for Vocational and Technical
  Education (CCU).
• 1973CCU and the RCU changed in scope and the
  units merged and restructured as the Research and
  Curriculum Unit for Vocational and Technical
  Education (RCU) under the Mississippi Department
  of Education and MSU College of Education.

7
THE RCU TODAY

• 1999 the RCU became a University Center under
  the MSU Office of Research pursuant to an
  agreement between MDE and MSU.

8
VISION OF THE RCU

• To improve quality of life for Mississippians
  through an educated and competent workforce

9
MISSION OF THE RCU

• To conduct activities such as curriculum
  development, assessment, professional
  development, program improvement, and research to
  enhance vocational and technical education and
  workforce development in Mississippi

10
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
11
MAP TO IMPROVED STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
12
AGRICULTURE AND SPECIAL INITIATIVES

• Provide curriculum and instructional support
  services for Agriculture Education programs.
• Assist in implementing AEST programs in secondary
  schools.
• Develop assessments for Agriculture Education.
• Participate in Special Initiatives as directed.

13
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

• Curriculum Writing Team Selection
• Preparation for Revision (Research and Standards
  Selection)
• Information from Interested Parties (Instructors
  and Industry)
• Instructor Work
• Writing Team Meeting
• Final Preparation of Curriculum Document
• Approval of Curriculum Document

14
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
Professional Learning Services
15
ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

• Mississippi Career Planning and Assessment System
  (MS-CPAS) development for 76 of the 102 Career
  and Technical programs.
• Statistical reports designed that include
  reliability, validity, and z scores

16
ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

• Assessment used for instructional improvement and
  program closure
• Assessments and blueprints aligned to the
  standards and curriculum
• Blueprints aligned with reports
• Blueprints and sample items provided for
  instructional improvement

17
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

• INDUSTRY SPECIFIC
• What we produce
• Media types
• How we get projects
• Who we service
• Impact

18
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

• WORKFORCE ACADEMY
• Existing gap
• New product development
• Develop product evaluation
• Offer through on-line academy

19
NEW INITIATIVES

• Mississippi Assessment Center (MAC)
• Redesigning Education for the 21st Century
  Workforce a Plan for Mississippi

20
MAC

• Request for Proposal to merge MS-CPAS
• development
• dissemination
• scoring
• reporting
• training

21
MAC

• Education Improve method of tracking Mississippi
  students in a manner that will allow for timely
  intervention which will lead to greater student
  success
• Economic Development Provide industry with an
  assortment of occupational specific assessments
  that will identify skilled workers and enable
  employers to focus training specifically on areas
  of weakness

22
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IMPACT OF ASSESSMENT
CENTERS

• The three main assessment providers started at a
  university and now provide their states with
  income from a publishing industry. Iowa still
  provides nonprofit educational assessment for
  that state in return for field research.
• Iowa Test of Basic Skills University of Iowa
• California Achievement Test University of
  Southern California
• Stanford Achievement Test Stanford University

23
THE MAC CAN PROVIDE

• Assessment development for career and technical
  education
• Assessment production by program area
• Economical scoring service for any assessment
• User friendly reports
• Timely feedback for districts

24
MAC PROVIDES TRAINING

• Training for district personnel in interpretation
  of assessment reports for school improvement
• Teacher training in good teaching practices
• Teacher training in good assessment practices

25
ROLE OF THE RCU

• RCU has the following resources
• Personnel with expertise in educational research
• Mass production printing capability
• Technological expertise
• RCU is the natural link between education and the
  workforce

26
MAC BOTTOM LINE

• Cost effective for Mississippi
• Lower cost for educational assessment
• Assessment in the state will provide jobs for
  Mississippians
• Improves learning with quick turn-around on
  reports
• Teacher training

27
Redesigning Education for the 21st Century
Workforce

• Redesign Website

28
REDESIGNING EDUCATION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
WORKFORCE

• Mississippis Seven Career Pathways
• Health Care
• Agriculture and Natural Resources
• Construction and Manufacturing
• Transportation
• Business Management and Marketing
• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
• Human Services

29
QUESTIONS

• Patti Abraham
• Research and Curriculum Unit
• PO Drawer DX
• MS State, MS 39762
• 662-325-2510
• psa1_at_ra.msstate.edu