Program Standards for Establishing High Quality Postsecondary Trade and Industrial Education Programs

The problem of this study was to develop standards that can be used as a basis for establishing high quality postsecondary trade and industrial education programs. There were two research objectives. These included: developing a set of program standards to be used to establish high quality postsecondary trade and industrial education programs and developing descriptors that can be used to assess achievement of high quality postsecondary trade and industrial education programs. The Delphi technique was chosen for this study to generate consensus regarding the program standards. The panel of experts, comprised of postsecondary administrators of trade and industrial programs, was used to determine which program standards should guide the development and assessment of high quality trade and industrial education programs. Four rounds of surveys were conducted, which resulted in a list of 17 standards with their related descriptions. The standards included Academic Integration, Advisory Committee, Curriculum, Employer Feedback, Faculty Qualifications, Meaningful Employment, Placement Rates, Program Design, Program Review, Safety, Soft Skills, Student Achievement of Industry Credentials, Student Assessment, Student Advancement, Student Remediation, and Tools and Equipment. Postsecondary administrators can use the results of the study to assess existing trade and industrial education programs. The results can also be used to guide the design of new programs that meet industry labor needs