The feasibility of using the Dacum procedure to develop a process for integrating vocational and language arts classes in secondary schools

Vita.This study sought to determine the feasibility of using the DACUM process in developing a process for integrating vocational and language arts classes to enhance student communication skills on the secondary school level. A modified DACUM process was used to develop the integration process. DACUM committee members were selected as teams consisting of one language arts teacher and one vocational teacher from four schools with varying demographics. The schools included one rural school district with a single secondary school and a total secondary school enrollment of less than 500, one rural school district with a single secondary school and a total secondary school enrollment of over 1000, and two schools from urban school districts with multiple secondary schools and enrollments of over 1000 students. The teaching teams, combined with the varying demographics of the schools selected, were used to provide occupational diversity, or a cross-section of the job of the integrative teacher. The first DACUM workshop was conducted in June of 1992 in San Antonio, Texas. The product of this workshop was a teacher training model. The teacher training model was used by the teaching teams to guide the development of student and teacher activity guides prior to the next workshop. The DACUM committee was reconvened after 4 weeks to perform the first validation of the teacher training model, discuss implementation timelines, and present the activities to the committee. Modifications were made to the teacher training model according to the recommendations of the committee. A timeline was established that indicated a minimum of two school years were needed to completely implement the integration process. Teacher teams were then asked to apply the activities they had developed in their schools. Site visits were made to the schools which had begun the implementation process. The teachers at these sites were asked to again review the teacher training model and process. Their suggestions were used to further refine and validate the model. The integration process was found to be a successful method for integrating vocational and language arts classes. Personnel key to the integration process, a teacher training model, and student and teacher activity guides were developed