O*NET Resources ~ A Piece of the Action

O*NET OnLine Supplies Multi-Purpose Tool For Career & Technical Education Professionals

"When we use O*NET in our workshops, participants often say they can't wait to get home and use it as a career guidance tool with their own kids and family members. That's a genuine endorsement of the value people attach to O*NET." ~ Dr. Chester P. Wichowski, Associate Director, Center for Professional Development in Career & Technical Education, College of Education, Temple University

Temple University's Center for Professional Development in Career & Technical Education supports professional growth and learning among all levels of educators who work with "career-bound" students. The Center offers certification and degree programs for secondary career and technical education teachers, curriculum supervisors, cooperative education coordinators, and career and technical school directors in the 17 counties of eastern Pennsylvania. Center faculty and staff incorporate O*NET OnLine in their courses on program planning and evaluation, curriculum development, and cooperative education. They also use it as an aid in structuring occupational competency assessment committee reviews.

The Need The Temple Center provides an extensive schedule of preservice and inservice courses for professionals who prepare students for the workplace. Center programs address participants' needs for initial and advanced certification in career and technical education, as well as related bachelor's and graduate degrees. Many of these programs require detailed and comprehensive occupational information that participants need to know and use in their work.

O*NET Role
With its wealth of data on occupations, O*NET OnLine provides a reliable and readily accessible resource for planning and/or evaluating programs and developing curriculum in career and technical education. To acquaint as many professionals as possible with its offerings, the Center sponsored a region-wide O*NET workshop for key administrators and curriculum supervisors in the spring of 2002. That workshop became the foundation of the Center's subsequent use of O*NET across the spectrum of its programs, wherever applicable.

O*NET information is now used with beginning students in certificate, undergraduate, and graduate degree programs. It is also introduced in various inservice workshops for experienced teachers, guidance personnel assisting with career development, and special needs teachers seeking resources to use with their students.

Center faculty show students how to use O*NET OnLine in reviewing course content for articulating secondary and postsecondary programs. It is also used as an aid in constructing specific career and technical education course content as a supplement to the "DACUM" process or coupled with task and duty listings. O*NET information also supports efforts to revise, validate, or update curriculum in specific career and technical education areas.

Key Results
Fascinated years ago with O*NET '98, Dr. Wichowski considers the system a solid resource on work, with many and diverse applications in his field. Evaluations of workshops using O*NET OnLine consistently give it good marks. Many examples of its use have been noted as a result of the workshops, including requests for additional O*NET workshops.

Presentations have been delivered at state and regional conferences including the PA Association for Career and Technical Education State Conference, the Eastern PA Cooperative Education Association Conference, and the PA Vocational Special Needs Personnel Association State Conference. Workshops also have been delivered at several Area Career and Technical Education Centers.

Workshops have led, for example, to O*NET use as a resource in:

• curriculum development, revision, and validation efforts at Area Career and Technical Education Centers
• articulation efforts for Tech Prep programs between Area Career and Technical Education Centers and Community Colleges
• development of occupational components in Individualized Education Plans for students with special needs
• internship and certification programs for career and technical education supervisors and directors