Culture within Prosser Career Education Center is fostered through collaboration and partnerships with students, teachers, staff, community members, and leaders to create a shared vision and mission. While the Center meets all of the elements within Domain 1: Culture, the program is particularly intentional in how the Essential Elements in this domain are addressed.
Through 1.1 Decision-Making, the Career Center Director and Principal ensure that the STEM leadership team is inclusive of educational leaders and teachers. While team members make decisions about STEM programs, they provide opportunities for all staff at Prosser to share thoughts and feedback regarding the development and implementation of STEM initiatives. Additionally, input is sought and incorporated from Program Advisory Committees and the Community Local Needs Leadership team members include alumni, employers, and community partners.
Prosser Career Education Center is unique in meeting the expectations of 1.3 Common Work Time. Rather than providing teachers and staff common work time on a weekly basis, common work time takes place through common learning and prep times on a daily basis. During these times, teachers have opportunities to work together to co-plan, co-teach, and co-assess interdisciplinary lessons and programs. Additionally, academic integration specialists work with all teachers to support them in developing and implementing strong integrated STEM curricula.
The program is dedicated to providing inclusive and equitable learning opportunities for students illustrated in 1.10 Equity. As being a dedicated career center,, pullouts for special programming does not effect our instructional time. To meet the needs of the diverse student population, college credits, industry certifications, and work-based experiences are tailored to student interests and career goals. These programs provide integrated STEM learning opportunities and student choice in selecting programs that best meet their needs. The sample course offerings and school schedule illustrate that all students have access and opportunity to these programs and being a dedicated career center with 2 1/2 hour block instructional time, pullouts for special programming is not a factor (1.10.A & 1.1.E)
Prosser Career Education Center personnel are committed to strengthening STEM outcomes across the communities they serve. Under the guidance of the Prosser STEM Leadership Team, and with the active support of hundreds of industry partners, Prosser employees continue to research, explore, and to collaborate to implement best practices for STEM education. This STEM focus has led to improvements in culture, curriculum, instruction, and partnerships. Most importantly, it has led to enhanced opportunities and improved outcomes for local students.
At Prosser Career Education Center, STEM curriculum is designed to provide students authentic opportunities to be problem-solvers, critical and creative thinkers, and collaborators. As students solve real-world problems, curriculum will ensure that the students are prepared for positive workforce and higher education outcomes after graduation.
All students at Prosser Career Education Center are provided with equitable access to career programming. Wrap around supports are provided, as necessary, to ensure that every student succeeds. Technology resources are provided to support student access and engagement. Students at Prosser Career Education Center are challenged to think critically and logically and to make connections across disciplines. Staff members strive to provide relevant and authentic learning experiences. All programs receive support in the areas of curriculum and lesson design, assessment, and STEM instructional strategies.
Additionally, Prosser emphasizes and integrates Indiana's Employability Skills Standards in pacing guides, daily lesson plan and within our PRIDE incentive program.
Integrated STEM curriculum and instructional strategies are evidence-based through state-level education standards(NLPS/DOE), pacing guides and lesson plans with integrated problem based/project based learning strategies, dual credit, syllabi, including learning objectives, industry credentials, and career and workforce recognition.
Prosser Career Education Center is staffed with educators and experts from a variety of industries. Due to the nature of a career and technical education, instructional practices naturally encompass hands-on, project-based, problem-based, and authentic learning opportunities for students to develop solutions to real-world problems.
Domain 3: Instruction is inclusive of Essential Elements that allow the Career Center to highlight exemplar instructional practices in integrated STEM. Collaboration is a critical component of the instructional practices at the Prosser. The Career Center addresses 3.3 Student Instructional Work Groups through ensuring students work in asynchronous and synchronous groups in a variety of courses several times per week. The purpose of the group or team work is for students to collaborate in working towards a common goal. Students are held accountable for their decisions, work assignments, roles in the group, and exhibiting learned knowledge, skills, and attitudes with the collective and individual assessments that take place.
Instruction takes place in classrooms, simulated labs, and in various engagements throughout our local community. Students work and learn in precision machine shops, on construction sites, in ambulances, and across a great variety of other learning environments. No matter the training location, Prosser Career Education Center instructors implement intentional STEM learning opportunities on a daily basis. STEM learning takes place independently at times, but most often students work within collaborative groups to analyze and address real world challenges.
As mentioned in previous sections, the Career Center is uniquely designed to provide students STEM learning opportunities on a daily basis. The Essential Element of 3.5 STEM Integration expectations are exceeded in the Career Center, as all teachers implement integrated STEM learning on a regular basis to guide students to planning for their futures in careers and higher education.
At the Prosser Career Education Center, partnerships are essential to the mission and vision of the educational program. Through collaboration with community and industry members, teachers, leaders, and leadership team members identify unique and meaningful ways for students to engage within the community in which they live, explore STEM career opportunities, and participate in extended learning opportunities.
Prosser excels in meeting the Essential Elements within Domain 4: Partnerships. Community partnerships exist throughout the Prosser Career Education Center; Prosser exceeds element expectations of 4.1 Community Partner Feedback through collaboration with more than 100 community partners.
Members of the community, industry partners, employers, and families serve on committees, complete surveys, and provide written and verbal feedback regarding the current STEM program to leaders and teachers of Prosser. Prosser Career Education Center teachers, leaders, and STEM leadership team members are actively engaged with community and higher education partners throughout the state. Focusing on 4.3 Community Engagement, Prosser has established partnerships to promote STEM education and programs through guest educators, study trips, job fairs, student employers, and work-based experiences for students.
Prosser community partners also assist in outreach and recruitment initiatives with the goal of helping all local students make informed decisions that support their unique future goals. As previously noted, Prosser Career Education Center is supported by an Executive Leadership Council as well as program-specific advisory committees representing each program area.