P-TECH Impact
The P-TECH Model addresses postsecondary degree completion and career readiness by fortifying the transitions between high school, college, and the professional world. P-TECH's early college focus affords students a competitive edge in college and career attainment not available through traditional educational models.
P-TECH’s Impact
Rashid F. Davis, P-TECH Founding Principal in Brooklyn, NY (2011) articulates several key impacts that the P-TECH model affords:
What the P-TECH educational model has accomplished is to help colleges and industry think differently about young people (16-24 age group). Students in P-TECH programs are better prepared to enter college and the workplace than their traditional high school counterparts because of P-TECH’s early college focus. This focus not only breaks the “disconnect” from education facing many in this age group, but, looking 6-10 years following high school graduation, these students have gained a competitive edge as they pursue college degrees or jobs. And, since one primary component of the P-TECH model is to address underserved student populations, this competitive edge makes a huge difference as business and industry seeks to diversify its workforce. It’s a message that needs to resonate with parents and students: P-TECH has the potential to change the narrative for them in terms of graduating from high school and earning a college degree.
A significant accomplishment of the role of P-TECH programs can be shown to have occurred since March 2020 and the impact on education during the pandemic period extending out nearly 2 years. During this period, seven states produced college graduates from P-TECH programs – primarily via online learning – by providing a learning model that met students “where they were” so they could move at their own pace. During a time when many schools were reporting low attendance and reduced high school completion, students enrolled in P-TECH programs not only attended classes, but, in many cases, accelerated their learning, earning their high school diploma AND Associate Degree in just 4 years.
As governmental entities look at ways to push funding to schools to bolster high school and college graduation rates, P-TECH’s public-private partnership model results in measurable student success. It may take a long time to change the mindset that a program like P-TECH has long-term value, but the results speak for themselves: P-TECH WORKS!
Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) Shows Equity in Action. https://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=23985
The following article reports the latest findings from MDRC’s random assignment evaluation of P-TECH 9-14 Schools in NYC, which, combined with earlier findings, shows that P-TECH is demonstrating a pattern of progressive, positive impacts on students’ high school outcomes, which should prepare them for a successful transition to postsecondary education and a career. Findings on high school graduation and postsecondary education outcomes will be released in 2023.
On Ramp to College: Dual Enrollment Impacts from the Evaluation of New York City’s P-TECH 9-14 Schools.
https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/P-TECH_Dual_Enrollment.pdf
P-TECH: providing opportunities to students that changes the trajectory of their lives and the lives of their families.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCOKltZjTbA
Assessing P-TECH’s Impact
While the larger goal is associate degree attainment and a pathway to ongoing college and career, P-TECH schools assess impact across a number of different measures. These measures include key indicators for success across the high school, community college, and industry continuum:
- Attendance
- Retention
- High school performance
- High school graduation
- College readiness
- College performance
- College degree attainment
- Internships
- Job attainment
- Ongoing college pursuit