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Hello Everyone! I have to admit that even though I enjoy winter sports as much as the next person, those of us near the east coast have had more than our share of snow this year. I have shoveled more drifts and driveways than I really care to! We are even thinking about a performance test for snow shoveling and residential snow blower operators. Before you get your hopes up regarding those particular assessments, I’m just kidding! We are excited about our new Wind Turbine Technician assessment that is being piloted right now and the new Mechatronics test is being developed. We have additional test titles available nationally for the first time, including Small Animal Science and Technical Theater. Those tests can be found at www.nocti.org/OtherTestTitles.cfm. Our new Teacher Tests are coming out this summer and we continue to add titles in our Pathway Assessment category. We have a great list of topics prepared for our Special Topics for Teachers Web Seminar Series. Check out our new Teachers’ Corner on the NOCTI website (www.nocti.org/teacherscorner.cfm) for the web seminar schedule and other teacher resources. We are also offering the 2010 Performance Improvement Quarterly Web Seminars (see website: www.nocti.org/training.cfm). The 2010 Consortium of States Quarterly Web Seminars are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on March 23, June 22 and September 21, 2010. A link to the Consortium agenda topics can be found at www.nocti.org/consortium.cfm. We have been working on our web page in an effort to make it even easier and quicker for our clients to find information they need. In addition to the “Teachers’ Corner” mentioned above, a link has been created for our work with the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE). Click here or look for the NRCCTE logo on our home page. I’d like to share a little bit about our work with NRCCTE and our five state partners, Virginia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. We have great facilitators who have been working with targeted schools in each of those states with the goal of using assessment data more effectively to improve programs. If you think that your state would be interested in participating in a project like the one described on our NRCCTE web link above, please send an e-mail to me or to nocti@nocti.org .
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I am pleased to chair the NOCTI Board and share with you a message from the Board of Trustees. NOCTI is a not for profit organization that has served the CTE community for almost 45 years. NOCTI is governed by a consortium of the 50 states and territories. Board members are elected by the state directors of career technical education and include representatives from education--secondary and postsecondary, district and state levels, and from the industry/business/labor sectors. The Board is the policy-making body and develops guidelines for program planning and administration for NOCTI. The NOCTI Board is accountable for the overall program, services, and budget for the organization. Recognizing the challenges of the economy, we believe that the need for NOCTI products and services has never been greater. Accountability is the watchword in Washington. The Perkins IV criteria for technical skill attainment can be met through NOCTI assessments. A number of states have asked NOCTI to help with their assessment needs. NOCTI is steadily growing, serving more states, districts, and institutions – secondary and postsecondary – and expanding the products and services it offers. NOCTI is developing new pathway assessments and tests in emerging areas such as green building and mechatronics. A recent customized assessment for New York City is for technical theater. Schools have embraced the new study guides. NOCTI is using cutting edge technology – online testing is rapidly replacing paper/pencil tests. Reports available to schools are teacher-friendly and include data on integrated academic achievement. NOCTI is providing professional development related to assessments. The organization has hosted a pre-conference for the past three years at ACTE. They are a partner with the National Center for Research in Career Technical Education with a research project to create professional development for CTE educators on using technical assessment data. Customer service is a strength. Clients tell us the staff is customer-focused. One said, “Whenever we have a question, there is always someone there to help find an answer.” Another said “When responding, all personnel seem to be willing to go above and beyond to ensure a solution to any issue.”
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