Legistorm: Transparency's Sidekick

The effort by two-year colleges to strengthen their vocational-technical programs has reflected many of the priorities spelled out in the Perkins Act Amendments of 1990. Colleges have moved aggressively to increase their use of performance measures, such as placement rates, program completion rates, and results from state licensing exams, in program assessments. In addition, nearly all the colleges in GAO's sample said that they either offer or are developing tech-prep programs. Other desired changes, however, have been slower to develop. Colleges reported maintaining but not accelerating their efforts to integrate academic and vocational education. However, some often-recommended approaches, such as academic and vocational faculty teaching in teams, while gaining acceptance, are still not a standard part of vocational education programs. The removal of the set-aside requirement in the Perkins amendments has not harmed enrollments of special population students. Furthermore, colleges reported either increasing or maintaining the availability of support services for special population students.