The Advanced Technical Credit ATC Approval Process

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The Advanced Technical Credit (ATC) Approval
Process Bill Wilson, Program Coordinator Carrie
Baker, Program Assistant ATC Approval Office,
Stephen F. Austin State University
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Purpose of the ATC Program

• The Advanced Technical Credit (ATC) Program gives
  eligible high school students a chance to receive
  credit at participating community colleges across
  Texas for taking certain enhanced technical
  courses during high school.

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• College credit received through the ATC Program
  is know as statewide-articulated credit.

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What is articulation?

• Articulation is the smooth transition from one
  educational institution to another without delays
  or duplication of coursework.
• Examples of articulation programs Tech Prep, ATC.

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ATC is not Tech Prep

• 1. Tech Prep articulates a PROGRAM (a sequence of
  courses that will count towards a specific
  certificate or degree) between ONE high
  school/district and ONE local community college.
• 2. The ATC Program articulates single courses.
  Eligible students can receive credit for these
  courses at participating community colleges
  across the state (statewide-articulated
  credit).

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The ATC Program

• Is made possible by an agreement between the
  Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the
  Texas Education Agency.
• Allows students to attend a variety of
  participating colleges across the state.
• Is a time and money saver for students.
• They avoid duplicating coursework.
• They dont have to pay for tuition or books.

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ATC Approval Process

• Identify
• Train
• Verify

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Identify

• School identifies a need for an ATC course.
• School identifies a teacher who meets ATC teacher
  requirements for the ATC course.

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Train

• Teacher attends ATC training for the course,
  where they submit the ATC Application for
  Approval.
• Application is sent to ATC Approval Office at SFA.

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Verify

• ATC Approval Office verifies that the teacher
  meets the teacher requirements for the ATC
  course.
• Approval for the ATC course is added to the
  teachers online certificate.
• School verifies that the ATC course is listed on
  the online certificate, then begins offering the
  ATC course.

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IDENTIFY
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Identifying a need for an ATC Course

• ATC courses are listed in the ATC Course
  Crosswalk (updated annually).
• Look for courses already offered at your school.
• To be articulated, a course must be at least 1
  credit. On the crosswalk, ½ credit courses are
  paired with other courses to equal at least 1
  credit.
• ATC courses will be content-enhanced beyond the
  TEKS enhancements are defined by college-level
  course outcomes.

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Identify an ATC Teacher

• Each ATC course section must be taught by an ATC
  approved teacher.
• To be approved, the teacher must
• Meet ATC teacher requirements.
• Take ATC training.

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Why does the ATC Program have teacher
requirements?

• College instructors must meet minimum criteria to
  teach.
• Criteria is set by the Southern Association of
  Colleges and Schools (SACS).
• If a college hires an instructor who does not
  meet minimum criteria, the college risks losing
  their accreditation from SACS.
• SACS views any high school teacher offering
  courses for college credit as adjunct college
  faculty.

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Why does the ATC Program have teacher
requirements?

• As adjunct college faculty, the high school
  teacher must meet the same criteria as the
  college instructor.
• If a college accepts credit from a student who
  was taught by a teacher who did not meet the
  minimum criteria, the college could lose their
  SACS accreditation.
• The ATC Teacher Requirements are set by the ATC
  State Leadership Committee, and based on the
  minimum criteria required by SACS.

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ATC Teacher Requirements

• Teachers must meet one of these requirements for
  each ATC course
• Requirement 1 The teacher must have a
  baccalaureate degree or higher, with the degree
  major in the subject area of the ATC course.
• OR
• Requirement 2 The teacher must have a minimum
  of an associate degree and 3 years verifiable
  non-teaching work experience directly related to
  the subject area of the ATC course.

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Requirement 1

• The teacher must have a baccalaureate
• degree or higher, with the degree major in
• the subject area of the ATC course.
• Only degree majors are considered.
• Minors, partial degrees, or teaching certificates
  are not considered.

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Requirement 2

• The teacher must have a minimum of an associate
  degree and 3 years verifiable non-teaching work
  experience directly related to the subject area
  of the ATC course.
• Teacher must have at least an associates degree.
  Non-degreed individuals cannot be approved.

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Example 1. Principles of Marketing

• Teacher must have either
• 1. Bachelors degree (or higher) in Marketing
• OR
• 2. Associates degree (or higher), with 3 years
  non-teaching work experience in marketing or
  sales.

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Example 2. Telecommunication and Networking

• Teacher must have either
• 1. Bachelors degree (or higher) in Computer
  Science, Computer Information Systems.
• OR
• 2. Associates degree (or higher), with 3 years
  of non-teaching work experience in computer
  networking.

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Example 3. Health Science Technology I

• Teacher must have either
• 1. Bachelors degree (or higher) in a medical
  field (Nursing, Medical Technology, Pharmacy,
  etc.).
• OR
• 2. Associates degree (or higher), with 3 years
  non-teaching work experience in a medical field
  (dentistry, nursing, radiology, etc.).

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SBEC Certification

• Teachers who dont yet have their Standard
  (5-year) SBEC Certificate in the area of the
  course can be approved, but they will be asked to
  provide proof that they meet the requirements.
• Will discuss this more in the Verify section.

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Courses with Additional Requirements

• Some ATC courses have additional instructor
  requirements.
• College equivalent accredited by outside agency.
• College equivalent prepares students for
  licensure or certification.
• Teachers will need to provide documentation of
  these licenses and certificates.

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Courses with Additional Requirements
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TRAIN
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Train

• To find a training session
• ATC website (www.atctexas.org)
• Tech Prep consortium
• Local community college
• P-16 Conference
• TEA Summer Conferences
• Deadline to take training for upcoming school
  year 3rd Friday in September (9/16/06).

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Training consists of

• Part I 2 hours.
• General introduction to ATC Program
• Part II 1 hour.
• Teacher meets with college faculty to discuss
  course enhancements.
• Teachers will take one Part II session for each
  ATC course.
• Due to time limitations, generally a maximum of 3
  Part II sessions at one training session.

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Training

• During training, teachers fill out approval
  application.
• List their degrees, majors.
• List their jobs (employer, position, duration).
• After training, applications are collected by
  trainer and submitted to ATC Approval Office.

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VERIFY
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ATC Approval Office

• Approval Office verifies that teacher meets the
  ATC requirements for the course(s) they
  requested.
• Teacher meets requirements Approved.
• Cant tell if teacher meets requirements Email
  request for more information.
• Teacher doesnt meet requirements Cannot be
  approved (mailed letter).

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Teacher Approved

• Approval is added to the teachers online
  certificate (www.atctexas.org)
• Approval is valid for 3 years (August 1 July
  31).
• Teacher sent an automatically generated email
  letting them know they have been approved.

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Teacher sent Information Request email

• Teacher is sent an email requesting more
  information when
• Did not provide enough information on their
  application (major, job title) to tell if they
  meet requirements.
• Need documentation of certification for a course
  with additional requirements.
• Does not have Standard (5-year) SBEC

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Teacher who does not have Standard SBEC

• Can still be approved, but need to provide
  documentation showing that they meet ATC
  requirements.
• If teacher meets Requirement 1 (related
  bachelors degree or higher), will need to
  provide
• Official transcripts.
• If teacher meets Requirement 2 (associates
  degree or higher with 3 yrs related work
  experience), will need to provide
• Official transcripts.
• Detailed work history information.

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Teacher Cannot be Approved

• Possible reasons why
• No degree.
• Unrelated degree.
• No related work experience.
• Teacher will be mailed a letter stating the
  reason they could not be approved.
• Letter provides instructions if teacher would
  like to provide more information and be
  reconsidered.
• Teachers who are not ATC approved can still teach
  regular non-ATC course.

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Problems

• Teachers do not get information request emails.
• Spam blockers/Junk email boxes
• Change email addresses
• Teachers dont get non-Approval letters.
• Lost in mail, teacher moves
• Teachers should
• Check online certificate (1 month after
  training)
• Check email, regular mail
• If they have not received any notification,
  contact the ATC Approval Office
  (atcstaff_at_sfasu.edu).

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School Verifies Approval

• School/District checks to see that teacher has
  been issued approval for the needed ATC course.
• Ask teacher to print copy of online certificate
• Use ATC District Reporting website (access
  through www.atctexas.org).

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Make sure the correct course is listed, and the
effective/expiration dates are valid for the
current school year.
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• Once the approval has been verified, the school
  may then begin offering the ATC course.

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ATC Course Crosswalk
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ATC Course Crosswalk

• List of all ATC courses and their college
  equivalents.
• Divided into 8 curriculum areas (business,
  agriculture, health science, etc.)
• Crosswalk in each curriculum area created by a
  committee of secondary teachers and college
  instructors.
• Curriculum areas are reviewed and updated every 3
  years or as needed.

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Sample from Crosswalk
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Changes to Crosswalk

• Any course(s) to be added or removed from the
  crosswalk MUST be approved by the ATC State
  Leadership Committee.
• Changes may be due to
• Curriculum committee recommendations
• Changes to TEKS or WECM (HS/College course
  content changes).
• HS/College course not widely offered.

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Changes to Crosswalk

• Crosswalk updated once a year (spring).
• Once crosswalk has been released, no major
  changes will be made to it.
• New changes will go on to next years crosswalk.
• When course is removed from crosswalk, it can no
  longer be offered as an ATC course (also removed
  from PEIMS list).

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Want to suggest a Crosswalk change?

• Ask for Request for Course Change form.
• Fill out form and return to ATC Office.
• Suggestions will be submitted to ATC State
  Leadership Committee for review.
• Suggestions may be taken into consideration
  during curriculum area reviews.

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• ATC Approval Office
• Stephen F. Austin State University
• Contact Information
• Dr. Bill Wilson, ATC Program Coordinator
• wilsonwe_at_sfasu.edu
• Cathy Whipple, ATC Program Assistant
• Cabaker_at_sfasu.edu
• www.atctexas.org