Monday, October 9th, 2006
Local Tri Star students earn degrees, statistics show
By Laura Walker
In the past six years, 54 percent of the career technology students earning degrees in a nine-county area were Tri Star Career Compact students, based out of Celina.
"We are talking about students enrolled in college; we are talking about completed degrees; we are talking about persistence, taking it to the next level," Nancy Osborn, director of the West Central Ohio Tech Prep Consortium, said during a recent Tri Star advisory board meeting.
She presented the statistics generated from her consortium.
Her statistics also showed only 0.5 percent of Tri Star students going on to college have to take remedial math courses. She attributes this to math instructors at the home schools and at Tri Star for embedding math into their curriculums.
She said Tri Star teachers have met with college professors to adjust curriculum to aid in a "seamless transition" from high school to college. Part of this transition involves students earning college credit while at Tri Star. Credits are transferred to colleges that have an agreement with Tri Star. Osborn said many parents are interested in this type of program because it saves a great deal of money.
The consortium involves 24 schools and is administered by the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Board of Regents. Its goal is to have a greater percent of students earn associates' degrees and to meet workforce needs of the 21st century, specifically in west central Ohio, Osborn said.
