Technology Centers
Technology Centers
Shared- and full-time technology centers fuel economic growth in their states and communities by offering specialized CTE programs leading to advanced credentials and degrees in high-tech, high-demand fields.
SREB’s Making Schools Work school improvement process supports the unique needs of the nation’s technology centers.
2025 Student and Teacher Surveys
For middle grades schools, high schools and career centers
SREB’s new and improved online
surveys offer a unique opportunity to collect authentic,
anonymous data from students and teachers about their school and
classroom experiences. Participating sites receive user-friendly,
actionable feedback and valuable insights they can use to create
a roadmap for school improvement.
Technology Centers That Work
Jump start credentials and careers
SREB’s school improvement design for technology centers — Technology Centers That Work — helps leaders and teachers adopt continuous improvement practices that foster rigorous academic and career pathway curricula, project-based instruction, work-based learning and personalized supports.
With SREB support, leaders and teachers collaborate with sending high schools and community and technical colleges to design and implement career pathways that close critical workforce gaps. They also use our problem-solving process to address problems of practice.
What Makes It Work – 10 Key Practices
We’ve invested over 30 years of research to identify 10 key practices that positively impact student effort and achievement. These practices give students the purpose, direction and support they need to achieve college and career readiness.
Customizable Support
TCTW sites gain access to our full range of support services, Advanced Career, our exciting project-based career pathway curricula, professional development and coaching services, and surveys for center students and teachers that generate valuable data for improvement planning.
SREB encourages states, districts and centers to join our national network of TCTW sites for the most cost-effective access to services.
We invite TCTW sites and their partners to attend our annual TCTW Leaders Forum, a national convening focused exclusively on quality CTE and the critical role centers play in their states’ educational and workforce development systems. Most sites also attend our annual Making Schools Work summer conference to network and learn with thousands of educators nationwide.
Technology Center Key Practices
Making Schools Work engages the
entire center community — teachers, leaders and staff working
together in a distributed leadership structure — in addressing
SREB’s five focus areas (leadership for continuous improvement,
aligned curriculum, engaging instruction, career exploration and
systems of support) and taking ownership of their improvement
efforts.
By combining this process with the 10 Key Practices below, career and technology centers build their capacity to continuously address problems and meet clear targets for student success.
Download the Key Practices: Download the PDF
Download an 11×17 poster of our process and practices: Download the PDF
Download a 24×36 poster of the practices: Download the PDF
Download a grid of SREB’s Key Practices and Focus Areas across K-12: Download the PDF
Shared-Time Technology Centers
A Study of Six State Funding Systems
Students need learning experiences connected with the world of work to equip them to enter the workforce and secure good jobs. This report provides an overview of funding for career and technical education and a detailed look at CTE funding models in Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia. Produced by SREB for the Kentucky Career and Technical Education Task Force, it also offers considerations for actions to improve CTE.
Case Study: Columbia Area Career Center
Project-Based Learning: A Formula for Rapid Results
This case study details how a Missouri tech center took steps aimed at making its center a national leader in CTE by taking on a daunting and improbable task: implementing project-based learning schoolwide in less than a year.
Case Study – Lee’s Summit West High School: Empowering Students to Succeed
Lee’s Summit West (LSW) High School in Kansas City, Missouri boasts of a 99 percent graduation rate; 93 percent of its students are bound for college. This case study details how the High Schools That Work model was instrumental in helping LSW students achieve.