ESTABLISHING STANDARDS FOR DECISION MAKING

The need for establishing standars before making decisions cannot be

overemphasized. Yet, without a doubt, the establishment of standards
before making decisions is usually avoided by curriculum planners and
decision makers. For example, if a person were considering the purchase
of an automobile, there would be certain minimum standards the
automobile should meet before the person seriously considered making a
purchase. These standards might include mileage of thirty miles per gallon,
satisfactory handling qualities, adequate leg and head room, arge enough
capacity to transport five children, and so forth. The customer would
consider these standards and collect the data that could assist him or her
in determining which make of automobile would best serve the established
purposes. If a particular car did not meet any of these standards, the
customer would then eliminate that make of automobile or reconsider the
standards in light of the importance of that standard to the overall
satisfacation or degree dissatisfacation if that automobile was purchased.
Establishing standards would then assist this individual in making a sound
personal investment in an automobile.
A similar case could be made with regard to standards for educational
programs. If standards are not established before program decisions are made,
programs might exist where unqualified teachers would be teaching, thirty students
might be working in laboratories designed for twenty, programs might be developed
and implemented on the personal bias of decision makers, or eventually quality
programs in vocational education would not exist.
WHO ESTABLISHES STANDARDS?
The determination of the ultimate standards to be used in deciding wheter or
not a program or curriculum is developed rests with the decision making body. This
body mught be a school board, board of trustees, or similarly designated group.
However, the underlying force that has a major impact on the type of standards
recommended to this body consist of teacher or representatives of business or
industry related to the occupational area under consideration. In most cases, the

decision making body will not have the expertise needed within a specific vocational
area to make decisions concerning that area. Thus, the group will reiy heavily on
school administrator or others to provide standards for them to use in arriving at
decisions.
WHO ARE STANDARDS ESTABLISHED?
Standards should be established by those who are best able to developed
criteria for quality vocational programs. Individuals who might assume a key role in
the establishment of standards include vocational teacher, students, employers,
employees in occupations associated with the vocational area under discussion,
voacational directors and supervisors, and curriculum planners. In some cases,
certain standards could be developed nationally and applied to all state and local
programs. Additionally, certain standards might need to be established by state
educational agencies, with lical agencies needing to use these state standards in
developing standard relevant their locality.
WHEN ARE STANDARS ESTABLISHED?
Once a problem or opportuniy has been identified and the decision making body
defines it and agrees to focus on this area, standards must theb be established to
guide the decision making process further. Data needed by decision makers to help
provide a basis on which to arrive at decisions cannot be collected until the data
collectors know what is needed for the decisions. Otherwise, useless data might be
collected.
WHAT STANDARDS NEED TO BE ESTABLISHED?
Standards must be established that will provide a framework for quality vocational
programs. Although the number of standards may vary with different vocational
programs, there are several common standards that should be established
regardless of the vocational area. General categories of standards are:
1. Prospective enrollment
2. Availability of qualified instructors
3. Available facilities
4. Available equipment
5. Available funding

6. Employment opportunities
7. Availability of other similar vocational programs
8. Extent to which the vocational programs under consideration support the
goals and philosophy of the school
9. Extent to which delivery of the programs uphold established guidelines
10. Opportunities for cooperative vacational education programs
For example, if a course in word processing were under consideration, a standard
referring to equipment might be fifteen computers must be available. Or a standard
for masonry might be at least twelve students per year must express an interest and
enroll in the class. An example of a standard for marketing education might be a
cooperative training station must be available for each eleventh and twelth grade
student. In each of these example, standards are stated that relate specifically to
program quality. Detailed standards that focus directly on program quality greatly
assist decision makers in arriving at sound decisions concerning curriculum
development.
IDENTIFYING TYPES OF DATA TO BE COLLECTED
Once standards have been established, the various types of data needed to assist
decision makers may be identified. Using the word processing example, if one
standard indicates that minimum of fiffteen computers are needed to offer course,
check of current inventory would immediately show whether fifteen units were in
hand. If the computers were there, then this standard would be met. If they were not
on hand, then the cost of securing fifteen units to be reflected in the proposed
budget,and later it would have to be determined if funding resources were adequate
to provide for their purchases. In addition, other alternatives might be investigated.
Donations of equipment from a company or equipment loans from local business are
just two examples of ways that equipment might be obtained. The key factor to keep
in mind would be that would be that if the minimum standard for a quality program
was established as fifteen units, anything less than this might seriously reduce
program effectiveness. Thus, not only must program standards exists, but data must
be available to support these standards.

ALIGNING STANDARDS and SOURCES of DATA

Oncw standards are established, data collection may begin. There are two major
areas from which data will be needed. The first might be referred to as school-related
data, and the second as community-related data. School-related data basiclly consist
of any type of information directly associated with the school. Several examples
might be current facilities available, enrollment trends, and funds available.
Community-related data assist in examining the geographical are served by the
school. Examples of community-related data might be population trends, labor
market demands, and the possibilities for cooperative training centers. In some
cases, data from several nearby counties would be needed. These might include
federal, regional, or state data related to the standard under consideration. For
example, a state may have a printing program at a community college to serve the
regional needs of that state. Figure 3-8 provides a list of data sources that might be
used to determine if, in fact, previously established standards could or not be met.
These data sources will be discussed in detail in later chapters; however, the
curriculum planner must understand how various kinds of data sources align with
basic program standards.
MAKING DECISIONS in CURRICULUM PLANNING
From the standpoint of curriculum planning, the decision-making process may be
viewed as consisting of several stages, each of which builds on the others and
progressively involves the curriculum specialist in dat-gathering and decision-making
activities. The entire process is represented graphically in Figure 3-9. Note that the
stages parallel discussions dealing with areas
General Standard
Prospective enrollment

School Related Data

Student interest

Community-Related Data
Population trends

Student ability

Community goals

Enrollment trends

Industry movement

Dropout rates

Other vocational education

Reasons for dropouts

programs available

Parents concerns and

Availability of qualified

expectations
Background of current

Qualification of local

instructor

instructors

businesspersons and
laypeople college

Available facilities

Current facilities

graduates
Local facilities available

Potencial for expansion

or remodeling
Available equipment

funds available
Current equipment

Equipment available in the

Available funding

Funds available
Current and future

local area
Current and future budget

budget

support
Special funding categories
from state and/or federeal
sources

Employment opportunities

Follow up of graduates

Private sources
Population trends

Follow up of adults

Current and projected

enrolled in continuing

employment opportunities

education programs

Current and projected

supply and demand of labor
Community goals

Other similar vocational

Current and planned

Changes in pay scales

Other vocational education

programs available
Vocational program bring

vocational programs
Goals and philosophy

programs available
Goals of the community

considered that support

of the school

goals and philosophy of the

school
Delivery of program that

Current class

upholds established

schedules

guidelines
Opportunities for cooperative

Possibility of school-

Number of businesses

vocational programs

related stations

willing to participate and

number of stations
Business and industry
movement in and out of the

community
Such as etablishing standards, gathering data, and examining the alignment of
standards and data. A discussion of each of the five stages follows.
Stage 1 define problem or opportunity and clarify alternative
In this stage, a critical step is defining the problem or opportunity at hand. Once the
problem or opportunity has been defined and agreed on, then possible alternative
solutions can be identified and clarified. For example, a community college may be
considering offering four different vocational and technical programs. Data
concerning each of this four programs could be collected and analyzed
simultaneously to decide which, if not all four, should be implemented
Stage 2 establish standards for each alternative
Once alternative are clarified, stage 2 allows for the establishment of standards for
each of the alternatives. Standards help the decision maker to determine if the
alternative under consideration should be offered and if the necessary resources are
available. Standards also assist curriculum planners in the establishment and
operation of quality vocational and technical education programs.
Stage 3 gather school-related and community-related data that align with
standards
With the establishment of standards in stage 2, data can now be identified and
collected for each alternative in stage 3. Data will need to be collected from both the
school and community.
Stage 4 analyze data
In stage 4, the curriculum planner must objectively analyze all data in terms of the
established standards. This stage involves assembling, summarizing, analyzing, and
prepareing the data in a form that can be used when the decision making time
arrives. The situation may accur during this stage that additional data are needed
that were not collected; thus, provision must be made for collecting data before all
data can be fully and accurately analyzed. This process is indicated by dashed lines
from stage 4 to stage 3.

Stage 5 decide which alternative is supported by data

Stage 5 represents the final step in the decision-making process. At this stage,
alternatives are ruled out as unfeasible or accepted as feasible approaches to
curriculum development. In some cases, only one alternative may be selected from
many possibilities, or all alternatives may be deemed inappropriate. In other cases,
all alternatives may be feasible. Decision makers may also identify other alternatives
not previously considered, and thus process would be repeated for each new
alternative. Repetition of the process is repeated by the dashed line from stage 5 to
stage 1.
SUMMARY
The importance of strategic planning and decision making in educational
curriculum planning cannot be overemphasized. Of all activities and elements
associated with an educational organization, the instant that a decision is made is
one that will have lasting effect on the future of the curriculum. Hopefully, that effect
will be desirable.
Decision making in the educational arena usually involves two major areas:
policy decision and operational decisions. Operational decision involve day to day
activities of the curriculum and serve to move the curriculum smoothly ahead. Policy
decision deal with goals, objectives, and some basic structure for achieving these
goals and objectives. Curriculum planners must be involved at both levels of
decisions. Whereas policy decisions serve to establish the type of curriculum a
school will or will not follow, operational decisions deal with the management of the
approved curriculum. Both of these areas have a direct influence on whether the
curriculum will be successful.
The value of strategic planning must be recognized by all who deal with the
curriculum. Vocational education curricula must be planned and implemented in such
a way as to assure that students and societal needs are served. Nothing less than
this should be attempted or accepted.
Define Problem or
Opportunity and Clarify
Alternatives

D etc

Establish Standards for Each

Alternative

Gather Community-Related
Data that Align with
Standards

Gather School-Related Data

that Align with Standards

Analyze Data in Terms of

Standards

Decide Which Alternative is

Supported by The Data
A

D etc