The Vocational Instructor Preparation program is a systematic approach to the induction of new career–technical teachers and/or instructors into the teaching profession. It is designed to assure that these new teachers achieve their potential during the period of special licensure—up to three years of initial employment of nondegree and noneducation-degree career–technical teachers.
The VIP program was planned and developed by personnel from the Mississippi Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education and the Research and Curriculum Unit at Mississippi State University with leadership and direction from a steering committee.
The VIP program has as its goal to induct new teachers into the profession and guide their development during the special licensing period. Most teachers in this category are given up to three years to accomplish the matriculation from a “special” license to a “standard” license. The VIP program is a sequence of professional development activities that begin with employment and progress from “most important to know immediately” to activities that meet long-term needs of teachers. The VIP program consists of sequential steps in the process of developing the newly hired “special” licensed teacher into a “standard” licensed teacher.
Career and Technical Education Licensure Guidelines (PDF Document)
VIP Guidelines (PDF Document)
Felita Bell MS Department of Education Office of Career and Technical Education P.O. Box 771 Jackson, MS 39205 601.359.3090 – Phone 601.359.6619 – Fax
Best Practices is a week-long intensive course that orients beginning secondary and postsecondary career-technical teachers to the teaching profession. Newly employed teachers without a degree in teaching or public school teaching experience are required to attend the first available Best Practices session. The sessions are held at the Research and Curriculum Unit at Mississippi State University.
The purpose of Best Practices is to assist newly employed vocational and technical teachers in attaining basic instructional competencies that will enable them to enter an instructional setting and maintain minimal expectancies of instructional planning, execution and student assessment.
Registration for Best Practices should be made by the career and technical director at each school/center by contacting Leanne Long at 662.325.2510 or leanne.long@rcu.msstate.edu or by filling out and submitting the form linked below.
Download form: Best Practices Registration Form (PDF Document)
Each Best Practices participant is required to pay a registration fee of $250. We accept debit and credit cards for payment. To pay by purchase order, complete the form below and mail or fax this form with purchase order to the address below.
Purchase Order Submission Instructions
Research and Curriculum Unit Attn: Business Office PO Drawer DX Mississippi State, MS 39762 662-325-3296 (fax) 662-325-2510 (phone)
The 2012 - 2013 schedule will be published soon.
The new career–technical teacher must determine whether college courses or other teacher–education activities best meet the objectives of VIP. The courses and activities may be mixed; that is, the teacher may choose some courses and some activities. The college courses may be taken at Alcorn State University, Mississippi State University, and William Carey University. The teacher–education activities are provided through the RCU and the VIP Program and are offered online via Blackboard technology.
Required modules for new instructors with less than a bachelor’s degree (noneducational):
Required modules for new instructors with a bachelor’s degree or higher (noneducational):
VIP Module and University Course Table (PDF Document)
The VIP modules have moved to a rotating schedule, shown below. Each participant will need to register through the online registration system, MyPDC. We accept debit and credit cards for payment. To pay by purchase order, complete the form below and mail or fax this form with purchase order to the address below.
Spring 2012 Semester January 17, 2012 – May 4, 2012
Modules offered: VIP Module 1 VIP Module 2 VIP Module 5 Summer 2012 Semester May 29, 2012 – August 3, 2012
Modules offered: VIP Module 1 VIP Module 3
Fall 2012 Semester August 20, 2012 – December 7, 2012
Modules offered: VIP Module 1 VIP Module 4 VIP Module 6
Textbook Listing (PDF Document)
Module 1 History & Philosophy of Career and Technical Education Description:This module provides an overview of the history and development of Career and Technical Education programs, including a brief account of the origin and early forms of education for work, the various experiments for including education for work in schools, the introduction of apprenticeship into colonial America and the development of education for work in American schools prior to the passage of the Smith–Hughes Act of 1917.
Module 2 Developing Instructional Materials in Career and Technical Education Description: This module stresses the importance of effective lesson planning. Teachers look specifically and realistically at how technology and media fit into the daily life of the classroom. The complex world of teaching is explored in support of different approaches to instruction, such as behaviorist, cognitivist, constructivist and so on. Theoretical positions are viewed as differing perspectives, or vantage points, from which to examine the complex world of teaching and leaning. Discussions and assignments are divided into five basic themes in this module: Learning Foundations, Digital Environments, Traditional Media, Trends in Technology and Media and Classroom Resources.
Module 3 Teaching Methods in Career and Technical Education Description: This module is a study of theory-based methods and techniques of instructional delivery in the vocational-technical classroom and laboratory. It includes the study and application of learning processes and principles as they relate to lesson planning and teaching.
Module 4 Student Assessment in Career and Technical Education Description: This module is a study of the basic principles and methods of measurement and evaluation of student achievement in the vocational-technical classroom and laboratory. It includes construction and administration of tests and other evaluation instruments as well as analysis and interpretation of test results.
Module 5 Classroom Management in Career and Technical Education Description: This module stresses the importance of managing the classroom effectively. The term “classroom management” is often used interchangeably with the term “behavior management.” Classroom management, on the surface, is primarily about establishing guidelines for behavior and making sure that those guidelines are followed. Good behavior is important for establishing an environment in which student learning will take place. While good behavior is a necessary condition for learning, it is not sufficient alone. The point where behavior management broadens to include strategies to promote learning is where it becomes classroom management.
Module 6 Program Development in Career and Technical Education Description: This module will introduce the concepts of curriculum and assessment development. Upon completion of the module, the student will be able to write high-quality program and course descriptions, competencies, objectives, teaching strategies and assessment strategies; identify and integrate professional, academic, workplace and technology standards into the statewide curriculum frameworks and Mississippi Career Planning and Assessment System, Edition 2 tests; identify and properly cite a variety of high-quality resource materials in the curriculum; write high-quality test items for the MS-CPAS2 tests; interpret MS-CPAS2 results and use those results to improve instruction.