Benchmark 2: Target Population

Purpose of Target Population

The P-TECH program shall serve, or include plans to scale up to serve, students in Grades 9 through 14, and shall target and enroll students who are at risk of dropping out of school as defined by the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) and who might not otherwise go to college.

Design Elements

All P-TECHs must implement and meet the following requirements:

1. The P-TECH shall be open enrollment for all studen Recruitment and enrollment processes shall identify, recruit, and enroll subpopulations of at-risk students (as defined by PEIMS), including, but not limited to, students who are of limited English proficiency, students with disabilities, or students who have failed a state administered assessment. Enrollment decisions shall not be based on state assessment scores, discipline history, teacher recommendation, parent or student essays, minimum grade point average (GPA), or other criteria that create barriers for student enrollment
2. The P-TECH shall identify, recruit, and enroll subpopulations (in addition to those who are at risk as defined by PEIMS) that are historically underrepresented in college courses
3. The P-TECH shall clearly document recruitment and enrollment policies and practices; refining and improving them annually based on data reviews
4. Recruitment and enrollment processes (including marketing and recruitment plans, materials, and timelines) shall be transparent in program requirements, and include input from key stakeholders (e.g., parents and community members; postsecondary partners); target student populations as described in 1 and 2 above; and include regular activities to educate students, counselors, principals, parents, and school board and community members
5. If the P-TECH has more applicants than available space for admissions, they shall use either a performance-blind, open-access lottery system that encourages and considers applications from all students (all students have an equal opportunity for acceptance, regardless of background or academic performance) or a weighted lottery that favors students who are at risk or who are part of the targeted subpopulations for the P-TECH

Activities

1. All products shall be published on the P-TECH academy website and be made available to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) upon request
2. All products shall be maintained in accordance with local retention policy

Products

1. Written admission policy and enrollment application
2. Written recruitment plan including a timeline of recruitment and enrollment events, and recruitment materials for distribution at feeder schools and other appropriate locations in the community
3. Brochures and marketing in Spanish, English, and/or other relevant language(s)
4. Written communication plan for targeting identified audiences, parents, community members, school board, higher education personnel, etc.