The Promise and Peril of P-TECH

The Promise and Peril of P-TECH

Two interesting articles popped up on the Tech&Learning news feeds this past week about a high school program in Brooklyn that has been touted, and critiqued, as a future model for vocational education. Wired last week puffed about P-TECH, short for Pathways in Technology Early College High School: “The idea is to earn a high school diploma and a free associate degree in six years or less.” Sponsored by IBM, the program is aimed at low-income students in an attempt to offer new opportunities as well as diversify the ranks of future tech workers. Sounds great right? Alan Singer at Huffpost cautions about another corporate education sponsor, Nokia: “Unfortunately the latest news out of Finland is that the P-tech miracle may not be an educational or economic miracle at all.” Both stories are worth a read. —Kevin Hogan, Content Director