The Office of Career and Technical Education (OCTE) will use a new regional approach for completing the Perkins Program Improvement Process (PIP) for the 2004-2005 school year. School districts in the Northeast region are scheduled for a review this year as part of the four-year cycle. The review is one step in the process of maintaining program approval and continued federal funding through the Perkins Act.

Career and technical education teachers in the Northeast region will be invited to attend a regional PIP in-service. They will have the option of attending one of the two sessions listed below.

• Oct. 13, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Lake Area Technical Institute, Technology Center, Watertown
• Oct. 14, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Northern State University, Student Union, Aberdeen

School districts in the Southeast region will meet Jan. 19, 2005, at Southeast Technical Institute. The Central region will meet Jan. 20, 2005, at Mitchell Technical Institute. The Western region will meet Jan. 26, 2005, at Western Dakota Technical Institute

The workshops will assist instructors in reviewing their programs to determine goals and action plans to improve the instructional program. Attendees will see how data can be used for decision-making and how to utilize federal funds more efficiently. The audience for the workshops is career and technical instructors of approved programs.

For information, visit www.state.sd.us/deca/DWCP/index.htm. and click on “Program Improvement Process.” Or contact Gary Grey in the department’s Office of Career and Technical Education at (605) 773–4726. gary.grey@state.sd.us.