Differentiating Cooperative Education Programs Experiences
Understanding the Different Cooperative Education Programs

The Career Oriented Program is designed for students who need additional support in order to successfully complete grades 9 and 10. Career exploration, individualized remedial instruction, and community work experiences are used to motivate these students to continue their education and to prepare for further career training.

The Diversified Occupations Program is designed for students to gain skill development in occupational areas of their choice through on-the-job training in grades 11 and 12. The work experience is complemented by classroom instruction directed toward the development of proper work attitudes.

Career and Technology Education Completer Programs are for students who plan to enter the work force after their graduation from high school or continue their education in a career technology program. Successful completion of a career completer will prepare students for gainful employment and/or entry into a community college. Students can combine a career and technology education completer program with the University of Maryland entrance requirements to prepare for a four-year college.

Students in the comprehensive high schools who plan to follow a career completer program may be interested in pursuing career paths in Business Education, Family Studies, Technical Programs, or Diversified Occupations.
The Maryland State Department of Education approves all completer programs. The following list includes all of the approved and offered Career Completer Programs for the 2000-2001 academic year. They are categorized under the ten career clusters developed by Maryland's Career Connections.

1. Health & Biosciences
   
2. Business Management & Finance
   
3. Art, Media and Communications
   
4. Human Resource Services
   
5. Consumer Service, Hospitality & Tourism
   
6. Construction & Development
   
7. Environmental & Natural Resource Systems
   
8. Information Technology
   
9. Transportation Technology
10. School to Career Transition

School to Career Transitions
Apprenticeships are school and work based educational experiences which offer academic and career related training within a supervised, structured setting. This paid experience emphasizes contextual, real-world learning to develop student competencies in a technical area through workplace experiences and provides students with industry recognized credentials upon completion.

Job Shadowing Programs provide a limited exposure to a specific occupation in which the student spends a designated period of time at a selected work site observing individuals as they perform workplace tasks. In this way, the students experience the work environment and better understand the types of skills needed for specific occupations.