Appendix A: Determining a Trade Pathway for Students

During the renewal of the Practical and Applied Arts (PAA), Saskatchewan Education has signed an articulation agreement for Construction and Carpentry with Saskatchewan Post-Secondary Education and Skills Training (SPEST), the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission (ATCC), and the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST).

Before school divisions start or renew a program in Construction and Carpentry, they must be aware that although Construction and Carpentry Curriculum Guide content requires a certain level of maturity, some modules are recommended for Middle Level grades 7-9. These are listed in the PAA "Survey Guidelines" section of the PAA Handbook.

Pure 100 hour full credit courses are available beginning at the grade 10 Level. Students may take Construction and Carpentry 10, 20 or 30 with no intent to pursue a Construction and Carpentry apprenticeship route.

Articulation

Saskatchewan Education, in consultation with the PAA Reference Committee, has agreed to develop adequate hours of provincial curriculum in the various designated trades areas of the high school curriculum, along with limited practical experience, to meet the Level I requirements (or their equivalent), as outlined by the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission (ATCC) in collaboration with the Trade Board (TB). Articulation agreements among these educational partners have been established to accommodate high school graduates who have met the Level I requirements outlined in the high school curricula and who have followed the procedures specified by the ATCC's High School to Apprenticeship: Link to the Future (1999). Those students may challenge the Level I trade exam. Successful students will receive Level I theory advanced standing in appropriate SIAST programs, and Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) time credit hours for time spent with a journeyperson in the workplace toward apprenticeship standing in the trade.

Training plans included in Appendix B have been designed to provide direction for Level I skill development in the classroom and in the workplace.

• Everyone must have studied High School to Apprenticeship: Link to the Future (1999).
• The Level I theory identified below as required modules in this Construction and Carpentry Curriculum Guide must be covered thoroughly by the certified teacher and students.
• Practical experiences must be offered in the school setting or through the optional work study modules used in partnership with local businesses and journeypersons.
• If the teacher is not a journeyperson, the teacher must take an approved accreditation course. This will provide the necessary background skills to evaluate Level 1 theory and practice in the school for students who are following the trade pathway to apprenticeship.

  The course would require the approval of each of the following: Saskatchewan Education, ATCC, SIAST, Saskatchewan Industrial Education Association (SIEA) affiliated with the STF.

• To challenge Level I, the teacher should recommend only those students who have successfully completed the Level I content, and who have aspirations of pursuing further training in the construction trade(s). Registration for the Level I exam is managed by ATCC. Students challenging the Level 1 apprenticeship theory exam must attain a mark of 70% to pass, therefore they should probably be achieving at the 80% range or higher in all aspects of the Secondary Level program.
• The students must state their intention to write the Level I exam prior to the successful completion of the final high school course(s), and they must receive permission to proceed from the qualified instructor.
• The teacher must notify ATCC at least 2 months prior to the writing of the Level I exam, stating the intention to have students write, and indicating the number of exams required. Verification of the Secondary Level course marks (high school transcript) and the examination fee must be submitted for each student eligible to write.
• The ATCC will administer the Level I exams to high school students during the January and June Departmental Examination writing sessions, as arranged. The dates for the writing sessions are established annually and distributed to the schools in the Registrar's Handbook for School Administrators. (Contact Student Records at Saskatchewan Education).
• Apprenticeship exams will be returned to the ATCC for grading and evaluation.
• Marks will be mailed to the student at the school. ATCC will record the marks for the Level I exams. For more information about trade articulation see the High School to Apprenticeship: Link to the Future document developed by ATCC.
• SIAST and ATCC will notify teachers of changes to the Level I apprenticeship requirements in the trade via the Evergreen Curriculum website at Saskatchewan Education at www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/paa.html.
• A high school graduate who has already received all the Secondary Level credits for Construction and Carpentry and who passes the Level I exam will receive:
  • advanced standing in the Construction program at SIAST
  • 300 hours of time credit recognition toward Level 1 apprenticeship in the trade for documented practical experience under a journeyperson when the course is taught by an accredited teacher or a teacher holding a journey status in the designated trade.

The following Saskatchewan Education PAA Construction and Carpentry 10, 20, 30 Curriculum Guide modules must be successfully completed in order to meet the Level I requirements in the trade:

The above modules within the Construction and Carpentry Curriculum Guide have been identified as core modules required for a Level I apprenticeship challenge. These modules have fidelity with the following SIAST modules: