The process for the development of this version of itWORKS.OHIO began in August 2004 with the convening of a futuring panel and culminated in June 2005 with the work of a panel of business representatives and educators focusing on academic correlation. Over the course of the 2004-05 academic year, numerous business and industry representatives, as well as secondary and postsecondary educators from across the state of Ohio, took part in the formal development process. The following summarizes the various stages of the development process.

Futuring Panel
August 2004
The IT futuring panel brought together 21 key business and industry representatives from across the state to advise the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Board of Regents on future trends impacting the IT Career Field and to suggest ways in which these trends could be incorporated into a revised itWORKS.OHIO document. The panel meeting began with an address by Governor Bob Taft, who had announced the development of the original itWORKS in 1999.

Editing Panel
August – October 2004
Based on guidance provided by the futuring panel, the editing panel met at various locations across the state, where they reviewed and made editorial changes and updated content to the 1999 edition of
itWORKS.

Business Review Panel
October and November 2004
Over 50 Ohio business and industry representatives participated in this panel. Drawn from diverse industrial sectors and regions of the state, the panel identified what IT employees should know and be able to do in four areas of IT: Information Support and Services, Network Systems, Programming and Software Development, and Interactive Media. The panel built upon work outlined in itWORKS.OHIO, as revised by the editing panels, identifying essential and recommended knowledge and skills.

Business Process Panel
November 2004
This panel of business representatives was charged with identifying core business process skills needed by IT professionals across the four IT pathways. This panel drafted specific competency statements for inclusion in the itWORKS.OHIO career field document.

Educator Review Panel
December 2004
This panel was composed of representatives from secondary and postsecondary institutions across Ohio with an existing pathway in IT. The panel determined when in the educational process (e.g., high school or college) competencies should be addressed and to what depth. In addition, the educator panel noted questions they had on decisions made by the business review panel and formulated suggestions for additions, deletions and editorial changes to the draft document.

Stakeholder Review Panel
January 2005
The stakeholder panel brought together representatives from the business review and business process panels to meet with representatives from the educator review panel in order to address issues raised by educators in the December meeting and also to review the document to ensure that it provides a cohesive and deliverable set of competencies for IT professionals at both secondary and postsecondary exit points. In addition, both business representatives and educators reviewed and leveled the business process units drafted by the business process panel. The panel provided a forum to ensure that the final document facilitates the seamless education of students interested in pursing a career in Information Support and Services, Network Systems, Programming and Software Development, and Interactive Media.

Academic Review Panel
June 2005
The academic review panel brought together business representatives, secondary and postsecondary technical educators with academic educators to identify benchmarks from the Ohio Academic Content Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts that are embedded within the technical competencies. This incorporation of academic content standards with career field technical content standards provides an opportunity for instructional integration of content, helping to contextualize learning for students and providing the basis for collaboration across disciplines.
 

1999 itWORKS Panel Participants