Editor’s note: The following, focused on the Greater Altoona Career and Technical Center, is the final installment of the series looking into how Blair County schools fared on the state assessment tests. Vocation schools use a different system of student evaluation, namely skills testing through the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute and the National Institute of Metalworking Skills.

Leadership at the Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center plan to build on a year of growth with sustained progress throughout the 2025-26 academic year.

According to Executive Director Nicole Zernick, administrators at the school are encouraged by positive feedback from a number of sizable facility renovation projects and refined efforts to improve curriculum areas where student scores are low.

Unlike public school districts that assess students with traditional standardized tests such as the Keystone Exams and PSSAs, vocational schools use a different system of student evaluation.

National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) and the National Institute of Metalworking Skills (NIMS) testing for metalwork-related programs take the place of Keystone Exams in tech schools.

Senior students at the Altoona tech center take NOCTI testing across two phases, one that assesses technical knowledge and theoretical skills, and another that evaluates hands-on competency in on-the-job tasks.

Students’ results across both phases are totaled and given a final score ranging from basic, competent and advanced, with the latter two categories constituting a passing grade.

A passing score on the NOCTI allows students to earn an additional Pennsylvania Skills Certificate to demonstrate their overall ability.

These certificates are not required to finish a program of study at the tech center, but are an additional award students can list on their resumes in addition to other industry-specific credentials, Zernick said.

About 185 seniors across multiple programs sat for the NOCTI in 2024-25, with just over 90% earning either competent or advanced scores, according to data provided by Zernick.

That is nearly identical to the 2023-24 school year, and about 4% higher than schoolwide scores in 2022-23.

Zernick attributes this to major capital investments in a number of in-demand programs and an increased focus on addressing specific areas of concern within the curriculum of individual classes.

The school has recently completed comprehensive renovations to the first-floor health occupation area and the entire fourth and fifth floors of the building.

These efforts included asbestos abatement, new classroom furniture and high-tech upgrades for a number of programs.

Automotive programs can now use a new air circulation machine while doing paintwork, health students can learn on a customizable Anatomage table and aspiring IT professionals have a range of modern servers to train on, all installed over the past year or so.

The administrator team has also been working internally to make better use of student test score data, Zernick said.

For example, if a majority of students in the cosmetology program answer a question incorrectly on their NOCTI theory exam, that means the curriculum needs to be revised to better cover that subject area.

According to Zernick, that is an ongoing effort which requires close collaboration between administration, teachers and educational coaches to improve curriculum and, ultimately, student success.

“Our goal is to better support our employees, which is also going to mean more support for our students,” she said.

Zernick credits the productive working relationship between Principal Lindsay Miksich, Assistant Principal Chelsea Gibbons and newly hired Assistant Executive Director Mark Mosorjak, among other school leaders, for the positive results from these efforts.

The tech center also relies on its connections with local industry leaders through its Occupational Advisory Committees, Zernick said, which help keep program standards up-to-date and can even provide students with internship opportunities.

“The main focus is improving our relationships with the community, send-school districts and business leaders,” she said.

“We have been so fortunate to have such supportive send-schools and (members of the Joint Operating Committee), which builds a strong foundation for continued growth.”

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.