The Fayette County Area Vocational Technical School is one of the first schools in Pennsylvania to adopt a new nationally recognized curriculum for our six Construction Trades Programs. This curriculum has been developed by The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER).

The NCCER is a non-profit education foundation established by the world’s largest and most progressive construction companies and national construction associations. It was founded to address the severe workforce shortage and to develop a standardized training process and curricula. NCCER is supported by hundreds of leading construction and maintenance companies, manufacturers, and national associations.

These curricula have been developed by the industry for the industry. They promote a national standardization providing the student with skills that can be taken nation-wide from job to job. Educational credits can also be transferred to post-secondary institutions.

NCCER is in compliance with Apprenticeship, Training, Employer, and Labor services (ALTELS) for related classroom training. These instructional materials are well illustrated, up-to-date, and practical.

NCCER also maintains a National Registry that provides transcripts, certificates, and wallet cards for individuals who have successfully completed the program.

This new curriculum will be introduced in our Building Trades, Electrical Construction, Carpentry, HVAC, Masonry, and Welding programs.
Each first year student enrolled in the construction trade program areas will receive seventy-five hours of training in a Core Curriculum program focusing on introductory craft skills.

Concurrently, students will receive instruction in the craft skills that are peculiar to their individual construction program using the NCCER curriculum using theory and lab practice activities. Each program consists of two to four levels of craft instruction. Certification through NCCER is available at each level.

During their third semester at the vocational school, students will complete twelve modules contained in the “Soft Skills – Tools For Success” section of the NCCER curriculum.

Essential Workplace Skills, Work Relationships, Teamwork, Workplace Diversity, Communication Skills, Reading and Writing, Resolving Workplace Issues, Critical Thinking, Conflict Resolution, Dealing with Criticism, Drug, Sexual Harassment and Alcohol Abuse.

Upon successful completion of the program, each student will have developed into a motivated, well-rounded, technically literate individual ready for the workplace.

All instructors are certified craft instructors. A craft/technician instructor is an individual authorized to teach the Contren® Learning Series and has a minimum of journey-level experience or three years experience as a certified teacher in a related training program. All NCCER craft/technician instructors must successfully complete the Instructor Certification Training Program (ICTP) conducted by an NCCER Master Trainer.