This document is a competency-based curriculum guide designed to promote articulation in machine trades vocational education programs between and among secondary and postsecondary institutions in the Indian Hills Community College and Merged Area XV high schools in Iowa. The guide is organized in 11 sections. The first six sections provide background information about the articulation project, the audiences served and competencies developed, testing procedures, and provisions for transfer of credits. Safety precautions for the machine shop are discussed in the seventh section, while sections VIII and IX, which make up the greater part of the document, detail the competencies needed by entry-level machine operators and the enabling tasks needed to become proficient in the competencies. Each competency consists of three parts that, when used in combination, provide a detailed outline of major tasks that a student must accomplish to reach one or more previously stated student outcomes. The three parts are the task that the student must accomplish, the conditions under which the student must demonstrate the skills, and standards of acceptable performance. Information sheets illustrated with line drawings are included in the competency statements. The final two sections of the guide consist of a student competency record form and a list of job titles available in the local area keyed to relevant competencies. (KC)