5 pages essay (plus title and references) APA format - four sources attached -

Technology Drives Career and Technical

Education in High School Reform

By Kathleen Vail From American School Board Journal

WILLIAM Adams knows ex-actly how much the worldof career and technical education has changed over the course of the years.

• The superintendent of the Sa- lem County Vocational Technical Schools in Woodstown, New Jer- sey, recalls when he gave presenta- tions about his school to the PTA and other parent groups 35 years ago.

Inevitably, there would be mem- bers of the audience who would pull him aside and mention a nephew or a niece who would re- ally benefit from his school. "You know," they'd tell Adams, "they're a little slow."

At this particular point in time today, however, audiences have a different reaction when he gives a presentation, Adams says. "Now I get parents who say, 'I wish I would

Kathleer) Vail (i<[email protected]) is Mar)aging Editor of ̂ mencan School Board Journal. Condensed, with permission, from American School Board Journal, 194 (February 2007), 14-19. © 2007, National School Boards Association. All rights reserved.

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have had that program when I was a kid. I would have been in that program.'"

Gone are the days when voca- tional education, as it was once being called, was considered to be a dumping ground for the unmoti- vated, the misfits, and the trouble- makers. Today's career and techni- cal education is less about lug nuts and monkey wrenches and more about computer-aided drafting and pre-med bioethics. And further- more, today's career and technical education is actually for everyone, not just for the kids who aren't going to college.

After years of going through a period in which it was being considered second-rate to academia, ca- reer and technical education now finds itself center stage in the high school reform arena. According to figures which have been provided by the U.S. Department of Education, en- rollment in the area of career and technical education has shot up in the past decade by 57%, from a level of 9.6 million students in the year 1999 all the way up to 15.1 million in 2004.

That increase which has been seen is no doubt due, at least in part, to the growth of career acad- emies—small schools-within- schools which are focused on ca- reer paths or themes. Designed for the purpose of making high school more relevant to students, there

are, about 2,500 career academies in the United States at this point in time, according to MDRC, a New York City-based research group.

"Today in. our academy pro- grams, we are serving our brightest and best," says Adams. "We have students earning credits from the local community college, leaving us as juniors. We wouldn't have found that 10 years ago in our tech- ed program."

Ten years ago—even five in some instances—college-bound and high-achieving students wouldn't consider taking vocational educa-

Today's career and tech programs blur the lines between college and career prep, undoing high school tracicing.

tion courses. Students enrolled in technical education programs weren't expected to take advanced academic classes. But today, ca- reer and technical programs essen- tially blur the lines between college prep and career prep, dismantling the old high school tracking sys- tem.

Kimberly Green, executive direc- tor of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium, says the turning point came "when people acknowledged that academic stan- dards should be the same for all

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students." Around the same time, the notion that all students should be exposed to career education also took a stronghold in high schools.

Such a radical sea change doesn't happen all at once, of course, and several factors have influenced the career and technical transformation. One was the grow- ing dissatisfaction with the com- prehensive high school, along with what many consider unaccept- ably high dropout rates, especially among poor and minority stu- dents.

"We do fairly well at the elemen- tary level, and we have a great col- legiate system, but our high schools are the worst in the world," says Charlie Dayton, project coordina-

As technology changed the jobs, it required higheHevei skiiis of

those who were responsible for the work.

tor with the Career Academy Sup- port Network, an organization that offers support and staff develop- ment for career academies. "Many high schools, especially in urban districts, are national embarrass- ments. Millions of students are leav- ing high school without any hope. It contributes to every other social problem."

Dayton's view is not shared by everyone, but dissatisfaction has

fueled today's extensive high school reform movement. And educators see expanded and rigorous career and technical education as a way to make high school more relevant. No longer is it enough for the high school to offer automotive classes. If you want to fix cars, you have to learn about computers.

Another workplace reality: Most students now have to get some form of postsecondary training. This doesn't mean a four-year univer- sity degree for all students, of course, but it could mean associate degrees or certification in a spe- cialized field.

Students who graduated from the old traditional vocational- technical programs were at a dis-

advantage. For the most part, they were trained to do one kind of job, and since they didn't take any college prep courses, they didn't have the academic background to get postsecondary training.

"Technology has changed the jobs," says Adams, "and as

technology has changed the jobs, it requires higher-level skills for those people responsible for making, re- pairing, or servicing."

Business leaders haven't always had the ear of traditional educa- tors, but it was different with ca- reer and technical education, where they've always been welcome part- ners. "Our community has always had a close relationship to employ- e r s . As workplace demands

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changed, we heard recommenda- tions for changes in the CTE pro- grams," Green says.

Employers said schools should no longer prepare students to hold one job for the rest of their lives. Instead, Green says, students need to learn a diverse set of adaptable and enduring skills.

"The future of the U.S. is in the area of high-value services and products," says Edward Gordon, a research consult- ant and author of The 2010 Meltdown: Solving the Impend- ing Jobs Crisis. "That requires better-educated people. The era of mass production, where there are many jobs that re- quire low skills and eighth-grade reading comprehension, those days are over and they are never coming back."

Having career and technical edu- cation students meet academic standards was still a nascent idea when the Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act was reau- thorized in 1998. It included for the first time a requirement for career and technical education programs to demonstrate that their students were meeting the same academic standards as other high school stu- dents.

At the time. Green says some voc-tech instructors didn't believe that teaching academics was their responsibility. The 1998 reauthori- zation, she says, "added justifica- tion for the nonbelievers. "It shed

light on things that needed atten- tion," she says.

Much has happened since. School counselors now pay more attention to students' career devel- opment, and a growing number of schools have added counselors specifically for that purpose. At the same time, the academic rigor for students is only going to increase

The Perkins Act renewal made tech-ed show that kids met the academic standards of all hi^-schoolers.

following last year's reauthoriza- tion of Perkins. In fact, several tech- nical school heads already say many of their academic requirements are higher and more rigorous than for. students in general education.

"The lowest math I teach is Alge- bra II. We require trigonometry, chemistry, and advanced biology and physics—not the typical math and science you'd expect in a ca- reer center," says Tom Schultz, su- perintendent of the Auburn Tech- nical Center in Auburn, Ohio. "Busi- nesses are saying we have to have more math and science."

Mark Whitlock, CEO of the Cen- tral Educational Center, a technical charter high school in Newnan, Georgia, says that CTE is no longer a place where students who weren't good in school could go. •

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"Today, you must be success- ful at academics," he says, with a higher level of math, writing, and reading required. "We are finding that the academic skill sets of entry-level workers are where the economy is changing most rapidly. We find a nurse who needs a higher level of math skill than his supervi- sor."

Probably more revolutionary than the idea that all students—not just the college bound—can achieve

More shocking yet was the notion that aii

kids couid benefit from career and

technical education.

high academic standards was the notion that all kids could benefit from career and technical educa- tion. Now, with Florida becoming the first state that requires students to declcire a major in the ninth grade, there's a determination that all stu- dents should receive career train- ing.

Career academies, part of the small schools movement that is a big element of, high school reform, allow students to specialize in ca- reer clusters—a term that includes health, communications, architec- ture, fine and performing arts, engi-- neering, education, and agriculture. The goal is to graduate from high school and either get a job or go on

to postsecondary education or training.

Having students learn about ca- reers in high school brings rel- evance to the classroom, where they can see the reason why they are learning what they learn. Com- panies and industries are closely tied to these programs, offering apprenticeships, job shadowing, and mentoring to students.

At career academies and many technical schools, academics are

integrated with the career sub- ject or pathway. For example, says William Adams, a culinary arts student is faced with turn- ing a recipe for four people into one that feeds 40 or 400.

"You can use a ratio and proportion, or a simple alge- braic equation," Adams says.

"We can teach that in the context of applied application. That is the single greatest advantage that we have."

Being able to teach in a way that students grasp is an important ele- ment of today's career and techni- cal education. "Teaching more of the same thing the same way won't get us further," Schultz says. "We have to teach it in a different way; that's where CTE comes into play because we provide relevemce."

When the superintendents of Schultz's feeder high schools visit Auburn, they are frequently sur- prised that their students are per- forming high-level engineering and math problems euid functions. Their

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teachers would say those same stu- dents couldn't even handle general math. "I couldn't handle it either if I were bored to death by how it was taught," says Schultz. "That is the secret to our success."

Some parents, particularly those of college-bound students, are re- sistant to the idea their child should go through career academies. They associate them with traditional voc-ed training, and, because they want their kids to go to college, they don't like it, says Dayton, who calls parents' worries unfounded.

"Career academies don't steer kids away from college; they en- courage them to go to college and grad school and professional schools," he says. "More acad- emy grads go on to four-year colleges than the general track."

Changing perception is a slow process, he says, and it means getting people to catch on that career and college are not opposing goals. "The more education you get, the better your career will be," he says.

In fact, many CTE students leave high school with college credits, even an associate degree, because programs increasingly partner with local colleges and universities to offer college credit courses.

Some parents weren't happy with Florida's ninth-grade major requirement. Connie Scotchel- Gross, career education manager of the Palm Beach County School

District, says parents don't fully understand that students won't be stuck with narrow choices and that they will be able to change. She notes that career paths cover all professions.

"Thinking about career paths early will keep them interested in high school," she says. "It's an op- portunity to hook them early on."

And, as educators have discov- ered in a stark way, hooking them early on is important, considering the high dropout rate that many communities face.

"Look at the dropout studies. Students aren't falling through the cracks; it's the Grand Canyon," says Gordon, author of The 2010 Melt-

Students also need career component education so that they can see the connections.

down. "Students are dropping out because they are bored and see no connection between what they study and the real world. They need Shakespeare and history and biol- ogy, but they also need career com- ponent education so they can see the connections."

Career and technical education does not use a one-size-fits-all ap- proach, and it can take various forms according to the needs of school districts, communities.

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and employers and businesses in those communities. Here are four types commonly found in today's schools:

Part-time technical high schools. Students at the Auburn Technical High School in Auburn, Ohio, attend part-time; they go to their home high school for gen- eral academic classes and extra- curricular activities. Because Au-

Its charter status allowed the district

a great deal of flexibility In the

approach it was using.

burn is also a postsecondary insti- tution that offers adult and workforce training, students can earn college credits while attend- ing high school. Says Tom Schultz, the school's superintendent, "70% of my students are enrolled in further education upon gradua- tion."

Full-time technical high schools. Delaware changed from part-time to full-time technical high schools. Pat Savini, superintendent of the Sussex Technical High School, says. his school has all the elements of a traditional high school. "We have our own band and yearbook. We give out school diplomas like other schools," he says. Having the stu- dents enrolled full-time means bet- ter integration of academics and

career skills, he says, and it shows in their achievement scores, which have risen since the school switched.

Charter technical high schools. The Coweta County School System in Newnan, Georgia, chartered the Central Education Center after talk- ing to parents, community mem- bers, and business leaders about the types of career and technical

education it should offer its students. CEO Mark Whitlock says the charter status gave the district a great deal of flex- ibility in its approach. "We are a hybrid," says Whitlock. "We're partially a high school and. partially a technical col- lege."

Career academies. Career acad- emies are smaller learning commu- nities within high schools that fo- cus on career pathways that can lead students to careers and to higher education. School counse- lors in eighth-grade help students choose the right pathway for them. High schools in Palm Beach County, Florida, have 94 career academies, according to Connie Scotchel- Gross, career education manager. The academies are based on the 16 career clusters outlined by the U.S. Department of Education (www. d o e . s t a t e . d e . u s / T e c h - P r e p / 16_Career_Clusters.htm).

Career academies are one way of delivering career and technical education that has attracted a great deal of attention and money from

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high school reform advocates, non- profit foundations, and the federal government.

These small schools-within- schools embody the elements of what many in the high school re- form movement say all high schools should strive for: high academic standards for all students; small groups of students moving together with the same teachers; and a themed career approach, with stu- dents having many connections to the outside world of work. This is perhaps why they are being em- braced by so many districts looking to break down large, comprehensive high schools into smaller learning commu- nities.

Despite their recent explo- sion in growth, career acad- emies are by no means new: The first was established in Philadelphia in 1965. The MDRC re- search group wanted to find out if career acadeniies helped students in low-income neighborhoods go to college and do well in their careers. MDRC researcher James Kemple and his team started in 1994 to fol- low nine career academies in low-income neighborhoods at high schools with high dropout rates.

"Prior studies had looked at ca- reer academy s t a r t u p s , " says Kemple. "But we wanted well-esta- blished, sustained programs. The real question was, does it have an impact on academic performance and workforce prep?"

Kemple's study, which is still ongoing, is considered the gold standard because it contains a con- trol group—unusual for education research. At each of the nine acad- emies, students were admitted by lottery. The students who applied but weren't admitted are also being studied.

The most recent set of results, • published in 2004, revealed that career academies had a substantial effect on earnings and employment rates, Kemple says. The academy students had 18% higher earnings

Still not shown, at this point, is whether career academies have any effect on student achievement.

than the control group students four years after high school gradu- ation.

One thing the ongoing studies have not shown, says Kemple, is whether Ccireer academies have any effect—positive or negative—on achievement. Both groups of stu- dents graduated at higher rates than the national average for minority students.

"Even though t h e s e were low-performing schools on average, they are not monolithic," says Kemple. "The students in the con- trol group found other opportuni- ties to succeed." SB

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