Carnegie Reporter, Vol. 3, No. 3 | Career and Technology Education: It's Not Just "Vocational Education" Anymore, page 3

Beyond Chattanooga

The academy concept is part of a new trend in vocational education, one that responds to the demand for higher academic standards and the changing needs of a modern-day workforce. And it is similar in some ways to the trend that initially brought vocational education into the classroom at the turn of the 20th century, when there were widespread concerns that America's youth was not prepared for the Industrial Revolution. At the time, apprenticeships were the norm and schools focused on the teaching of academic subjects and moral and civic values. "Learning the technical skills of a particular occupation still occurred on the job, not in the classroom," write Norton Grubb and Marvin Lazerson in their 2004 book, The Education Gospel (Harvard University Press, 2004). That began to change, the authors say, with the convergence of three key developments: a precipitous drop in the youth labor movement, the declining use of apprenticeships and the Industrial Revolution itself. By mid-century, vocational education had become a crucial component of the comprehensive American high school. In fact, the authors note, "It created the comprehensive high school," which, in the years following World War II, was "the citadel of American democracy, defending the American way of life and expressing the triumph of education."

But in recent years, "the high school has lost its luster," argue Grubb and Lazerson, and vocational education has been losing ground to the push for higher standards, which began in 1983 when the National Commission on Excellence in Education released the report A Nation at Risk. The report famously warned that deteriorating standards were leading to a "rising tide of mediocrity" in American education, and ever since, policymakers have made academic standards a top priority. In their effort to help young Americans become more successful students who are better prepared to participate in an increasingly knowledge-based economy, politicians and educators have implemented the use of accountability measures and standardized tests, initially on a piecemeal basis and later, with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, as nationwide policy. But critics like Grubb and Lazerson say that crucial aspects of a high school education--including vocational education--have been overlooked by the dual strategies of testing and accountability.

Some efforts to upgrade vocational education were far enough along that they simply adapted to the onset of standards-based reform, says Betsy Brand, director of the Washington, DC-based Youth Policy Forum. While educators focused almost exclusively on language and math, however, many vocational education programs floundered. "There are only so many hours in the day," Brand explains. "But people have kind of gotten over this big hump of standards," she notes. "We realize we have to change instruction, because that's what it really comes down to, and we could use a lot of the approaches of CTE to improve instruction and to make it more relevant and meaningful to kids." In short, educators are beginning to see how vocational education can help--not hinder--their efforts to improve test scores and graduation rates. Brand calls it a "reemergence." Gene Bottoms of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), calls it an "awakening." Either way, it's a renewed effort--at least in some places--to make vocational education a key component of high school reform.

"Quality CTE can play a major role for some youngsters," Bottoms says. "It can help them see the reason for taking more demanding academics. It gives them a way to see a goal through high school. And, increasingly, it's a way to link together high school and postsecondary studies." Bottoms is the director of a high school reform program called High Schools That Work (HSTW), a SREB initiative. Launched in 1987, it urges high schools to follow 10 key principles, including a commitment to vocational education and high academic standards. It also calls on teachers and administrators to keep score--not only by analyzing student performance data, but also by way of extensive teacher and student surveys. "One of the important things about the HSTW model," says Betty Jordan of the West Virginia Department of Education, "is that it encourages folks to use multiple sources of data to make decisions." The student survey alone asks--among other things--about the kinds of courses students are taking, how much reading is involved, if they stand in front of class to make presentations and if vocational teachers incorporate math skills in their lesson plans. West Virginia adopted the SREB format as its official blueprint for high school reform in the mid 1990s, and ever since there's been a gradual improvement in test scores and graduation rates. "We're really making an impact on school culture," Jordan says.

High Schools That Work is one of several models that have evolved in the past ten-to-twenty years to upgrade vocational education for a 21st century society. Career academies, much like the ones in Chattanooga, are another. And a third is known as pathways. The pathways approach, which is not affiliated with any particular organization, calls on students to follow a career path--or a major--while they're in high school. In Oregon, where pathways are used extensively throughout the state, the process begins in the freshman and sophomore years. That's when "rich career information is given to students so they can get a handle on the idea that some day 'I might have to work,'" says Jim Schoelkopf of the Oregon Department of Education. At the end of their sophomore year, students select a career major to pursue for the next two years. They may pick from six career areas (such as Arts and Communications or Business and Management), and the goal is to provide students with enough information and enough firsthand experience to help them make wise decisions when they graduate. "They may find they don't want to do something" Schoelkopf said, "and that's learning. Let's give them an early exposure, but not track them."

Regardless of the approach--be it High Schools That Work, career academies or pathways--there are two common themes in this new form of career and technology education. One is an emphasis on academic standards and the other is a much broader definition of vocation, one that includes a vast array of courses that teach kids how to become nurses, doctors, architects, builders, teachers, dentists, marketing executives and veterinarians. Vocational education--in many places--no longer caters to students at the bottom end of the education spectrum, says Constancia Warren, senior program officer and director of Carnegie Corporation's Urban High School Initiatives. In these places, it has become an option for all students. "This is for a broader range of kids than most people think," Warren said. "And it's important that it be for a broader range of kids. Some very bright students cannot connect to more traditional instruction and some supposedly not-very-bright students may discover new talents and a sense of purpose in these schools."

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