Strategies for Student Development through Career

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Strategies for Student Development through Career
Technical Education

• L. Allen Phelps, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Essential and Emerging Insights

• Clarity of Outcomes Matters
• Expanding Learner Diversity
• Renewing Career and Technical Education
• Redesigning High Schools for All Youth
• Data-driven Decision-making is Imperative

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• Renewing CTE
• Secondary-post-secondary programs of study
• Career clusters
• SLCs w/career themes
• Academic and technical skills

• Expanding Learner Diversity
• Gender
• Disability
• ELL
• Ethnicity
• SES
• Dropouts
• NEET

• Outcomes
• Careers
• College
• Civic engage-ment

• Policy Influences
• Performance Accountability
• Access to postsecondary education
• Equitable Access for Special Populations

• Policy Influences
• Disaggregation of data
• Performance gaps
• Dis-proportionality

• Redesigning High Schools
• Academic engagement
• Personalized learning environ.
• Engaged youth communities
• Aligned standards and systems
• Empowered educators
• Accountable leaders

• Policy Influences
• State Systems of Support
• Highly Qualified Teachers
• Supplemental Education Services

A FRAMEWORK FOR ALIGNING CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN HIGH SCHOOLS
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Post School OutcomesStatus 2 Years Beyond High
School

• Career Outcomes NELS88 NLTS2 (1-2 yr)
• Employment 65 50
• Wages 70 gtFed min.
• Satisfying Work 65 82
• College Outcomes 63 37
• Enrolled 2 year 22 21
• Enrolled 4 year 36 10
• Enrolled Technical 5 6
• Civic Engagement
• Volunteering 30 25
• Registered to Vote 64
• Not Employed or in Education and Training 7.3
• Source 1994 SRI (2005)

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Changing Student Populations
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Extent of CTE Participation

• According to the NCES, the 1998 high school
  grads
• 96.5 completed at least one course,
• 61.5 completed three courses in any of ten
  program areas
• 25.0 completed three or more credits in one
  program area, e.g., health care, marketing, child
  care education
• Completed 25 credits with 4.0 in career-technical
  courses in 1998.
• Completed 21.6 credits with 4.6 in
  career-technical courses in 1982.

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Expanding Learner DiversityPercent of 1998
Seniors in CTE

• Course- Invest- Concen-
• takers ors trators
• All seniors 96.5 61.5 25.0
• Students with a disability 99.1 83.0 37.5
• Limited English proficient 95.8 52.2 8.7
• GPA gt2.0 98.8 75.2 35.2

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College and Career Preparation

• Curriculum Specialization 1982 1990 1994
• Total 100 100 100
• College preparation only 8.1 25.9 32.2
• Career concentration only 33.1 25.0 20.9
• Both college preparation and
• career concentration 0.6 2.8 4.6
• Other/general 58.2 46.3 42.4
• Source NCES http//nces.ed.gov/pubs99/1999072/

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Optimal Mix of Academic and CTE

• A combination of 3 CTE courses and 4 academic
  courses reduces the probability of dropping out
  for at-risk courses. (Plank)
• Recent research evidence indicates that
  participation in CTE does not increase academic
  test performance (NAVE)
• CTE courses neither hurt nor help students
  chances of going to college, but they are
  associated with a shift away from bachelors
  degrees toward earning associates degrees or
  certificates (NAVE)

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CTE/Academic CoursesOptimal Student Engagement
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Career Academies Data

• No studies examining access to or effects for
  students with disabilities.
• Male graduates of career academies had
  significant long term earnings benefits (18
  greater over 4 years, 10K differential) over
  female graduates. (Kemple)
• Higher student satisfaction, attendance, grade
  point averages, and course credits earned (3
  studies)

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Career Academies, additional data

• Lower absenteeism and dropout rates (3 studies)
• Postsecondary education outcomes that are at or
  above the national averages for preparation,
  enrollment (particularly in 4-year colleges), and
  success (3 studies). However, most longitudinal
  studies do not reveal significant
  effects/advantages for career academy and
  non-academy participants from similar communities
  and backgrounds.

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Curriculum Integration

• In a review of qualitative studies reviewed by
  Eisenmann (2000), the integration of academic
  and vocational curricula promoted meaningful
  engagement and inclusion of students with
  disabilities by increasing persistence, academic
  achievement, and postsecondary engagement.
• Project Lead the Way a 6-course pre-engineering
  curriculum aligned with science, math, and
  technology education standards.
• Emphasizes real-world problem solving and
  interaction with engineers and technicians
• Principles of Engineering, Digital Electronics,
  Biomedical Eng.

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Project Lead the WayStudent Engagement in 4
High Schools
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School Based Enterprises

• In a large longitudinal database, some
  career-focused high school programs (school-based
  enterprises) have positive effects on going to
  college while others do not (Tech Prep, job
  shadowing, mentoring, apprenticeships, and
  cooperative education). (Neumark)
• Key Features of SBE for students with
  disabilities (Gugerty)
• Learned a myriad of business skills and real
  world business practices (e.g., ordering
  equipment, accounting and personnel management,
  customer relations)
• Experienced the critical relationship of math,
  language, interpersonal skills, and performance
  to personal and organizational success in a real
  world context.

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Work Based Learning

• Compared to other college students, graduates of
  high school youth apprenticeship programs in WI
  (4 courses and 1000 hours of work-based
  learning) enter college with comparable ACT
  scores, persist in college at the same rate with
  comparable grades, and are significantly more
  likely to complete an Associates degree than
  their peers. (Knox and Phelps, 1999)
• Youth with disabilities represented 5 of Youth
  Apprenticeship students
• Several studies conclude that some work during
  high school (15-20 hours) a week is correlated
  with better grades. (Kazis)

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CTE Practices in Place

• of all Public High Schools
  Offering
• Career Academies 21.5
• Written Career Plans for all students 57.0
• Career Majors (academic and CTE courses) 49.0
• Work-based Learning for credit 71.8
• Job Shadowing 60.0
• Dual Enrollment courses offered
• Academic focus 92.0
• CTE focus 51.0
• Source ELS 2002 and 2004

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Redesigned High Schools Key Features

• School A SwD 22 School B SwD 17
• Core Teaching and Learning Practices
• Integrated academic Service learning
  requirements curriculum
• Service learning Senior project to graduate
• internships
• Graduation by portfolio Critical friends group
  for
• and exhibitions professional development

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Redesigned High Schools, Results

• Graduates of two high schools using
  individualized, real-world approaches to learning
  (portfolios and senior projects for graduation,
  integrated academic curriculum, curriculum-linked
  service learning and internships, advisories,
  personal learning plans) reported substantially
  higher outcomes than national longitudinal study
  participants on the following measures
• entering a 4-year college,
• employment and job satisfaction, and
• participation in community groups.

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Restructured High Schools

• Coalition Campus Schools Project (2002), a 7-year
  study of a restructured NYC high school, Julia
  Richman High School
• Five independent small schools were created to
  replace a comprehensive high school operating
  with a 37 4-year graduation rate.
• Small school design features included small
  school size, reduced pupil load, advisement
  structures, and multiple strategies for active
  learning.

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Restructured High Schools Results

• As a group the five small schools produced
  substantially better attendance, lower incident
  rates, better performance on reading and writing
  assessments, higher graduation rates, and higher
  college-going rates than the previous school,
  despite serving a more educationally
  disadvantaged population of students.
• Prior to restructuring 7.3 were special
  education identified and 4.2 were served in
  resource rooms.
• In 2001, across the five small schools, 2.2
  were special education identified and 10.6 of
  students were served in resource rooms.

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Recommendations for State Teams

• Enhance State data system and planning capacity
• Develop longitudinal student record data using ID
  numbers to link records across schools and
  systems
• Ensure adequate assessment accommodations and
  alternate assessments
• Include untested students
• Measure academic growth using value added
  measures
• Create college and work readiness standards for
  all graduates
• Align federal performance requirements with State
  needs and priorities NCLB, IDEA, Perkins, WIA

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Recommendations for State Teams

• Develop/expand professional development
  partnerships
• Address big questions What do high school
  graduates need if they are to engage effectively
  in college, career and civic pursuits? Examine
  all stakeholders perspectives.
• Focus on data-driven instructional and inclusion
  leadership strategies (data retreats and equity
  audits)
• Support data analysis applications that are
  important at the classroom and school level,
  e.g., college and career success rates for
  academy or SBE graduates with disabilities.
• Create systems and incentives for measuring
  progress

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Contact Information

• Allen Phelps
• Director and Professor
• Center on Education and Work
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 608.263.2714
• aphelps_at_education.wisc.edu