Why Ford PAS

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Career Academy Data Updated 2-12-09
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The career academy model celebrates its 40th
anniversary in May 2009 in Philadelphia. As
interest in the career academy model has grown,
so has the desire to study career academies. We
now have a range of data to draw on, from
self-reporting career academy networks to
carefully-controlled and federally-funded
longitudinal studies. These are reported in the
slides that follow.As Florida and other states
link career academy students to individual
student identifiers, we will soon be able to
follow large populations of students from high
school through college and into the workforce.
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Career Academy Data Philadelphia

• Philadelphia was the birthplace of the modern
  Career Academy in 1969
• Now it is the home of 34 Career Academies
• Approximately 10 (7,000) of Philadelphias high
  school students learn in these Academies
• Strong business support
• Academy students regularly achieve
• 90 graduation rate
• 60 go to college

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Career Academy Data Bay Area, California

• A 2000 study of Bay Area, California, Career
  Academies found that students enrolled in
  Academies enjoyed the following successes, as
  compared to non-academy students in the same
  schools
• Average GPAs were nearly .5 higher
• Test scores were 3040 higher
• Drop-out rates were 50 lower
• 8.2 more Academy students continued to 2- and
  4-year colleges
• 15.9 more attended 4-year colleges
• Source Maxwell Rubin

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Career Academy Data Sacramento

• In the Sacramento City district, a Gates/Carnegie
  grant supported the creation of a district-wide
  system where nearly all students learn in small
  learning communities, the majority of which have
  career themes
• Because all students learn in Career Academies,
  the following table on the following slides shows
  the pure Career Academy effect

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SacramentoDrop-out Rates Decrease
Source Sacramento City District, Gates/Carnegie
Grant
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SacramentoGraduation Rates Increase
Source Sacramento City District, Gates/Carnegie
Grant
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SacramentoThe Number of Students Taking the SAT
Increases
Source Sacramento City District, Gates/Carnegie
Grant
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SacramentoSuspensions Decrease
Source Sacramento City District, Gates/Carnegie
Grant
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SacramentoExpulsions Decrease
Source Sacramento City District, Gates/Carnegie
Grant
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Increased Earnings and Job Prospects for Young Men

• MDRC, a non-profit research organization in New
  York, found, through a scientifically crafted
  longitudinal study, that
• Career Academies substantially improve the
  labor market prospects of young men (a group that
  has experienced a severe decline in real earnings
  in recent years)
• Over a 4-year period, young men in the Academy
  group earned 2,088 (11) more than men in the
  non-academy group through
• Increased wages
• More hours worked
• Greater employment stability
• Full results available at www.mdrc.org/publication
  s/366/overview.html

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Findings in California

• Connect Ed (The California Center for College
  Career) and the Career Academy Support Network at
  UC Berkeley recently released a comprehensive
  study
• Compared 33,000 high school students in the
  states 290 California Partnership Academies
  (CPAs) with the general high school student
  population
• 2004-2005 school years
• Higher concentrations of minorities than general
  student population
• Latinos 46 vs. 41
• African-Americans 11 vs. 8
• Full report available at casn.berkeley.edu

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Findings in California
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Findings in California

• Additionally
• 70 of graduating CPA seniors planned to attend
  post-secondary schools (2- or 4-year)
• 23 of graduating CPA seniors planned to enter
  the workforce
• 20 of CPA juniors and seniors were enrolled in
  AP and IB (International Baccalaureate) classes
• 22 of CPA juniors and seniors enrolled in
  courses earning college credit
• 72 of juniors participated in mentorship
• 53 of seniors participated in work-based
  experiences related to their academies industry
  focus

Source Study by Connect Ed and the Career
Academy Support Network at UC Berkeley
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Using This Data

• To download the slides in this file as a
  PowerPoint presentation, click on the link below
  on the Career Academy Data webpage or visit
  www.fordnglc.org/nav_career.html