September 5, 2010
September 5, 2010
Education must be rigorous and relevant. Rigor means that what is taught and experienced reflects a high level of expression of that knowledge that is found in the real-world. Relevance means that what is taught and experienced demonstrates a clear connection to the context in which that knowledge is derived and applied.
Success Factors Resources:
Align the school district’s portfolio of interest-based and career-themed pathways with in-demand, high-skilled employment sectors that reflect the needs and opportunities within the region. This ongoing reflection of programs against the world of employment is necessary to keep programs fresh and vibrant.
Implementation Resources:
Aligning Training and Education Systems with the Global Marketplace
Workforce Strategy Center
July 2007
This report, from the League for Innovation in the Community College, gives a short overview of the use of the career pathways system to help students succeed in the global marketplace. It states, “Ultimately, pathways generate opportunities for more people to move up educational and career ladders while acquiring the necessary credentials and skills to compete in the knowledge workforce and achieve economic success."
Workforce Strategy Center
August 2006
This longer report takes a more in depth look at the concept of career pathways and economic alignment. It provides case studies and best practices, compares career pathways to other alignment mechanisms, and outlines opportunities and challenges for moving forward.
High School Reform and Work: Facing Labor Market Realities
June 2006
Education Testing Service
This research report takes a close look at the intersection between high school reform and the job market. The purpose of the paper was to “to bring to the attention of educators and policymakers the body of facts and knowledge about present and future work requirements, including what employers say they want — and need — from their employees.” It includes results from employer surveys, and discusses the education and skills that will be needed for the jobs of the future. It also includes information on job openings and education clusters, such as information on the jobs with the most openings.
America’s Forgotten Middle Skill Jobs
Skills2Compete
November 2007
This paper looks at the kinds of skills, education and training that are most appropriate for today’s students, in light of changes in the U.S. economy. It defines high-, middle-, and low-skilled jobs, examines the occupational demand for education and training, discusses the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Standards (BLS) occupational projections, projects the future supply of skills and supply and demand, and provides state- and industry-level evidence for middle-skill demand and limited supply. The paper concludes that, “While further aid for those enrolling in four-year college programs is clearly critical, we must also provide other pathways to labor market success for those who cannot enroll in or complete such degrees. Labor market opportunities will clearly be available to such individuals, and proven education and training paths exist for both the current and future workforce.” It also contains a number of useful tables pulled from BLS data.
Council on Competitiveness
2008
This paper focuses on skills strategies for the future workforce. Its key take-aways include:
Occupational Supply Demand System
Georgia Career Information System
This Web site provides information and resources that will assist with the analysis and discussion of supply and demand issues relevant to today's labor market. It provides information on programs of study, career clusters, and occupations by state, including info on wage trends, and jobs that are the fastest growing and have the most openings.
Back to TopEnsure strong connections between teachers, counselors and education leaders to the workplace; these connections will include the active participation of employers serving as advisory board members, guest speakers to students, mentors to teachers and students, and the participation of teachers in workplace externships. These experiences allow the teacher to bring back the knowledge and sense of content relevance they gain to their students. A single teacher externship can affect hundreds of students.
Implementation Resources:
Southern Regional Education Board
2001
This information guide outlines steps for planning successful job shadowing experiences for teachers. It includes information on the importance of helping students see that school learning counts, and ready-made sample materials that can be used to set up, conduct and follow up a job shadowing experience.
Houston A+ Challenge
This Web site provides a wealth of information on the extensive teacher externship program in the Houston Independent School District. It includes information for teachers and business, testimonials of past participants, tips for developing successful work plans, and application materials.
Techniques Magazine – Association for Career and Technical Education
November/December 2007
This issue of the magazine was written around the “Business Partnerships” theme. Articles include:
The Skills Imperative: How Career and Technical Education Can Solve the U.S. Talent Shortage
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
2008
While focused primarily on career and technical education, this paper provides detailed information on ways that businesses can engage with education programs and help teachers and students gain important skills through relevant instruction. It includes specific action steps that can be shared with business partners related to activities such as internships and mentoring, and case studies of how chambers of commerce can help shape education.
Back to TopDeliver content in all courses, from core academic courses to electives and career-related courses, in a way that stresses the real-world source, context, and application of that knowledge. Also, emphasize simulations of business and civic applications.
Implementation Resources:
Integrated Academic and Career/Technical Learning Shows Real-Life Applications of Education
Southern Regional Education Board
2008
This newsletter from High Schools that Work provides examples of projects using real-life approaches and hands-on projects to blend academic and career/technical content in making learning more authentic for students. A sampling of projects profiled includes:
Southern Regional Education Board
2008
This report outlines results of a forum of state education chiefs, CTE leaders and other education decision-makers from 12 states who gathered to explore more deeply the significant contributions career/technical education can make to high school reform. It outlines challenges states face in combining technical and academic studies for improved learning, provides actions states can take to overcome these challenges, and highlights current best practices and policies. You can also download related state and district assessment tools.
The Writing Site
This Web site presents a model for writing-across-the-curriculum and writing to learn. It discusses five levels of writing: capturing ideas, responding correctly, editing for focus correction areas, peer editing for focus correction areas, and publishing; and contains tips and tools for implementing the program.
International Center for Leadership in Education
This Web site provides information on the “Rigor and Relevance Framework,” a key component of the Model Schools Program. According to the site, “The Rigor/Relevance Framework is a tool developed by staff of the International Center for Leadership in Education to examine curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The Rigor/Relevance Framework is based on two dimensions of higher standards and student achievement.” The site provides basic information on using the framework, and links to numerous publications that can be accessed for more resources.
Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies
Ford Motor Company Fund
This Web site provides detailed information and resources on the Ford PAS program. Ford PAS is “an academically rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum and program that provides students with content knowledge and skills necessary for future success—in such areas as business, economics, engineering, and technology. The inquiry- and project-based program offers a series of modules that links learning in traditional academic subjects with the challenges students will face in post-secondary education and with the expectations of the workplace they will face as adults.”
ConnectEd
This Web site outlines California’s multiple pathways model. Pathways are programs of high school study that connect learning in the classroom with real-world applications outside of school. They integrate rigorous academic instruction with a demanding technical curriculum and field-based learning—all set in the context of one of California’s 15 major industry sectors. The site includes an implementation toolkit, as well as information on model programs and other research and information.
Back to TopEncourage ongoing and sustained collaboration between academic and CTE teachers to ensure that academic knowledge and content are supplemented in CTE courses and those real-world contexts are brought into core academic classes. Teachers should learn and practice project-based learning and inquiry-based learning techniques to strengthen student connections to real-world context.
Implementation Resources:
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
The math-in-CTE project of the National CTE Research Center has expanded from the original scientifically based research study into a full-scale professional development program. The Math-in-CTE model is a curriculum integration model designed to enhance mathematics that is embedded in career and technical education (CTE) content. This Web site provides in depth information on the project and its related professional development.
Techniques Magazine – Association for Career and Technical Education
November/December 2008
The theme of this issue of Techniques magazine was “Integrating CTE and Academics.” Articles include:
Can Combining Academic and Career-Technical Education Improve High School Outcomes in California?
California Dropout Research Project
2007
This paper reviews the evidence on effects of career academies, dual academic/CTE concentrations, and the infusion of academics into CTE courses. It concludes that, “Despite the challenges of implementation and the incompleteness of the evidence that these strategies produce the desired effects, the necessity of reconciling universal college aspirations with the realities of labor markets implies that programs combining academic and career-technical curriculum will—and should—continue to develop.”
Career Academies as a Professionally Engaging And Supportive Teaching Experience
Education and Urban Society
2005
This research paper examines the collaborative teaching aspect of career academies through a look at the National Academy Foundation’s teacher professional development, curriculum materials, technical assistance, and linkages to industry-specific employers. It found that “NAF’s resources uniquely influence outcomes for participating teachers, demonstrating the added benefit of intermediary support in fostering instructional coherence, student-centered instruction, and teacher effectiveness.”
Smaller Learning Communities that Actually Learn: Lessons for School Leaders
Phi Delta Kappan
May 2005
This article looks at ways that smaller learning communities can create collaborative communities of teachers that have great potential for bringing about improvements in teaching and learning. It provides tips for school and district leaders to ensure these communities are effective, including:
Give every student the opportunity to participate in real-world and work-based learning activities to strengthen their understanding of how knowledge and skills are applied to solve challenges (including problem-based and project-based learning, service learning, job shadowing, career fairs, internships).
Implementation Resources:
Engaged for Success: Service-Learning as a Tool for High School Dropout Prevention
Civic Enterprises
April 2008
This report discusses the concept of service learning and its potential benefits to students related to engagement and high school graduation, and outlines policy pathways that should be followed at the local, state and federal levels to ensure implementation.
National Service Learning Clearinghouse
Learn and Serve America
This Web site provides a wide variety of information on service learning projects, including links to numerous tool kits that can aid in establishing service learning programs in education settings.
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
2007
Job Shadow Coalition & JA Worldwide
The Job Shadow Coalition launched this Web site to promote its year-round effort to introduce young people to the world of work through job shadowing experiences and provide useful information and resources for successful job shadowing efforts. It includes newsletters, links to partner organizations with additional information, and information for educators and employers.
Connecting Youth to Work-Based Learning
State of Minnesota, Department Of Children, Families & Learning
2003
This manual was designed to assist persons responsible for high school work-based learning programs and activities. It includes in depth information on program components, program guidelines, activities like worksite fieldtrips, job shadowing, career mentorships, service-learning, school-based youth entrepreneurship, internships, and paid work experiences. A special section is included on working with special populations.
Preparing Youth for Careers, Lifelong Learning, and Civic Participation
American Youth Policy Forum
2006
This report discusses the principles and characteristics of six leading United States youth development programs with work-based learning components. Programs profiled include: