Career Academies Prove to Be Viable Alternative to Traditional High School

Numbering about 2,500 in total, Career Academies still represent a relatively small percentage of public secondary school options. However, a new report from James J. Kemple (photo below) and Cynthia J. Willner reveals these lesser-known institutions are having a powerful impact on students, particularly one of the highest at-risk groups, minority males.

The study, a long-term and in-depth examination of nine career academies, has been an ongoing focus of MDRC, an organization known for its rigorous analysis. Created in 1974 by the Ford Foundation and a group of federal agencies, MDRC utilizes the “same highly reliable methodology that is used to test new medicines” to evaluate policies and programs that target low-income people. The work of MDRC seeks to remove the emotion and ideology that often dominate public debates and replace it with objective, unbiased evidence.

Career Academies
Career Academies, established about thirty years ago, have been steadily growing in number. Focused on creating greater student engagement, career academies seek to help students transition successfully to postsecondary education and employment.

Each academy is organized as a small learning community, generally serving between 150 and 200 individuals beginning in either grade 9 or 10 and continuing through grade 12. Though employability is a key component of these schools, the focus of these schools transcends the world of work. Career Academies seek to combine academic and technical curricula, then tie the two to a career theme.

One fundamental component of these academies is to establish partnerships with local employers. Such collaboration provides students work-based learning opportunities and access to a wealth of adult role models.

Key Report Findings
The report examined the impact of these these academies by studying the “labor market prospects and postsecondary educational attainment” of students over the eight year period following graduation. The study looked at more than 1,400 students, approximately 85 percent of whom were Hispanic or African-American.

The Career Academies had a statistically positive impact on a student’s potential earning power. According to the report, academy graduates sustained earnings gains that averaged 11 percent, more than $2,000 more per year on average for Academy group members than the earnings of those from a non-Academy control group.

As we noted earlier, the most positive development was the impact on males. The study notes that the “labor market impacts were concentrated among young men, a group that has experienced a severe decline in real earnings in recent years.”

Because of increased wages, the number of hours worked, and their employment stability, the “earnings of the Academy group increased by $3,731 (17 percent) per year — or nearly $30,000 over eight years.”

In addition to the increased earnings, the Career Academies were found to have a higher percentage of young people living independently with children and a spouse or partner. Another statistically significant development included the positive impacts young men from Career Academies had on marriage and being a custodial parent.

Though producing a potentially more viable workforce, the Career Academies did not appear to have been more effective than options available to the non-Academy group when it came to completion of high school or a postsecondary program. The study found that “more than 90 percent of both groups graduated from high school or received a General Educational Development (GED) certificate, and half completed a postsecondary credential.”

In addition, another limitation came in the impact on females. In fact, Career Academies could not claim the same positive numbers for young women as they could claim from the males.

School to Work Critics
The study also tackles the key concerns that some experts offer regarding school-to-work type initiatives.

The researchers note, “critics of school-to-work transition initiatives and career-technical programs contend that programs like Career Academies track students into classes and work experiences that orient them toward immediate entry into the labor market. Such criticism sometimes suggests that this orientation comes at the expense of preparation for and opportunities to attend college.”

One of the key elements of this study is the fact that Career Academies demonstrate it is possible to accomplish the “goals of school-to-career and career-technical education without compromising academic goals.”

In fact, the researchers concluded, “Rigorous evidence is beginning to emerge that suggests that integrating academic content with applied learning activities can improve student achievement. In addition, the Academies’ partnerships with local employers can also offer students unique guidance about the education and skill requirements of various occupations in their career field. These experiences may serve to increase students’ aspirations and motivate them to pursue postsecondary education.

The Varied Impacts
The impact of career-related experiences during high school for young men is definitely noteworthy. Career Academies appear to be one of the very few youth-focused interventions to positively impact the labor market prospects of young males. With young minority males, particularly low-income teenagers, struggling in today’s job market, the effects of Career Academies becomes increasingly significant.

It is believed that the key component to the success of young males is the Career Academy’s work component. Providing young men exposure to adults in a real-world, work environment gives low income teenagers access to critical role models, particularly working males. In addition, the work experience serves to expand the group of caring adults for students, adding to those that already exist at home and school, by providing yet another group in a critical new location, the work place.

While explanations existed for the positive outcomes for males, the researchers had great difficulty explaining why the same effects were not present for women. According to published reports, the researchers plan to study possible factors for the lack of impact among young women.

Possibilities include the potential impact that raising children had on females. Child-rearing could also delay completion of post-secondary schooling for young women, an option that could lead to greater future earnings as young women complete such programming.

Options for Students
These results clearly indicate that Career Academies are worthy of continued consideration. Any location, urban or rural, where male drop out rates are significant should give careful thought to adding such a program.

In addition, we have previously noted on several occasions the need for America to create more schooling options for students. The Career Academy is an example of such an option.

At the same time, the differing success rates for males and females within the Career Academies concept further supports our view of the need for additional options. In fact, one other key finding from the MDRC study has received very little media attention, yet it too appears to reiterate our point about educational options. The researchers acknowledged that “only 55 percent of students who were selected to enroll in the Career Academies remained in those programs through their scheduled graduation.”

Unfortunately, the push from NCLB is generally causing high schools to become more uniform in their approach and to use academics to drive all aspects of the learning process for many students. Career Academies demonstrate that such a move is a disservice to students.