OVERVIEW

The Career Academies program is designed to provide information, technical and academic skills, enhance engagement and performance in school, and, overall, enable participants to make a successful transition to postsecondary education and, later, a career. The program operates on the school level, with a specific type of structure and curriculum, and on the community level, through business partnerships and job opportunities with local employers. Target participants are high school students in schools and school districts with various high risk characteristics (e.g., high dropout and unemployment rates). Experimental evaluations show that participants in Career Academies experienced several positive impacts, including a greater likelihood of graduating high school on time, more motivation to attend school, and having high-quality work-based learning activities while in high school. For youth at the most risk of dropping out of school, participation in the program also led to lower dropout rates, higher attendance, and appears to have forestalled their disengagement from school.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Kemple, J. (1997). Career Academies: Communities of support for students and teachers: Further findings from a 10-site evaluation. New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.

Evaluated population: 1,406 students and 468 teachers

Objective:
Assess the extent to which academies function as 'communities of support' for teachers and students
Measurement instrument:
Questionnaires completed by students and teachers during their first or second year in the study
Evaluation:
Type: Experimental: random assignment to control and treatment groups
Statistical techniques: significance testing, significance level =.10, two-tailed test
Outcome:
Academy students were more likely than their non-academy counterparts to report that teachers give them personalized attention and have high expectations of them; to report that their classmates are highly engaged in school and work with them on school projects and assignments; to report that they were intrinsically motivated to attend school; and to perceive a strong connection between what they learned in school and their longer-term education and career interests.

Kemple, J., Poglinco, S., & Snipes, J. (1999). Career Academies: Building career awareness and work-based learning activities through employer partnerships. New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.

Evaluated population
1,600 academy and nonacademy students at the end of 12th grade

Objective:
Examine the employer partnerships and how they evolved. Assess the extent to which CA increased student participation in various career awareness and work-based learning activities.
Measurement instrument:
Field research survey administered to about 1,600 academy and non-academy students at the end of 12th grade.
Evaluation:
Type: Experimental (random assignment); qualitative
Statistical techniques: regression adjusted to control for background characteristics of sample members. Significance level =.10
Outcome:
Students in the academy group were more likely to work, and more likely to work in jobs that were connected to school and that incorporated "high" levels of work-based learning content. More likely to be exposed to career-related themes or activities in school, and participate in job-shadowing or field trips; more likely to have high-quality work-based learning experiences during high school. Academy students participated more frequently and intensively than nonacademy students in career awareness and work-based learning activities. Students in academies with highly structured employer partnerships or support from nonteaching employer coordinators reported greater participation in CA and work-based learning activities than those in academies with less structure.

Kemple, J. & Snipes, J. (2000). Career Academies: Impacts on students' engagement and performance in high school. New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.

Evaluated population: 1,764 students; 959 in the program group, 805 in the control group

Objective:
To what extent does the Career Academy approach alter the high school environment in ways that better support students? To what extent does it change educational, employment, and youth development outcomes for students at greater or lesser risk of school failure? How do the manner and context in which Career Academy programs are implemented influence their effects on student outcomes?
Measurement instrument:
School records (daily attendance rates, credits earned, course-taking patterns), student surveys (asking about school experiences, employment and work-related experiences, extracurricular activities, preparation for college and postsecondary jobs, and plans for the future), standardized math and reading tests. Qualitative field research.
Evaluation:
Type: Experimental; random assignment of youths who applied for the program into a program group and a control group who did not receive CA services.
Statistical techniques: difference-in-means, significance testing, significance level =.10
Outcome:
Substantially improved outcomes, especially among students at high risk of dropping out: reduced dropout rates, improved attendance, increased academic course-taking, and increased likelihood of earning enough credits to graduate on time. Without access to academies, a high percentage of nonacademy students in the high-risk subgroup became even more disengaged from school. Among students least likely to drop out of high school, the CA site increased the likelihood of graduating on time and increased the number of vocational course-taking by these students without reducing their likelihood of completing a basic core academic curriculum. Did not improve standardized math and reading achievement test scores. Both academy and nonacademy students who reported that they received strong support from teachers and peers in 9th or 10th grade were less likely to drop out of high school, exhibit chronic absenteeism, or engage in risk-taking behaviors than students who reported less interpersonal support.
Other information:
High-risk students entered the study with background characteristics indicating that they were disengaged from school. More than half had failed courses during the 9th grade, about one-third were chronically absent, most had low grade-point averages, and over 40 percent had been held back in a previous grade.
Students had varying degrees of exposure to CA programs. The evaluation does not yet include information about the rates at which these students actually graduated from high school and whether the dropouts eventually returned to pursue a degree. Approximately 88 percent of the students selected for admission to a Career Academy actually enrolled in the programs; 58 percent of those selected remained in an academy throughout high school.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION
 

Link to program curriculum: http://casn.berkeley.edu/resources/mentor_handbook.html 
 

References:

Kemple, J. (1997). Career Academies: Communities of support for students and teachers: Further findings from a 10-site evaluation. New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.

Kemple, J., Poglinco, S., & Snipes, J. (1999). Career Academies: Building career awareness and work-based learning activities through employer partnerships. New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.

Kemple, J. & Snipes, J. (2000). Career Academies: Impacts on students' engagement and performance in high school. New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.

Program also discussed in the following Child Trends publication(s):

Jekielek, S., Cochran, S. W., & Hair, E. (2002). Employment programs and youth development: A synthesis. Washington, DC: Child Trends.

SUMMARY & CATEGORIZATION

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: high school students / Program age ranges in the Guide: 15-21

Program components: school-based, service/vocational, community/media

Measured outcomes: life skills, education/cognitive

Program information last updated 3/14/07

© Child Trends 2003