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A study of student retentiveness, achievement, and program completion in a school -to -career program

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A study of student retentiveness, achievement, and program completion in a school -to -career program

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Content A STUDY OF STUDENT RETENTIVENESS, ACHIEVEMENT,
AND PROGRAM COMPLETION IN A
SCHOOL-TO-CAREER PROGRAM
by
Cynthia Alania Arceneaux
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
December 2005
Copyright 2005 Cynthia Alania Arceneaux
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UMI Number: 3233827
Copyright 2005 by
Arceneaux, Cynthia Alania
All rights reserved.
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Signature Page
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DEDICATION
I dedicate this work to the memory of my mother,
Edna Scott Arceneaux Prout,
whose encouragement, support, and love
continue to embrace and sustain me.
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iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would first like to thank my Committee: Dr. Stuart Gothold, Committee
Chair, for his endless patience, unceasing support, and continuous encouragement;
Dr. Charles Espalin for always being there for me when I began my administrative
career and for enthusiastically agreeing to serve on my Committee; and Dr. Melora
Sundt for agreeing to serve on my Committee even though she was not familiar with
my work or with me.
Additionally, to Dr. Kip Leland and Dr. Sharon Robinson my sincere
appreciation for your encouragement and assistance in validating the analysis coding
schema (organizing material into “chunks” before bringing meaning to those
“chunks”) and the internal reliability (the assumption that there is a single reality
which if studied repeatedly will give the same results); to colleagues and friends, Dr.
Evelyn Mahmud, Dr. Gail Greer, Dr. Daniel Lawson, and Dr. Robert Bamer, many
thanks for their encouragement and contributions to the overall success of this work;
and to USC staff, Deborah Chang, Mary Orduna, and Lisa Galvan, who patiently
provided assistance and support in numerous ways, many thanks and much
appreciation.
Finally, I am deeply and eternally indebted on many levels to my best friend,
Evelyn Rey, to long time friend, Alan Baylyff, and to former boss and friend, Merle
Price, for their friendship, compassion, and kindnesses during a myriad of trying
times and significant life issues.
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iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION.......................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................... iii
LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................... vi
ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................. vii
CHAPTER 1: A LESSON ON SCHOOL REFO RM ....................................... 1
Background............................................................................................ 1
Purpose.................................................................................................... 2
Introduction: The Evolution of the School-to-Career Program 2
Significance of the Study...................................................................... 15
Research Methods.................................................................................. 17
Organization of the Paper...................................................................... 19
CHAPTER 2: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE....................................... 21
Small Learning Communities: An Educational Reform Strategy 29
A School-Within-a-School: The Career Academy.............................. 39
Career Academies: “Building Blocks for Transforming America’s
High Schools” ............................................................................... 45
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH OF THE STUDY................................................... 53
Introduction............................................................................................ 53
A Profile of the Comprehensive High School...................................... 54
A Profile of the Career Academy.......................................................... 60
Research Methodology........................................................................... 68
Assumptions of the Study................................................. 72
Limitations of the Study........................................................................ 73
CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS OF THE DATA....................................................... 75
Introduction............................................................................................ 75
An Interview with the Counselor/Coordinator..................................... 76
Student Accountability........................................................................... 77
Business and Post-Secondary Organizations’ Accountability 79
Teacher Accountability.......................................................................... 82
Parent Accountability............................................................................. 85
Analyzing Data....................................................................................... 85
Analyzing Student Survey Data................................................... 86
Analyzing Teacher Survey Data.................................................. 92
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V
CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS OF THE STUDY...................................................... 99
How Certain Characteristics Typical to Academies Affect
and Impact Students..................................................................... 99
Services, Offerings, and Resources that Facilitate Teaching
and Learning.................................................................................. 105
The Integration of Academic and Career Curricula............................ 107
Practical Implications of the Results..................................................... 108
Challenges for Converting High Schools into Small Learning
Communities................................................................................. I l l
Recommendations for Future Research............................................... 112
REFERENCES........................................................................................................ 115
BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................... 126
APPENDICES......................................................................................................... 126
Appendix A: Student Survey...................................................................... 132
Appendix B: Teacher Survey...................................................................... 138
Appendix C: Interview with Counselor/Coordinator................................. 144
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vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Academic Performance Index (API) Data for Ethnic
Subgroups within the Academy............................................................ 57
Table 2: No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Criteria for
Highly Qualified Teachers.................................................................... 59
Table 3: Academy Curriculum Chart................................................................... 65
Table 4: University of California and California State University
“a-g” Requirements................................................................................ 83
Table 5: Teachers’ Class Schedules...................................................................... 94
Table 6: Themes from Student Survey................................................................. 104
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ABSTRACT
The School-to-Career (STC) Academy, a type of small learning community,
was primarily developed to raise students’ educational achievement by making the
connection between school and work, ensuring that students are provided time to
make learning more meaningful, and linking learning to real-life experiences.
Initially created to address the needs of at-risk and dropout students, the effective
implementation of the STC academies increased students’ participation in vocational
programs and enhanced their opportunities to learn. The exigency of educational
reform in large comprehensive high schools has ultimately led to the development of
small schools and small learning communities in the form of academies, houses, and
schools-within-a-school, as well as to the study of these entities as viable alternatives
to the large high school.
This qualitative study of a California Partnership [career] Academy— a
school-within-a-school housed on the campus of a large urban high school— reveals
evidence that student retentiveness, achievement, and program completion are
significantly effected by the following factors: students’ sharing the same classes and
teachers over a 3-year period, personalizing teaching and learning, building
relationships between students and adults, and increasing daily in-seat attendance,
participation in extracurricular activities, and the graduation rate while
simultaneously decreasing the drop-out rate. In addition, because academy students
are enrolled in a career-oriented, college-prep curriculum, they tend to experience a
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higher degree of satisfaction in their academy and to earn more credits each school
year than their counterparts in the comprehensive high school.
However, although breaking up the traditional urban high school into small
learning communities is not fully embraced as the most effective educational reform
strategy for all students, this reform, like others, does have its challenges and
rewards. Not only has the development of small learning communities been a
valuable strategy for narrowing the achievement gap between socio-economically
advantaged and disadvantaged students, it also has been a successful first step in all
students’ achieving at a high rate.
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CHAPTER 1
A LESSON ON SCHOOL REFORM
Background
Current school-to-career (STC) programs are designed to provide a variety of
opportunities to address, concurrently, students’ academic and career needs.
Presently, in California, a significant number of STC programs are readily available
to high school students, including programs that were formerly developed under the
Carl Perkins Act, evolved into Tech Prep programs, and are presently, school-to-
career academies. The Carl Perkins Act (P.L. 105-332) defined vocational education
as organized educational programs offering sequences of courses directly related to
preparing individuals for paid or unpaid employment in current or emerging
occupations requiring other than a baccalaureate or advanced degree. These
programs include competency-based, applied learning which contributes to
individuals’ acquiring academic knowledge, higher-order reasoning, problem solving
skills, and the occupational-specific skills necessary for economic independence as a
productive and contributing member of society (U. S. Dept, of Education, 2003).
Yet, students have historically hesitated to enroll in many of these programs because
of a degree of censure associated with them as “nonacademic” curricular paths.
However, in spite of the previous stigma associated with these curricular paths,
school-to-career academies (henceforth referred to as career academies) have
flourished within the last few years and have provided students with more
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personalized environments where they are grouped in smaller learning communities,
are focused on specific career paths, and are learning the skills needed for work,
college, and adult life. In the literature review, therefore, we address the following
questions:
1. What makes school-to-career academies effective?
2. Why do students remain in these programs and demonstrate high
degrees of achievement?
3. What factors account for the high rate of successful program
completion?
Purpose
This qualitative case study will examine one high school’s career academy to
assess student retentiveness, student achievement, and student program completion.
In addition, the secondary aim of this study is to explore the available services,
offerings, and resources in this small learning community, determine the extent to
which the career curriculum is integrated with the academic curriculum, and analyze
how effectively the academy addresses students’ academic and career needs.
Introduction: The Evolution of School-to-Career Programs
Advances in technology, diversity in the work force, and competitiveness in
the global economy are societal trends that have been vehicles for stimulating
renewed interests in school-to-career (STC) programs. In addition, the development
of STC curricula that integrates academic skills in vocational education classes and
that utilizes vocational education (voc-ed) technical skills in academic classes is
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primarily responsible for the continuing growth of STC programs and for the
renewed significance of voc-ed curricular elements in general education courses.
Yet, even though these programs were essentially designed to prepare young people
for high-skill, high-wage careers and to teach them the basic skills needed to pursue
post secondary education and lifelong learning (Draft Options, 1995; Magaziner &
Clinton, 1992), the future of STC programs was somewhat bleak as a result of the
passage of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act o f1994.
As Hofstrand (1991) notes, .. vocational education must also contribute to
the overall purposes of schooling. If [it] is set apart, it will be left apart” (p. 2).
However, for many years, voc-ed (or industrial arts) programs served as isolated
attempts to provide students with employable skills that could be used after high
school graduation. Ironically, in spite of the isolation of voc-ed classes, in-seat
attendance in those classes remained high, and achievement was the norm. To
further add to the notion of isolation, traditional voc-ed programs maintained a
multitude of gender inequities that relegated females to clerical, homemaking, or
health careers classes and encouraged males to enroll in wood/construction,
automotive repair, drafting, or machine tool shop classes (Eisenberg, 1992;
Flansburg, 1992; Iowa Commission on Status of Women, 1993; Robbin, 1992). In
conjunction with these segregative aspects, only certain student populations (i.e.,
those students, usually non-Caucasian males, who were considered at-risk of
dropping out of school, barely achieving in academic classes, and exhibiting
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infrequent attendance and/or disruptive behavior) were encouraged to enroll in voc-
ed classes, while other students were steered away from them (Robbin, 1992) and
persuaded to select more generic-skill courses such as computer programming, etc.
Moreover, before Title IX o f the Education Amendments in 1972 and the Vocational
Education Act in 1976, females were also categorically denied access to non-
traditional courses and to some vocational schools (Iowa Commission on the Status
of Women, 1993; Robbin, 1992).
According to Coyle-Williams (1991), through the Carl D. Perkins Vocational
and Applied Technology Education Act o f1990 (P.L. 101-392), Congress mandated
that vocational education achieve the following goals:
1. Increase the participation of special populations in vocational
programs;
2. Improve the quality of vocational programs in schools with the
greatest need for improvement;
3. Significantly raise the educational achievement of average and below
average students, including students in special populations; and
4. Ensure that all vocational education graduates are equipped with
skills that are necessary for employment.
Thus, by targeting special populations, the law attempted to respond to the
needs of the diverse populations in today’s schools and summarily replaced “set-
aside” mandates from the previous legislation with firmer assurances and guarantees
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(Coyle-Williams, 1991). Clearly, at the federal and state levels, systemic educational
reform was imperative. Successful strategies for integrating academic and vocational
skills became the focus of attention (Brown, 1991; California’s One-Stop, 1995);
improving communication and collaboration for student success within and between
the school and the community became crucial (Allen, 1994); benchmarking focused
on outcomes rather than on the efforts to produce those outcomes (Inger, 1993;
Kister, 1993; Ruhland, 1994); and bridging the gap to include out-of-school
populations initiated a process whereby colleges offered the 11th and 12th grade
Tech Prep curriculum during one semester for those who also desired to earn an
associate degree in a practical field (Suski, 1991). Tech Prep— a significant
innovation of the education reform movement— was a 4+2 (i.e., 4 years of high
school plus 2 years of postsecondary), 3+2 (i.e., the last 3 years of high school plus 2
years of postsecondary), or 2+2 (i.e., the last 2 years of high school plus 2 years
postsecondary) planned sequence of study in a technical field beginning as early as
9th grade. The sequence extended through 2 years of postsecondary occupational
education or an apprenticeship program of at least 2 years following high school and
culminated in an associate degree or certificate. It was an important school-to-work
transition strategy that helped all students makes the connection between school and
work (U. S. Dept, of Education, 2003).
In addition, three other federal and state initiatives sought to change the
educational system— from one that was reactive to one that was proactive, from one
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that focused on “seat time” and quantity of courses to one that focused on the quality
of curriculum and instruction and their results, and from one that provided
challenging curricula and instruction for a few students to one that enabled schools to
provide opportunities for all students to acquire the knowledge and skills contained
in rigorous state content standards and to meet challenging state performance
standards(U. S. Dept, of Education, 2003)~rather than just looking for new methods
of “doing business as usual” (Brophy, 1995; Coyle-Williams, 1991). First, the
School-to-Work Opportunities Act o f1994 created “a national framework for the
development of an orderly, coordinated system to help all youth make effective
transitions from school to career-oriented work in high-skill, high-wage jobs of the
21st century and/or to post secondary education and training” (Reese, 1995, p. 3).
Yet, rather than providing funds directly to schools, this new act provided 5 years of
“seed money” to help states and cities establish school-to-work systems.
Secondly, the Improving America’ s Schools Act of 1994 (IASA) reauthorized
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act o f1965 (ESEA) and marked a critical
point in the government’s support for education. I AS A, under the framework of the
Goals 2000: Educate America Act, “provides for a comprehensive overhaul of
programs . . . and remakes them in a manner designed to help ensure that all children
acquire the knowledge and skills they will need in the 21st century” (IASA,
California Curriculum News Report, 1995, p. 1).
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Finally, under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, school districts or
county offices of education that applied for IAS A funding were required to establish
a comprehensive stakeholder panel that would be responsible for developing a local
improvement plan that would cut across the following dimensions of schooling:
1. Strategies to improve assessment, curriculum, and instruction so that
all students meet state content and performance standards;
2. Strategies to ensure that all students, including dropouts and at-risk
students, have an opportunity to learn;
3. Improvement of governance and management; and
4. Parental and community involvement, including the creation of
partnerships with other agencies to provide school-linked services to children and
families (Vargo, 1995).
The success of these systemic reform initiatives hinged primarily on local
recipients’ ability to respond to and develop a comprehensive, coherent system that
would help youth acquire the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for success in a
career (Reese, 1995); encouraging educators to align various reform efforts to create
comprehensive solutions for schools and districts in order to meet students’ needs
(IASA, California Curriculum News Report, 1995); and creating a system to monitor
and adjust a complex change process on the basis of data on student learning (Vargo,
1995).
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The comprehensive high school would be one of the nascent organizations
for precipitating the development and successful implementation of curricula that
would incorporate career paths with curricula that prepared students to compete for
high-skill, high-wage jobs. Therefore, the exigency to implement educational reform
strategies that addressed students’ academic and vocational needs had become
paramount, and the introduction of federal education reform legislation during the
late 1980s and early 1990s had only served as a prelude for the prescription of
subsequent reform legislation by individual states and the federal government.
During the last 10 years, elementary schools have made remarkable progress
in improving student achievement, but far less has been accomplished at the
secondary level (Vander Ark, 2003). Educational reform in high schools has been
superficially attempted, cursorily applied, and inherently avoided because of the
complexities and difficulties associated with changing comprehensive high schools.
Major education reforms, such as block-scheduling, school-wide advisory groups,
and merit pay (Paulson, 2002) have had negligible results, in most instances, in
changing the school’s culture and image as a large, impersonal warehouse, or in
improving students’ performance levels. However, Gregory (2001) believes that
essentially all of the research on high school size conducted during the past 30 years
suggests that there must be more advocacy for smaller schools. This growing body of
data and conclusions has identified small learning communities (SLCs) as the likely
venue in which to create optimal conditions for educational achievement and success
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for all secondary students (Davidson, 2002). According to the U. S. Department of
Education (2003), small school structures, implemented along with other
complementary strategies that enhance student learning, are most likely to yield
beneficial impacts such as:
1. More personalized environments that promote a sense of belonging
and better relationships between students and teachers and among teachers,
2. Higher levels of academic achievement,
3. An increase in grades, test scores, student engagement, and
attendance and graduation rates, and
4. A decrease in drug and alcohol use and violent behavior.
Four of these common small school structures include:
1. Academies. Subgroups within schools, organized around particular
themes, such as career academies which combine key principles of the school-to-
career movement with the personalized learning environment of a small, focused
learning community;
2. House plans, which may be yearlong or multiyear arrangements,
divide students in the large school into groups of several hundred, either across grade
levels or by grade levels, and students take some or all of their courses with their
house members and from their house teachers;
3. School-within-a-school. Small autonomous programs housed within a
larger school building, which are generally responsible to the district, rather than to
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the host school’s principal and are formally authorized by the superintendent and/or
school board; and
4. Magnet schools. Programs that occasionally have competitive
admission requirements and use a specialty core focus (such as math/science, visual
and performing arts, foreign language, gifted, law enforcement, etc.) to attract
students from the entire school district.
Additionally, effective downsizing initiatives generally use multiple
strategies to gain the full benefits of a small learning environment. Some of these
strategies include:
1. Freshman transition activities. To help ease the difficulties first-year
students often encounter when they move from middle school to high school, such as
placing all ninth graders in a separate academy or house, or sometimes in separate
wing or building with extra supports from adults.
2. Multiyear Groups. Similar to “looping” (a strategy used in elementary
school where groups of students stay together with a teacher for more than 1 year),
with multiyear grouping, several teachers stay with a group of students over a period
of 2 or more years, building trust and intimacy.
3. Alternative scheduling. The length of the class period, the school day,
and the school year is changed to support academic achievement and allow teachers
to develop lessons that are more compatible with learning objectives, conducive to
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work-based learning opportunities, and integrates business and community
volunteerism and service learning into the curriculum.
4. Adult advocate systems. Ensures that at least one adult knows each
student well and provides rapport, academic and personal guidance, and links to
additional resources when needed.
5. Teacher advisory systems. Similar to adult advocate systems, they
organize adults to personalize the high school experience and support academic
achievement, working with small groups of students.
6. Academic teaming. Having much the same effect as a house
structure, teaming organizes groups of teachers from different departments so that
they share the same students rather than the same subject (U. S. Department of
Education, 2003).
Despite growing support for smaller schools, high schools have continued to
grow in size because they play a complex role in the community, are often more than
just places of learning, and are examples of one of those entities that unify a
community with a source of pride and as a central gathering place (Gregory, 2001).
In addition, for decades, economies of scale and program comprehensiveness in high
schools have provided the rationale for a national trend toward ever-larger schools
(WestEd, 2001). Yet, Vander Ark (2002) contends that with “the reauthorization of
the Perkins Vocational Act, the Higher Education Act, and the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, the inevitable modifications of the No Child Left Behind
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Act and the evolution of state reform efforts all provide timely opportunities to
address the high school crisis.” The episodes of violence in high schools during the
1990s as well as a national agenda to ensure success for every student led a number
of struggling urban districts to launch downsizing initiatives (WestEd Policy Brief,
2001). Hence, the push for higher achievement and the quest to narrow the
achievement gap between poor students-usually African-American and Latino-and
those from middle and upper-income families have led to questions about the role
school size plays in student learning (WestEd Policy Brief, 2001). Breaking up high
schools into collections of smaller schools, though complicated and difficult, is only
the most visible of the reforms.
Furthermore, many communities across the country have acknowledged the
deficiencies of their secondary schools and have begun to adopt models and systems
based on best practices that prepare all students for college, work, and citizenship,
combine rigor and relationships, and emphasize academics while integrating
personalization and redundant support systems. States such as Maine and Rhode
Island have adopted designs that put an end to anonymity, incoherence, and tracking
as high school norms (Vander Ark, 2002). New specialized high schools in New
York are part of a larger system wide trend to combat high failure rates, security
concerns, and escalating dropout rates at large high schools (Hays, 2002). The Ohio
High School Transformation Initiative, grounded in the belief that learning is
essentially all about relationships— about making connections among people, places,
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resources, and ideas— seeks to improve student achievement by establishing the
conditions that allow real learning connections to emerge and grow within the state’s
most challenged urban schools. This transformation was accomplished in two
phases: first, through research and design, leadership teams studied models of
successful small schools nationwide and engaged in deep discussion with the
nation’s top researchers and educators; and secondly, during the implementation
phase, schools that developed the strongest new small high school plans received
funding support to reconfigure their large high schools into autonomous smaller
schools. Even in suburban Ohio, where schools were not academically failing and
violence-torn, large high schools were being restructured into smaller schools to
combat mediocrity and student alienation and to improve schools’ achievement rates
and climates (Gewertz, 2001).
In Chicago, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI)
(2002), a leading advocate for small schools since 1993, provided the inspiration and
organizational support for small schools that fostered close relationships between
students, teachers, and administrators so that students feel known and are less likely
to be violent or disruptive and are more likely to be engaged in the classroom and
extracurricular life of the school. In Colorado, enthusiastic support from the Melinda
and Bill Gates Foundation (a major supporter of most transitions to or developments
of small schools) is helping reconfigured schools to “rethink the ways in which staff
and students interact” (Paulson, 2002). Linked to significant improvements such as
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reduced school violence, better grades, and increased graduation and college
attendance rates, small schools are not only about reducing the number of students,
but also about how teachers teach, how students’ needs are met, and how curricula
are designed (Paulson, 2002). Finally, in Texas, California, and Washington, there is
an ever-increasing number of authentic small learning communities that enhance
school conditions and improve student outcomes by providing students with mentors,
tutors, and advisers, by making learning more meaningful— linking it to life-
experiences and community— and by providing adequate time and support for the
mastery of knowledge and skills (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2002).
Hence, the career academy is the small learning community that will be the
focus of study in this paper because it integrates academic and vocational instruction,
provides work-based learning opportunities, and prepares students for postsecondary
education and employment within the personalized learning environment of a small
community. Teachers and students integrate academic and occupation-related
classes as a way to enhance real-world relevance and maintain high academic
standards. Local employer partnerships provide program planning guidance,
mentors, and work internships. Career academies, as with other restructuring
initiatives, emphasize building relationships between students and adults-i.e.,
teachers as well as work-site supervisors and employer representatives.
Finally, this school-within-a-school (SWAS) structure supports constructive
relationships between and among students and teachers by grouping students
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together each year to take core courses with the same group of teachers, thus
increasing the support students need in order to achieve (U. S. Department of
Education, 2003; National Conference of State Legislatures, 2002).
Significance o f the Study
Formerly relegated to the arena of electives, current vocational education
courses have acquired prominence as integral curricular components of School-to-
Career programs. In addition, since these programs have been designed to address
the needs of those students who fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles on
standardized tests, curriculum development measures to incorporate the school-to-
career curricular components into the general high school curriculum are not only in
keeping with the California State Framework for high schools, Second to None
(1992), but they also confirm the notion that a greater number of students can benefit
from a curriculum that integrates academic and vocational skills, promotes
contextual learning, and incorporates an applied academic curriculum. In addition, in
Aiming High: High Schools for the 21st Century (2002), the sequel to Second to
None, the core academic standards are the priority, and the reality today is that the
California high school diploma will be tied to the mastery of these basics.
However, to focus only on core academic content standards would short
change the mission of most high schools in the state, i.e., to prepare students to
become productive and responsible citizens of the global community. The blending
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of content/career standards and academic standards has been attributed to increasing
both attendance and graduation rates as well as helping prepare students for careers.
Integrating academic standards with performance-based, contextually rich
classes in the arts and career areas enables students to have multiple opportunities to
learn and apply the standards (p. 23). It is hoped that the findings of this study will
contribute to the literature on the effectiveness of career academies as small learning
communities that provide students with:
1. Rigor, relevance, and relationships (Vander Ark, Dec. 2002; Wagner,
2002),
2. A greater sense of community among students and teachers because
they facilitate student accomplishment and increase teacher morale (Marcellino,
2002), and
3. Personalized environments that encourage and support higher
attendance and graduation rates and lower dropout rates (Clarke & Kohn, 2002;
Cotton, 2001; Davidson, 2002; Davidson, 2002; Due, 2002; National Conference of
State Legislatures, 2002; Roellke, 2002; Yettick, 2002).
Findings from this study will provide case study data from one career
academy and trace its development from a school-to-career program component in a
large high school to an evolving, autonomous small learning community that
“give[s] students the kind of broad-based competencies that will allow them to
maintain self-confidence and employability in an ever-changing job market” and
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provides a personalized learning environment in which preparation for college, work,
and adult life is a top priority. In addition, findings from this study could assist
schools with establishing procedures for developing mutually productive
partnerships with the local business community, community colleges, and
universities. Finally, the findings from this study may assist high schools that are
exploring strategies for improving in-seat attendance rates, decreasing the dropout
rate, and increasing retention and graduation rates. Hopefully, this investigation will
serve as a forerunner for defining a process that assesses the successful implementa
tion of this systemic reform initiative - the conversion of the large, comprehensive
high school into a collection of small learning communities
Research Methods
According to Creswell (2003), the
Qualitative approach to research is one in which the inquirer often makes
knowledge claims based primarily on constructivist perspectives (i.e., the
multiple meanings of individual experiences, meanings socially and
historically constructed, with an intent of developing a theory or pattern) or
advocacy/participatory perspectives (i.e., political, issue-oriented,
collaborative, or change-oriented), or both. I collected open-ended, emerging
data with the primary intent of developing themes from the data. (p. 18)
Therefore, I chose the case study as the primary investigative strategy of this
study because it allowed me to explore a specific program in depth that is bounded
by time and activity and to collect detailed information using a variety of data
collection procedures over a sustained period of time.
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This qualitative case study, therefore, examines one career academy, located
on a large, urban high school campus, functioning as a small learning community,
integrating a focused career curriculum with the academic curriculum, and providing
students with a personalized learning environment in which teachers have the skills,
support, and incentives required to identify individual learning needs, act as
academic advisers, and engage diverse students in powerful learning experiences.
The research questions that will guide this study are:
1. How does student retentiveness, achievement, and program
completion impact the effectiveness of the academy’s program?
2. What services, offerings and resources that facilitate teaching and
learning are available in this small learning community?
3. To what extent is the career curriculum integrated with the academic
curriculum?
4. How effectively does the academy address students’ academic and
career needs?
A detailed narrative describing the comprehensive high school in which the
career academy operates is expected to reveal implementation outcomes, systemic
reform change elements, and criteria for student achievement. In order to effect
sustainable educational reform in high schools, these large schools must be divided
into smaller learning communities that can better provide personalized learning
environments that support academic achievement and academic equity, encourage
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positive student attitudes and behavior, better self-concept, and extracurricular
participation, and account for higher attendance and graduation rates and lower
dropout rates.
The data collection methods included interviewing the academy’s counselor/
coordinator, administering a survey to students and teachers, observing classes, and
reviewing (or ’’ mining”) related documents. I visited the Academy on numerous
occasions (2 to 3 days per week for approximately 3 months). I observed Academy
classes to determine the extent to which career and academic curricula had been
integrated. I also observed supplemental activities and interactions among students
and between teachers and students in classroom and non-classroom environments.
Finally, I reviewed documents to gather demographic data, program goals and
objectives, assessment data, and grades, attendance, dropout, and retention data.
Organization o f the Paper
Chapter 2 is a review of the literature on how the need for systemic reform
and restructuring America’s high schools has led to the emergence and development
of small schools and small learning communities, e.g., schools-within-a-school, and
how they effect and impact student achievement. Chapter 3 examines the research
methodology used to study a career academy within a comprehensive urban high
school. Chapter 4 analyzes the data and considers areas of accountability among the
Academy’s stakeholders. Finally, Chapter 5 focuses on themes that emerge from the
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findings, how the findings address the research questions, and what are some of the
challenges and recommendations for further study.
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CHAPTER 2
A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
In 1990, President George Bush and the states’ governors adopted eight
ambitious National Education Goals that could be achieved via the four-part
AMERICA 2000 Education Excellence in Education Act. By the year 2000:
Goal 1. All children in America will start school ready to learn.
Goal 2. The high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90%.
Goal 3. All students will leave Grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated
competency in challenging subject matter, English, mathematics, science, foreign
languages, civics and government, economics, art, history, and geography; and every
school in America will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they
may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive
employment in our Nation’s modem economy.
Goal 4. U. S. Students will be first in the world in science and mathematics
achievement.
Goal 5. Every adult American will be literate and will possess the
knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the
rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
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Goal 6. Every school in the United States will be free of drugs, violence, and
the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol and will offer a disciplined
environment conducive to learning.
Goal 7. The nation’s teaching force will have access to programs for the
continued improvement of their professional skills and the opportunity to acquire the
knowledge and skills needed to instruct and prepare all American students for the
next century.
Goal 8. Every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental
involvement and participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic
growth of children.
Goals 3 and 5 address the need to produce well-educated students who, by
the year 2000, would be able to engage in problem solving, decision making, and
complex thinking and to be productive, employed citizens who would be able to
compete successfully in a global economy. To achieve these goals, educators and
politicians recognized the need for school restructuring and systemic curriculum
reform.
According to Newmann and Clune (1992), as school restructuring focused
primarily on the process— the roles and rules that govern how educators and students
function in schools— systemic curricular reform concentrated on content and
curriculum across a range of schools. School restructuring was looked at as a
departure from conventional practices that fundamentally changed the roles of the
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stakeholders and effected how business was done in the schools (Newmann & Clune,
1992). On the other hand, systemic curriculum reform was a process of integration,
an ongoing principle, at work in a variety of ways and at an early stage of
exploration and development (Fuhrman et al., 1992; Smith & O’Day, 1990). It
offered curriculum guides and instructional materials as well as assessment tools that
evaluated student competence at entry, and it counted on reasonable continuity in
subsequent studies (Newmann & Clune, 1992).
Further, systemic curriculum reform promoted continuous access to
professional development to help teachers use and adapt the curriculum to suit
students’ special needs. Finally, it promised to provide substantive content to
replace superficial curriculum coverage and tedious instruction in basic skills
(Fuhrman et al., 1992; Fullan & Miles, 1992; Newmann & Clune, 1992). Packer and
Wirt (1991) noted that improving quality and productivity required workers who
could think in the context of work problems, and thus it was prudent to restructure
schools, as soon as possible, in order to increase the work-related skills of those
leaving high school. School-to-career transition programs then became the cutting
edge of systemic curriculum reform and successful school-to-career programs began
to overcome obstacles that once exiled vocational education curricular components
to the “fringes” of the general curriculum.
According to Imel (1995), the idea of helping youths move from school to
work was not new; however, what was unprecedented was school to work as the
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cornerstone of schooling. Halperin (1994) defined school to work as “a systematic,
comprehensive, community-wide effort to help all young people (a) prepare for high
skill and high wage careers, (b) receive top quality academic instruction, and (c) gain
the foundation skills to pursue postsecondary education and lifelong learning.”
Renewed interest in school to work had been stimulated by trends that related to
economic competitiveness and the changing nature of the workplace (Imel, 1995).
Magaziner and Clinton (1992) asserted that if we wanted to be competitive in a
global economy, we fundamentally had to change our approach to work and
education; we were compelled to move to high-performance work organizations, and
we needed to mobilize our most vital assets-the skills of our people.
While being involved in more integrated and interdependent networks that
had greater autonomy at lower levels, as well as decentralization of decision making,
the educated worker also had to be prepared to operate in a more uncertain and less
well-defined environment, be able to manage greater and more complex interactions
with individuals, and had to have the skills needed to supervise, manage, and lead in
the new environment (Bailey, 1990). In addition, as a direct result of new
technology, industry was calling for workers with more advanced technical skills as
well as basic literacy skills to complete the necessary technical training. Bailey
(1990) and Hirshberg (1991) noted that employers were hiring technicians with two-
year associate degrees and sending current workers out to local community colleges
for skills’ upgrading. Thus, the importance of school-to-career programs increased
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appreciably once it was understood that preparing students for the labor market
enhanced the productivity and well-being of the country as a whole, promoted equity
in general, and strengthened employment and economic opportunities of the poor
and disadvantaged (Bailey, 1990; Lankard, 1993).
McCauslin (1993) and Lankard (1993) maintained that one school-to-career
program that served as a practical example of systemic curriculum reform was the
Tech Prep (technical preparation) Program— a combined secondary and post
secondary program that addressed the needs of the middle 50% of high school
students, i.e., those between the 25th and 75th percentiles (Hofstrand, 1991;
Gilbreath, 1993)—which Led to an associate degree or 2-year certificate;
1. Provided technical preparation in at least one field of engineering
technology, applied science, mechanical, industrial, or practical art or trade; or
agriculture, health, or business;
2. Developed student competence in mathematics, science, and
communications (including applied academics) through a sequential course of study;
and
3. Resulted in placement in employment.
Tech Prep programs were designed to accomplish this agenda through strategies such
as “integration,” “articulation,” and “work-based learning” (Lankard, 1993), and
successful Tech Prep programs effectively implemented these strategies into their
overall programs.
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Lankard (1993) suggests that the “integration of academic and vocational
skills extended beyond the merging of existing academic and vocational education
curricula and required the introduction of new courses [career paths] sequenced into
an entire program that encouraged students to develop advanced skills for technical
occupations and higher-order thinking skills— creative thinking, reasoning, and
communication— as well as math and science” (p. 1). In addition, teachers of these
courses had to take into account the learning styles of the majority of students by
incorporating concepts such as “contextual learning”— which according to Hull
(1993) “occurs only when students process new information or knowledge in such a
way that it makes sense to them in their frame of reference (their own inner world of
memory, experience, and response)” (p. 41). In addition, according to the
Contextual Learning Resource Bulletin (1996), “contextual learning” is also known
as “learning by doing, experiential learning, real-world education, or active
learning,” and it has long been advocated for students.
In practice, the school-to-work movement became one of the strongest
proponents of learning that was situated in settings that required students to interact
directly with real experiences (work-based learning). Yet, merely placing students in
real-world contexts did not guarantee a learning experience. Effective contextual
learning resulted from a complex interaction of teaching methods, content, situations,
and timing. Hence, the applied academic approach to learning supported contextual
learning in that it afforded students opportunities to transfer knowledge from
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academic content to vocational applications and from school to the workplace
(Lankard, 1993). Finally, in order for school-to-career programs to work, extensive
changes had to be made in the following areas: (a) curriculum, instruction, and
assessment; (b) linkages to workplaces, community organizations, and other
contexts; (c) staff development for teachers and employers; (d) school organization;
(e) communication; and (f) time for planning and development (Contextual Learning
Resource Bulletin, 1996).
Lankard (1993) further maintained that articulation between secondary and
post-secondary institutions was essential to any school-to-career (STC) program in
order to ensure systematic and coordinated curricula across institutions and to lead
students to a 2-year associate degree, a 2-year certificate, or a 4-year bachelor’s
degree, without duplication of effort or loss of credit. However, if employment was
the desired outcome of earlier STC programs, for subsequent programs, secondary
and postsecondary educators had to articulate with each other and form partnerships
with business, industry, and labor to ensure that what was being taught was relevant
in the workplace (Lankard, 1993). Additionally, they had to develop career path
curricula that specifically addressed students’ academic and vocational needs.
In essence, articulation became an advantage for students, educational
institutions, and the community. Students were better prepared for skilled work and
were provided opportunities to earn college credit while still in high school.
Duplicate course work was eliminated. There was an increase in student retention
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and a higher rate of program completion in high schools. For community colleges,
better academically prepared students meant, at least theoretically, a decrease in the
number of remedial or basic courses offered. This latter aspect also became an
effective means for confronting reduced funding for education by reducing
expenditures for postsecondary remediation and by retaining students within the
program. Bottoms and Presson (1989) concluded that a planned program of
vocational and academic study (sharing the goals of the advocates on integrating
academic and vocational education) had the potential of providing a structured and
purposeful high school experience, raising academic and technical achievement
expectations for students, motivating students to pursue more rigorous academic
courses, and creating teams of vocational and academic teachers (Hull & Parnell,
1991, pp. 385-386).
In other instances, special courses were developed and supplemental support
programs were also created to ensure the success and effectiveness of school-to-
career programs (Promising Practices, 1993). Finally, Tech Prep programs were not
designed to be quick fix, isolated programs that only addressed the needs of the
stereotypical voc-ed student. Rather, as competency-based programs, Tech Prep
programs developed creative and innovative options, or career paths, attracted
students who were neither in a college prep or vocational program, and provided
expanded opportunities for students in traditional college prep and vocational
programs as well (Isbell & Lovedahl, 1993; Tech Prep, 1994).
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Ultimately, we were faced with attempting to answer some rather compelling
questions: How would we incorporate systemic reform into America’s high schools?
How would students learn to work effectively and cooperatively as members of a
team? How would reciprocal teaching and learning in more personalized learning
communities effect lifelong learning behaviors and empower students and teachers to
assume responsibility for their own learning, respectively? What would students
know and be able to do when they graduated from high school and entered college or
the work force? As skills needed in the 21st century work place continue to drive
school-to-career efforts, improving and encouraging collaboration between the
school and the community at large will continue to assist school-to-career programs
in producing educated, employable individuals who are prepared to compete in
college, the workplace, and adult life.
Small Learning Communities: An Educational Reform Strategy
Wagner (2002) believed that the profound changes in our society over the last
quarter-century and the rapid shift from a blue-collar industrial economy to a
knowledge economy meant that all students now needed new skills for work,
citizenship, and college-readiness. Educators, researchers, and funders, therefore,
are amassing a growing body of data and conclusions that identify small learning
communities (SLCs) as the environments most likely to create optimal conditions for
educational achievement and success with poor and minority students (Davidson,
2002). In addition, educators and parents across the nation are drawn to the idea of
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downsizing schools (Me Andrews & Anderson, 2002), because large, urban high
schools have become warehouses of poor academic achievement, violence, apathy,
anonymity, isolation, alienation, and inflated dropout rates (Chavez & Louey, 2001;
Hays, 2002; RnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2002; Public Agenda Online, 2002,
Vander Ark, Feb. 2002; Vander Ark & Wagner, 2000). In addition, personalization,
autonomy, community and flexibility characterize one high school reform effort that
is gaining enormous currency in many communities across the United States,
namely, the small learning community. Yet, what is a “small learning community”?
In a WestEd Policy Brief (2001) that explored whether or not small schools
were better for students, the author noted that “no agreement exists on optimal
school size, but research reviews suggest a maximum o f... 400-800 for secondary
schools, and other studies, focused on social and emotional aspects of success,
conclude that no school should be larger than 500.” Furthermore, researchers
disagree on what number constitutes “small” (Gewertz, 2001), and while there is no
accepted definition of the “small,” high school, enrollments of 400 or less students in
grades nine through twelve (i.e., 100 students per graduating class) are usually
considered small (Roellke, 2002). However, other researchers who focused on the
interaction between poverty and enrollment size offered this rule of thumb: “The
poorer the school, the smaller its size should be;” for, unsurprisingly, a number of
studies also found a correlation between smaller size and higher achievement levels,
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higher graduation rates, and lower dropout rates for poor and minority students
(Gladden, 1998; Lee, 2000; Rayvid, 1996).
Sammon (cited in Cotton, 2001) then defined a small learning community
(SLC) as “any separately defined, individualized learning unit within a larger school
setting. Students and teachers are scheduled together and frequently have a common
area of the school in which to hold most or all of their classes.” From another
perspective, Steinberg and Allen (2002) define small learning communities as
“learning communities that support high expectations, inquiry, effort, and persistence
by all;... have a core vision and mission;... a clear vision of knowledge, skills,
and personal attributes students should gain; authentic, caring and respectful
relationships between teachers and students, with every student known well by an
adult and engaged in meaningful work; and qualified teachers who have
opportunities to collaborate and focus on student work.”
Small learning communities, therefore, make it possible for teachers to know
students well, to be able to recognize their strengths and needs, to allow more time to
focus on student work, and to collaborate in developing instructional strategies that
help students engage with rigorous work. They can be especially strong learning
environments for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as
platforms for creating the kind of learning communities needed for high achievement
by all students (Cotton, 2001; Murphy, Beck, Crawford, Hodges, & McGaughy,
2001; Steinberg & Allen, 2002; Vander Ark, Feb. 2002). Hence, making schools
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smaller was the first step toward enhancing school conditions and improving student
outcomes (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2002).
Small learning communities have many common elements that are
instrumental in facilitating student achievement. [They]... make learning more
meaningful by linking instruction to life-experiences and community and by
providing adequate time and support for mastery of knowledge and skills (National
Conference of State Legislatures, 2002). They combine rigor, relationships (Vander
Ark, 2002; Wagner, 2002) and relevance (Wagner, 2002). They forge cohesive units
built on trust and empowerment (Clarke & Kohn, 2002). Teachers generally teach a
wider range of subjects to a smaller number of students. Advanced Placement (AP)
classes are rare (Roellke, 2002; Yettick, 2002) and are usually taken at colleges or
through distance learning. In small schools, academic press is high; there is a
common academic curriculum; and students are engaged in sustained, disciplined,
and critical thought through a variety of instructional approaches, such as
independent study, project-based learning and real-world problem-solving (Cotton,
2001; Roellke, 2002). Also, most researchers note that attendance and graduation
rates increase and the dropout rate decreases when students attend small schools
(Cohen, 2001; Gladden, 1998; Lee, 2000; Rayvid, 1996).
Moreover, students are more likely to be engaged in the classroom and in the
extracurricular life of the school (Business and Professional People, 2002; Cotton,
2001; Steinberg & Allen, 2002). They feel well known in smaller schools, so they
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are less inclined to be violent or disruptive (WestEd Policy Brief, 2001) and less
likely to “fall through the cracks” (Public Agenda Online, 2002; Vander Ark, 2002).
Finally, the push for high achievement and the quest to narrow the achievement gap
between poor students-usually African-American and Latino-and those from
middle- and upper-income families have been major inducements for downsizing
schools and for the emergence of small schools (Davidson, 2002; Ervin, 2002; Jones,
2003; Vander Ark, 2002; WestEd Policy Brief, 2001).
Subsequently, one small learning community model that is gaining increasing
favor is the school-within-a-school (SWAS). A school-within-a-school is usually
defined as an autonomous unit that has been disjoined from a large public school and
that operates as a separate entity, running its own budgets and planning its own
programs (Me Andrews & Anderson, 2002). The National Conference of State
Legislatures (2002) describes SWAS’s as “small autonomous programs housed
within larger school buildings,... generally responsible to the district rather than to
the host school’s principal, and generally authorized by the superintendent and/or
board of education. They have their own culture, program, personnel, students,
budget, and school space, and both students and teachers self-select to be members
of the school. Like academies, the SWAS structure supports constructive
relationships between and among students and teachers by grouping students
together each year to take core courses with the same teachers, and thus increasing
the supports students receive from peers, teachers, and other adults.”
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Nevertheless, several researchers note some distinct disadvantages to small
schools, and support for them is not unconditional. Gladden (1998) believes that,
“smallness alone cannot create satisfying relationships or academic focus.” Michelle
Fine contends, “Small, in and of itself, can be as silly as big. It will produce a sense
of belonging almost immediately. But hugging is not the same as algebra. Rigor and
care must be braided together, or we run the risk of creating small, nurturing
environments that aren’t schools.” (cited in Cotton, 2001; Gewertz, 2001; Me
Andrews & Anderson, 2002; Vander Ark, 2002 ). In addition, staffing issues arise
when large schools are broken into smaller units, and teachers worry about seniority,
teaching out of their specialty, transferring from one school to another, smaller
schools’ having less money (Me Andrews & Anderson, 2002; Public Agenda Online,
2002), resisting the heavy workload of the SLC (Gladden, 1998), as well as the
professional development requirements from the larger high school (Rayvid, 1996).
Finally, to avoid segregation along racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines, care must
be taken when assigning students to smaller learning communities (Me Andrews &
Anderson, 2002).
Roellke (2002) states that one recognized challenge facing small schools is
the quality, diversity, and breadth of the curriculum. By contrast, one of the
“benefits” of a large high school has traditionally been the breadth of the core
curriculum, vocational offerings, special services, and extracurricular activities.
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However, even though extracurricular opportunities are less extensive in small high
schools, student participation rates are greater than in large high schools.
Roellke (2002) further notes that many small schools have achieved
adequacy in the core curriculum through various restructuring efforts: (a) including
the integration of curricula; (b) attempting to reduce the number of single subjects
through interdisciplinary courses and aligned with Ted Sizer and the Coalition of
Essential Schools’ “less is more” philosophy (Sizer, 1993); (c) innovative
scheduling; (d) scheduling students in longer blocks of time than the traditional 45-to
50-minute periods (Sizer, 1993); (e) higher education cooperatives and inter-district
sharing; (f) developing and maintaining an inter-district pool of instructional
resources; and use of instructional technologies; and (g) distance learning,
computerized learning programs, interactive television and Internet access to provide
advanced placement, college credit courses, and instructional services for students
with special needs (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1997).
In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education (NCEE)
recommended that high school students complete a core curriculum that included
four years of English, 3 years of social studies, 3 years of science, 3 years of
mathematics, 2 years of foreign language, and 1 year of computer science. As a
result, during the early 1990s, graduation requirements increased across the nation
(Coley, 1994) to align themselves with the NCEE’s core curriculum. While this
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development posed some challenges for small high schools, they complied and
expanded their course offerings.
However, restructuring instructional programs that were designed, organized,
and implemented to engage students in the learning process and to motivate them to
meet high academic standards continued to be a challenge for small and large
schools alike. Lee, Smith, and Croninger (1995) found three curricular components
common to high schools that had successfully restructured their instructional
programs: (a) A common academic curriculum— where course offerings were narrow
and academic content was strong, student achievement gains were found; (b) high
levels of academic press— curriculum expectations were focused on the idea that all
students would meet high academic standards and devote considerable effort to
academic endeavors; and (c) authentic instruction-students were engaged in
sustained, disciplined, and critical thought through a variety of instructional
approaches, e.g., independent study, project-based learning, and real-world problem
solving. Yet, smaller schools would not succeed in improving curricular
opportunities without a committed group of teachers, a supportive (and perhaps
independent) administration, a more flexible central authority, and adequate
resources (Lee et al., 1995; Meier, 1995; Rayvid, 1996).
Two additional benefits of small learning communities are noted: they
provide new avenues for professional development, and they are more inclined to
create professional learning communities of continuous inquiry and improvement
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(SEDL, 1997), and thereby contribute to a school’s success. The National Staff
Development Council (2001) maintains that effective professional development
programs focus on a clear set of priorities, provide ongoing, school-based support to
classroom teachers, deal with academic content as well as teaching methods, and
create ample opportunities for teachers to see and attempt new teaching methods
(cited in Klonsky). As Sarason (1990) contends, “such factors, indicators, or
variables that are supportive of the growth, development, and self-esteem of students
are exactly those that are critical to gaining the same outcomes for a school’s staff.”
In schools characterized by professional learning communities, teachers work
together and change their classroom pedagogy (SEDL, 1997). Schools are
communally organized and promote a setting in which staff (and students) are
committed to the mission of the school and work together to strengthen that mission.
Staff members see themselves as responsible for the total development of the
students and share a collective responsibility for the success of students (SEDL,
1997). As a result, they engage students in high intellectual learning tasks, and
students achieve greater gains in the core curriculum courses. Darling-Hammond
(1997) observed that schools that initiated school improvement efforts by looking
into teaching and learning and discussing how practices were effective for students
showed academic results more quickly than schools that did not. Bryk et al. (1994)
believed that in order for the full potential of reform to be achieved, schools had to
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38
become professional learning communities that exemplified learning environments
for adults as well as students.
Because a small faculty can support close interpersonal relationships,
professional development is often enhanced by teaming and by small, task-oriented
group formations (Mohr, 2000). For instance, teacher teams may work on
interdisciplinary units, personalized learning plans for all students, or examining
student work. Fine and Somerville (1998) found in successful small schools that
“time is given for common planning and exchanging valuable information about
students-and there is well-funded time for professional development.” Professional
development activities, therefore, tend to be highly intensive and long running.
Fortunately, such practices have been effective in helping teachers to collaborate
within their professional communities, to personalize and integrate instruction, to
build a culture of trust and collegial support, and to improve the quality of teaching
and learning in their schools (Daniels, Bizar, & Zemelman, 2001). Teachers in small
schools then begin to take more ownership over their professional development.
Lieberman (cited in SEDL, 1997) pointed out that providing ways for
teachers to talk publicly with each other about their work on behalf of students
reduces teacher isolation and mobilizes them to commit themselves to making major
changes in how they participate in the school. Darling-Hammond (SEDL, 1997)
maintained that to deepen teachers’ professional understanding, they needed to have
opportunities to share what they know, to consult with their peers about problems of
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39
teaching and learning, and to observe peers teaching. Lastly, small schools’ faculties
often have a strong sense of “collegiality,” and teachers often use Teacher Talk,
Critical Friends, or other peer-coaching models to serve as coaches for other
teachers and to facilitate reflective professional development activities that empower
them to know students and themselves better (Klonsky & Klonsky, 1999).
A School-Within-a-School: The Career Academy
One specific example of a school-within-a school (SWAS), however, is the
career academy-i.e., a subgroup within a school which combines key principles of
the school-to-career movement, integrating academic and vocational instruction with
the personalized learning environment of a small, focused learning community,
providing work-based learning opportunities for students, and preparing students for
postsecondary education and employment (U. S. Department of Education, 2002).
The career academy-more descriptively characterized as a small learning community
-is a tangible product of the integration of school-to-career and academic curricula.
It promisingly continues to support school reform efforts by providing students with
more effective methods of transiting from school to the workplace, training them to
meet and exceed high performance standards while actively engaging in critical
thinking activities, providing them with contents of substance rather than
superficiality, and preparing them for the pursuit of post-secondary education and
lifelong learning.
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Having originated in Philadelphia in 1969, career academies targeted at-risk
youths who were in danger of dropping out of school. They were designed to
combine academic course-work and vocational training through ‘ schools-within-
schools’ (Paris & Mason, 1995). These programs aimed to build long-term
relationships between students and teachers and to develop peer support and
achievement through small learning communities within the school. However,
Bailey and Merritt (1993) found that student segregation and a negative academic
stigma were problematic for some career academies that targeted at-risk students and
offered separate vocational and academic courses. Newer academies, however,
sought to remedy this problem by broadening their programs to include college
preparation and by opening the programs to high- and average-achieving students.
Finally, although they were applauded for their success in dropout prevention and
college preparation for at-risk youth, the career academy classroom and worksite
integration and coordination needed to be better developed and much of the applied
academics and work-related learning needed to be more real-world relevant (Bailey
& Merritt, 1993).
As one of the fastest growing high school reforms in the United States, the
popularity of career academies can be attributed to their combining key elements of
the high school restructuring and school-to-career movements, specifically, creating
more personalized learning environments through a school-within-school structure
organized around a career theme, combining classroom-based and work-based
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41
learning to help students acquire the skills needed to pursue post-secondary
education, employment, or a combination of both (Kemple, Poglinco, & Snipes,
1999).
In the first two decades after their 1969 inception, the growth of career
academies was steady but gradual, and after 1990, the growth in the number of
academies accelerated (Stem, Dayton, & Raby, 2000). In spite of these ever
increasing numbers, however, three organized networks sponsored most career
academies around the country: (a) in Philadelphia, the nonprofit Philadelphia
Academies Inc. in 1969; (b) in California, the state legislature-sponsored California
Partnership Academies in 1985; and (c) in New York, the nonprofit National
Academy Foundation was created in 1982. In addition to these networks, Illinois,
Florida, Hawaii and other states followed California’s lead and began funding
academies in the 1990s (Stem et al., 2000). Another academy building network
started in 1997 at the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at
Risk (CRESPAR), and which included career academies as a major component, is
the Talent Development High School model (LaPoint, Jordan, McPartland, &
Towns, 1996), a comprehensive reform model for large high schools that face
serious problems with student attendance, discipline, achievement scores, and
dropout rates. This model consisted of specific changes in school organization and
management in order to establish a strong, positive school climate for learning;
curricular and instructional innovations to transition all students into advanced high
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42
school work in English and mathematics; parent and community involvement
activities to encourage college awareness; and professional development systems to
support the implementation of the recommended reforms (Talent Development High
Schools, 2002). Apart from these organized initiatives, numerous unaffiliated
academies have developed across the country.
In addition, researchers from the Manpower Demonstration Research
Corporation (MDRC) indicate that career academies share three basic features:
1. They are small learning communities comprised of a group of
students who share several classes each year and who have some of the same
teachers for at least 2 years.
2. They combine a college-preparatory curriculum with a career theme,
and teachers have shared planning time to coordinate course content and
instructional strategies.
3. They represent partnerships with employers, whose representatives
give advice on curriculum, serve as guest speakers, supervise student internships,
provide financial or in-kind support, and mentor individual students (Stem, Dayton,
& Raby, 2000).
In these academies, teachers and students integrate academic and occupation-
related classes as a way to enhance real-world relevance and maintain high academic
standards (Cotton, 2001; U. S. Department of Education, 2003). Local employer
partnerships provide program planning, guidance, mentors, and work internships
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43
(Chavez, 2002; Clarke &Kohn, 2002; Cushman, 1995; Davidson, 2002; Paulson,
2002; Steinberg & Allen, 2002; Vander Ark, 2002; Yettick, 2002). Finally, career
academies share with other restructuring initiatives an emphasis on building
relationships between students and adults (teachers as well as work-site supervisors
and other employer representatives) (Chavez, 2002; Chavez & Louey, 2001; Clarke
& Kohn, 2002; Cushman, 1995; Davidson, 2002; Due, 2002; Gewertz, 2001; Me
Andrews & Anderson, 2002; Murphy, Beck, Crawford, Hodges & McGaughy, 2001;
Paulson, 2002; Steinberg & Allen, 2002; Yettick, 2002; Vander Ark, 2002; Vander
Ark & Wagner, 2000). As Stem et al. (2000) note, most academies offer rigorous
curriculum that qualifies students for admission to a 4-year college or university.
Thus, by linking academic coursework to career themes and workplace experience,
academies motivate students to stay in school and to attend to their studies.
Stem et al. (2000) further suggest that one reason why growing numbers of
states, districts, and schools are starting academies is that academies have been found
to be effective in improving student performance. Academy students were found to
have better attendance, earned more credits, obtained higher grades, and were more
likely to graduate from high school than their counterparts in large high schools.
Upon following graduates from career academies and other graduates from the same
high school, Maxwell (1999), extended the Maxwell-Rubin study and found that
academy graduates were more likely to come from high schools with large
proportions of low-income minority students, were less likely to need remedial
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44
coursework at the university, and were more likely to earn their bachelor’s degrees,
further suggesting that academy graduates not only completed high school, but also
completed college.
Stem et al (2000) found the 1993 MDRC 10-site study of career academies
quite significant because students who applied to the academy at each site were
randomly chosen to be admitted to the academy, and those who were not admitted
served as the control group. Unlike matched comparison groups in earlier studies, all
of these students had taken the initiative to apply to the career academy and shared
the same motivation, ambition, and other traits that might characterize an academy
student. The results of the MDRC confirmed earlier findings from matched-
comparison studies of career academies: That academy students earned overall a
larger number of course credits needed for graduation, and were more likely to have
positive developmental experiences, such as working on a volunteer project. Yet, the
strongest and most pervasive differences were found among students who were most
at-risk of school failure. Academy students were found to attend school more
regularly, earn more course credits, were more likely to participate in extracurricular
activities and volunteer projects, and were less likely to be arrested (Kemple &
Snipes, 2000). Hence, the MDRC study did provide some evidence that career
academies help improve the performance of students who are at the greatest risk of
dropping out of high school.
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However, the MDRC evaluation raised two other pertinent issues: explicitly,
career academy seniors scored no higher than students in the control group on
standardized tests in language arts and mathematics, and implicitly, school wide
effects included academies’ attracting special resources, such as teachers who were
highly committed, energetic, and talented and who had smaller class sizes, for
example (Stem et al., 2000). Hence, if the long-term benefit of career academies for
participating students depends more on reducing the dropout rate than raising test
scores, then academies still provide significant benefits by enabling more students to
finish high school. The second issue could not, however, be adequately addressed
because of the factors involved in studying it: (a) comparing the school wide
distribution of student performance before and after the academy is introduced into
the school, (b) monitoring trends in student performance over a period of years, and
(c) observing changes in the student body and other changes in the school.
Moreover, Kemple and Rock (1996) found no significant difference in the
experience and education of academy and non-academy teachers. Yet, it is possible
that the difference between the performance of academy and non-academy students
is partly attributable to a shift of resources from the rest of the school to the
academy.
Career Academies: “ Building Blocks for
Transforming America’ s High Schools ”
As elements of broader strategies and as examples of institutions whose
numbers are ever increasing, career academies, according to Stem et al. (2000), are
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seen as one of the most solid building blocks available for remaking the American
high schools. They have played a role in the school-to-work movement, The
Coalition o f Essential Schools movement, and the small schools movement.
Consequently, even though these initiatives focus on distinct ideas and practices,
career academies share significant elements with all three.
In spite of the name, school-to-work programs were not originally designed
to train students for entry-level jobs right after high school, but rather to prepare
them for postsecondary education while equipping them with work-related
knowledge and skills (Stem et al, 2000). Career academies and the High Schools
that Work (HSTW) Project, on the other hand, predate the school-to-work movement,
and where the former exemplifies the ideas that the school-to-work movement
generalized— i.e., using career-related themes to increase coherence of the high
school curriculum; providing opportunities for internships and other forms of
workplace experiences to connect classroom learning to real-world learning; and
preparing students for careers that include postsecondary education (Stem et al.,
2000)— the latter combined challenging academic courses and modem vocational
educational studies to raise the achievement of high school students who were not
enrolled in college prep courses (Bottoms & Presson, 1995).
Therefore, because HSTW schools prepared students for both further
education and for careers that require a solid foundation, the School-to-Work
Opportunities Act (1994) named career academies as one of the “promising
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47
practices.” In an attempt to expand awareness of the school-to-work principles as a
basis for high school reform, the U. S. Department of Education, in 1996, identified
the “New American High Schools,” as those that were typified by Principles and
practices that prepared students for college and careers,
1. Learning in the context of a career major or other special interest,
2. Experiential learning in workplaces or community service,
3. Grouping students and teachers in small schools-within-schools,
4. Extra support from adult mentors outside of school, and
5. Strong links between high schools and postsecondary institutions
(Stem et al., 2000).
The fundamental concerns of the second major reform movement, The
Coalition o f Essential Schools (CES), were to improve the intellectual, social, and
ethical quality of life for teachers and for students while they are in high school.
CES’ s 10 common principles include: (a) learning to use one’s mind well; (b) less is
more, depth over coverage; (c) goals apply to all students; (d) personalization of the
student-teacher relationship; (e) student as worker, teacher as coach; (f) assessment
of student learning through demonstration of mastery; (g) a tone of decency and
trust; (h) commitment to the entire school; (i)resources dedicated to teaching and
learning; and (j) democracy and equity (Sizer, 1984/1993).
Although the idea of vocationalism might seem contrary to CES principles
and goals, career academies can be found in a number of CES schools, and the kind
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of education offered by these academies has been endorsed in CES publications.
Cushman et al. (1997) state that, “A career academy promises a meaningful context
for students’ academic work across disciplines, a culture of high expectations
derived from real-world standards, and a structure and opportunity for exploring the
world of adults.” Yet, career academies, according to Stem et al (2000), fulfill
several CES principles.
Career-related themes give focus and coherence to curriculum, encouraging
the analytical depth denoted by CES’ s “less is more.” Giving students opportunities
to test and deepen their understanding of academic concepts through practical
applications and work-based learning in career academies promotes the CES
principles of engaging students as active “workers” and using demonstrations of
authentic mastery to assess student learning. Most obviously, the organization of
career academies as small learning environments within larger high schools enables
students and teachers to form more personal and caring relationships that CES
considers good teaching and learning (Meier, 1995; Sizer, 1984/1993). Finally, the
effectiveness of career academies in improving the academic performance of high-
risk students demonstrates their compatibility with the CES principle of justice and
equity.
Finally, since career academies are one type of smaller learning community,
the small schools movement gives additional impetus to the growth of career
academies. Many advocates of the movement encourage the creation of new small
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49
schools and the breaking up of large schools into self-contained subunits (Fine, 1994;
Fine & Somerville, 1998; Oxley, 1989; Rayvid, 1995). Fine and Somerville (1998)
point out that “small schools can create an academic climate in which a sense of
belonging and rich teaching and learning can flourish.” The U. S. Congress agreed
and boosted the small schools movement by earmarking $45 million in the 2000
Appropriations Act for the Department of Education to fund a new Smaller Learning
Communities Program through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA). Its intent was to help local school districts “plan, develop, implement, and
expand smaller, more personalized learning communities in large high schools”
(U. S. Department of Education, 2003). In addition, the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation contributed $56 million in grants to promote small schools, or smaller
learning communities within larger schools, especially in secondary schools
(Gewertz, 2000), as the Clinton Administration proposed expanding the expenditure
for the Small Learning Communities Program to $120 million in fiscal 2001 (Stem et
al., 2000). As such, some of these new small schools, whether schools-with-a-
school, or large high schools subdivided into smaller units, may choose to organize
their curricula around career-related themes, since many prominent researchers and
educational authorities now include the idea of small learning communities among
their proposals for improving American high schools.
According to Stem et al. (2000), although they are not the whole answer for
transforming American high schools, all three movements-the school-to-work
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movement, The Coalition o f Essential Schools movement, and the small schools
movement— have used career academies as “one component of the changes these
movements were seeking:” Career academies have obtained the kind of experience
envisioned in the school-to-work movement, i.e., a curriculum that integrates
academic and technical subject matter; work-based learning related to classroom
studies; explicit connections linking high school to postsecondary education and
employment; facilitating teacher-student relationships that make such a community
possible; and creating new small schools or smaller school units within large high
schools in order to improve safety, establish a sense of belonging, and increase
motivation, participation, and achievement.
Although McPartland et al. (1996) found preliminary evidence at one school
that by organizing teachers and students into career academies in Grades 10 through
12, along with other changes, resulted in improved attendance, school climate, and
proficiency scores in mathematics. It was not clear, however, to what extent the
improvements were due to the changes in the nature and characteristics of the student
population, given the school’s high rates of student transiency. In another study
conducted in New York City, Oxley (1990) found small but consistent academic and
social benefits for students in a large high school that had been divided into well-
structured small learning environments (houses), compared to another large high
school where the houses were less tightly structured. In Philadelphia, ninth graders
in small learning communities, called charters, earned a larger percentage of
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graduation credits than those ninth graders who were not in charters (McMullan et
al., 1994). In a Chicago study, students enrolled in schools-within-schools (SWSs)
had fewer absences, higher grades, and lower 1-year dropout rates than students in
large high schools (Wasley et al., 2000).
The results of these studies are promising but are hardly conclusive evidence
that dividing a high school into small learning environments improves student
performance. In the Philadelphia study, no consideration was made for students’
motivation levels or other unmeasured characteristics that would make students more
likely to succeed if they enrolled in charters, whether they were part-charter schools
or all-charter schools. The Chicago study did not distinguish between all-SWS and
part-SWS schools, and the all-SWSs (multischools) were usually built around grade
levels, not themes. Furthermore, this specific study did not indicate what may have
resulted if entire high schools were divided into career academies or some other
thematic subschool that enrolled students for more than one year (Stem et al., 2000).
In conclusion, the inherent benefits to students and teachers in a career
academy, or other small learning community (SLC), may not, necessarily, be
generalizable to an all-SLC high school. One or two academies within a large high
school may recruit the most highly motivated students and attract the most
enthusiastic teachers. Even in SLCs where teachers and students have personally
chosen to join the school, a sense of community and family begins to develop. The
active collaboration and cooperation of employers, community, and organizational
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resources can overload and thereby dilute the effectiveness of the academies and
other programs when career academies or other SLCs are expanded school wide.
Finally, in order to avert a “tracking” system in career academies and SLCs school
wide (Mosteller, Light, & Sachs, 1996; Oakes 1985), grouping teachers and students
together who share some common interest would make it easier to ensure that each
academy or SLC enrolls a representative cross-section of the entire school (Stem
et al., 2000).
Numerous studies have found that an individual career academy within a
larger high school has been beneficial for students’ academic performance and has
helped reduce the number of students who drop out of school. However, there is
presently no substantial or conclusive evidence that supports the notion that dividing
a high school into a collection of career academies or other small learning
environments will improve students’ academic performance and reduce the dropout
rate. Yet, as more and more high schools subdivide students and teachers into career
academies, or other kinds of SLCs, evidence to prove or disprove this premise, e.g.,
in this study of a Career Academy, will eventually be available.
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CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This qualitative case study examines one high school’s Career Academy to
determine how student retentiveness, student achievement, and student program
completion are affected in the program. This study will also encompass a review of
the academy's available services, offerings, and resources, assess the extent to which
the career curriculum is integrated with the academic curriculum, and analyze how
effectively the Academy addresses students’ academic and career needs. Although
the Academy is one of the California Partnership Academies and is subject to
extensive evaluations and rigorous criteria, the case study approach was used to
examine this Academy in order to develop a better understanding of the dynamics of
its program (Kenny & Grotelueschen, 1980, cited in Merriam, 1988).
The research questions that will guide the study are:
1. How does student retentiveness, achievement, and program
completion impact this academy?
2. What services, offerings and resources that facilitate teaching and
learning are available in this small learning community?
3. To what extent is the career curriculum integrated with the academic
curriculum?
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4. How effectively does the academy address students’ academic and
career needs?
I anticipate that this study will not be duplicated; however, the findings
should contribute to the literature on the effectiveness of career academies, small
learning communities, or schools-within-a-school to provide students with rigor,
relevance, and relationships (Vander Ark, 2002; Wagner, 2002), as well as to
establish a greater sense of community among students and teachers, facilitate
student success, increase teacher morale (Marcellino, 2002), and personalize
environments that encourage and support higher attendance and graduation rates and
lower dropout rates (Cotton, 2001; Clarke & Kohn, 2002; National conference of
State Legislatures, 2002; Davidson, 2002; Due, 2002; Roellke, 2002; Yettick, 2002).
Therefore, in accordance with the literature, if we are to effect sustainable
educational reform in large, comprehensive high schools, then these schools should
be divided into smaller learning communities that can better provide personalized
learning environments, support academic achievement and academic equity,
encourage positive student attitudes and behavior, inspire improved self-concept,
motivate participation in extracurricular activities, and account for higher student
attendance and graduation rates and lower dropout rates.
A Profile o f the Comprehensive High School
The public high school campus, where the Career Academy is housed, is
located in a middle-income section of Los Angeles and has been in operation for
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nearly 50 years. It offers Grades 9 through 12 and has an enrollment of
approximately 2,700 students. The student ethnic demographics have, however,
remained relatively constant: The African-American population ranges from 73% to
78%; the Hispanic/Latino population ranges from 21% to 23%; and the remaining
1% to 2% consists of Asian, Native American, Filipino, Pacific Islander, and
Caucasian.
In addition to the Career Academy, this digital high school also hosts two
magnet programs with a cumulative enrollment of nearly 500 students: (a) a Carl
Perkins career pathways program in fashion design, food service, graphic arts, and
office technology; (b) a student-managed business program that benefits graduating
seniors; (c) a Saturday Academy that provides instruction to improve academic skills
for targeted students in areas of identified academic needs; (d) an independent
continuation high school that is also housed on the school’s acreage and serves the
needs of high-risk youths; and (e) an adult school that serves the high school
population as well as the local adult community.
A Title 1 school because of the high number of students qualifying for the
Federal Lunch program, the school is challenged by several factors that impact
student learning: high transiency, high drop-out rate, poor attendance, under
achievement, 40% AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children)/CalWorks
recipients, limited parental involvement, low student motivation, and 71% federal
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meal program participants. Yet, the school constantly strives to overcome these
obstacles and to improve student achievement.
Student attendance is a significant challenge at the school, but there are
major, ongoing efforts to improve attendance through a variety of programs:
(a) calling parents by the third day of absence, providing counseling for students,
(b) offering incentives for good and perfect attendance, (c) establishing a bond
between students and teachers, and (d) recognizing and celebrating the value and
necessity of school attendance to student achievement.
In California, the Public School Accountability Act of 1999 created the
statewide Academic Performance Index (API), a score on a scale of 200 to 1,000 that
annually measures the academic performance and progress of individual schools on
the state’s standardized test. However, on an interim basis, the state has set 800 as
the API score that schools should strive to meet. The factors considered in the API
Base Report are the number of students tested in the school, the base API score,
subgroup scores for numerically significant ethnic groups defined for the API, the
school’s statewide API rank, the schoolwide growth target, the subgroups’ growth
targets, the school’s growth API score, and the growth API score for numerically
significant ethnic groups.
In 2002, this high school tested 1686 students; the base API was 474;
statewide rank was 1 (out of 10; 10 being best); similar schools were ranked as 3; the
2002-2003 target growth was to earn at least 16 points, and thus, the 2003 API target
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was 490. For each numerically significant subgroup, the following was also
projected (Table 1):
Table 1. 2002-2003 API Data
Subgroup
Number of
pupils 2002 subgroup
Subgroup
growth
2003
subgroup
Included in
2002 API API base Target API Target
Africian
American
(not Hispanic) 1,217 482 13 495
Hispanic/Latino 454 450 13 463
Socioeconomic
disadvantage 1,210 470 13 483
In addition, this high school strives to prepare students to enter and compete
successfully in college and to be viable competitors as they enter the workforce. As
such, the graduation rate continues to increase. In 2000-2001, the percentage of 12th
graders to graduate was 70.8 %, and in 2001-2002, it was 73.7%. The school
attributes this steady increase in the graduation rate to several improvement
strategies: the establishment of an hour for credit in homeroom to improve literacy
school-wide via tutoring for passing competency tests, adult school enrollment, and
early review of students’ cumulative records in order to render assistance to
borderline graduates.
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The dropout rate, however, has steadily decreased: in 2000-2001, the rate
was 7.1%, and in 2001-2002, it was 5.6%. The school attributes this decrease to the
following factors: improved tracking of student transfers, more efficient placement
of students in alternative educational settings by the Pupil Services and Attendance
(PSA) counselor, fully utilizing the services of the School Attendance & Review
Board (SARB) to identify, evaluate, and monitor at-risk students, and the use of
outside agencies (e.g., Probation Department) to address students’ needs that
contribute to the dropout rate.
In accordance with the No Child Left Behind legislation, teachers who are
new to the profession and who teach core academic subject areas (English, reading,
language arts, math, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics,
arts, history and geography) (NCLB Section 9101) in Title 1 schools must be
designated as highly qualified by July 1, 2002, and all teachers in all schools must be
designated as highly qualified by the close of the 2005-2006 school year. For
middle and senior high school teachers, a highly qualified teacher is one who is
enrolled in an approved intern program for less than three years or holds a full
credential and meets one of the following requirements for every core subject
currently assigned:
According to the demographic data in the 2002 accreditation report, the
faculty and staff of this high school consisted of 5 administrative positions (i.e., one
principal and four assistant principals), 106 certificated teachers, and 10 certificated
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Table 2. NCLB Highly Qualified Teachers
If teachers were “not new” (i.e., those who had graduated from an accredited higher
education institution and had received a credential, or was enrolled in, or completed
an approved intern program before July 1, 2002) (NCLB Section 6100):
1. Passed a subject matter examination certified by the California
Council for Teacher Credentialing (CCTC), or
2. Completed a university subject matter program approved by the
CCTC, or
3. Holds an undergraduate major in the subject taught, or
4. Holds a graduate degree in the subject taught, or
5. Holds a course work equivalent to an undergraduate major, or
6. Holds National Board Certification (NBC) in the subject taught, or
7. Demonstrates subject matter competence via the High Objective
Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) process - the process that assesses
a teacher’s subject matter competence and is only utilized for “not new” teachers.
If teachers were “new” (i.e., those who had graduated from an accredited
higher education institution and had received a credential, or began an approved
intern program on or after July 1, 2002) (NCLB Section 6100):
1. Passed a subject matter examination certified by the California
Council for Teacher Credentialing (CCTC), or
2. Completed a university subject matter program approved by the
CCTC, or
3. Holds an undergraduate major in the subject taught, or
4. Holds a graduate degree in the subject taught, or Holds a course work
equivalent to an undergraduate major.
others (e.g., deans, counselors, and various coordinators). Of the teachers, 9 were
continuing (or permanent); 14 probationary; 3 temporary; 20 provisional; 3 district
interns; 1 university intern; 4 long-term substitute teachers; and 2 day-to-day
substitute teachers. The teaching staffs stability within the school was also a
contributing factor that impacted student achievement: 22 had been at this location
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for less than 1 year; 19, 1 year; 40, 2 to 5 years; 18, 6 to 10 years; and only 24 for 11
or more years. In addition, their teaching experience within the school district
almost paralleled their seniority at the school: (a) 36 had less than 1 year of
experience; (b) 20, 1 year; (c) 18, 2 to 5 years; (d) 12, 6 to 10 years; and (e) 35, 11 or
more years. This high turnover within the teaching staff negatively effected any
progress the school made, negatively impacted the continuity of teaching and
learning within the school, and along with an ever-increasing teacher absenteeism
rate, provided major challenges for the administrative staff. (All data within this
profile was gathered from the school’s 2002 accreditation self-study.)
A Profile o f the Career Academy
The school-to-career (STC) academy being studied is a 3-year, college-
preparatory program that is designed to prepare students for careers in the
multimedia, television, and film industries. Awarded a California Partnership
Academy (CPA) grant in 1999 from the California Department of Education (CDE)
for the purpose of implementing an innovative approach to technical/academic
instruction, this Academy is organized as a school-within-a-school, a small learning
community that provides a supportive environment and encourages student progress
and growth.
Having originated in Philadelphia in the 1960s, the academy-model is the
basis for the California Partnership Academies (CPAs)— the school-within-a-school
(SWAS) model that surfaced in California in the early 1980s. The California
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Partnership Academy Program is one of the high school reform movements that
includes the development of small learning communities with a career focus, a team
of selected teachers who personalize teaching and learning, active business
involvement that provides opportunities for work-based learning, and yearly
evaluations that account for the positive impact on school performance and student
achievement (CDE, 2003).
At the time of this study, Partnership Academies were operating in
approximately 45 high schools within California, and they offered occupational
training in over 15 different skill fields, including electronics, computer technology,
finance, agribusiness, graphic arts and printing, international business, and space. At
the forefront of reform efforts to integrate academic and vocational education, these
academies have been effective in providing an integrated learning program and high
motivation toward pursuing skilled occupational fields for at-risk students who might
consider dropping out of school and for students who are not motivated by the
regular educational curriculum. Within this legislation, “at-risk” refers to students
who are enrolled in high school and who are in danger of dropping out of school due
to at least three of the following criteria:
1. Past record of irregular attendance;
2. Past record of underachievement in which the student is at least one
year behind the coursework for the respective grade level;
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3. Past record of low motivation or a disinterest in the regular school
program;
4. Economically disadvantaged;
5. Scoring in the 40th percentile or below in mathematics and/ or
English/Language Arts on the state standardized test; and/or
6. Maintaining a grade point average of 2.2 or below, or the equivalent
of a C-.
Hence, it was the intent of the California legislature to expand the number of
partnership academies within the state’s high schools in order “to broaden the
availability of these learning experiences to interested students who did not meet the
original “at-risk” criteria and to encourage the establishment of academies whose
occupational fields addressed the needs of developing technologies.” In addition, the
legislature found that these CPA’s made a “very positive contribution towards
meeting the needs of the state for developing a highly-skilled and educated work
force in the 21st century” (CDE, 2003).
The CPA grant money received from the state is “performance-based
funding, i.e., students enrolled in the Academy must successfully complete 90% of
the credits needed for normal progress toward graduation and must have 80%
cumulative attendance throughout the school year. In addition, the Academy must
also receive 100% matching funds from the participating school district, participating
companies, and private sector organizations in the form of direct and in-kind support.
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Finally, as mentioned earlier, the components of a Partnership Academy must also be
included.
This Career Academy is housed in a building on the periphery of the campus
of the comprehensive high school and serves approximately 110, 10th, 11th, and
12th grade students. Ninth graders who are interested in joining the Academy in 10th
grade must complete an application, participate in an interview, and submit a
completed and signed student/parent consent/compact form before being accepted
into the Academy.
The student population is predominately African-American and Latino and is
approximately 50% male and 50% female. All students, ranging in age from 15- to
19-years-old, are enrolled in English and Social Studies Academy classes. Tenth and
12th graders are enrolled in Drawing 1AB and Media Drawing classes, respectively,
and 11th graders are enrolled in TV Production. During the first three periods of
each day, students attend Academy classes. For the remainder of the school day,
they attend a variety of mathematics and science classes, physical education or sports
classes, and foreign language or other elective classes in the regular high school. In
addition, students are also enrolled in Academy television and broadcast electives, as
well.
During the time of this study, there was a counselor/coordinator (C/C) (male)
of the program, one English teacher, one Social Studies teacher, one fine arts/graphic
design teacher (all females), and one vocational/technical teacher (male). Because
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all Academy teachers have a common planning period, teach all Academy students
during the first three periods of the day, and are personally familiar with Academy
students, they also function as advisers and meet with parents as a group when there
are concerns about a student’s academic progress and/or behavior. Also, although
originally one of the Academy’s academic courses, mathematics courses are not
offered within the Academy because the students are at various math levels.
Below is a description of the Academy’s curriculum for 10th , 11th , and 12th
grades. Those courses noted with an asterisk (*) are Academy courses (Table 3).
Initially developed from one of the programs in the high school’s Perkins
Program— Television Production— this Academy, now ending its 6th year of
operation, is an interdisciplinary, college-preparatory program in which academic
and technical instruction are integrated to build the knowledge, skills, and experience
needed for careers in the television, multimedia, and other technology-oriented
fields. In addition, according to its brochure, the goals of the Academy are to “teach
the key foundation skills in audio-visual communication, provide a solid academic
grounding in the arts and sciences, develop an understanding of video and digital
methods and technologies, and encourage a project-based, team-oriented work
ethic.”
Awarded a California Partnership Academy grant from the CDE in 1999, this
Academy is a small learning community in which an innovative approach to
technical/academic instruction and a supportive environment encourage student
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Table 3. Academy Curriculum Chart
10th grade 11th grade
Fall Spring Summer Fall Spring Summer
Media
Drawing
A*
English
10A*
Media
Drawing
B*
English
10B*
Available
Academic
Multimedia
Production
A*
American
Literature*
Multimedia
Production B*
Contemporary
Composition*
Summer
Media
Workshop
World
History A*
Biology A
World
History B*
Biology B
Class or
PE
PE
Algebra
2A
U.S.
History A*
Algebra 2B
U.S. History
B*
Foreign
Lanuage 1
or 2 (or
PE)
Foreign
Language 1
or 2 (or
PE)
Chemistry
A
Foreign
Language
(or PE)
Chemistry B
Foreign
Language (or
PE)
12th 1 Grade
Fall Spring
TV
Production A*
Expository
Composition*
Economics*
Elective
Elective
Elective
TV
Production B*
12th Grade
English elective*
Government*
Elective
Elective
Elective
academic curriculum provides students with a personalized learning environment in
which teachers have the skills, support, and motivation to identify individual learning
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needs, create opportunities for project-based learning, and engage diverse students in
powerful learning experiences.
As a California Partnership Academy, this Academy is comprised of the
following components:
1 . School-within-school structure
2. Three-year program for Grades 10, 11, and 12
3. Academy classes restricted to Academy students only
4. Three Academy academic classes and one Academy technical class
for 10th and 11th graders, and at least one academic and technical class for 12th
graders
5. Classes offered during consecutive periods in close proximity to each
other
6. Integrated curriculum projects
7. Common planning period for Academy teachers
8. An active mentor program
9. Work experience and internships
10. Link to 2- and 4-year colleges and universities
11. Motivational activities and support services
12. Field trips and speakers
13. Counselor/coordinator assigned exclusively to the Academy
14. Business and parent advisory councils
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Yearly state funding for the Academy is contingent upon student
performance, i.e., in order to be eligible for funding each year, the Academy’s
students must successfully complete 90% of the credits needed for normal progress
toward graduation and have an 80% attendance rate. Also, 100% matching funds
must come from both the school district and participating companies and private
sector organizations.
In addition to meeting the Academy’s high expectations for working
collaboratively with each other: (a) students must regularly attend all classes, (b) be
on time for school and classes, and (c) use and care for sensitive, expensive
equipment. In addition, they must also be prepared to attend off-campus, after
school programs and devote up to three summers to either academic classes or media
internships with the Academy’s industry partners. During the past 5 years, some of
those partners have included Workforce LA, BreakAway Technologies-Computer
Clubhouse, Digital Coast Roundtable, Dreamworks SKG, Foundation for Minorities
in Media, Digital Arts Network-KAOS Productions, Magic Johnson Foundation,
Museum of Radio and Television, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Emma Bowen
Foundation for Minority Interests in Media, Inner City Filmmakers, Young
Filmmakers Academy Mentor Program, Y.E.S. to Jobs, Santa Monica College-
Launch Pad Program, and the ABC Entertainment Television Group New Talent
Development Scholarship Grant Program. (A more detailed description of each of
the above organizations will be discussed later.)
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Research Methodology
As I ventured to determine how student retentiveness, student achievement,
and student program completion affected the career academy program, I chose the
case study approach because it:
1. Provides an effective means for explaining causal links in real-life
interventions that might be too complex for the survey of experimental strategies
(Merriam, 1988), e.g., how specific characteristics of a small learning community
can affect students’ desire to achieve and maintain success;
2. Describes the real-life context in which an intervention has occurred
(Merriam, 1988), e.g., how identified variables of a small learning community
impact the effectiveness of the career academy and the commitment of its
participants; and
3. Explores those situations in which the intervention being evaluated
has no clear, single set of outcomes (Merriam, 1988), e.g., in spite of the efficacy of
these variables, student outcomes will nevertheless vary because of external factors
outside of the controlled, school environment.
Furthermore, the information gleaned from the participants was not just
subject to accuracy or inaccuracy, but more to scrutiny on the grounds of credibility
and the elimination of erroneous conclusions, so data collection methods included:
1. Interviewing the Academy's counselor/coordinator,
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2. Surveying students and teachers via a written survey (see Appendices
A, B, and C),
3. Observing Academy classes, and
4. Reviewing (or ’’ mining”) related documents.
I visited the Academy approximately twice per week, for 1 to 3 hours per
visit, for over a period of approximately 2 1/2 months. I exchanged numerous
telephone calls and e-mail correspondences with the Academy staff during this
period, and then I interviewed the counselor/coordinator in order to obtain a general,
overall picture of the Academy, its purpose and goals, and its participants. On two
occasions each, I observed English, social science, and digital art Academy classes to
determine the extent to which career and academic curricula had been integrated, the
pedagogical strategies that were being used, and the degree of personalization and
community that existed among the students and between the teachers and students.
In addition, I also attended Academy supplemental activities and observed
interactions among the Academy’s stakeholders, e.g., classroom presentations of
culminating projects, end-of-unit projects, an end-of-semester student recognition
event, to which parents and community partners were invited, and advisory sessions
between the counselor/coordinator and students.
Then, I reviewed several documents: (a) the high school’s accreditation self-
study report; (b) the Academy’s brochure; (c) descriptive documents, and (c) CPA
annual reports in order to gather demographic data, the extent of the achievement of
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program goals and objectives, assessment data, and grade, attendance, dropout, and
retention data. In addition, I surveyed the English, Social Science, and digital arts
teachers and their students to assess their perceptions of the Academy and its
offerings and how personalization within the Academy effects the teaching/learning
process, student achievement, and students’ selecting to remain in the Academy.
Finally, I explored the intricacies and vagaries of this small learning community that
“give students the kind of broad-based competencies that allow them to maintain
self-confidence and employability in an ever-changing job market” and that provide
a personalized learning environment in which preparation for college, the workforce,
and adult life is a top priority.
As a result, the findings in this study may assist schools that are beginning to
convert large high schools into a collection of small learning communities and
attempting to establish mutually productive partnerships with the business
community and local colleges and universities. In addition, these findings may help
high schools explore strategies that will improve in-seat attendance rates, decrease
the dropout rate, and increase retention and program completion rates. Finally, this
research may serve as a guide toward defining and identifying a process that
provides evidence of the implementation of a successful systemic reform initiative
and serve as a model for any high school that is prepared to become:
1. A major participant in the small learning community reform
movement;
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2. An expanded and alternative education option for parents; and
3. A guarantee that no high school student is left behind.
Of course, on the down side, school districts must also be prepared to face the
challenges of breaking up one of the major icons of many local communities— the
large comprehensive high school.
Since there were no risks to the human subjects who participated in this
study, the findings should, at the very least, inform the Academy of instructional,
organizational, and operational factors that impact student retention, achievement,
and program completion. Furthermore, as it evolves into an independent entity, the
Academy can use these findings to assist it in evaluating the effectiveness of its
program and in becoming more aligned with and committed to small learning
communities’ criteria.
After receiving written consent from the Academy's counselor/coordinator
and the principal of the comprehensive high school, I recruited the Academy’s
teachers’ consent, their students’ assent, and the parents’ consent, to participate in
this study. I then met with the teachers and explained how the study's findings could
assist them in further promoting the Academy's goals and refining and enhancing the
Academy's image as a small learning community. Prior to administering the surveys,
all participants were informed verbally and in writing that:
1. The completion of the survey was entirely voluntary;
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2. The purpose of the study was to determine how Academy students’
retentiveness, academic achievement, and program completion impacted the
Academy’s program,
3. The identity of their school and their individual responses would be
kept strictly confidential, and
4. A summary and analysis of their responses would be incorporated
into a doctoral dissertation and shared with them.
Assumptions o f the Study
This study is being conducted because throughout current reform literature it
is suggested that the effectiveness of educational reform in secondary schools is
contingent upon establishing smaller and more personalized environments in which
students are well known by their teachers and by each other; successful student
achievement is contingent upon students’ consistent attendance and active
participation in their classes; and students’ motivation and desire to complete their
program of study successfully (i.e., graduation) is contingent upon the first two
factors. Program offerings and other available resources (e.g., extensive field trips,
opportunities to interact with persons employed in the industry, frequent student
recognition activities, opportunities for students to present their best work, and
opportunities for apprenticeships and internships) serve to enhance the appeal of this
small learning community.
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Accordingly, I believe that these and other factors affect students’ and
teachers’ sense of community within the Academy, and that beyond the requirements
for California Partnership Academies,
1. The Academy’s stakeholders are devoted to and focused on achieving
its mission;
2. Personalization, consistent classroom attendance, and successful
student performance are integral to the overall success of the Academy; and
3. Students have a sincere desire and unexploited motivation to complete
the Academy’s program.
Limitations o f the Study
Because of my former affiliation with the comprehensive high school, first as
a teacher and later as an administrator, and because the school is located in my
community, I am extensively familiar with the school site. In addition, I presently
have ongoing professional relationships with a number of the stakeholders.
However, at the time of this study, within the Academy, I was only familiar with the
technical arts teacher and the Counselor/Coordinator, since I had been away from the
school for at least 5 years. Hence, in spite of my ongoing professional relationships
with the aforementioned individuals, which could account for some bias toward
advocacy of the school and its programs, I believe I was able to maintain appropriate
professional objectivity as I conducted the study.
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The primary limitation of this case study, however, is that it only examines
and provides case study data for one small learning community at one high school,
and the findings trace the Academy’s evolution from a School-to-Career Tech Prep
program to a developing, autonomous small learning community in an urban high
school. Hence, because the study is not designed for replication, the issue of
reliability will be limited to Dr. Kip Leland’s and Dr. Sharon Robinson’s validating
the internal reliability of the data. However, limited generalizations will be possible
from the themes that emerge from the data collection and analysis.
Other limitations included the one-on-one interview with the counselor/
coordinator, for during interviews, one has a tendency to portray the best possible
picture of the entity, item, or organization being studied; observing students within
their classroom settings because the researcher’s presence can possibly influence
students’ responses and behaviors; and finally, mining documents possibly limits the
researcher’s access to secondary, rather than primary sources.
These limitations in and of themselves did not, however, impede or invalidate
the reliability of this study, but they were considered and taken into account during
the analysis of the findings.
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CHAPTER 4
ANALYSIS OF THE DATA
Introduction
The Academy is “staffed by a highly motivated team of innovative teachers”
who have developed an interdisciplinary approach that integrates academic and
technical instruction in order to build the knowledge, skills, and experience needed
for careers in television, multimedia, and other technology-oriented fields. Students
make a good faith commitment to follow a sequence of classes from 10th grade
through 12th grade. Academy courses are taught in a project-oriented environment
and supported by creative applications of high technology. Students acquire
academic skills while learning teamwork, self-management and the communication
skills expected by today’s leading companies. More specifically, according to the
Academy’s brochure, this program is “designed to (a) teach the key foundation skills
[to] young people who are interested in audio-visual communication, (b) provide
solid academic grounding in the arts and sciences, (c) develop an understanding of
video and digital methods and technologies, and (d) encourage a project-based, team-
oriented work ethic.” Students must be prepared to meet the Academy’s high
expectations for working collaboratively with other students, for regular and prompt
attendance to all class meetings, and for using and caring for sensitive and expensive
equipment in a responsible manner.
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An Interview with the Counselor/Coordinator
The counselor/coordinator (C/C) began the interview by stating that the
Academy has been existence for 5 years, but they have only been using the state-of
the-art television studio for the last 3 years. At the inception of the Academy, the
C/C and the advisory board developed the following goals for the Academy:
1. To identify and renovate classrooms and adjoining spaces on campus
that would be conducive to creating an environment of a “school-within-a-school.”
2. Secure funding to sustain the operation of the Academy.
3. Implement a schedule for students that would foster the instructional
intentions of a successful school-to-career Academy.
4. Have an instructional team that implemented innovative and
challenging college preparatory curriculum focused around a career theme.
5. Expose students to the industry through field trips, speakers, paid and
unpaid internships, and comprehensive, community-based after-school programs.
6. Create a foundation to provide scholarships for deserving students.
7. Instill in students “standards for success” that could help them excel
in whatever career they choose (Academy brochure).
With the support and assistance of Workforce LA, the Academy received
funds from the Quality Zone Academy Bond to convert old shop classrooms into a
television broadcast studio and academic classrooms. In addition, they applied for a
California Partnership Academy Year-One Implementation Grant of $42,000 and a
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$15,000 Planning Grant in order to begin the initial process. Although they did not
receive the Planning Grant during the first year, they did receive the Implementation
Grant, and they continued to design and develop the Academy. Fortunately, during
years 2 and 3, the CPA granted the school $70,000 and $80,000, respectively.
Student Accountability
As was previously noted, the California Partnership Academies Program
holds all stakeholders accountable for student achievement and success— but
especially the students. In this Academy, there were approximately 110 students
enrolled, 50% African-American and 50% Latino. As it continues to grow, the
maximum number of students that will be permitted to enroll in the Academy will
range between 160 and 180. Also, according to the CPA’s 90/80 Rule, every student
must earn 90% of the credits they need to move to the next level (grade) and must
maintain an 80% attendance rate. The support systems and strategies the Academy
uses to assist students in meeting desired student outcomes of increased attendance,
increased academic achievement, and progress toward graduation include a
counselor/coordinator exclusively assigned to the Academy who emphasizes,
promotes, and supports students’ achievement of the Academy’s “standards for
success”-Teamwork— On Time-Professional Work (T.O.P.); semester awards for
attendance, academics, and extra effort; and regular and ongoing discussions of
student progress during teachers’ common planning period.
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Additionally, each semester, 10th and 11th graders must enroll in two or three
Academy academic classes and one technology class, and 12th graders must enroll in
at least one Academy academic class and one technology. These classes must occur
during consecutive periods, and all classrooms must be located within close
proximity, i.e., housed in the same building and/or area. At the time of this study,
Academy students were only enrolled in English and Social Science Academy
classes, Digital Design Art classes, and Television Production and Broadcast classes.
Science, mathematics, honors and Advanced Placement classes, physical education,
and elective classes (e.g., foreign language) were not available through the Academy.
Recruited from 9th grade Life Skills, English, and Health classes, incoming
Academy 10th graders and their parents are interviewed and must commit to working
to achieve the Academy’s goals and motto, namely Team Work-On Time-
Professional Work (TOP). According to the counselor/coordinator, business and
industry identified these characteristics as those that were most desirable in
employees:
1. The ability to work as a part of a team;
2. The ability to be on time for work; and
3. The ability to perform professional work.
As a monthly incentive, three Academy students from each grade level are
recognized and awarded gift certificates for demonstrating TOP. To further illustrate
the importance of TOP for Academy students, 10th graders take numerous field trips
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to local movie, television, radio, and cable studios, as well as to the business end of
local amusement parks, such as Disneyland, Universal, and Knotts Berry Farm. One
benefit of these trips is that students become more aware of the number and variety
of career opportunities in the multimedia field.
Business and Post-Secondary Organizations ’ Accountability
Just as the school district provides a 100% match of state funds in the form of
direct and in-kind support, participating companies and private sector organizations
also provide a 100% match of state funds received in the form of direct and in-kind
support. In addition, representatives from these businesses usually serve as active
members of the Academy’s advisory council and provide mentors for students during
tki
their 11 grade year. In addition, the private sector is also involved in motivational
activities that encourage and support academic and occupational preparation.
During the summer following 11th grade, students are provided internships or
paid jobs related to the Academy’s occupational fields, or they are afforded work
experience opportunities during 12th grade to improve employment skills. As 11th
and 12th graders, Academy students are granted job shadowing, internship, and
apprenticeship opportunities in these businesses and local studios through after
school and summer programs. Five major criteria of the Academy’s after-school
programs include:
1. After-school, advanced workshops in the television studio in
animation, television production, and digital art;
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2. A multimedia workshop for Academy parents;
3. A multi-media workshop for feeder middle schools;
4. Cultural and social enrichment activities and field trips for Academy
students; and
5. Off-campus workshops and internships at various businesses and non
profit organizations.
In addition, other after-school and summer programs include:
1. The ABC Entertainment Group New Talent Development Scholarship
Grant Program offers grants and scholarships up to $20,000 to minority individuals
to support new writing, filmmaking, and directing talent.
2. BreakAway Technology. Computer Clubhouse is an after-school
program that offers young people between 8- and 18-year-old opportunities to
explore and develop their skills in computer technology, designing websites,
brochures, videos, etc.
3. Digital Arts Network. KAOS Production is a consortium of
community agencies that offer children opportunities to learn video teleconferencing,
creating websites and web pages, animation, and video.
' 4. Emma Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media selects third
and fourth year minority high school students for work study at media companies
during the summer.
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5. Inner-City Filmmakers offers a free summer program at the
University of Southern California for low-income high school seniors and recent
graduates to gain a working knowledge of the motion picture and television
industries.
6. The Museum o f Television and Radio offers 8-week Saturday
workshops during the spring semester for high school students on writing,
cinematography, sound, lighting, acting, directing, visual effects, and editing.
7. Santa Monica College. Launch Pad Program offers a 6-week
summer program at SMC’s Academy of Entertainment and Technology for 11th
grade high school students that introduces them to computer animation, interactive
media, and design technology.
8. Y.E.S. to Jobs is a program for high school students, 16- to 18-years-
old that provides entry-level jobs into the entertainment industry.
9. Young Filmmakers Academy Mentor Program allows students to
participate in a summer workshop at UCLA to learn the filmmaking process from
script to screen.
10. During the Academy’s inception, over twenty businesses and
organizations joined together to donate services and money to build the Academy’s
studio, and, as illustrated above, many remained to provide resources, mentors,
speakers, and real-world experiences, and to develop partnerships with the Academy.
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Teacher Accountability
As teachers develop, collaboratively plan, implement, and deliver
interdisciplinary, integrated learning units, students develop and create individual
portfolios of their work and produce real-world interdisciplinary projects, e.g., digital
imagery art projects in Digital Design class and group videos of newscasts or
political debates in Advanced Television class. Classroom instruction encourages
collaborative and cooperative learning groups, and students are accustomed to
working both independently and dependently to achieve productive outcomes.
Teachers assess what students know and are able to do via formative and summative
evaluations, such as authentic, real-world, and performance-based assessments,
exhibits, and projects. Many of these finished projects are presented during evening
open houses where parents, administrators, and community partners and friends of
the Academy attend to examine and assess students’ work.
Furthermore, in addition to providing career-related learning experiences for
students, teachers are also responsible for delivering a rigorous standards-based
curriculum that is aligned with the University of California/California State
University (UC/CSU) “a-g” requirements as well as skills- and work-based curricula
that address the ability to reason, communicate, problem-solve, and work
collaboratively as a member of a team. The “a-g” requirements include a sequence
of high school courses required by the UC and CSU systems that ensure minimal
admission eligibility (Table 4). In addition, these course requirements also illustrate
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Table 4. UC/CSU “ a-g” Requirements
The “a-g” requirements can be summarized as follows:
A. History/Social Studies. Two years required, including 1 year of world
history, cultures, and geography 1 year of U. S. history or 1 1/2 year of
civics or American government.
B. English. Four years of college preparatory English that include frequent
and regular writing and reading of classic and modem literature.
C. Mathematics. Three years of college preparatory mathematics that include
the topics covered in elementary and advanced Algebra and two- and
three-dimensional geometry.
D. Laboratory Science. Two years of laboratory science providing
fundamental knowledge in at least two of these three disciplines: biology
(which includes anatomy, physiology, marine biology, aquatic biology,
etc.), chemistry, and physics.
E. Language Other Than English. Two years of the same language other than
English.
F. Visual and Performing Arts. One year, including dance, drama/theater,
music, or visual art.
G. College Preparatory Elective. In addition to those courses required in “a-
f ’ above, 1 year (two semesters) of college preparatory electives are
required, chosen from advanced visual and performing arts, history, social
science, English, advanced mathematics, laboratory science, and a
language other than English.
the level of academic preparation students ought to achieve in high school to
undertake university-level work (University of California A-G Interactive Guide).
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Teachers also developed an Academy Classroom Management Guide that
was designed to assure a productive learning environment, define their expectations
of students, and provide the procedures that are followed in the classroom:
1. Students are required to maintain an Academy 3-ringed binder that is
divided into the following sections:
a. Warm-ups
b. Classroom Activities
c. Notes/Handouts
d. Homework
e. Projects/Exams
2. In addition, the notebook includes a cover page, the course syllabus
and project descriptions, point record sheets, and project progress sheets.
3. Students are responsible for copying the daily agenda, gathering
necessary supplies/materials, and completing the warm-up within the first ten
minutes of class.
4. Students’ attendance readmit slips and completed homework
assignments are submitted at the beginning of class.
5. All assignments and projects are promptly submitted. However, prior
to the due date, students may submit a written request for an extension, which is
subject to the teacher’s approval.
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6. A project’s progress is checked intermittingly to ensure that the
student is on task and completing the project correctly. This progress assessment is
also included in the final evaluation of the project.
7. At the beginning of a project, students are given a detailed description
of the project, clearly defined daily learning activities, and the project’s due date. In
order to remain on task, students are expected to refer to this information and consult
with the teacher if they have any problems, questions, or concerns about the project.
8. Before the end of each class period, students are responsible for
supervising clean up efforts according to a posted rotating schedule. After clean up,
students resume their seats for closing activities and dismissal.
Parent Accountability
Parent involvement is strongly encouraged in the Academy. From the outset,
parents must give permission for students to participate in the Academy, commit to
supporting their child’s efforts, ensure his/her regular and prompt attendance to class,
participate on the advisory council or other committees that need parental support,
and attend open house activities that showcase students’ work. The Academy’s
parent advisory group also conducts parent orientation meetings and establishes a
parent e-mail chain through which they communicate with each other.
Analyzing Data
In order to determine how student retentiveness, student achievement, and
program completion (graduation) impact the Academy’s program, I surveyed the two
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academic teachers (English/Language Arts and Social Science), one fine arts teacher,
and each student group (10th , 11th , and 12th graders), using instruments that were
designed to:
1. Demonstrate how the characteristics of small learning communities
are evident in the Academy’s program;
2. Determine how these characteristics effect student retentiveness,
student achievement, and program completion;
3. Discover which services, offerings, and resources facilitate teaching
are available; and
4. Determine to what extent the career curriculum is integrated with the
academic curriculum.
Analyzing Student Survey Data
Eighty percent (approximately 88 students) of the Academy’s students
participated in a voluntary survey that was designed to reveal how they felt about
their academy and how certain characteristics of this small learning community
affected them. First, students were asked why they had selected this Academy.
Twenty-seven of them selected it because they were interested in learning more
about the media field, and nine selected it because they were interested in operating
the high-tech equipment. Nineteen, however, were planning to work in some aspect
of media, and other responses ranged from having previous family members or
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friends affiliated with the Academy to the Academy’s being the only one in the
community.
The second question in the survey asked how long each student had been in
the Academy, and for the most part, this was the first year for all of the 10th grade
respondents. For 11th grade respondents, however, 13 had been in the Academy for
2 years, and 6 had been members for 1 year. Membership for the 12th grade
respondents varied even more: 1 had been a member for 4 years, 17 for 3 years, and
3 for 2 years. In the case of the 11th and 12th graders, some had been admitted to the
Academy later than 10th grade, although the normal admission pattern had been to
enter the Academy at the beginning of 10th grade.
When asked what they liked about the Academy, the students’ survey
responses revealed several themes: People in the Academy, by far, was the most
popular response. Thirty-eight responses revealed liking all or some of the teachers,
or their relationships with the teachers; 10 responses favored their relationships with
the counselor/coordinator; and 12 responses mentioned liking fellow students and
friends. The next most popular responses referred to the equipment, computers,
technology, and software programs. Field trips, integrated projects, and the
educational lessons and environment were the next most popular responses. Lastly,
smaller classes, opportunities, and Academy classes for Academy students only were
the third most popular responses.
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Interestingly, most students were inspired to come to school every day
because of what they were learning and because of their interactions with the
teachers and their classmates. The second most popular responses were centered on
having opportunities to use professional multimedia equipment and computers.
However, some of the more typical responses included girls, graduating from
college, fun, and job opportunities. Responses such as getting attention from
teachers and having feelings of unity and closeness were only significant to one
student each, respectively.
At the time of the survey, few students had had any outside experiences with
media-related jobs, i.e., 46 students responded that they had not had any experiences
with media-related jobs. Ten students had been at a filming or had been involved in
actually filming; 4 had been interns in a media-related field; 5 had worked on outside
media projects; 7 had been involved in computer or Internet-related projects; 1 had
guest-starred on a television show, and 1 had been a member of a stage crew.
One of the major components of small learning communities is the personal
relationships that develop and their impact on students.
a. Only 3 respondents viewed the relationships with other Academy
students as family-like, and one thought that it was nice to be around students with
similar interests; 56 viewed these relationships as good, “cool,” friendly, or getting
along with everyone. Only 8 said that some relationships were good and others, not
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so good. One stated that he/she did not associate with too many students, and
another said he/she only knew 10th graders.
b. As to their relationship with Academy faculty members, 65 student
respondents expressed positive comments about their relationships with faculty.
Comments ranged from “not bad” to “wonderful.” Ironically, only 1 student thought
that the faculty knew the students well, and 1 felt that the faculty was understanding.
Only 6 students had negative comments.
c. Regarding their relationships with outside media-related employers,
16 had no experience; 31 had had a positive relationship with these employers, and 5
saw their relationships as negative. Many students chose not to respond to this
question.
d. Academy students’ relationships with non-Academy students are
practically normal—55 responses were positive, ranging from excellent to “no
problems,” but 18 responses were negative.
e. However, 45 responses were positive comments about relationships
with non-Academy faculty members, and 18 responses were negative.
When they were asked what they would change about the Academy, 12
students, ironically said, they would change their teachers; 7 said they would have
more field trips, and 7 more said they would change nothing. Six students said they
would like to take all of their classes within the Academy, and other responses
ranged from more group projects to more classes related to students’ interests.
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However, a number of responses under these categories ranged from 1 to 5 and
proved to be difficult to group under any significant theme, for they referred to the
physical building, student discipline, more activities, too much studying, and a host
of other typical teen responses.
According to the literature, students in small learning communities were
more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities, and as expected, 51 of the
respondents participated in extracurricular activities. Of the activities cited, 18
students were involved in sports activities, 5 were in French Club, and 3 were in
Ecology Club. Of the 25 other students who responded, only 1 or 2 students were
involved in other school clubs or organizations. Interestingly, 30 of them were not
involved in any extracurricular activities.
Academy students were then asked what their career goals were and 62% (or
68 of them) looked forward to media-related careers. Two students aspired toward
careers in sports; 4 looked forward to college; 4 were interested in careers in public
service: police officer, fire fighter, teacher, and probation officer; 13 others looked
forward to a variety of careers: astronomer, lawyer, mechanic, and tattoo artist;
finally, 5 were undecided.
However, when asked how they would reach their career goals after high
school; 39 stated that they were headed to college; 9 were expecting to enter media
or entertainment jobs right after high school; 2 expected to enter internships; 2 said
they would take (unspecified) classes; 1 planned to move to Japan to create video
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games, and another planned to move to Hollywood. All Academy students
anticipated graduating on time, in compliance with the California Partnership
Academy criteria.
When asked what advice they would give to incoming 10th graders, students’
comments fell into three distinct categories: (a) Positive Responses, (b) Personal
Positive Responses, and (c) Personal Negative Responses. In summary, 52 positive
responses encouraged incoming students to be prepared to work hard and take the
work seriously, to not to “mess up” the opportunity of being in the Academy, and to
realize that they were enrolling in a “great program.” The nine personal positive
responses ranged from being on time and being a good listener to keeping up their
grades, having fun with the teachers, and asking for help when they needed it.
Finally, only 2 personal negative responses were provided, specifically, “Don’t be
like me” and “Learn not to depend on teachers.”
Academy students gave a vast array of responses when asked to what could
students look forward. However, of the 105 responses, the comments could be
categorized into three groups: (a) people-related, (b) curriculum/activities/project-
related, and (c) future activities-related. Future activities-related responses made up
11% of the responses and related primarily to what students could look forward to
after their 3-year experience in the Academy. Accordingly, 20% of the responses
were people-related. Academy students indicated high regard for their teachers, the
counselor/coordinator, and other individuals who had given them relevant learning
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experiences, because these individuals “knew the students well.” Sixty-eight percent
of the responses involved the media curriculum, ongoing activities, and the
excitement and fun of working on their integrated projects. They demonstrated pride
in what they were learning, their work, their accomplishments, and being members
of the Academy.
Finally, when students were asked to describe their Academy experience in
one word, 69% of the responses were positive and ranged from “excellent,”
“phenomenal,” and “extraordinary” to “fun,” “great,” and “cool.” On the other hand,
13% of the respondents described their one-word experience in terms such as
“boring,” “exhausting,” and “frustrating.” Seven percent found their experience
“interesting,” and another seven percent described the Academy experience as
“educational,” “artistic,” and [a] “commitment.”
Analyzing Teacher Survey Data
As with the students, the three of the four Academy teachers, Social Science
(T-l), Fine Arts (T-2), and English (T-3) teachers, voluntarily participated in a
similar survey. Flowever, their questions were related more to their perceptions of
the Academy from a professional’s point of view, than from a participant’s
perspective.
The first four questions were directed to factual information about the
teachers: (a) How they were selected for the Academy, (b) the number of years they
had been teaching in the school district where the school is located, (c) the number of
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years they had taught in the Academy, and (d) the expertise that qualified them to
teach in the Academy and the subjects they were presently teaching.
The counselor/coordinator (C/C) had recruited all three teachers to teach in
the Academy: a friend who was leaving the Academy had initially recruited T-l, and
T-2 and T-3 were recruited directly by the counselor/coordinator. Furthermore, at
the time of the study, T-l and T-2 had been teaching for 5 years in the school district,
and T-3 had only been teaching for 2 years. Both T-l and T-3 had only been with
the Academy for 1 year, but the T-2 had been with the Academy since its inception,
4 years before. T-l had taught in another academy and had experience working
collaboratively and developing integrated curricula and projects. T-2 had a degree in
Art, with a strong background in graphic design and computer graphics. T-3 had
some technical experience, but had more knowledge in the content area. Hence, as a
result of these responses, the one variable that was common among the three was that
they had all been recruited and had voluntarily selected to teach in the Academy.
The fourth question addressed the courses that each teacher was teaching
during the time of the study (Table 5). The first 3 periods of the school day were
devoted to Academy classes, and all three shared a 4th period conference period for
planning, collaborating, developing lessons together, and for discussing student
progress, behavior, and/or attendance, etc.
However, during the last 2 class periods of the school day, all 3 teachers
taught classes in the regular school program.
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Table 5. Teachers’ Schedules
T-l T-2 T-3
Subject Enrollment Subject Enrollment Subject Enrollment
World
History
29 Media
Drawing
31 American
Lit
20
U.S.
History
28 Drawing 1 37 Modem Lit 24
Govt/Econ 28 Digital
Imagery
25 English
10B
27
Planning
period
Planning
period
Planning
period
AP U.S.
History
12 Leadership 22 English
10B (H)
29
Govt/Econ 27 Yearbook 15 English
10B
22
In questions 5, 6, 7, and 8, the teachers were asked about their common
planning activities and their own professional development (PD) activities. In
response to the fifth question, five major themes emerged from their descriptions of
how they used their common planning period: (a) monitoring an individual student’s
academic and behavioral progress and success, (b) developing lessons for integrated
projects, (c) discussing general ideas for the Academy, such as field trips, guest
speakers, etc., (d) dealing with administrative information from the C/C, and
(e) coordinating the development of rubrics and methods of grading.
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Questions 6 and 7, respectively, revealed the frequency of the teachers’
participation in Academy professional development (PD) and (a) individual
departmental meetings, subject matter PD, and (b) school wide and off-campus
Academy-related PD. Only T-2 stated that their weekly meetings were professional
development (PD). T-l felt that they did not often participate in Academy-specific
PD, and T-3 had not participated in any Academy-specific PD. For department
meetings and subject matter PD, T-l stated that these meetings occurred weekly; T-2
stated they “hardly ever occurred, because the art department does not function as a
group;” and T-3 stated that they occurred once per month. The question on school-
wide and off-campus Academy-related PD was then deleted because two pieces of
unrelated information were requested, and it could not be determined whether the
resulting responses answered the first or second part of the question.
Regarding teaching and learning that the teachers engaged in together, T-l
felt that there was not enough collaborative teaching occurring in this Academy. T-2
stated that they collaborated on projects that would engage the students in learning
and “tied” English or Social Science content to students’ art projects. T-3 mentioned
integrated projects and planning field trips to enhance students’ participation in the
community, teaching students professional skills in presentation and delivery, and
selecting outstanding students for recognition. Clearly, there is a slight discrepancy
in the teachers’ perceptions, for two of the three noted active planning and
collaboration, and the third teacher did not see enough planning or collaboration.
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Yet, in spite of a lack of governance procedures (question 10) in the
Academy, all 3 teachers stated that the support from and collaborating with each
other on a regular basis was the one thing that made working in the Academy the
most fulfilling (question 9). The next most fulfilling aspects of the Academy were
the support and cooperation they received from the C/C, the student-teacher
interactions, and the interdisciplinary projects.
When asked to compare their relationship with Academy students to their
relationship with students in the regular school, two of the teachers felt that their
relationship with Academy students was much more personal because they taught the
students for three years and thereby developed consistency, built upon students’
knowledge, tracked their progress, and increased interactions. There was mutual
respect because the students knew the teachers’ expectations, and the teachers
understood the students’ needs. One teacher, however, could not make a fair
comparison, because of the “vast” (quotation marks included) amount of time the
individual had spent in academies.
Questions 12, 13, and 14 focused on the teachers’ active participation in other
nonclassroom activities. For instance, when asked about job-related interactions,
planning lessons, and collaborating with academy partners, 2 teachers stated that the
C/C assumed that role and acted as a liaison between the Academy and the
community. The third teacher’s interaction only involved recruiting students to
participate in summer programs. Regarding sponsoring after-school or
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extracurricular activities or classes, one teacher tutored, one sponsored Yearbook,
Leadership, and served on the School Site Council, and the 3rd was not involved in
any activities. Finally, when asked about their roles as advisers to Academy
students, 2 teachers felt that this component did not apply to the Academy, and the
3rd teacher gave no response at all.
Interestingly, when they were asked what they would change about the
Academy (question 15), the teachers’ responses were grouped into six categories:
(a) more support and collaboration among (Academy?) faculty; (b) more support
from C/C for high expectations from students; (c) more social activities for students;
(d) advisory groups in the Academy; (e) raising the level of teaching and the
consistency of teaching methods from class to class; and (f) recruiting more honor
students for the Academy and thereby raising the academic bar. The teachers’
survey responses for this question were replicated.
Question 16 asked the teachers what they were doing to assist students in
achieving their post-secondary goals, and once again there were no overlapping
responses. One teacher provided a rigorous academic program that facilitated
analytical growth and the development of skills. Another teacher worked hard to get
12th graders to understand the importance of “quality” (quotation marks included)
work and to putting all of their efforts into the development of their portfolios.
Finally, the third teacher taught mostly literacy skills, i.e., critical thinking, reading,
and writing that would help them with essay writing, resume [writing], and
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statements of intent. The teachers’ responses were all focused on providing a quality
educational experience for the students, but they did not relate or refer to a central
Academy vision or mission.
Question 17 was posed in order to determine the types and the extent of the
teachers’ professional affiliations. T-2 had no affiliations; T-3 was a member of
Facing History Ourselves and Teach for America; and T-l had extensive affiliations:
UCLA Urban Educator Network, California Council of Social Science, National
Council of Social Science, Southern California Social Science Association, Phi
Kappa Phi, Contemporary World History Project, and History-Geography Project.
The discrepancy in the number of the teachers’ affiliations is possibly attributed to
T -l’s experience and length of tenure as a teacher.
Finally, question 18 gave the teachers an opportunity to give additional
comments, and T-l and T-2 had no comments. However, T-3 stated that teaching in
this Academy was the main reason she was staying at the high school— the support of
the small learning community. She found the atmosphere challenging because she
saw the students so much that she inevitably got to see the whole person and to get
involved in their struggles and problems. She felt that in spite of having more course
preparations than the average teacher in the regular school, the Academy gave her
the flexibility to grow and develop as an educator, while feeling acknowledged and
supported for the work she did. At the time of this study, she felt that the Academy
was where she belonged for now.
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CHAPTER 5
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
In this chapter, the focus is on the emerging themes that are evident in the
findings and how these findings address the following research questions:
1. How does student retentiveness, achievement, and program
completion impact the effectiveness of the Academy’s program?
2. What services, offerings and resources, which facilitate teaching and
learning, are available in this small learning community?
3. To what extent is the career curriculum integrated with the academic
curriculum?
4. How effectively does the academy address students’ academic and
career needs?
The presentation of the findings will begin with each research question,
followed by a discussion of the themes and how they relate to the specific research
question. Although the research questions are not in any hierarchical order, they are
presented in a manner that facilitates determining how students’ continuing in the
Academy, maintaining high performance in their classes, and successfully graduating
from the Academy impact the Academy’s program.
How Characteristics o f an Academy Impact and Effect Students
One of the primary characteristics of an Academy is that students share
several classes and remain with the same teachers for 3 years. The first theme that
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100
emerged from the data is that students share two core Academy classes and a digital
arts or television broadcast class. Also, providing that teachers remain with the
Academy, they have the same teachers for 3 years. According to survey responses,
this integral indication of personalization most likely accounts for why students
enjoy their Academy, are inspired to attend school every day, and develop better and
more personal relationships with Academy adults and fellow students. Not one
student indicated that he/she attended school regularly because it was a mandate of
the California Partnership Academy Program. Eighty percent of the student
respondents liked all or some of their teachers, the counselor/coordinator, and their
fellow Academy classmates. Eighty-five percent has established positive personal
relationships with other Academy students; 89% with Academy faculty, 41% with
Academy partners, and 73% with non-Academy students. As Fine and Somerville
(1998) note “small schools can create an academic climate in which a sense of
belonging and rich teaching and learning can flourish.” Additionally, these “small
learning environments in large high schools enable teachers and students to form
more personal and caring relationships . ..” (Sizer, 1984/1993).
Stem et al (2000) also found that Academy students were more likely to have
better attendance and more likely to participate in extracurricular activities.
According to the survey responses, 8% of the Academy students were inspired to
come to school every day because of the interactions with their teachers and
classmates and because of opportunities to use the professional multimedia
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equipment. From these findings, there is further evidence of the students’
satisfaction with and appreciation of their Academy experience, for 87% responded
with a positive comment when they were asked to give a one-word response that
described their Academy experience. In addition, another 68% is involved in a
variety of extracurricular activities, with many participating in one or more sports,
clubs, and organizations. Yet, even though a significant number of students are
involved in extracurricular activities, not every Academy student participates in one.
Another characteristic of a career academy is a college-preparatory
curriculum with a career theme (Stem, Dayton, & Raby, 2000) that prepares students
for postsecondary education while equipping them with work-related skills (Cotton,
2001; Stern et al., 2000). From the High Schools that Work Project, Bottoms and
Presson (1995) found that this project combined challenging academic courses and
modem vocational educational studies to raise the achievement of high school
students who were not enrolled in college prep courses. Thus, successful completion
of the project had simultaneously prepared students with a solid education and an
extensive career background. In the Academy that was studied, all students are
enrolled in college-prep classes that are aligned with the UC/CSU “a-g”
requirements, and 52% of the respondents expect to achieve their career goals by
attending and completing college. Of course, 91% of the respondents are aspiring
toward a media-related career.
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Another theme that emerged from the data was students’ admiration for their
Academy and pride in the work they produced. Stem et al (2000) noticed that
creating new small schools or smaller school units within large high schools could
conceivably improve safety, establish a sense of belonging, and increase motivation,
participation and achievement. Evidence of this theme is apparent in Cushman
et al.’s (1997) proposition that “a career academy promises a meaningful context for
students’ academic work across disciplines, a culture of high expectations derived
from real-world standards, and a structure and opportunity for exploring the world of
adults.” From Sizer’s (1984/1993) Coalition for Essential Schools Movement, six of
the ten common principles are also evident in this theme:
1. The Academy’s curriculum is meaningful to the students and focuses
on depth o f knowledge across academic disciplines;
2. Instruction is delivered via the teacher as coach, student as worker
model;
3. Assessment o f student learning through demonstration o f mastery is
evident in students’ integrated multimedia projects;
4. A culture of high expectations derived from real-world standards
where goals apply to all students;
5. An overall commitment to the entire school is evident in T. O.P., i.e.,
Teamwork-On time-Professional work; and
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6. The Academy provides structures and opportunities to explore the
adult world by using resources dedicated to teaching and learning as noted in
students’ opportunities for job shadowing, internships, and paid job experiences.
7. How Student Retentiveness, Achievement, and Program Completion
Impact the Academy’s Effectiveness
The themes organized from the data in the student survey results,
demonstrate how student retentiveness, achievement, and program completion
impact this Career Academy (Table 6):
1. Academy students’ share several classes and have the same teachers
for three years, and this organizational structure builds and enhances relationships
between students and adults (i.e., teachers, staff, and adult employer representatives).
2. Academy students have better attendance, earn more credits and
higher grades, and graduate from high school at a higher rate than non-academy
students.
3. Statistically, more Academy students participate in extracurricular
activities than non-Academy students.
4. All Academy students are enrolled in a college prep curriculum with
career themes. Career-related themes give focus and coherence to curriculum by
encouraging analytical depth as is denoted in the Coalition of Essential School’s
“less is more.” Further, there are opportunities to test students’ deepening
understanding of academic concepts through practical applications and work-based
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Table 6. Themes from Student Survey
Theme Characteristics Description Percentage
Students share classes Positive Have same teachers for
3 years
75%-100%
Establish personal
relationships
Positive Student teacher, coun./
coord. & student-
student
60%-80%
Better attendance Positive Interactions with
teachers & classmates
Opportunities to use
multimedia
equipment
60%-80%
18%-24%
Participation in
extracurricular
Positive Sports, clubs &
organizations
51%-68%
activities Negative No participation 30%-40%
College Prep
curriculum with
career theme
Positive Going to college after
high school
39%— 52%
Satisfaction with Positive With the people 19%— 25%
academy experience
Positive
With media curriculum
& technology
64%-85%
Positive
Negative
Positive
Advice to incoming
10th graders
One-word description
of academy
One-word description
of academy
What to look forward to
a. people-related
b. Media- related
c. Future-related
61 %— 81 %
71 %— 94%
12%-16%
19%— 25%
64%-85%
10%— 13%
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learning by engaging them as active “workers” who demonstrate authentic mastery
and learning of the academic and vocational curricula.
There is a high degree of student satisfaction with the Academy experience:
(a) with the people; (b) the media curriculum and the equipment and technology,
attributed to the explicit connections linking high school to postsecondary education
and employment, (c) improving the performance of students who are in danger of
dropping out of school, (d) providing integrated academics and occupation-related
classes in order to enhance real-world relevance and maintain high academic
standards, (e) developing partnerships with employers whose representatives give
advice on curriculum, (f) serve as guest speakers, (g) supervise student internships,
(h) provide financial or in-kind support, and (i) mentor individual students.
Services, Offerings and Resources that
Facilitate Teaching and Learning
Of those services, offerings, and resources that facilitate teaching and
learning, the initial services begin with the components of the California Partnership
Academies. Secondly, among the goals that were developed at the inception of the
Academy, those that identify specific services, offerings, and resources include:
1. Academy students’ schedules foster the instructional intentions of a
successful school-to-career Academy.
2. The Academy’s instructional team implements an innovative and
challenging college preparatory curriculum focused around a career theme.
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3. Academy students are exposed to the industry through field trips,
speakers, paid and unpaid internships, and a comprehensive community-based after
school program.
4. A foundation has been created to provide scholarships for deserving
students.
5. Students are provided “standards for success” that will help them
excel in whatever career they choose.
In addition, every Academy student is obligated to follow the California
Partnership Academies’ 90/80 Rule, i.e., “earning 90% of the credits they need to
move to the next grade and maintaining an 80% attendance rate.” Some of the
strategies and support systems that are used to assist students in meeting increased
attendance, academic achievement, and progress toward graduation include having a
full-time Counselor/Coordinator, students’ committing to and actively adopting
standards for success: Teamwork-On Time-Professional Work (TOP), monthly and
semester student awards for attendance, academics, and extra effort, and teachers’
sharing common planning time in order to plan instruction and to discuss students’
progress.
Also, for Academy 10th graders, there are numerous field trips to local movie,
television, radio, and cable studios and to amusement parks in order to increase their
awareness of multimedia career opportunities. After 11th grade, Academy students
are provided internships, apprenticeships, and job-shadowing and job opportunities
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in media-related occupations. Accordingly, during 12th grade, Academy students are
offered after-school work experience opportunities, internships, and apprenticeships
in media-related businesses, local studios, and a variety after-school programs.
Finally, many Academy partners provide a variety of resources, mentors, and real-
world experiences.
The Integration o f the Academic and Career Curricula
This Career Academy has developed an interdisciplinary approach that
integrates academic and technical instruction in order to build the knowledge, skills,
and experience needed for careers in television, multimedia, and other technology-
oriented fields. Academy courses are taught in a project-oriented environment and
supported by creative applications of high technology. Students acquire academic
skills while learning the teamwork, self-management, and communication skills
expected by today’s leading companies. More specifically, according to the
Academy’s brochure, this program is “designed to teach the key foundation skills for
young people who are interested in audio-visual communication, provide a solid
academic grounding in the arts and sciences, develop an understanding of video and
digital methods and technologies, and encourage a project-based, team-oriented work
ethic.” Students must be prepared to meet the Academy’s high expectations for
working collaboratively with other students, regular and prompt attendance at all
class meetings, and for using and caring for sensitive and expensive equipment in a
responsible manner.
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Academy teachers participate in ongoing collaborative, common planning in
order to monitor students’ academic and behavioral progress, develop lessons for
integrated projects, and coordinate the development of rubrics and grading
procedures. Teachers assist students in achieving their post-secondary goals by
providing a quality educational experience via a work-based, project-based,
academically enriched college prep curriculum.
According to the Counselor/Coordinator, as teachers collaboratively develop,
plan, implement, and deliver interdisciplinary, integrated learning units, students
develop and create individual portfolios of their work and produce real-world
interdisciplinary projects, such as digital imagery art projects in Digital Design class
and group videos of newscasts or political debates in Advanced Television class.
Teachers assess what students know and are able to do via formative and summative
evaluations, such as authentic, real-world, and performance-based assessments,
exhibits, and projects.
Practical Implications o f the Results
Smallness does not automatically mean a rigorous learning environment
(Fine, 1998). In accordance with the research and the themes that emerged from the
data, student retentiveness, student achievement, and students’ successfully
graduating from the Academy are contingent upon the development, organization,
and operation of the career academy. In this Career Academy, students were only
enrolled in two core Academy classes, English and Social Science. Hence, there was
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109
a lack of variety in the curriculum (Roellke, 2002). No honors or Advanced
Placement classes were offered; students were enrolled in mathematics, science,
physical education, and most electives through the host high school; and the number
of preparations for Academy teachers created overwhelming workloads, as well as
the need to teach in the host school during the remainder of the school day. In
addition, annual teacher transiency had been a major impediment within the last few
years, but this factor had not necessarily negatively impacted the sense of belonging
that developed among the students and teachers. Finally, although originally
designed to address the needs of certain student populations, specifically low socio
economic African Americans and Latinos, converting high schools into small
learning communities creates platforms for high achievement by all students (Cotton,
2001; Murphy et al., 2001; Steinberg & Allen, 2002; Vander Ark, 2002) and makes
learning more meaningful by linking instruction to real life experiences (National
Conference of State Legislatures, 2002).
Nevertheless, in alignment with the California Partnership Academy (CPA)
Program, this small learning community integrates college-prep and vocational
instruction, provides work-based learning opportunities, and, within personalized
learning environments, prepares students for postsecondary education and
subsequent employment. It supports constructive, familial relationships between and
among students and teachers by grouping students together each year to take core,
digital arts, and technical courses with the same group of teachers. Academy
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110
students readily establish positive personal relationships with other students and
faculty and thus have more of a sense of belonging. Moreover, students enjoy their
Academy classes and are inspired to attend school every day because of these more
personal relationships. They have better attendance and earn more credits per year
than students in the host high school, not because of their commitment to maintain an
80% attendance rate and to earn 90% of the credits attempted, in accordance with
CPA criteria, but because of the aforementioned reasons. Further-more, because of
their exemplary attendance, Academy students statistically participate in
extracurricular activities at a higher rate than their counterparts in the host high
school.
Finally, students successfully achieve academically and socially because they
are not only provided a college-prep and vocational curriculum, but they also have
opportunities to use professional, state-of-the-art equipment and opportunities to
interact with community and business partners in media-related fields via job
shadowing, internship, and apprenticeship experiences. Because of these
interactions, students become more adept at using media-related language and
demonstrate more poise and confidence when initiating and establishing social
connections. As a result, students’ exposure to real world experiences of teamwork,
self-management, and communication has increased their motivation, participation,
and achievement in Academy activities and projects, as they demonstrate pride in
their work and in their accomplishments.
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Ill
Challenges for Converting High Schools
into Small Learning Communities
As school districts across the nation proceed in converting large high schools
into collections of small learning communities, they are faced with challenges that
primarily involve and impact the schools’ stakeholders and their importance in
ensuring that:
1. Stakeholders in the individual schools are part of decision making
process concerning the SLCs’ organizational structures, governance, curriculum
development, and instructional needs;
2. The development and maintenance of relationships (among students,
among teachers, and between students and teachers) are important to ensuring
successful student achievement;
3. There is equity in the assignment of teachers and the assignment of
students to the individual SLCs;
4. SLCs exercise caution in the management and allocation of local and
community resources;
5. Teacher morale is high and that teachers are not overwhelmed with
multiple course preparations, extracurricular activities, and providing academic and
personal advisement;
6. Students, teachers, and parents develop viable, operational
agreements that include rigorous and relevant criteria (e.g., regular and consistent
attendance, ongoing and regular monitoring of student growth and progress, the
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112
achievement of quarterly and annual benchmarks, etc.), and that guarantee adherence
to and compliance with a set of mutually-developed standards for which all of
stakeholders will be held accountable;
7. Scheduling is flexible, accommodating, and supportive of each SLC’s
vision, goals, and objectives; and
8. Community partnerships and business alliances provide students with
mentors, apprenticeships, work-based opportunities, networking experiences,
advisement and encouragement in the successful accomplishment of their goals.
Other challenges that school districts face involve determining how to assist
and support SLCs in their efforts to personalize teaching and learning, improve
student achievement, maintain increased in-seat attendance, decrease the dropout
rate, and increase the graduation rate. Finally, in order to achieve a greater sense of
community for teachers and students within these emerging SLCs, districts must
assist SLCs in implementing a rigorous instructional program, providing relevant,
aligned experiences, and developing meaningful relationships that will facilitate and
sustain student success.
Recommendations for Future Research
In order to determine the long-term benefits for students’ attending a small
learning community, rather than a large high school, researchers might consider
conducting longitudinal studies of a CPA academy and examine its state-generated
data for 3 or more consecutive years in order to determine the extent to which
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113
students who remain in the academy are achieving and graduating. This subsequent
data could validate the above findings and confirm that student retentiveness, student
achievement, and student program completion in an SLC are dependent upon its
students’:
1. Sharing several classes and having the same teachers for 3 years;
2. Developing, maintaining, and sustaining relationships among
themselves and with adults;
3. Having better attendance;
4. Earning more credits each year;
5. Increasing participation in extracurricular activities;
6. Being enrolled in a college-prep curriculum with career themes; and
7. Experiencing a high degree of satisfaction with the academy
experience.
In conclusion, a more extensive study of three or more career-related small
learning communities, and not necessarily those affiliated with the California
Partnership Academy Program, might generate similar findings if the SLCs’
stakeholders commit to goals that forge cohesive units built on trust and
empowerment, encourage high attendance and graduation rates, provide adequate
time and support for mastery of knowledge and skills, promote participation in
extracurricular activities, and engage students in sustained, disciplined, and critical
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114
thinking through independent study, project-based learning, and real world problem
solving.
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REFERENCES
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APPENDICES
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APPENDIX A
STUDENT SURVEY
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133
A STUDY OF STUDENT RETENTIVENESS, ACHIEVEMENT,
AND PROGRAM COMPLETION IN A
SCHOOL-TO-CAREER PROGRAM
Student Survey
This voluntary survey is designed for you to tell us what you think about your career
academy. Your responses will remain anonymous and confidential. A summary of
your responses will be incorporated into a doctoral dissertation that is studying how
certain characteristics in academies affect the academy’s students. Please write
clearly and legibly. Give each question careful thought, and then answer it honestly
and completely. If you need additional space to complete an answer, please use the
back of the sheet, and remember to write the number of the question before
completing your response.
Your assistance and participation in this study is greatly appreciated.
1. Why did you select this academy?
2. How many years have you been in this academy?
3. List all the things you like about this academy?
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134
4. What is it about the academy that inspires you to come to school every day?
5. What kind of outside experiences have you had with media-related jobs?
6. Please describe your relationship with:
a. Other students in this academy:__
b. Faculty members in this academy:
c. Outside media-related employers:
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135
d. Students in the rest of the school:
e. Faulty members in the rest of the school:
7. If you could change anything about the academy, what would you change?
8. What extra-curricular activities are you involved in here at school?
9. What is your career goal? (Please describe in detail and be specific.)
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10. Explain in detail how you are planning to reach your career goal after you
graduate from this academy.
11. In what year will you graduate from this academy?____________________
12. What good advice would you give to 9th graders who want to enroll in this
academy next year?______________________________________________
13. What are some things students can look forward to once they become members
of this academy?
14. If you were asked to describe your experience in the academy with ONE word,
what would that word be?
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137
15. Any additional comments? ___________________________________________
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APPENDIX B
TEACHER SURVEY
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139
A Study of Student Retentiveness, Achievement, and Program Completion
in a School-to-Career Program
Teacher Survey
Thank you for participating in this voluntary survey that has been developed to assist
in conducting a case study of your career academy. A summary of the findings will
be included in a doctoral dissertation that intends to study how certain characteristics
typical to academies affect and impact the academy’s students. Although none of the
questions are asking for privileged or sensitive information, your responses will
remain anonymous and confidential. Please write clearly and legibly. Give each
question careful thought, and then answer it honestly and completely. If you need
more space to complete an answer, please use additional sheets of paper, and
remember to write the number of the question that you are answering on the paper.
Attach additional sheets to the back after you finish.
Your assistance and participation in this study are greatly appreciated.
1 . How were you selected to teach in this academy?
2. a) How many years have you been teaching in LAUSD, and
b) How many years have you taught in this academy?
a. b.
3. What previous expertise do you have that qualified you to teach in this academy?
4. What subjects do you teach (be specific)? How many students are in each class?
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140
5. If you have common planning periods, please describe the type planning
(please be specific) that occurs with your colleagues during this time.
6. How frequently do you participate in academy professional development
activities, and explain how this professional development relates to the
instruction you deliver in your classroom.
7. How frequently do you participate in
a) Departmental meetings and subject-matter professional developments?
b) School-wide, and off-campus academy-related professional developments?
8. Describe the professional teaching and learning activities that the academy's
teachers engage in together.
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141
9. List all the things that make working in this academy very fulfilling.
10. Describe the governance procedures in this academy.
11. Describe how your relationships with your academy students compare with the
relationships you had with students in a regular high school?
12. Describe (in detail) your job-related interactions, planning, and collaborating
with the academy's partners (media, business, local community, and community
college and university).
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142
13. List all before-school, after-school, and extra-curricular activities and/or
classes that you sponsor or teach.
14. If you serve as an adviser for a group of academy students, how frequently do
you meet with these students, what grade levels are involved, and what occurs
during this advisory time? (Be specific, but do not include any confidential
information.)
15. If you could change anything about the academy, what would you change?
16. Explain in detail what you are doing now to assist your students in achieving
their post-secondary career goals after they graduate from the academy.
17. Please list your professional organization affiliations.
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143
18. Any additional comments?___________________________________________
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APPENDIX C
INTERVIEW WITH COUNSELOR/COORDINATOR
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145
A Study of Student Retentiveness, Achievement, and Program Completion
in a School-to-Career Program
Interview with Counselor/Coordinator
1. Profile of the Comprehensive High School
a. Vision and Mission
b. Goals
c. Expected Student Learning Results (ESLR's)
d. Special Programs
e. Schools-within-a-School
f. Teacher Demographics
g-
Student Demographics
h. School leadership's relationship with Small Leaning Communities
within School
Profile of the Career Academy
a. How it developed and evolved
b. Characteristics of a Small Learning Community (SLC)
Caring relationships
Cognitive challenges
Culture of support
Community membership
Connections to high-quality post-secondary
c. Length of Time in Existence
d. Purpose
e. Vision and Mission
f. Goals
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146
g. ESLR's (what will students know and be able to do upon completion
of this program)
h. Instruction and Curriculum
Standards-based
Interdisciplinary
Project-based Learning
Integrated Curriculum
Skills-based Learning
Work-based Learning
1) Job shadowing
2) Internships
3) Apprenticeships
i. Assessments
Authentic
Benchmark/Periodic Assessments
Performance Assessments
Portfolios
Projects
Exhibits
Rubrics
Evaluation Tools
j . Rigor of Instruction
UC/CSU "a-g" Requirements
Skills needed for work, college, and adulthood
1) Ability to Reason
2) Ability to Communicate
3) Ability to Problem-solve
4) Ability to work collaboratively
k. Relevance of the curriculum -how is it connected to students' interests
and needs
1 . Relationships
As members of a Small Learning Community (SLC)
Between Coordinator and school administrator
Among Coordinator, teachers, students, and parents
Between students and teachers
Among students
- With outside partners, mentor, and liaisons
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147
1) Business and Industry
2) Colleges and universities
3) Community
Parent involvement and participation
1) Advisory groups
2) Mentors
3) Other
m. Teachers
How selected and/or assigned
Number and Status (full time, part-time, etc.)
Fully credentialed
# teaching in major and/or minor subject area(s)
Student-to-teacher ratio
Common planning
Purpose of planning
Examining student work
Planning & collaborating with partners (business, industry,
community, post-secondary institutions, etc.)
Working as advisers, with students and parents, with partners
Project-based teaching, interdisciplinary and team teaching,
etc.
Annual professional development focus and activities
Professional learning activities
Professional organization and community affiliations
n. Students
How selected to enroll (self-select, open enrollment, lottery,
etc.)
Demographics
1) Number that originally began the program
2) Number that have successfully completed program
3) Number by grade level
4) Number by ethnicity and gender
Attendance rates
Discipline rates
Achievement rates
1) Average GPA by grade level
2) Average number of D's and Fails in Core Courses
(English, Math, Social Studies, and Science)
3) Personalized (or individual) learning plans
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148
Typical student schedule by grade level
Work-based Learning Activities
1) Number of students in paid (or unpaid) internships
2) Number of students who have job-shadowed and
which jobs
3) Number of students in apprenticeship positions
4) Number of students enrolled in college classes (which
classes)
5) Number of Special Needs students (ELL, Spec Educ,
GATE, etc.)
6) Number of students in Free and Reduced Lunch
Program
7) Other
Tests
1) CAHSEE (percentage passing English and percentage
passing math)
2) SAT/9 (average percentile by grade level: 9-11)
3) College Entrance
a) Pre-SAT
b) SAT
c) ACT
Annual Graduation Rate
Post-secondary Enrollment
1) Number enrolling in 2-year schools
2) Number enrolling in 4-year schools
3) Number enrolling in other post-secondary institutions
4) Other options
o. Available Services and Resources
Offerings
1) Access to all courses, including honors and AP courses
2) College and/or university courses
3) On-the-job Training
Resources
1) Access to up-to-date Technology
2) Extra-curricular activities
3) Field Trips
4) Enrichment activities
5) Interventions
6) Counseling and Advisement
7) Business, Industry, Community, College Partnerships
8) Funding and Budget control
9) Other
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149
Celebrations and Traditions
1) Student Projects and Exhibitions (by Grade?)
2) Senior Projects (or Portfolios, etc.)
3) Student Presentations w/ SLC and/or partnership
feedback
4) Student-led Conferences, Back-to-School, open house,
etc. activities
Relationships and Interactions with the comprehensive high
school
Governance of academy
1) Make-up of an advisory council
2) How decisions are made
p. Role of the Coordinator
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Asset Metadata

Creator Arceneaux, Cynthia Alania (author)

Core Title A study of student retentiveness, achievement, and program completion in a school -to -career program

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag education, administration,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Gothold, Stuart (committee chair), Espalin, Charles (committee member), Sundt, Melora (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c16-430253

Unique identifier UC11342265

Identifier 3233827.pdf (filename),usctheses-c16-430253 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 3233827.pdf

Dmrecord 430253

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Arceneaux, Cynthia Alania

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA