Preparing Students to Be College-, Career-, and Future-Ready Through the Academy Model

• In Event: 25.047 - Pipeline to the Global Workforce: Investing in Career and Technical Education for the Next Generation

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to describe how a career academy with strong implementation of academy principles prepares students to be college, career, and future ready. We used two overarching research questions:
What are the key design features of a high-quality IT academy?
How does a high-quality IT academy prepare students to be college, career, and future ready?

Conceptual Framework
According to Stone and Lewis (2012), college and career readiness refers to the extent of high school graduates’ academic knowledge as well as employability and technical skills.

Methods
To conduct the study, we followed a qualitative case study design to explore the experiences of school personnel and community partners associated with the implementation of the career academy model (Stake, 2006).

Data Sources
During the site visit, we engaged in 18 classroom observations, five off site visits (tours and individual interviews) with business and industry partners, and conducted 77 semi-structured interviews with district (n = 10) and school administrators (n = 2), school board members (n = 2), IT and core academic teachers (n = 17), school counselors (n = 4), parents (n = 9), staff (n = 3), postsecondary partners (n = 4), business and industry partners (n = 17), mentors (n = 6) and community partners (n = 3).

Findings
The academy ensured the availability of intensive work-based learning experiences, representing high impact practices designed to equip students with the employability and technical skills needed to be competitive in the workforce. Work-based learning experiences included mock interviews with local business representatives, paid internships, and the acquisition of multiple industry certifications related to the IT workforce. A key condition for the success of work-based learning experiences was the role of the career specialist who developed partnerships with business and industry, postsecondary representatives, and the broader community. She also built a large and representative business advisory council to support student success through curricular, fundraising, and work-based learning committees.
It was evident that preparing high school students to be college, career, and future ready was not an easy task. While we gleaned several signature features of the IT academy, we also uncovered a few challenges that we believe necessitate improvements, and could serve as lessons for other schools/academies who desire to build the capacity to truly prepare students to be college, career, and future ready. For example, we uncovered that the career academy did not have a high level of teacher collaboration. We discovered that there were no initiatives from leadership (i.e., common planning time) in the academy to encourage teachers (i.e., core academic and IT teachers) to integrate curricula.

Significance
It is critical to educate society about successful studies that uncover signature features of high-quality CTE programs that prepare students to be college, career, and future ready (Stone, 2017). According to Stone (2017), “high-quality, world-class career-technical programs and pathways are necessary for a prosperous, 21st-century society” (p. 164). This is indeed necessary as CTE has the potential to contribute to the economic competitiveness of the United States.

Author

• Edward Charles Fletcher, The Ohio State University - Columbus