Improving School-to-Work Transitions

Chapter 6. The National Academy Foundation’s Career Academies: Shaping Postsecondary Transitions

Chapter 6 The National Academy Foundation’s Career Academies: Shaping Postsecondary Transitions Margaret Terry Orr, Thomas Bailey, Katherine L. Hughes, Gregory S. Kienzl, and Melinda Mechur Karp THE CAREER-ACADEMY model—a school-within-a-school, careerfocused high school program of study often with related work experience—has spread rapidly throughout the United States since the mid-eighties, in large part because educators and policymakers believe it to be a promising approach for encouraging better academic achievement and facilitating students’ transition to college and careers. Learning to what extent well-designed career academies deliver on this promise is the focus of this chapter. As defined in chapter 5 of this volume and other sources, career academies generally include school-based and work-based components , make use of an industry-themed, contextualized curriculum, have a paid summer internship, and offer supplemental career readiness and exploration activities (Kemple and Rock 1996; Stern, Dayton, and Raby 2000; Stern, Raby, and Dayton 1992). In this chapter we look further at the learning theories and instructional strategies of career academies. Academies integrate strategies for student career and college preparation, including organizing learning around a the169 matic, career-focused curriculum; extending learning experiences outside of the classroom to the workplace; and preparing all students for college, regardless of their college-going intentions (Cannon and Reed 1999; Maxwell and Rubin 2000; Stern, Dayton, and Raby 2000; Stern, Raby, and Dayton 1992). Unlike conventional vocational education , career academies expose students to a whole industry rather than merely to a job, including the industry’s academic foundations and its range and distribution of career opportunities, particularly as related to different levels of postsecondary education attainment. Career academies commonly emphasize innovative instructional strategies that develop high-performance workplace skills—projectbased and cooperative learning, in particular—and stress critical thinking and problem solving. These structural and pedagogical characteristics all reflect the current consensus on secondary-educational reform strategies for improving the engagement and learning of students (Balfanz, Jordan, and McPartland 2002; Castellano, Stringfield, and Stone 2003; Kaufman, Bradby, and Teitelbaum 2000; Useem, Neild, and Morrison 2001). With the expansion of career academies has come considerable variation in implementation. The National Academy Foundation (NAF), which sponsors hundreds of academies nationwide, endeavors to limit variation and sustain quality. Career academies in the NAF network are to implement all recommended elements of the NAF career-academy model to engage students academically, help them prepare for their postsecondary career and college transition, and support them personally while they are in school. For NAF career-academy students, the primary program experiences are four or more core academy courses that are career-contextualized, project -based, and offer student-centered instructional practices during the junior and senior years (although some programs begin earlier); a computer or technology course; a paid six-week summer internship with a private company; a college-level course taken while in high school; and exposure to a variety of activities for college and career planning and preparation. The first NAF academy was founded in 1982, and NAF as a central organization was established in 1989. One of the largest career academy networks in the country and the only one that is national in scope, NAF currently sustains a national network of 619 career academies focusing on finance, travel and tourism, and information 170 Improving School-to-Work Transitions technology. It also provides curricular support, professional development , and technical assistance.1 NAF’s emphasis is on the inclusion of all core career academy components and the provision of quality contextualized curriculum to its network members; teacher professional development through NAF conferences, materials, and local activities; and business involvement through high-profile national-level firms as well as local advisory boards who provide paid student internships. Career-academy teachers receive NAF curriculum and related materials that are frequently updated and adapted for their local industry context, and they can attend an annual professional development conference. They typically have designated classroom spaces, an area of the school for the academy program, and some autonomy in program management and delivery. In an analysis of the impact on teachers of the academy experience, Margaret Terry Orr (2005) found that the career-academy approach encourages teachers to focus more collectively on preparing students through their curriculum, instructional practices, and working relationships. Academy teachers were more likely than nonacademy teachers to have a strong commitment to the academy-program focus and to the use of...