1.0 ACADEMIC INTEGRATION
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"The school system is an organ of
the body politic, bone of its bone, flesh of its flesh, an organ devised for
each and all, from generation to generation. Its structure must therefore be
shaped so that, as time goes on, more and more adequate recognition may be given
to the educational rights of both the minority and the majority of
child-citizens -- that, in other words, provision may be made, not only for the
length and continuity, but also for the breadth and completeness, of educational
opportunities." John Aubrey Douglass : The California Idea and American Higher Education |
Recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science test
results, that revealed California students to be last among students in 40
states evaluated, illustrate the significant gap to be overcome in present
student achievement levels. The business sector confirmed that too many
applicants, including graduates, lack the skills necessary for successful
employment across many levels of the workforce, and industry reports that it
needs well-prepared, skilled workers to fill an increasing number of vacancies
in a number of occupations.[12] In
California, the Economic Strategy Panel's 1996 report, Collaborating to Compete
in the New Economy: An Economic Strategy for California, found that employers'
most important expectation of government was not regulatory change, tax reform,
or infrastructure development, but a better qualified workforce.
A
2000 report from the Employment Policy Forum indicates that as many as 70
percent of students entering the workforce do not have simple writing skills.
Even though math proficiency is a major indicator of economic success (Rose and
Betts/2001), the most recent NAEP for 8th grade math skills revealed
that over 80 percent of black students, approximately 70 percent of Hispanic
students, 42 percent of Asian students, and 37 percent of white students in
California scored "below basic" -- the lowest category.
Concern that
California's low-performance in state and national testing is occurring during a
period in which students are required to have more substantial knowledge, as
well as more technical workplace skills in the post-industrial economy,
additionally prompted strong agreement among the group, on the need for greater
integration of academics into workforce preparation programs. Education, being
the most amenable among socioeconomic indicators to policymaking, provides the
Master Plan with a prime opportunity to have impact on the earnings gap for a
majority of the state's students, and thus, the state's future economic
vitality.
Recommendations:
1.1 Integrate academics and career preparation throughout
K-16.
Rationale: Most jobs will require a greater
command of academic skills and how they are applied to solve real world problems
in the 21st century workplace. In recognition of this, members agreed that the
potential for teaching and learning can be significantly enhanced through the
blend of theory and application -- contextual teaching/learning.
This strategy means involving K-16 students in hands-on, applied activities,
similar to those that postsecondary students gain in graduate clinical training
programs. It can be a unit of math instruction that applies the math skills
learned in the classroom to a specific career technical problem, such as
designing and building a model roof or simulating voting behavior on computers.
As it relates to career preparation, a study of the differing personalities of
the characters in Beowulf can be instructive regarding management styles
encountered in the workplace, as can the study of Canterbury Tales inform
students on the management of disagreements.
Career preparation can be
further integrated into curricula by more directly involving the business
community. Business members expressed the belief that neither the public
schools nor the teacher training institutions have enough exposure to business,
industry, or the professions, and education should recognize the inherent
potential of the community and businesses as places for student learning. The
issue for teacher education programs and professional development is whether,
through classroom and clinical training, prospective and current teachers
are enabled to use a hands-on, contextualized learning approach in teaching K-16
students in both career and academic fields.
This approach has proved to
be most beneficial for students in the third and lower quartiles of achievement,
and it also builds workforce understanding for the college-bound students, when
embedded in public and community service and workforce
internships.[13] It was suggested,
throughout several rounds of discussion, that "harmonizing" theory and
application for students at all levels had the potential to reduce the practice
of tracking in the education system.
Members generally acknowledged
this Master Plan must contemplate the workforce of the future, where learned
specific vocational skills of past economies may not be transferable to other
entry level skills required of future jobs. Additionally, entry level skills,
though valuable for initial entry into the workforce, are increasingly
insufficient in preparing students for adaptation to changing workforce
requirements for continued employment or for entry into many new jobs being
created from the advancements of science and technology. If California is to
sustain its competitive advantage in the emerging global, technology-based
economy, it must continue to field a workforce capable of developing and
applying scientific and technical innovations.
Overcoming the historical
separation between theory and application can be a tool for program improvement
across the full spectrum of students. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that
such an approach increases the need for staff expertise in developing many
curriculum areas which incorporate critical thinking skills with the technical
knowledge, problem solving, teamwork, and communications skills associated with
the modern, high-performance workplace.
Sending a strong signal to
students that academic achievement is important to successful transition to
employment not only addresses the demands of business and industry, it also
stands as a major precondition identified as necessary for effective
school reform;[14]therefore, the
work of the Group can have significant impact on the achievement gap, documented
by the Achievement Council and The Education Trust, entities which focus on
developing effective means for improving educational outcomes for all students,
particularly those from low-income and under-represented groups.
1.2 Extend School-to-Career
(STC) concept across
K-University
Rationale: Through
the Working Group's continued deliberations on the concept of "structure", as it
pertains to a Master Plan for Education, a new paradigm envisioning the upgrade
of academic and workforce skills across the full spectrum of students
emerged -- one which reflects the fundamental position that all students deserve
and should receive the richest form of education, career, and life preparation.
For advancement in the workplace of the future, business and industry basically
agree that postsecondary education will be required, and "one of the key
attributes of the knowledge economy is that work and college require the same
kind of skills."[15]
It was
eminently clear, from various studies and testimony before the Working Group,
that too many students spend too many years drifting in and out of
postsecondary education and/or low-end jobs, because they have been
ill-prepared. The Group determined that the best course of action would be to
transition from the historical implementation of workforce preparation programs
in the state toward a systemic career technical model, which supports the
acquisition of academic skills and implements age-appropriate career awareness
earlier in the system, guiding the student toward the multiple opportunities
available throughout the workplace and postsecondary education segments.
Ideally, such a model would address the current gaps and transform current
programs into a more coherent continuum addressing academic and workforce
competencies.
There should be a system of seamless programs, starting in
grade school and continuing through college, that focus on building necessary
core academic skills and relating them to careers and the everyday world of
work. The hallmarks of the new paradigm would be:
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At its
best, the model would connect what students learn in their academic subjects
with the knowledge and skills they acquire from career-oriented studies and
on-the-job experiences in school-related internships or
apprenticeships.[16] Greater focus
would be placed on both academic achievement and workforce competencies,
with the specific intent to potentially invigorate academic curricula and
integrate academics with career technical programs.
1.3 Increase
resources for career guidance and assistance to
students.
Rationale: The current education system
allows too many students to fall through the cracks, without the jobs or basic
skills for successful transfer. Currently, retirements of skilled workers in
such occupations as public safety, carpentry, nursing, accounting, and other
trades and professions exceed the number of young people entering these fields.
Many jobs and positions are unfilled, due in part to the inadequate system of
career guidance and advisement in public schools.
In urban areas, the
dropouts, which are as high as 60 percent in urban areas of the state, push-outs
(those students leaving as a result of increased content standards and
implementation of the High School Exit Exam), and future community college
dropouts comprise approximately 90 percent of the high school-leaving
population. They have poor academic skills, few job skills, and many end up in
jail in disproportionate numbers, instead of in gainful employment. While
implementing stronger accountability mechanisms, the K-12 system must also embed
in its programs planning for students who are not proficient at abstract
learning but do well at manual tasks, while simultaneously expanding their
academic proficiencies and consequently, their future career
options.
The state must recognize, that, in spite of the political
rhetoric and emphasis on college
preparation,[17]a majority of youth
in California do not graduate from four-year institutions. Business
members further cautioned that, while high achievement for all is a worthy goal,
expecting all students to achieve high levels of an approach to systemic
structuring creates a profoundly unstable system over the long term. As in the
past two decades, the estimated workforce need for baccalaureate degrees in the
next twenty years is continuing to hover around 20 percent of the workforce.
Additionally, representatives from the High School Development Division in the
Department of Education testified that third-party skills certification, such as
by Cisco and Microsoft, is reducing the primacy of a college degree of obtaining
high paying jobs and therefore, altering the college-going decisions of many
students. Many have discovered that having a degree in the 21st century is not
necessarily the only ticket to a high-paying job. Technical skills,
academic knowledge, workplace competencies -- these combined can provide a high
level of success in the workplace.
As discussions of the Working Group
evolved, the model began to be envisioned as a continuum -- one that must
address a wide strata of student aspirations and programs across the segments.
The increasing rate of change in the workplace demands that a student-centered
education system must focus on providing learning for a lifetime by
systematically including opportunities for multiple exit and entrance points in
the system. Current distinctions among levels in the education system will
become increasingly blurred, and career guidance will need to address a future
economy in which there will be more self-employed, self-directed participants.
In addition to improving career guidance, career and workforce preparation
programs can assist students in their adaptation to the world of work by
developing simulations of the workplace through the development of school-based
enterprises, providing students with opportunities to run businesses.
The fact that any attention was given to career planning in California's
school system was only a recent phenomenon, sparked by the implementation of the
federally-seeded venture capital School-To-Career model. However,
federal funds have greatly diminished, and any chance of a timely backfill from
state General Funds has been obliterated by the decline in the state
economy.[18] In the meanwhile, the
Joint Committee should consider construction of a model plan, particularly as
the state's general and student population become increasingly more diverse in
ethnicity, as well as parental educational achievement, the latter being a
significant predictor of student performance. Research suggests education
attainment plays a significant role in ethnic differences in employment and
earnings and continuing racial and ethnic gaps in well-being for the next
generation. [19] Members agreed
the existing disadvantages can be greatly abated by more systematic and systemic
planning throughout K-16. Because it is a known fact that first-generation
students are less likely to complete advanced mathematics classes in high
school, an obvious response of the system should be to provide more guidance and
demonstration for all students regarding the linkage of math and other important
skills to their advancement in the workforce and/or postsecondary training.
Many California students seem to have been unaware of the opportunities that
could be available to them in the state's high tech economy by the study of
science, mathematics and engineering. A recent Joint Venture: Silicon Valley
Network report showed that Silicon Valley Hispanic students were not apprised of
employment options, literally just beyond their doorstep. This displays the
critical need for education-business partnerships, like that of Joint Venture,
in fully linking a career/workforce system to the actual workplace.
Two
major junctures are paramount for consideration by the Joint Committee, in order
to impact students' achievement and career preparation during "first chance
programs": pre ninth grade counseling and the tenth grade counseling program.
The Education Commission of the States' report, P16 - Preschool Through
Postsecondary, suggests that all students before grade 9 should have an
individual plan of study in order to complete high school prepared for
successful entry into college and/or the workplace.
1.4 Expand
recruitment for counselors and workforce teachers.
| Student to Counselor Ratios in California | ||
| District | County | Ratio |
| Owens Valley Unified | Inyo | 133:2 |
| Woodside Elementary USD | San Mateo | 458:2 |
| Oakland USD | Alameda | 700 : 5 |
| Beverly Hills USD | Los Angeles | 5,317:12 |
| Huntington Beach Union High | Orange | 14,359 : 1 |
| San Francisco USD | San Franciso | 59,979:115 |
| Table of Contents | |||
| Summary | Introduction | 1. Integration | 2. Alignment |
| 3. Accountability | 4. Resources | 5. Private | Conclusion |
| References | Charge | Members | Notes |