Career and Technical Education Might Motivate Students To Learn
There were a few readers who shared their thoughts with me on the new Center on Education Policy report, and their comments had some similar underlying themes. Among them was the idea that schools are hurting student motivation by encouraging all students to attend college.
That’s something that Walt Gardner, who writes Education Week’s
Reality
Check blog, also mentioned when I interviewed him about the
CEP study. The idea that every student belongs in college is
short-sighted, said Gardner, who taught for 28 years in the Los
Angeles Unified School District. He suggested schools could
motivate students better by boosting vocational training programs
that prepare them for the workforce.
The CEP study mentions attempts by schools to boost student
motivation through instructional programs that tap into their
interests (such as science or technology), as well as ones that
encourage more individual thinking, and some that tie the
curriculum to community service projects. But as with any
education initiative, the outcomes cover a wide range.
Career and technical education is gaining prominence nationally,
although it’s a more comprehensive approach than the vocational
tracking that used to split off a stream of students from their
college-going peers. Most of these new hybrid programs aim to
give students students the academic grounding they need if
they decide to continue their educations beyond high school.
(There was
a nice read on this topic recently, from the Atlantic’s Brian
Resnick.)
The question of whether college is being over-sold is a
controversial one. But it’s not a new debate, as University of
California-Berkeley education Prof. David Kirp told me in a
September interview.
“The arguments we’re hearing today are the same ones we heard in
the 1970’s,” said Kirp, who served as a member of President
Obama’s 2008 transition team. “It’s Groundhog Day in American
politics.”
Kirp, the author of Kids First: Five Big Ideas for Transforming
Children’s Lives and America’s Future, said he didn’t believe
“anyone is going to argue a high school diploma is going to give
you the skills you need to do well in this economy.”
At the same time, Kirp said, “a four-year degree isn’t always
necessary — but you’re going to need something beyond high
school.”
I spent nine years in Las Vegas, and while the Clark County School District – the
nation’s fifth-largest – has some serious hurdles to clear, its
career and technical education academies are phenomenal. The
campuses are palaces, and students can study everything from
veterinary medicine to aviation to more traditional trades. The
dropout rates at the career academies are typically less than 2
percent, compared with the districtwide rate of about 6 percent.
The CTE students have a higher graduation rate, and do better on
the required high school exit exams. That means they are
qualified for college, if they opt for that path.
And that’s really the point, isn’t it? To prepare students not
just for a life that’s chosen for them, but for a life they want
to have?
Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Contact Emily Richmond. Follow her on Twitter @EWAEmily.
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