U.S. social programs, set up to address important problems, often fall short by funding specific models/strategies ("interventions") that are not effective. When evaluated in scientifically-rigorous studies, social interventions in K-12 education, job training, crime prevention, and other areas are frequently found ineffective or…

This newsletter includes vignettes about schools that are effectively integrating academic and career/technical (CT) studies to help more students find meaning in their learning and to motivate students to make great effort to achieve. This is part of a series of newsletters describing best practices for implementing the "High Schools That Work"…

The career academy is a high school model that integrates school-to-work elements in a personalized learning environment. Academies have these three essential features: a school within a school; partnerships with employers; and integrated academic and occupational curriculum centered on a career theme, occupation, or industry. J. Kemple (1997)…

This book examines the capacity of the career academy--one of the initiatives spawned by the school-to-work movement--to address academic reform in terms of increased education and workplace skills. Qualitative data collected as part of a 7-year local evaluation of career academies and a data set that contains transcript data on a population of…

After their 1969 inception as an electrical academy in a Philadelphia high school, the number of career academies grew steadily for two decades; since 1990, their growth has accelerated. Until the mid-1990s, they existed only as smaller units within high schools, but numerous high schools have since converted themselves entirely into career…

An national evaluation is being conducted to determine the effectiveness of career academies, an important feature of the school-to-work initiative. The evaluation looks at three characteristics of career academies: their school-within-a-school organization, their combined academic and occupational curriculum, and their employer partnerships.…

A study empirically examined a high school career academy's influence on entrance into, route through, and outcomes upon exiting a four-year comprehensive, urban university in California. Data are drawn from applicant and student records for all students coming from a single high school district that has a strong career academy program. Findings…

The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) Career Academy was initiated at Worthing High School (WHS) in the Houston (Texas) Independent School District at the beginning of the 1994-95 school year. The career-oriented program operated as a "school-within-a-school" program and was designed to meet the needs of students at risk of…

Career academies are characterized by these three basic features: a school-within-a-school organizational structure, curricula that combine academic and career or technical courses based on a career theme, and partnerships with local employers. In a 10-year longitudinal study of the academy model, begun in 1993 in 9 schools around the country,…

This book provides a rationale, model, and procedures for implementing change in high schools. Focus is on adoption of applied, context-based, community-based education that eliminates competition between academic and vocational education and promotes cooperation in creating career-based education. Chapter 1 provides a review of how this type of…

In 1992, the U.S. Departments of Defense and Education jointly created a new high school program aimed at encouraging at-risk youth to remain in school until graduation. The program, which is a marriage of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) and the comprehensive high school reform initiative known as career academies, was called…

Career academies are schools within schools that link students with peers, teachers, and community partners in a disciplined environment, thereby fostering academic success and mental and emotional health. The career academy concept includes the following three key elements: (1) small learning communities; (2) a college preparatory curriculum with…

After more than three decades of development and two decades of evaluation, career academies have been found to be effective in improving the performance of students in high school, particularly for students at greatest risk. Career academies have become the most durable and best-tested component of a high school reform strategy that includes…

The impact of career academies on student education and employment outcomes is being examined through a comprehensive longitudinal evaluation of the career academy approach in 10 high schools throughout the United States that were selected because they reflect the school districts where career academies are typically located. Most of the school…

The infusion of career-based education throughout the curriculum as academic and technical curricula are integrated across all subject areas and grade levels is substantially changing the delivery and focus of K-12 education despite the lack of evidence substantiating the effectiveness of the following school-to-work (STW) reform concepts: whole…