Small Learning Communities (SLCs) and Career Academies, one variety of SLC, have grown rapidly in recent years. They are among the few high school reform approaches that seem promising and popular, bringing students together into cohorts where they support each other, teachers into teams where they do the same, and students and teachers into…

This issue of Northwest Education explores some of the ways that the region is changing territory: radically reengineering large comprehensive high schools into smaller, more personalized academies and learning communities; encouraging all students--not just an elite few--to take advanced placement and international baccalaureate courses; tying…

This document discusses how in September 2001, 60 college presidents and 40 senior federal officials met in Ottawa, Canada to discuss different ways to improve Canada's educational system. The meeting was planned in order to strengthen Canada's ability to compete with other nations in the global market. The following are the three main goals of…

This manual is intended as a do it yourself tool for helping organizations develop an approach that will enhance the quality of career counseling services. It is aimed at demystifying evaluation planning and presents a framework so that the evaluation process leads to continuous improvement in meeting client expectations. It also helps validate…

At Turner Technical Arts School in Miami, one of seven academies teaches residential construction. The program has input from the building industry, integrates academic and vocational education, and provides practical work experiences. (SK)

Data from 192 employers and 10 high schools participating in the National Academy Foundation's (NAF) career academies program reveal the benefits of employer participation and incentives and disincentives to their involvement. Findings demonstrate factors that bolster sustained employer involvement, including industry-specific support and NAF's…

This article describes the Palm Beach County School District's new and visionary project designed to improve the quality of education for its students. It is developing 80 career academies as a response to the business community's request for high performing graduates. These career academies offer expanded choices to students that challenge them…

Vocational education, once the non-college prep track, has evolved with the times and the changing work force. Now called career and technology education, it is playing a major role in driving high school reform toward smaller learning communities and more focused futures for students. In this article, the author looks at one district's approach.…

Dropout prevention programs are school- and community-based initiatives that aim to keep students in school and encourage them to complete their high school education. To be included in the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) review, programs have to operate within the United States and include dropout prevention as one of their primary objectives.…

The practice of grouping students--such as all freshmen or students with similar career goals--into "small learning communities" or academies within a large high school is proving beneficial to many schools in raising achievement and keeping students in school. Students thrive in a small-school environment where they share the same teachers and…

This publication of the California Association for Counseling and Development for 1998-1999 supports the organizational goals of leadership, inquiry, discovery, excellence, and innovation. It attempts to identify the current issues of concern in the counseling field and to share research to help improve the professional learning community. As a…

Examined career academy student outcomes for 18 cohorts of entering students enrolled in 8 urban schools nationwide, analyzing attendance, grades, and graduation status. Compared to what would have been expected of the same students in the same schools' general academic programs, career academy students had higher first-year grade point averages,…

The author of this paper, Matt Bailey, has taught for six years at Northcliffe School, Doncaster, where he is the NUT representative, and Head of Science. A member of the NUT's national working-party on academies, he outlines here the first successful campaign waged by a local community to thwart the imposition of a privately-run Academy in place…

In 2001, the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Division of Career and Technology Education (CTE) began its focus on small learning communities developed around career clusters in strategic locations throughout the school district. Through these clusters, students can develop the skills and knowledge necessary to make informed decisions…

The Vermont Department of Education defines a Career Academy as a small learning community that serves a full range of students; that entails a college preparatory curriculum developed in the context of a career cluster; that integrates academic and technical instruction with work-based learning; that involves partnerships with employers, the…