Proven Programs Demonstrating Decades of Success
McKay High School (Salem, Oregon)
has seen major changes
since the introduction of a
Career Choices summer
program for at-risk incoming freshmen in 2011. The
summer program fosters relationships among students
while providing the academic and study skills necessary
to be successful in high school. McKay High School once
had one of the highest dropout
rates in Oregon, with 186
students dropping out (2002-03).
- In 2011-12, only 3 students dropped out,
making McKay's
dropout rate the lowest in the state among schools with more
than 750 students.
High dropout rates, poor attendance, and low test scores
prompted
Silverado High School (Victorville, California) to
implement small learning communities using the
Career
Choices curriculum.
- A random sample group of 10th and 11th grade students who had
been through the Freshman Academy increased their GPA by
69% from 2004-05 to 2007-08.
- Suspension rates for freshmen dropped from around 65% in 2003-04
to around 10% in 2006-07.
Tennessee implemented a statewide Freshman Transition
Initiative entitled
Career Management Success from 2002-04.
The vast majority of school districts adopted
Career Choices
to meet this new requirement for career education.
- Between 2002 and 2006, the state witnessed an 11.2
percentage point gain in high school graduation rates-
greater than any increase of any other state during that period of time.
Duval County Public School District (Jacksonville, Florida)
mandated a Freshman Transition course be
implemented
with over 9,000 freshmen in 19 high schools as part of a
district-wide freshman initiative during the 2006-07 school
year. In a presentation to the American Youth Policy Forum,
Director of High Schools for the district Beverly Strickland
reported:
- The 9th grade promotion rate went from 51% to 82% after the
first year.
The
Delaware School-To-Work Program used the
Career Choices curriculum in a 24-day summer program.
- Of the 25 students completing the School-To-Work program in
2000, 20 showed overall improvement in reading, math, and
language mechanics.
- Analysis of the T-Test results of student gains states, "While the 1999
program results were satisfactory, the year 2000 results are
spectacular...These was only one replacement between 1999-2000. The
utilization of the entire anthology of Career Choices by Academic
Innovations..."
The Denver Summer Youth Employment and Training program
used the
Career Choices curriculum to provide academic
enrichment services for 149 at-risk students. An independent
evaluation of the 1996 program reported:
- 83% of students and 84% of staff believed the program would help
the students in school during the coming year.
- 95% of students and 100% of staff believed the program would help
students get a job.
- 95% of students and 68% of staff believed the program would help
students be more independent.
- 90% of students and 74% of staff believed the program would help
students become more responsible.
- In addition, pre- and post-WRAT assessments (Wide Range
Achievement Tests) showed significant gains in reading scores
among seven of eight groups and in math scores for five of the
eight groups. All other groups showed positive gains.
The
Havre Summer Youth Program (Havre, Montana)
targeted
students with academic deficiencies for a culturally
relevant remedial course. Students were tested before
and after program participation.
- The majority of students improved their reading and math
skills by two grade levels. The skills of about 10% of
students went up six grade levels.
In an effort to address a very high dropout rate,
Career
Choices became the backbone of a required course for all
freshmen at
Coachella Valley High School (Thermal, California) in
1992.
- Within one year, the dropout rate had fallen from 15.7% to 12.7%.
- After the second year, the dropout rate fell to 3.8%.
The
Boston Summer Youth Program (Boston, Massachusetts)
sought to link learning to real life in an immediate,
tangible way. It clearly succeeded.
- All students increased their math and reading skill by a
half to one whole grade level.
Then-Coordinator of
Delaware's Tech Prep Consortium Dr. Jim
Campbell was looking to add a guidance component to the
program when he discovered the
Career Choices curriculum
in 1991.
Career Choices was subsequently introduced in six
districts in Delaware. A few years later, he reported the
following:
- Dropout rate decreases.
- Delaware Tech Prep students dropped out at rate of less than
1%, as compared to a statewide rate of 6%.
- Math and language skill increased.
- Tech Prep students in seven high schools earned higher math
and language scores on Iowa Basic Skills than non-Tech Prep
students statewide.
- Successful enrollment in postsecondary schools.
- Only 18% of students graduating from Tech Prep programs
needed remediation, as compared to the overall rate of 70%.
- ech Prep graduates had a much higher retention rate for
community colleges: 92%, as compared to 40% for non-Tech
Prep students.
I commend these materials for use in high
school...I particularly like that the curriculum
is grounded in a specific academic discipline
and that it is competency-based.
~Dale Parnell , Author
The Neglected Majority