 |
||
|
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
October 2011 > Faculty
CASN Report: Partnership Academies
Linked to Graduation, College Readiness
David Stern High school seniors enrolled in California Partnership Academies are significantly more likely to graduate and to complete courses required for admission to the University of California or California State University, according to a new report prepared for the California Department of Education by the Career Academy Support Network (CASN) at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education.
GSE Professor Emeritus David Stern, CASN's Principal Investigator and co-founder, wrote the report with Charles Dayton and Candace Hamilton Hester. The study was funded jointly by the California Department of Education and the James Irvine Foundation.
"A Profile of the California Partnership Academies 2009-2010," released Oct. 25 by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, finds that 95 percent of seniors attending California Partnership Academies (CPAs) go on to graduate, compared with 85 percent of students statewide. The study also finds that 57 percent of CPA graduates fulfilled the courses required for admission to UC or CSU systems, compared to 36 percent of graduates statewide."These results confirm what I saw in my own classroom: students who can see a connection between what they're learning and their goals for the future perform better," said Torlakson, a GSE alumnus (multiple subject credential '72, M.A. '77). "This simple but powerful link between learning and the world of work is helping partnership academies build a track record of success."
CPAs are examples of career academies, a high school reform model that has been widely replicated throughout the country, and has been carefully evaluated by a number of independent studies. A career academy is a small learning community within a larger high school. Students take a set of classes together each year, and work with a small team of teachers for several years. The curriculum combines college-preparatory academic coursework with demanding career-technical education, and gives students direct experience in the world of adult work. California has almost 500 CPAs in operation.
The report finds that CPA students perform better than statewide averages on several indicators, even though most CPAs are housed in low-performing high schools, and at least 50 percent of students entering a CPA must be deemed "at risk" according to specific criteria.
A report on CPAs in 2004-05 showed similar results, so the new report adds to consistent evidence of positive outcomes for CPA students, according to Stern.
"This is the latest in a long series of research studies that validates this high school reform model, " said Stern. "Career academies originated more than 40 years ago. Evaluations have consistently found that they improve students' performance in high school and give them solid preparation for both college and careers."
The new report finds favorable outcomes for students of color, who are represented in CPAs in greater proportions than in the statewide population of students in grades 10-12. For African American seniors, the graduation rate was 14 percentage points higher in CPAs than statewide, and for Hispanic seniors it was 16 percentage points higher in CPAs than statewide.
In addition, 88 percent of CPA students say they plan to attend a two- or four- year college upon graduation.
CPAs enrolled nearly 50,000 students in grades 10-12 and operated within 36 of California's 58 counties as of 2010. However, only about 3 percent of California students in grades 10-12 are enrolled in a CPA. The Linked Learning movement in California is providing impetus to expand and sustain CPAs. Through the Linked Learning District Initiative supported by the James Irvine Foundation, nine California school districts are creating systems of college-and-career pathways.
With more than 200 CPAs set to lose funding at the close of the school year, supporters of the programs hope the positive outcomes described in this study will help protect and expand CPAs, Linked Learning programs and similar college-and-career pathways in California.
"This report shows that students succeed in high school when rigorous academics are linked with relevant career-technical education and engagement with the world of adult work," said Christopher Cabaldon, Executive Director of the Linked Learning Alliance. "By highlighting the transformative possibilities of CPAs in this report, the Linked Learning Alliance hopes to build on the existing network of CPAs and give all of California's young people the opportunity for success in high school, college and careers."
The Blueprint for Great Schools report issued over the summer by Torlakson's Transition Advisory recommended that the state create strong linked learning pathways to college and careers by investing in innovative high school models that engage students in academic and applied learning.
"These results are encouraging, and provide one more reason to address the financial emergency facing our schools by investing in education again," Torlakson said. "We must continue to fund these successful programs and think boldly about how we build on these successes."
return to News return to gsE-bulletin
|