October 2003

Featured stories from this issue:

Cover Story: Career programs under construction

Program lets students take college courses and earn credit

Umoja blends counseling, academics, real-world experience

What are the jobs of the future?

Boston pioneers school partnership

From the Editors

Up Close

Research

Updates

Comings & Goings

Eye on Education

Career programs under construction
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“The mayor and Arne are very interested in making sure we train our students to go into the workforce immediately after graduation, either as a career path or as a way to earn money while they go on to further education,” says Wine-Banks.

Enrollment declines

Chicago’s struggles to revamp career education programs mirror the national scene. Pressure to raise high school students’ academic performance has diverted attention from career programs, which are suffering from declining enrollment and poor image.

“It’s too early to tell what’s taking its place,” says Richard Kazis, executive director of Jobs for the Future, a Boston-based policy and advocacy organization for youth workforce development. “A big question mark is how much of our technical education will take place in high schools versus colleges.”

Wine-Banks says getting a handle on the quality of existing education-to-careers programs is her first priority as she attempts to integrate high school course work with practical, job-training skills.

Integrating academics with a vocational curriculum has been a longstanding challenge. While some vocational teachers may try to work subjects like geometry and even trigonometry into their courses, building bridges with academics continues to be difficult.

Today, CPS career training consists of three-course sequences in 11 industries, which are available to varying degrees in every high school. Students may choose to apply to one of 11 “career academies,” where every student declares a career major.

A recent national study shows at-risk students who attend career academies are more likely to stay in school. In Chicago, dropout rates at career academies in 2002 ranged from a low of nearly 6 percent at Prosser High to a high of 35 percent at Tilden High.

Over the next 12 months, Wine-Banks will assess career course offerings with the goal to shut down outdated programs. (She’s already eliminated barbering and consolidated travel and tourism into hospitality, which includes culinary science and hotel management.)

In a letter sent last month, CPS gave high schools with low career education enrollment rates the choice between closing their programs or building enrollment. Decisions will be made in December.

Eventually, Wine-Banks plans to evaluate facilities, equipment, internship opportunities and teacher qualifications in every high school career program. She also wants to determine how career program graduates are faring on post-secondary licensing tests, and how many jobs are available in those industries that CPS offers course work.

Schools innovate

Since shedding traditional vocational programs, some CPS high schools have replaced them with innovative initiatives that connect students with career options.

Since small business is a leading source of new jobs, high schools are partnering with outside groups to teach students entrepreneurial skills.

Juarez High, for instance, offers two programs: Headstrong Enterprise, which created and launched a shampoo product this summer, and Bikes for Chicago, which repairs and services bicycles at local cycling events. This summer, teachers from Juarez and seven other CPS high schools attended training sessions sponsored by the National Foundation for Entrepreneurship Education.

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Click on the thumbnail for a full-size image.

Prosser machine shop

Jill Wine-Banks

Chart: Career academies at a glance

Chart: Industry categories

Sidebar: Student internships

Cover photo: Adelade Akisanya, a 2003 graduate of Manley High School, got practical experience in the construction trades through the Umoja Student Development Corp., a nonprofit agency based at Manley that leads students into college and careers. Akisanya is now enrolled at Columbia College.

Catalyst: Independent coverage of Chicago school reform since 1989.