History
and Current Status of School-to-Career in the
Nation and in California
Educational
studies released in the 1980’s, such as
A
Nation at Risk (U.S. Department of Education,
1983) and The Forgotten Half: Non-College
Youth in America (William T. Grant Foundation)
reflected a growing perception that secondary
schools were not preparing students adequately
for post-secondary education or future work. According
to a report by the Department of Labor Secretary’s
Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS),
released in 1991, fewer than half the students
graduating from high schools in the United States
had the skills and knowledge they would need for
productive work in the labor market. Moreover,
colleges and universities reported that students
entering their institutions had low levels of
academic knowledge. See WestEd White
Paper.
Simultaneously,
businesses were experiencing shortages in entry-level
employees who had the skills required to meet
higher workplace standards. Further, in an increasingly
complex and rapidly changing world, changes in
the global economy and the workplace were requiring
that individuals develop the self-knowledge, flexibility
and transferable skills to succeed and manage
their own careers through numerous transitions.
(See William Bridges, JobShift). Schools
would need to prepare students for this new world
and this new workplace. Neither a strictly academic
preparation, nor a limited vocational education,
would suffice.
In
response to these demands, in 1994, Congress passed
the School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA).
The act underwrote the initial cost of establishing
systems in all states, to integrate academic and
vocational education and institute rigorous standards
for all students.
Many
of these policies were already reflected in California
educational policy. In 1992, the California Department
of Education had published Second to None:
A Vision of the New California High School,
where it recommended that students choose “an
organized program around a specific focus that
combines academic, applied academic and field
experiences” to meet college entrance requirements,
while also receiving career-related technical
and practical skills.
California
received its STWOA
implementation grant in 1996 and made funds
available on a competitive basis to “local
partnerships” – comprised of representatives
from education, business, government and the not-for-profit
sector – to implement local strategies.
By 2002, 58 partnerships had been funded, covering
nearly all counties and students statewide.
According
to the State-wide STC evaluation published in September,
2002, four key factors will affect the future of
STC in California: vision, structure, leadership,
and funding:
- vision that STC can play a role in improving
student academic performance
- coordinating/facilitating body; alternative
scheduling and new graduation requirements
- leadership at school, district and local partnership
levels
- funding for professional development, work-based
learning, and academies
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