[cover]

High School Career Academies

A Pathway to Educational Reform
in Urban School Districts?

Nan L. Maxwell, California State University-Hayward
Victor Rubin, University of California, Berkeley

Introductory chapter | Table of Contents

"Maxwell and Rubin present a wide array of analyses in a clear and accessible style suitable for policymakers and practitioners. There are some important findings for those interested in these specific reforms. In addition, the high-quality research contained in the book is an excellent example of careful non-experimental evaluation and is highly recommended to readers who seek an example of a balanced, multiple-method study. I recommend [this book] not only as a resource for those interested in improving the nation's schools, but also as a model of how to conduct a competent evaluation." Dominic Brewer, RAND, in Industrial and Labor Relations Review
Maxwell and Rubin examine the capacity of career academies to address academic reform in terms of increased education and workplace skills. They accomplish this on two levels. First, they assess academies' development and implementation within an urban school district. Then they assess academies' potential to promote postsecondary success among academy students as compared to nonacademy students. Their findings will help educators and policymakers better understand the strengths and limitations of this method of reform.

To assess the development and implementation issue, Maxwell and Rubin present results based on qualitative data amassed during a seven-year local evaluation of career academies in a single urban school district. These data led to findings on a number of key organizational issues including 1) whether or not career academies can become a district's primary tool for educational reform, 2) the factors that inhibit and facilitate implementation in urban public high schools, and 3) how the structure and resources of the academy affect its impact on student outcomes.

On the second level, Maxwell and Rubin assess academies' potential to facilitate postsecondary success by analyzing a detailed data set on a group of about 10,000 public high school students along with a survey of the students' education and labor market activities after high school. Analysis of these data allows the authors to determine 1) whether career academies in urban high schools increase postsecondary skills and workplace skills, 2) if so, how this increase occurs, 3) the aspects of the academy that improves postsecondary outcomes, and 4) whether career academies are effective for all students and in all school environments.
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    • Among the multiple results drawn from this study, the authors find that career academies have a number of positive, measurable effects. Most significantly, they say, academic skills picked up in a career academy increase the probability of a student pursuing postsecondary education, thereby facilitating labor market success as former students move from school to work. However, career academies cannot substitute motivation and career exposure for academic learning, and they may not be appropriate for all high schools or for all students. Maxwell and Rubin also find that career academy students fare no better than their non-academy counterparts in employment or wages soon after they leave high school.
    237 pp. 2000
    $40 cloth ISBN 0-88099-214-X / ISBN-13 978-0-88099-214-5
    $17 paper ISBN 0-88099-213-1 / ISBN-13 978-0-88099-213-8

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