ERIC Number: ED462556
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2001-May
Pages: 3
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Career Academy Concept. OJJDP Fact Sheet.
Coffee, Joseph N.; Pestridge, Scott
Career academies are schools within schools that link students with peers, teachers, and community partners in a disciplined environment, thereby fostering academic success and mental and emotional health. The career academy concept includes the following three key elements: (1) small learning communities; (2) a college preparatory curriculum with a career theme; and (3) partnerships with employers, community, and higher education. The following are among the essential components within those three areas: (1) a team of teachers who have joined the program by choice; (2) voluntary enrollment by students who are allowed to focus on a discipline of their choice; (3) academic courses that meet high school graduation and college entrance requirements; (4) common planning time for the teaching team; (5) counseling to ensure that students have postsecondary plans; (6) employers providing mentoring and job shadowing; (7) a steering committee of community partners to oversee academy operations; and (8) parental support of students' enrollment in the academy. According to a 5-year evaluation of 1,900 students and 9 career academies, career academies reduced dropout rates for at-risk students by nearly one-third, were associated with higher rates of college attendance, and provided at-risk youth with opportunities to set goals and reach academic and professional objectives that may have been otherwise unattainable. (MN)
Descriptors: Academic Education, Articulation (Education), Career Academies, Career Education, College Preparation, Definitions, Demonstration Programs, Dropout Prevention, Education Work Relationship, Educational Practices, Educational Principles, Guidelines, High Risk Students, High Schools, Integrated Curriculum, Models, Occupational Aspiration, Outcomes of Education, Partnerships in Education, Program Effectiveness, School Business Relationship, Vocational Education
For full text: http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/fs200115.pdf.
Publication Type: Information Analyses
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A