Career Academies (Small learning communities in low-income high schools, offering academic and technical/career courses as well as workplace opportunities)
Randomized controlled trial shows a sizable positive impact on the earnings of participants eight years after their scheduled high school graduation.
Description of the Intervention: Career Academies are small learning communities (150 to 200 students) within large high schools in low-income, urban areas. Their students tend to be predominantly minorities with poor grades and attendance. Career Academies combine a college preparatory curriculum with technical and occupational courses, and team with local businesses to provide students with after-school, career-related learning opportunities. Each Academy typically focuses on a specific field (e.g., health care), preparing its students to work in that field. The goal is to keep students interested in school by demonstrating how their coursework will help them secure a job.
Students are recruited to attend, and then must submit an application. Approved applicants enter a Career Academy in their first year of high school (i.e., 9th or 10th grade) and are taught by a single team of teachers through grade 12. There are currently more than 2,500 Career Academies nationwide.
The per-student cost of Career Academies varies widely depending on the specific features of the school. One estimate is that, in California, a high school operating a three-year Career Academy (grades 10-12) incurs an additional cost of approximately $650 per Career Academy Student, per year.*
*Throughout this summary, all monetary amounts are in 2006 U.S. dollars.
Click here for a link to more information about Career Academies.
EVIDENCE OF EFFECTIVENESS
Study
Randomized controlled trial of 1,764 8th and 9th grade eligible applicants to nine Career Academies in large urban school districts around the United States. These Academies were chosen for the study because they had successfully implemented the core features of the Career Academy model. They also represented a variety of the career themes that Academies typically offer (e.g., technical, service oriented, or business related).
Eligible applicants were randomly assigned to a group that was invited to enroll in a Career Academy (“Career Academy group”) or to a control group that was not, but could take advantage of any other opportunities offered by the host high school or district. 55% of those assigned to the Career Academy group did enroll in a Career Academy and remained in the program through graduation.
Approximately 85% of the students in the study sample were Hispanic or African American, and 24% of students' families received welfare or food stamp assistance.
Effects of Career Academies at the 11-12 year follow-up - i.e., 8 years after students' scheduled high school graduation (versus the control group)
- 11% higher average annual earnings - i.e., $2,088 per year - over the previous eight years ($20,820 in annual earnings for the Career Academy group vs. $18,732 for the control group).
- This effect was sustained over the full eight years, and showed no sign of diminishing.
- This effect appears to be the largest for men (17% increase, or $3,732 annually) and students identified at the start of the study as at-risk of dropping out of school (17% increase, or $2,844 annually). However, the difference in effects between men and women, and between at-risk and other students, was not statistically significant, and so could be due to chance.
- 23% increase in the likelihood of living independently with a child and partner (33% of the Career Academy group lived independently with a child and partner vs. 27% of the control group).
- 35% decrease in the likelihood of being a non-custodial parent (5% for the Career Academy group vs. 8% for the control group).
- Small (3%) increase in the number of months employed over the eight years (this effect was statistically significant during the first four years, but not the second four).
- No effect on completion of high school or equivalency (GED) degree, possibly because nearly all (95%) of the students in the Career Academy and control groups completed high school or a GED (i.e., there was a “ceiling” effect).
- No effects on attainment of a postsecondary credential, standardized test scores, welfare or food stamp receipt, drug use, criminal activity, or health insurance coverage.
Discussion of study quality (click here for glossary of terms)
- This was a large, multi-site study with low attrition and a long-term follow-up. Outcome data were obtained for 81% of the original sample at the 11-12 year follow-up.
- Prior to the intervention, there were no significant differences between students in the Career Academy and control groups in demographic characteristics, performance in schools (e.g., grades and attendance), or attitudes toward school.
- The study measured the intervention's effects using outcome data for all students assigned to the Career Academy group, including those who did not actually enroll in or graduate from an Academy (i.e., the study used an “intention-to-treat” analysis).
- The study evaluated Career Academies in typical high-poverty schools that had faithfully implemented the intervention's core features, thus providing evidence of Academies' effectiveness in real-world conditions.
- Study Limitation: Outcomes were measured through self-reports, obtained through researcher-administered surveys, and for the most part were not corroborated by official records (e.g., state unemployment insurance data on earnings and employment).
Sources (click on linked authors' names for their contact information)
Kemple, James J. and Cynthia J. Willner. “Career Academies: Long-Term Impacts on Labor Market Outcomes, Educational Attainment, and Transitions to Adulthood.” MDRC, June 2008. Click here for a link to the study.
Kemple, James J. and Judith Scott-Clayton. "Career Academies: Impacts on Labor Market Outcomes and Educational Attainment." MDRC, February 2004. Click here for a link to the study.
Kemple, James J and Jason C. Snipes. "Career Academies: Impacts on Students' Engagement and Performance in High School." MDRC, March 2000. Click here for a link to the study.
http://www.ncset.org/publications/essentialtools/dropout/part3.3.02.asp (National Center on Secondary Education and Transition- What Works in Dropout Prevention)
http://casn.berkeley.edu (The Career Academy Support Network) |
