Career Academies Evaluation

General Information

View a brief abstract of this project.

View a complete, printer-friendly profile of this project.

Evaluator(s) MDRC
Investigator(s) James J Kemple (MDRC)
 
Domain Community/Neighborhood
Status Operational with Findings
Duration Jan 1993 - Dec 2007
Type Research and/or Program Evaluation
Program/Policy Description In 1993, MDRC began a 10-year evaluation of the Career Academy approach-- a widely established school reform initiative that encompasses the key principles of the national school-to-work (or school-to-career) movement. Primary goals of the Career Academy approach are to improve students' performance in high school and to provide them with clearer pathways to post-secondary education and careers. While attempting to create more supportive teaching and learning communities within high schools, Career Academies also seek to integrate academic and vocational instruction and to provide work-based learning opportunities for students, with the aim of preparing them for their lives beyond high school-- whether they are going straight to the job market or planning to attend college first.

This evaluation responds to a growing need for reliable information about the effectiveness of school-to-work and other major school reform initiatives by providing policy- and practice-relevant information on two broad questions:
1. To what extent do the Career Academies improve students' school- and career-related performances over and above what they would have achieved if they had not had the opportunity to participate in an Academy?
2. How are the Career Academies different from the high school environments in which Academy students would otherwise have been enrolled, and how do these differences shape students' post-secondary education and career preparation?
Notes Visit the project website.
 
Last Updated 03/16/04
Type of Summary Unreviewed
Contact(s) James J Kemple (not reported)
MDRC
16 East 34th Street
19th Floor
(T) (212) 532-3200
(F) (212) 684-0832
Submitter(s) Research Forum Staff (info@researchforum.org)
National Center for Children In Poverty
215 West 125th St, 3rd Fl
(T) (646)284-9600
(F) not reported

Populations Studied

Target Population Recipients/participants/clients
Adolescents
Neighborhood-based organizations
Sample Size and Unit n=1,953 randomly assigned students from the 10 sites entering the study over the course of three school years
Execution not reported.

Sites Studied

10 sites in the following locations:
Baltimore, MD;
Cocoa, FL;
Miami Beach, FL;
Pittsburgh, PA;
San Jose, CA;
Santa Ana, TX;
Socorro, TX;
Washington, DC;
Watsonville, CA.