Citation
Kemple, J., Poglinco, S., & Snipes, J. (1999). Career Academies: Building career awareness and work-based learning activities through employer partnerships. New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.
Highlights
- This is the third report summarizing results from an evaluation of Career Academies, which are institutes within high schools that have a specific occupational focus and offer students the opportunity to both prepare for employment in that field and enroll in college preparatory courses. This report focused on the partnerships that Career Academies established with employers—analyzing successes and challenges in building these partnerships and the level of student participation in employer-supported activities.
- The authors visited 10 program sites, where they observed program activities and conducted interviews with Career Academy, high school and school district staff, representatives of employer partners, and participating students. They also administered a survey to 1,600 Academy and non-Academy students at those sites.
- The analysis of interview and survey data found that students at sites with a formalized structure for collaborating with employers, a coordinator for the employer partnerships who did not have teaching responsibilities, and structured orientations on experiential learning participated in a wider variety of career preparation activities than did students at sites without these features.
- Academy students had higher levels of participation in career-related activities than non-Academy students and were also more likely to be working in jobs related to their occupational studies in the Academy.
Intervention Examined
Career Academies
Reviewed by CLEAR
March 2014