Book Finds Massachusetts Voc-Tech Schools Are National Model, Calls for Expansion

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Schools mix strong academic performance with world-class training, but excellence is threatened by recent changes to admissions policy.

BOSTON (June 8) — Massachusetts vocational-technical schools — boasting minuscule dropout rates, strong academic performance, and graduates prepared for careers or higher education — should be expanded to meet growing demand, according to a new book published by Pioneer Institute.

“Holding voc-tech students to the same academic and graduation requirements as students in comprehensive public high schools was one of the most transformative elements of the Commonwealth’s 1993 Education Reform Act,” said Pioneer Executive Director Jim Stergios. “Massachusetts is now the unquestioned leader in vocational-technical education, with graduates among the best-prepared to compete in the global economy.”

Hands-On Achievement: Massachusetts’s National Model Vocational-Technical Schools” traces the history, development, and status of the state’s voc-tech sector.

 

“Today, manuals used by plumbers and major appliance repair personnel are written at up to a grade 14 level,” said Jamie Gass, Pioneer’s director of school reform. “Auto technicians aren’t just ‘gearheads’ anymore. They do more analysis of computerized diagnostic equipment than turning wrenches.”

The state’s more than 52,000 voc-tech students alternate weeks between academics and shop work. With only half the academic instruction time, they match or exceed the academic performance of students in the state’s other public high schools.

Voc-tech schools in Massachusetts:

  • Teach more students with special needs (24% 19% statewide)
  • Enroll more low-income students (44% 39% statewide)
  • Have lower dropout rates (0.6% 1.8% statewide)

“Massachusetts voc-techs have succeeded thanks to a combination of operational autonomy, being schools of choice, rigorous instruction, and relationships with local businesses,” said co-editor David Ferreira, a former executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators.

Voc-tech schools have advisory councils and enjoy close relationships with local business communities that provide state-of-the-art equipment, training, co-op programs, and a direct career path for many voc-tech graduates.

Among the book’s recommendations:

  • Expand voc-tech education to serve the 52 communities, primarily in Berkshire and Hampshire counties, not currently in a regional voc-tech district.
  • Utilize available public-school space to accommodate the 5,000 students on voc-tech waiting lists.
  • Grant all voc-tech schools the same autonomy over budgets, curriculum, and staffing currently enjoyed by regional voc-tech districts.

“Hands-On Achievement” also warns against recent changes to voc-tech admissions policies that threaten these schools’ success, such as disregarding applicants’ behavioral and attendance records, which are critical considerations at schools where students need extensive training on operating sophisticated machinery.

Moving toward lottery admissions runs the risk of a mismatch between students and schools, undermining the principle that students actively choose the voc-tech model and potentially misallocating public resources, given that it costs taxpayers about $5,000 more on average to educate a student at a voc-tech school as opposed to a traditional high school.

###

For more information or to schedule interviews with the authors or editors of the book, please contact Lizzie Nealon at 202-471-4228 ext. 103 or lizzie@keybridge.biz.

About Pioneer Institute

Pioneer Institute is a think tank dedicated to developing ideas that advance prosperity and a vibrant civic life in Massachusetts and beyond. The organization produces research almost exclusively through outside experts to ensure credibility, and acts as a resource for legislators on Beacon Hill and for staff in the State’s executive offices.

Get Updates on Our Education Research

Related Content

Teachers strikes hurt the students

At a time when the country’s basic commitment to the rule of law is being questioned, Newton educators are teaching their students that breaking the law and thumbing one’s nose at a judge’s order are OK — if it is in your self-interest.

Admissions lotteries would harm vocational-technical schools

Expanding the number of seats available in vocational-technical high schools is a good investment for Massachusetts. But it’s critical they are expanded in a way that promotes equity without endangering the academic and occupational excellence that continues to drive burgeoning demand for these schools.

Remove roadblocks for charter schools

Worcester, Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, and other Gateway Cities in Massachusetts have large waiting lists for charter schools plus room to expand under state caps. What's needed are ways to curb obstructionist behavior that is blocking that expansion.

Poll Finds Charter Schools Widely and Broadly Popular in Massachusetts

More than six years after the failure of a statewide ballot initiative that would have increased the number of charter public schools in Massachusetts, a poll shows that 62 percent either strongly or somewhat favor them, with only 16 percent opposed.

Teachers union wants ed reform money — but not accountability

MTA campaign against graduation test takes their stand to 'farcical…

Civics education is crucial to engaged citizenship

/
The Founding Fathers believed the main role of public education was not workforce development, but to create citizens prepared for informed participation in American democracy. Without this, they feared the nation might dissolve. Never have the founders looked more prescient.

Study Urges Massachusetts to Embrace Innovative School Models

A new policy brief from Pioneer Institute urges Massachusetts policymakers to encourage the proliferation and progress of non-traditional models that offer families creative, flexible, personalized and low-cost private education options.

Poll Finds Strong Majority of Massachusetts Residents Support Restoring U.S. History MCAS Graduation Requirement

Sixty-two percent of Massachusetts residents support restoring passage of a U.S. history test as a public high school graduation requirement, according to a poll of Massachusetts residents’ attitudes toward education policy commissioned by Pioneer Institute and conducted by the Emerson College Polling Center.

Two Stars in a Glowing Voc-Tech Education System

“A Tale of Two City Schools: Worcester Tech and Putnam Academy Become Models for Recovery” is a new white paper by Pioneer Institute that analyzes how Worcester Tech and Putnam Academy — schools with high numbers of low-income and special needs students — leapt from the bottom of Massachusetts voc-tech rankings to become leaders among local schools.

Toolkit Highlights Keys to Massachusetts’s Vocational-Technical School Success

Alternating weeks of academic and vocational education, school autonomy, and close ties with local businesses have been key to the success of Massachusetts's  vocational-technical high schools, according to a report published today by Pioneer Institute.

Book Finds Massachusetts Voc-Tech Schools Are National Model, Calls for Expansion

Massachusetts vocational-technical schools -- boasting minuscule dropout rates, strong academic performance, and graduates prepared for careers or higher education -- should be expanded to meet growing demand, according to a new book published by Pioneer Institute.

METCO Works Well, Small Tweaks Could Make It Even Better, Study Says

The Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity, or METCO program, has successfully educated thousands of students for 56 years, but several minor changes could make it even better, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.