More students, employers need to benefit from voc-tech schools’ winning formula

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

This op-ed appeared in Commonwealth Magazine and New Bedford Standard Times.

A recent visit to Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School demonstrated why career and technical high schools are rightly considered a Massachusetts success story. But it also serves as a reminder that we must not let them become victims of their success.

Greater New Bedford Regional Voc-Tech gets most of its 2,139 students from New Bedford, though it also serves Dartmouth and Fairhaven. It can’t keep up with demand, with about 700 students on the wait list. Twice that many students and their parents attend when the school holds an open house.

Greater New Bedford Regional Voc-Tech is the most sought-after secondary school in New Bedford, ahead of both New Bedford High and the City on a Hill Charter High School. The voc-tech’s approach of alternating weekly between academic material and hands-on technical training is not for everyone. But those for whom it’s a fit and who choose this option graduate from Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech both college- and career-ready.

During my visit, it was easy to see why the school has prospered. For instance, its leaders are proud of a high-tech ambulance simulator purchased with a grant from the Baker administration. It allows an instructor to control a number of functions on a patient simulator, such as blood pressure and heartbeat, to give students real-time, realistic emergency medical technician training.

Just after my visit, Greater New Bedford Regional Voc-Tech earned wider recognition when it won several awards at the national leadership conference of Business Professionals of America, one of the nation’s leading career technical student organizations.

The power of choice is an important factor in the success of this and other voc-tech schools. Students and their families are motivated to pursue an educational approach that they believe to be a good fit. Voc-tech entrance criteria further help ensure that the school and student are a good match.

Statewide, regional voc-tech dropout rates are a third of those of comprehensive public high schools. Two-thirds of graduates pursue higher education, and their scores on state tests match or surpass those of traditional high school students. Graduation rates are also 24% higher than those of their traditional high school counterparts, an attribute that is particularly important in New Bedford, where the district’s graduation rate of around two-thirds is among the lowest in Massachusetts.

The use of entry criteria that can include middle school grades and attendance certainly may explain some of the achievement outcomes at voc-tech schools, especially those that are oversubscribed. But these schools nonetheless have established themselves as quality programs where students thrive.

In addition to a high rate of students moving on to higher education, a Northeastern University survey of business owners and others found that career and technical graduates are more job-ready than other high school graduates. In these circumstances, it should come as no surprise that there are about 4,500 Massachusetts students on career and technical high school wait lists.

Unfortunately, educators and policy makers sometimes mix up their priorities, protecting the interests of schools that haven’t done as well at the expense of those that have. Career and technical high schools provide students with opportunity and fuel the state economy by filling important workforce needs. New Bedford’s public schools, however, no longer allow Greater New Bedford Regional Voc-Tech school personnel to make presentations to their eighth graders.

Career and technical high schools have been a resounding success in Massachusetts. As such, state policy makers should focus on developing plans to allow them to clear their wait lists. Rather than punishing these schools, we should focus on ways to let more students and employers benefit from what has proven to be a winning formula.

Get Updates on Our School Choice Research

Related research:

Urban Institute’s Dr. Matthew Chingos on the Year of School Choice & the Student Loan Debt Crisis

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Gerard Robinson and Cara Candal talk with Dr. Matthew Chingos, who directs the Center on Education Data and Policy at the Urban Institute. They discuss the “Year of School Choice,” the welcome 2021 trend of states across America expanding or establishing private school choice programs; as well as the student debt crisis in higher education.

Lipan Apache Tribe’s Pastor Robert Soto on Native American Heritage Month & Religious Liberty

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Gerard Robinson and Cara Candal talk with Pastor Robert Soto, a Lipan Apache religious leader and award-winning feather dancer who has successfully upheld his Native American cultural heritage and religious liberties in federal courts. As the country celebrates Native American Heritage Month, Pastor Soto shares his personal journey as a religious leader and describes the Lipan Apache Tribe.

Maine Tries to Ignore a Clear Supreme Court Ruling on Education

As the U.S. Supreme Court takes up Carson v. Makin, the facts are clear. Maine has chosen to subsidize private education. As such, it cannot disqualify all religious schools from receiving public dollars under its school choice program.

Time for State Action on Troubled Boston Schools

Given the failures of both appointed and elected school boards, perhaps the time has come to have the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education appoint the members of the Boston School Committee. Patience might be warranted if the Boston Public Schools were improving. But we have waited for decades, and they are only getting worse. Holding adults in the system accountable was a cornerstone of the Education Reform Act. If not now, when?

Match Charter Public School Founder Mike Goldstein on School & Teacher Prep Reform

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Gerard Robinson and Cara Candal talk with Mike Goldstein, the founder of the MATCH Charter School and MATCH Teacher Residency in Boston.

ASU’s Julie Young, Virtual Schooling Pioneer, on Digital Learning during COVID-19

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-host Cara Candal talks with Julie Young, ASU Vice President of Education Outreach and Student Services, and Managing Director of ASU Prep Academy and ASU Prep Digital. They discuss the implications of COVID-19’s disruption of American K-12 education and the future of digital learning.

The Institute for Justice’s Michael Bindas on the SCOTUS, Carson v. Makin, & Expanding School Choice

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Michael Bindas, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice (IJ). They discuss IJ’s 2020 landmark U.S. Supreme Court win in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, and its implications for state Blaine Amendments, bigoted legal barriers that have blocked religious liberty and school choice for over a century, as well as the Maine school tuitioning case, Carson v. Makin, which was recently granted certiorari.

A truly progressive student loan policy

/
This op-ed originally appeared in the Boston Globe. It was written…

Nina Rees on the 30th Anniversary of Charter Public Schools in America

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara celebrate the 30th anniversary of charter schools with Nina Rees, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Blended Learning Expert Heather Staker on Student-Centered Lessons During COVID-19

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Heather Staker, founder and president of Ready to Blend. They discuss her work with the late Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen and Michael Horn on disruptive innovation and schooling, as well as her book, Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, and her recent publication, Developing a student-centered workforce through micro-credentials. 

Rigorous Civics Education Needed Now More Than Ever

/
After decades of being overlooked, the importance of teaching US history and civics in public schools is at last gaining momentum. At the same time, the American Rescue Plan will bring an influx of tens of millions of dollars into Massachusetts schools. The confluence of these two events could transform civics education, but turning potential into reality will require combining a high-quality, fact-based curriculum with strong accountability measures.

Heritage Foundation’s Jonathan Butcher on Edu Federalism, School Choice, Learning Pods

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Jonathan Butcher, the Will Skillman Fellow in Education at The Heritage Foundation. They discuss the growing popularity of learning pods, an education innovation propelled by K-12 public education’s failure to meet the COVID-19 moment. With as many as three million children enrolled in learning pods, 35 percent of parents participating in them, and another 18 percent interested in joining one, Butcher shares findings from his report on the role of pods in expanding parent-driven educational choice options.