Tom Birmingham

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

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by Tom Birmingham
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:

School-Age Population Remains Steady, but Boston Struggles With Declining Enrollment

0 Comments
/
Hopefully, new leadership will ensure that the system makes the changes necessary to improve public education in Boston. Otherwise, enrollment declines will continue. 

METCO’s Milly Arbaje-Thomas & Researcher Roger Hatch on MA’s Voluntary School Desegregation Program

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Milly Arbaje-Thomas, President & CEO of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity, Inc. (METCO) and Roger Hatch, co-author of Pioneer’s report, METCO Funding: Understanding Massachusetts’ Voluntary School Desegregation Program.

Engaged Detroit Founder Bernita Bradley on Homeschooling, Urban Education, & Parent-Driven Reforms

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard Robinson and guest co-host Kerry McDonald talk with Bernita Bradley, founder and president of Engaged Detroit, a parent-driven urban homeschooling advocacy coalition.

Lead Plaintiff David Carson & IJ Attorney Arif Panju on Landmark SCOTUS Decision Carson v. Makin

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Gerard Robinson and Cara Candal talk with Arif Panju, a managing attorney with the Institute for Justice and co-counsel in the U.S. Supreme Court school choice case, Carson v. Makin; and David Carson, the lead plaintiff. Panju shares the key legal contours of Carson v. Makin and the potential impact of the Court’s decision in favor of the plaintiffs.

AEI’s Robert Pondiscio on E.D. Hirsch, Civic Education, & Charter Public Schools

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard Robinson and guest co-host Kerry McDonald talk with Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He shares his background working with curriculum expert E.D. Hirsch, Jr., who has emphasized the importance of academic content knowledge in K-12 education as well as civic education to develop active participants in our democracy. Pondiscio explains some of the findings of his book, How the Other Half Learns, on New York’s Success Academy charter schools network.

Hoover at Stanford’s Dr. Macke Raymond on the Current State of K-12 Education Reform

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Dr. Margaret “Macke” Raymond, founder and director of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University. She shares some of the major highlights from Hoover’s recent Education Summit that featured a wide variety of national and international experts.

David Ferreira & Chris Sinacola on MA’s Nation-Leading Voc-Tech Schools

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Chris Sinacola and David Ferreira, co-editors of Pioneer’s new book, Hands-On Achievement: Massachusetts’s National Model Vocational-Technical Schools. They share information from their new book on the story of the Bay State’s nation-leading voc-tech schools, and how accountability tools from the state’s 1993 education reform law propelled their success.

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.

WV State Sen. Patricia Puertas Rucker on Universal School Choice

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Senator Patricia Puertas Rucker, a West Virginia state Senator and Chair of the Education Committee. Thanks to her leadership, West Virginia now has the widest, most universal education savings account program in America.

Time for Receivership in Boston

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) recently launched its second review of the Boston Public Schools (BPS) in three years. The move has some up in arms because state law requires that officials conduct a review no more than a year before approving state receivership. For BPS, receivership is long overdue. After more than 15 years of consistent and rapid decline, the district has shown no ability—and limited will—to stem the tide

AFC’s Denisha Merriweather on School Choice Advocacy & Black Minds Matter

This week on “The Learning Curve," Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Denisha Merriweather, the director of public relations and content marketing at the American Federation for Children and founder of Black Minds Matter. They discuss Denisha’s inspiring personal narrative, from a struggling student to a leading national spokesperson for school choice.