INTERNSHIPS A New View of College Preparatory Education
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Richard R. Murray and Company, Inc. 300 North LaSalle Street Suite 4925 Chicago IL 60654 (312) 444-2020 www.equityschools.org
We must embark on an effort to build a more comprehensive American system of pathways to prosperity—one that is better equipped to meet the widely diverse needs, interests and abilities of all our young people. Continuing on our current course, by placing almost all our bets on classroom-based pedagogy, is likely to produce little more than the marginal gains we’ve seen over the past two decades. And that rate of progress is simply unacceptable for anyone who cares about the future of America. Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century Harvard University Graduate School of Education
The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind–creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers. These people—artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers—will now reap societyʼs richest rewards and share its greatest joys. A Whole New Mind Daniel Pink
Far and away the best prize life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. Theodore Roosevelt
Believe.
Achieve.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Our world has changed. Our economy has changed. The demands of the modern day workplace have changed. Everything, it seems, has changed. And this change has ushered in a fundamental change to our traditional view of the the role, scope and function of a college preparatory education.
For generations, American schools were modeled under the belief that students were best prepared for the rigors of higher education by sitting all day in classrooms. If a student failed to master certain academic skills, or if more in-depth work in a particular subject area was required, the answer was more of the same—more English classes, more math classes, more lecture-based instruction. Carnegie units, credits, and advance placement courses became the gold standard for measuring college-readiness, and by proxy, career-readiness. But this rigid, single pathway model of learning, a model that valued and rewarded classwork-based work above all else, is changing. Today, practical experience, application-based knowledge, and soft skills such as the ability to think critically, work collaboratively and communicate effectively are now considered as important, if not more important, than theoretical classroom-based knowledge. As a consequence, public, private and parochial schools from across the socio-economic spectrum are increasingly integrating workplace learning—internships—into their core curriculum. Internships augment the rigor of classroom work with invaluable exposure to the world of real work, critical in today's era of globalization, specialization and increasing competitiveness, and offer a host of educational and economic benefits to students, schools and the communities they serve.
For over a century, the United States led the world in equipping its young people with the education they would need to succeed. By the middle of the 19th century, as Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz write in their book, The Race between Education and Technology, “the U.S. already had the most educated youth in the world.” At the turn of the 20th century, just as Europe was catching up, the rapid spread of the “high school movement” helped the U.S. vault ahead again. Yet as we end the first decade of the 21st century, there are profoundly troubling signs that the U.S. is now failing to meet its obligation to prepare millions of young adults. In an era in which education has never been more important to economic success, the U.S. has fallen behind many other nations in educational attainment and achievement. Within the U.S. economy, there is also growing evidence of a “skills gap” in which many young adults lack the skills and work ethic needed for many jobs that pay a middle-class wage. Simultaneously, there has been a dramatic decline in the ability of adolescents and young adults to find work. Indeed, the percentage of teens and young adults who have jobs is now at the lowest level since World War II. Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century Harvard University Graduate School of Education
The College Preparatory Curriculum: A Traditional View What does it mean to be college ready? Over the past two decades, American educators have launched a concerted effort to raise standards, improve test-score performance and promote “college readiness” for all. This long overdue effort has had many ameliorative effects. The recent adoption of Common Core Standards has helped forge a much clearer national consensus on what children need to learn. An increased emphasis on accountability has cast a much-needed spotlight on actual student outcomes and fueled a renewed sense of urgency to bolster student achievement at every grade level. But after years of sustained effort, and trillions of dollars of expenditures, the time has come for an honest assessment. The assumption underlying these efforts has been that an academic, classroom-based, approach is the ideal pathway to educational and economic success. This approach largely defines the “college prep” curriculum. But is this pathway successful? And how should we measure success? The bottom line measure of success should be college completion. And by that measure, our college preparatory pathway of choice has not been successful. The harsh reality is that at present, less than 30% of our young adults earn a bachelor’s degree by their mid-20s.
Source: Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
U.S. “on time” college completion rates are also alarmingly low.
Source: Higher Ed info-NCES/IPEDS Graduation Survey.
Right now, the United States now has the highest college dropout rate in the industrialized world. The question we must all ask is why? Why is our educational system—which should be a gateway to the American Dream—failing so many of our students? Students drop out of high school and college for many reasons: under-preparation for the required academic work; financial pressures; competing claims of family and jobs—the list of causes is long and varied. But certainly a major reason is that too many can’t see a clear, transparent connection between their program of study and tangible opportunities in the labor market. We fail these young people not because we are indifferent, or incapable, but because we have focused too exclusively on a narrow pathways to success. It is time to widen our lens and to build a broader, more robust, more pathways system—one that is richly diversified to align with the needs and interests of today’s young people and better designed to meet the needs of a 21st century economy. It is long past time to adopt a new view of the college and career preparatory education.
The Role of Workplace Learning: A New View of College Preparatory Education There is a deeply rooted bias, perhaps for good reason, against anything that smacks of “vocational education.” Vocational education, or career and technical education (CTE) as it is now called, has a decidedly checkered past. CTE was often used as a dumping ground for underachieving and so-called “at risk” children. The reason? Because career readiness and college readiness were often viewed as two distinct educational paths. Children deemed “smart” were encouraged to pursue college prep work and groomed for higher education. Those considered “challenged” were branded, tracked and directed to coursework designed primarily to prepare them for the world of work after high school. But forward-thinking, reform minded educators in private, public and parochial schools across the country are rethinking the role of workplace learning and breaking down the either/or dichotomies that have defined traditional college preparatory education. Classroom learning and workplace learning, historically viewed as two distinct educational paths, are now being merged to create a new, broader, more comprehensive pathway to educational attainment and economic emancipation. And these efforts are being acknowledged and applauded throughout the poublic and private sector. Consider Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s remarks at the Release of the “Pathways to Prosperity” Report from the Harvard Graduate School of Education Pathways to Prosperity Project in February of 2011: First, for far too long, CTE has been the neglected stepchild of education reform. That neglect has to stop.... There is a lot of talk these days about the need to boost college and career-readiness. But the truth—and I include myself here—is that most of the current debate is about college-readiness. Too often, career-readiness is an afterthought. It seems easier to define college-readiness than career-readiness, even if there is a great deal of overlap.... [A] career-ready student must...have the knowledge and skills that employers need from day one. That means having critical thinking and problem-solving skills, an ability to synthesize information, solid communication skills, and the ability to work well on a team. Students headed for four-year colleges need to know these important life skills as well. The truth is that we want all students, whether they are in CTE programs or not, to develop employability skills. And I am pleased to say that the Common Core standards developed by the states deliberately incorporate what is often thought of as careerready skills, such as problem-solving and communication skills. The next generation of assessments currently being developed by the states under the Race to the Top assessment competition will also assess these higher-order skills.
So I start with the basic premise that it is the responsibility of K-12 educators to prepare all students for both college and a career. This must be "both/and", not "either/or." High school graduates themselves--not the educational system—should be choosing the postsecondary and career paths they want to pursue. For too long, public schools have gotten this all wrong. Too often, the K-12 system made these choices for children, tracking them into dead-end courses--instead of providing them with the skills necessary to succeed in college and careers and the guidance students needed to make good decisions about their future. When you consider that the average age of a community college student today is now 29, I think it becomes all the more clear that college and career-ready skills are really no longer two, separate tracks. Students need the same set of skills for both college and the workplace, particularly in reading and math. And it's the job of the K-12 system to prepare them for both options. In our globally-competitive, knowledge-based economy, all Americans are likely to face the challenge of a lifetime of continued learning. And all need a common core of skills. Today, these employability skills are poorly-defined in America's K-12 system. But they are one of the universal hallmarks of world-class education systems in the 21st century. What is most noteworthy about Secretary Duncan’s remarks is the implicit recognition that if the U.S. is going to make dramatic progress in reclaiming its historic leadership position in postsecondary attainment, it is going to have to focus much more attention and resources on programs and pathways that merge career readiness and classroom readiness. Our current system simply places far too much emphasis on a single pathway to success: attending and graduating from a four-year college after completing an academic program of study in high school. Yet as we now know, only 30% of young adults successfully complete this preferred pathway, despite decades of efforts to raise the numbers. And too many of them graduate from college without a clear conception of the career they want to pursue, let alone a pathway for getting there. But any effort at reform must begin and end with one simple question: Does the proposed reform encourage better education? In the case of elevating the importance of workplace learning, the answer is a resounding yes. A wealth of research data, both domestically and abroad, suggests that integrating internships and other opportunities for workplace learning into our core college preparatory curriculum might be the single most promising strategy for greatly increasing the percentage of young adults who earn a post-secondary degree or who are prepared to meaningfully contribute to the rapidly changing economy of the 21st century.
Internships in Act
Workplace Learning in Action The State of Illinois is now preparing to launch a major new initiative aimed at greatly increasing opportunities for work-based learning. The state is proposing to create “learning exchanges” that would offer high-quality programs of study in major career clusters, including health sciences, agriculture, and manufacturing. Each learning exchange would be led by industry employers, professional organizations, and other public and non-profit partners. One of the key functions of the learning exchange would be to promote and facilitate opportunities for internships and other apprenticeship programs for secondary students. Many of Illinois’ school districts have already agreed to participate. The Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship Program began in the early 90s, and has since matured into the nation’s largest apprenticeship opportunity for high school students. Under the two-year program, high school juniors and seniors complete up to 900 hours of work-based learning and related courses. Many also earn college credits. Apprenticeships are now offered in fields ranging from healthcare and manufacturing to IT, hospitality and agriculture. Apprenticeships are available in nearly half of Wisconsin’s school districts, and the program serves about 2,000 students at a time. Over 75% of youth apprenticeship graduates enroll in a technical college or university, and over 60% complete their degrees, which is far higher than the national average. What’s more, over 85% of graduates are employed after leaving high school, and a stunning 98% of participating employers say they would recommend it to others. In Massachusetts, the Connecting Activities program, a school-to-career initiative of the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, creates partnerships between schools and workplaces. In 2009, the program yielded 13,000 internships at 5,500 sites, including health care, finance, construction, public safety, and many other industries. Program structures vary, but all internships use a work-based learning plan that links internship activities with the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks. Some also have an explicit remediation component for students who scored below proficient on the state's high school Competency Determination exams. The New Hampshire Department of Education allows schools to grant credit for internships and other "extended learning opportunities." One student earned science credits by interning with an infection control nurse at a hospital, conducting an empirical study of staff hand-washing practices, and presenting his findings to the hospital's infection control board. Each school district defines local policies regarding extended learning opportunities, but all are required to assign credit based on measurable standards and course competencies. New Hampshire's reforms provide an example for states that want to help their schools expand learning beyond the usual boundaries. Other internship models exist as well. The National Academy Foundation has become a leader in exposing students to career options through its national network of some 500 career academies serving more than 50,000 students in 41 states. NAF academies focus on one of four themes:
finance; hospitality and tourism; information technology; and engineering. The capstone of the NAF experience is a paid internship, typically lasting 6 to 10 weeks. The internships are provided by more than 2,500 corporate partners. NAF’s track record is truly impressive. Some 90 percent of its students graduate from high school, 23 percent higher than the overall graduation rate in the schools in which they operate. More than 80 percent go on to college, and 52 percent complete their degrees in four years. Perhaps most striking, a long-term study of career academies by MDRC found that students who attended career academies earned 11 percent more per year those who did not attend. Then, of course, there is the Cristo Rey Network. The Cristo Rey model was created by Murray and Company founder Richard Murray. The network started with a single school in the Pilsen community of Chicago, a Hispanic neighborhood of working-class families with very limited options for giving their children the kind of education that families in other neighborhoods too often take for granted. Murray literally walked the streets of the Pilsen neighborhood, asking the residents what they and their families needed most. A college-prep high school was their response. Murray then created an audacious plan – to implement an innovative business model where students work five days each month in an entry-level job at a professional company, with the salary for their work being directed to underwrite tuition costs. No school like this had even been attempted. Murray saw a need and believed this unconventional approach to education was their best shot at responding to the need. He was right. The Cristo Rey Network now consists of 24 schools (with at least 5 others in development), in 17 states with over 6,500 students nationwide. 95% of the students are of color. Many come from families that live at or below the poverty line. But 100% of Cristo Rey students are accepted to a two or four year college or university. What does this data prove? Simply this: Workplace learning works. This is not “vocational” education as we knew it. This is not something “for other people’s kids.” The problems in education are deep, widespread and systemic. They cut across socio-economic, ethnic and cultural lines. Contrary to popular belief, not all dropouts are from low-income families, nor do all attend so-called “dropout factories.” In fact, many are middle-achievers from middle-income families. Many purportedly “successful” high schools point to their graduation rates. Fair enough. But how many of those graduates complete college on time? And of that, how many are prepared to contribute and compete in the workforce after college graduation? The numbers suggest precious few. So if we are serious about designing a strategy to radically increase the proportion of young people who are both career and college ready, we must do more than simply analyze root causes of the problem but search for models of success. The high school internship has proven to be one such model.
Benefits of the High School Internship Benefit to students. By integrating workplace learning into college preparatory curriculum, internship programs aim to increase student engagement and promote skills and knowledge needed for achieving life, career, and civic goals. Progressive educators have long argued that students learn best by confronting problems that arise while doing things they find meaningful, and mainstream education groups are now adopting positions that reflect this perspective. The National Association of Secondary School Principals recommends taking advantage of learning opportunities outside the high school building, providing real-life applications that help students see connections between their education and their future, and engaging students in ways that foster critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. In this regard, internships augment and broaden the ideal of academic “rigor.” Rather than packing an extra advanced placement course into students' senior year, internships encourage deep immersion in a subject over time, with learners using sophisticated texts, tools, and language in real-world settings and often working with expert practitioners who serve as mentors. Other benefits to students include:
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Students increase their career preparedness and knowledge of the habits (skills and competencies) of compensated work. Ultimately, students understand their own interests and abilities as they relate to the world of work;
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Students increase their skills to respond to the demands of the 21st century workforce and economy. This includes navigating learning, life, and information technology; understanding content knowledge and current topics; organizing and allocating resources; and working effectively with others;
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Students build an understanding of themselves as lifelong learners and apply this to their future schooling and careers;
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Students understand the relationship between work, personal income and lifelong earning: compensated internships reinforce the relevance of work in life;
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Students strengthen and improve their academic success, with behaviors such as enhanced motivation, attendance, and engagement in learning;
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Students understand the importance of, and strive to build and maintain, relationships with people different from themselves;
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Students increase their sense of civic engagement and responsibility. They understand how work addresses a community or public purpose in addition to the commercial and profit-seeking aspects;
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Students build self-confidence and maturity by working with adults in a business environment;
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Students improve their oral and written communications skills.
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Students often include their families in the learning experience. Internships help build pride among family members because of the student’s involvement in new professional opportunities, leading to higher expectations for lifelong achievement. The internship, in that regard, often becomes a collective learning experience.
Benefit to schools. Schools benefit by forging economic partnerships with local businesses and community leaders. The value of these partnerships cannot be overstated. At a time when school budgets are strained and tax revenues are shrinking, partnerships between the business community and schools funnel much-needed revenue into K-12 education. New programs, capital improvements, teacher salaries, extra-curricular activities, even operating budgets, can be sustained or augmented by an influx of cash from the private sector. Schools that offer internships also enjoy a competitive advantage over schools that do not. In the aftermath of the so-called “Great Recession,” parents and students are increasingly concerned with college readiness and career readiness. Schools that combine the rigor of a college prep curriculum with experiential, hands-on workplace learning offer a broader pathway to economic emancipation and appeal to a broader array of students. One of the unique challenges faced by schools today is to find effective pathways to reach a generation of “fast twitch” students; many of whom are distracted, bored or unmotivated by classroom-based instruction. Internships provide students with a productive outlet to move, to multi-task and to interact with the world outside of the walls of the school. Benefits for Employers. Employers are the key partners in high school internships. They open the world of work to students to teach them the content, skills and attitudes needed to succeed in a work environment. However, benefits do not just flow from the business community. Numerous benefits flow to the business community as well. These benefits include:
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Employers receive productive work that furthers the mission and goals of their organizations;
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Employers are involved in defining the skills that are needed to succeed in a high school internship experience;
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Employers benefit from positive public relations and workforce impact generated by their connection with and support of youth in communities. As a result, they are able to better attract and retain employees;
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Employers’ staff members are energized by new ideas and connections with youth that anchor their organizations to their communities, resulting in higher morale and productivity among existing workers;
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Employers receive a return on investment through the following: – Lower recruiting costs – Lower new employee training costs – Increased retention (lower employee turnover)
– Increased opportunities for networking and developing new customers, clients and markets
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Employers increase their ability to implement their social responsibility pledges, community investment goals or strategic philanthropic endeavors—particularly in the area of direct community involvement of employees.
THE ROAD AHEAD...
Wholesale change in education will require a significant cultural change. In will require the ability and willingness to shake off the shackles of time and tradition and to embrace a new view of what a college preparatory education is, what it looks like and what it entails. Workplace learning is no longer for “other kids� while college prep means classroom work and AP classes. But if recent history has taught us nothing else, we have a remarkable ability to change. Over the last decade, new technologies have spawned whole new career fields, and as those fields have remade our culture and our economy. We have adapted. Now our schools must adapt as well to the present day reality of life in the 21st century. What does education mean? What should it do? We does it mean to be both college and career ready? These are the fundamental questions. And how we answer those questions will shape our future as a nation. There are no simple answers. But the data before us suggests that expanding the opportunity for experiential, workplace learning, and merging this learning with a rigorous standards-based academic curriculum, provides a far better pathway for improved educational results. Everyone benefits. Students benefit because internships expose students to meaningful learning experiences that show them the relevance of what they are learning in high school, teach them at least a bit about what it means to have a job, and help in their development of an educational and career plan for the future. Schools benefit by creating strategic partnerships with the private sector and making the business community full partners in the educational process. Employers benefit because they have access to a pipeline of employees that have already proven themselves on the job and who are better trained. That is a recipe for economic recovery and prosperity. That, as much if not more than our many other efforts at reform, has the potential to help America realize its true promise in the 21st century.
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