Overcoming Obstacles to CTE in Alt Ed

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO CTE IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION

THE “ REVOLVING DOOR ” OF STUDENTS: Enrollments at Unpredictable Intervals Cont.

B. Align your pathways with offerings at home schools or other Alt Ed sites students are likely to move between. As of this publication, CDE states it will “ work with the CCI Work Group and the Alternative Schools Task Force to determine how to incorporate these measures into the CCI for the 2020 DASS dashboard. ” Previous DASS CCI modification proposals included counting all CTE courses students had taken at any sites, grades 9 - 12, towards the 300 hour requirement. (See DASS FAQs) As the ultimate CCI modification decisions for DASS are undetermined, a best practice is to offer pathways that are also offered at home schools or other Alt Ed sites. For example, if courses within Patient Care Pathways are offered at a district ’ s Continuation High School, Comprehensive High School and Community School, the chances for students who move between those sites completing the pathway is better than if they toggle between different industry sectors as their enrollment shifts.

Obstacle #3: Student engagement

STUDENT (DIS)ENGAGEMENT: Relevancy & CTE

An unfortunate correlation : Data shows that the longer students are enrolled in school, the less engaged they become – so why is this? Harvard suggests that engagement is inherently linked to relevancy, and relevancy is linked to student perceptions about careers. Having established the need for CTE, it ’ s also important to examine instructional delivery and determine what approaches are most likely to improve engagement.

Self - reported engagement drops to 44% by 12th grade

“ So many young people fall by the wayside because they can ’ t see a clear connection between their program of study and tangible opportunities in the labor market ” - Harvard Graduate School of Education, Pathways to Prosperity Report

The National Dropout Prevention Center recommends Active Learning, stating: “ At - risk students often struggle to learn in a traditional classroom. Classrooms where learning activities are varied give these students the opportunity to excel. Students become involved in their learning rather than disinterested. Involved learners enjoy school and become lifelong learners. Numerous research studies have shown the value of active learning, particularly in improving the achievement level of the lowest - performing students and minorities. ” (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1992; Kagan, 1994; Slavin, 1983)