Career + Technical Education in SPS

This is a long overdue thread but one that deserves two threads.  This first one is about what SPS is doing and their great director, Shep Siegel.  The other one will be about national CTE and new efforts to revive.

Vocational ed?  Do we all remember this from high school?  The shop teacher with the missing fingers?  The guys who took auto shop to learn to rev up their cars?  We have come a long way and luckily Dr. Siegel is creating the SPS program to have more current programing AND appeal to a wider number of students.

And why?

We all know that students should graduate ready for college or career (as well as ready to be citizens of this country).  What is the reality?  A high drop-out rate, kids who either don't want to go to college or may not be able to afford it and fewer job options for students with just a high school diploma.

Career and Technical Education gives kids options.  Gives them a reason to stay in school.  Gives them the hands-on training that many kids crave, not only in academic subjects but in training that they can see as a job/career.   It helps them to see the relevance for them in math and sciences as well as reading and writing. 

From Dr. Siegel:

Two arguments dominate the landscape: CTE as alternative learning and dropout prevention and CTE as the key to economic revival.  


The myth that any kind of technical training focus at the secondary level repudiates educating citizens for active participation in a democracy, or that it 'dumbs down' literacy and numeracy skills has been disproved for decades by the success of European economies and nations who provide serious technical training to a populace more politically aware, more historically conscious and more democratically active than Americans.  (I note Brian Rosenthall's tweet of today that 81% of French citizens participated in today's Presidential election; US - 57%.)

In other words, our responsibility is to do more than deliver on the career-related skills and standards found in our curriculum.  We must also ensure that graduates of our programs are finding adult success.  That is the only real accountability measure that matters.  

Career Academies.
What already exists are the Academies of Finances, Hospitality and Tourism and Information Technology, Ballard Maritime, Biotech, John Stanford Public Service Academy and CREATE Academy.  

The program that Mr. Siegel (a guy on fire about this subject) has set out will be the roll-out of four new skills centers at four high schools.

Cisco/Microsoft IT Academy at Rainier Beach.  The courses will earn industry certification for Cisco and MTA pathways.

Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) at Seattle Center ( for Digital Animation and Game Programming).    Courses taught in a professional production studio.


Health Sciences at West Seattle High.  The fastest growing section of the economy and this program has job shadows, "externships" and hands on practice.  There will also be opportunities to experience pharmacy and veterinary work.


Aerospace Science TBD  A natural for our area.  Designing, building and maintaining aircraft and their components.

There had been thought to one centralized Skill Center.  Dr. Goodloe-Johnson had been advocating this idea and pushing for money from the Legislature to go forward.  The money didn't materialize and the decision was made to distribute them throughout the city.

CTE webpage:

These Skills Centers are accessible to students from ANY SPS high school (but they can't provide transportation).

Future ideas for more CTE: green energy - engineering and marketing; Sustainable Construction; Business and Entrepreneurship; Criminal Justice and Public Safety; Culinary Arts and more.

From the webpage:

Cross-crediting is where a Career and Technical Education course provides high school students with core credit towards graduation and college and university admissions.  It blends academic and career & technical studies.  This is an alternative way for students to meet graduation requirements, and supports pursuit of preparatory Career and Technical Education course sequences.  These courses support Washington State’s Essential Academic Learning Requirements. As examples, teachers have designed integrated projects combining physics and electronics; geometry and auto mechanics; English and marketing; algebra and drafting; physics and agricultural science; and medical terminology and Spanish.

Transition services are services above and beyond conventional high school classes that provide extra support for students who need assistance in preparing for college, in obtaining and sustaining employment, in independent living skills, and in other areas necessary to independent and successful adult life.  These services are mandated for students with disabilities, but there are many more students who need and will benefit from them.

One thing to consider about all these career paths - it is not just about learning about one job within one industry.  From my own personal experience with an aging parent, I have learned there are jobs, jobs, jobs in the geriatric field.  It's not just healthcare but health care management, social work, nutrition, law,  advocacy and on and on.

There are multiple jobs, with transferable talents to other industries, within these tracks.  These academies may only be the start for some students who may stay in the field but not necessarily in the same area they thought they might go when they started out.

I really am hopeful and excited for these new ideas and energies for our SPS students. 

Comments

Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said…
"England's captains were limited by the nature of their society, which assumed that a gentlemanly landownership, unspoiled by manual or commercial work, was the highest and purest ideal of social life." Barbara W. Tuchman writing about one of the competitors to Holland in the 17th century, in the book The First Salute.

Here is 1 of the key roots of rot in our society - our schools, colleges and universities, our managements, our senior leaders.

Too few are promoted on true ability for the job, too many are too promoted for social reasons related to family & 'education' connections.

There is nothing wrong with studying ... the history of Celtic song in college, or, even majoring in it. HOWEVER, unless you're bumpington chas salstonstall XXVIIII, you got a better chance of incurring a mountain of debt and a starbucks job than a professor spot with that degree. In the 80's, I worked with hundreds of writers, painters, sculptors, photographers, English, history and philosophy majors ... all with the name "Hey Waiter". When mom or dad is some big whig 7 figure a year NYC exec who bought your condo in downtown Boston, while you park your pay up your nose ... who cares?

The post WW-II economy of white collar jobs at manual typewriters and triplicate forms is gone - and unless you're family has net disposable cash in the top quintile, you'd better be thinking of your education as a shot at getting some skills for a brutal job market.

GoShepGo
Anonymous said…
This seems like a good thing. Many technical skills actually pay quite well - the difference is that students pursuing technical/vocational skills just have to get really good at what they do. Most anybody can tinker on a car, but we only drive 10+ miles to our favorite mechanic when they are really good. Most anybody can use basic email or type up a letter in MS Word, but honestly a lot of people have little to no depth in their technical skills and yet wonder why they don't get/keep the good jobs.

The technical career option returning to Seattle is the appropriate option for many students who are not necessarily college-bound.

Bring Tech Back
Charlie Mas said…
One of Dr. Siegel's greatest influences is to re-define "college" as any post-secondary education - including four-year university, community college, apprenticeship, certification programs, vocational programs, or whatever else is out there. If it is education or training after high school, then it is "college".

According to salary.com, average annual salary for an entry-level welder is $36,000 and $47,000 for an experienced welder. And that's without any special area of expertise. Underwater welders can make six figures.

Don't show disrespect to the trades. Think of what you pay a plumber or electrician to come to your house and do work. They make that money due to the value of their skills. And that work will never be outsourced to India or China. Someone has to actually be here in this country to wire your addition.

There is a lot of appeal in this work. It is challenging and satisfying work that shows results.
Jet City mom said…
Actually to continue to move ahead in their blue collar field, many people are limited by not having a college degree.
The worst-hit trades have been plumbers, pipe fitters and electricians, with unemployment 50 percent or higher, Newgent said. Laborers and ironworkers have withstood the downturn somewhat better, he said.1

Try doing a very physical job when you are in your 40's or 50's, let alone your 60's.
You will be lucky if you last long enough to retire.
But hey, it sounds good to kids in high school & in their early 20s & that's what's important.
Anonymous said…
As much as I am a proponent of technical ed and trades—we do need plumbers, electricians, mechanics, etc., I have to agree that Emerald Kitty has a point. Physical trades can be very difficult in the early senior years. But more important to me is the need for everyone in this country to have a basic understanding of deeper issues. Knowledge of science, math (especially statistics and how they can be manipulated) and even philosophy are necessary for citizens of the US to effectively participate in democracy.

With high schools now concentrating on a narrow curriculum, I fear that students who go into a trade without any additional education of more esoteric subjects will never learn the critical thinking skills they will need to navigate the media barrage that accompanies elections.

SolvayGirl
Solvay, that's part of the genius of the "new" vocational ed - that it is integrated education. It is not tracked; these kids take their core classes (including AP and IB if they want) and go to the CTE skill center of their choice.
Jet City mom said…
I'd like to see students be able to take vo-tech classes at the community colleges like they can take college transfer classes.
I would also REALLY like to see some funds put back into offering summer school.
Summer school is how my daughter was able to finish at grade level in math & graduate with honors, despite starting high school almost two years behind ( because of curriculum, not because of failing any courses).

We need to offer summer courses.
Anonymous said…
I think it's a given that anyone needs an AA degree at a minimum by the time they're age 25. I don't see the need to pressure every HS student to be college ready, if that means ready for 4-year degrees straight out of high school. Working straight out of a high school, being the life long learners we need to be, could mean following a mostly voc-ed track in HS, where math, science, and writing skills ARE important.

Once you're been in your first job or two I think many young people are then more than ready to go further and finish a BS or BA and go on to grad studies, skies the limit. The only thing limiting them is the relevance they see today, and the funding. We can't raise another generation of young people buried by student debt for nothing.

Mr White

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