These changes point to an increased demand for mental ability in the workplace. To respond to employment instability and growing demands for performance at work, educational systems must now prepare students not only for their first full-time jobs, but also for continued learning and career transitions throughout their working lives.
Prominent among ideas for improving the school-to-work system are the integration of academic and occupational curricula, the linking of school with a structured work experience, and the creation of formal connections between secondary and postsecondary education. Each of these represents a formidable challenge.
There is some disagreement about whether school-to-work programs should link high school to four-year colleges, or only to two-year postsecondary institutions. Given the greater earnings of four-year college graduates, school-to-work programs risk being regarded as second-best unless they keep the four-year college option open.
There are two main types of school-to-work programs. School-and-work arrangements allow students to work and attend school during the same time period. Apprenticeship and cooperative education are examples. School-for-work programs provide instruction with the express purpose of preparing students for work. Traditional and newer forms of vocational education are the main examples in this second category. Each program type is described below in greater detail.
School-and-work programs that exist in many high schools and secondary vocational centers include cooperative education, new youth apprenticeships, and school-based enterprises.
Cooperative education (co-op) has been practiced in the U.S. for more than 70 years. It involves students in paid work that is related to their field of study. Most high school co-op students are studying traditional vocational fields. For example, a student in office occupations may spend three hours each day working as a secretary.
Evaluations have indicated that co-op is successful in creating a stronger connection between school and work in students' minds, and in improving attitudes toward both school and work. However, co-op students have not generally been found to obtain higher earnings after leaving high school, compared to non-co-op graduates, unless they continue working for their co-op employer.
One possible reason for this may be that co-op does not usually provide any certification that is widely recognized by employers. Therefore, co-op graduates who are not offered permanent jobs by their co-op employers may not obtain much advantage in the labor market from their co-op experience. If this explanation is correct, the creation of skill standards and certificates for specific occupations and industries would help co-op graduates (in addition to graduates of other work-related programs) to convert their experience into higher earnings.
High schools are now becoming involved in new youth apprenticeship initiatives. Like co-op, these link high school with a structured work experience. Moreover, after students complete high school, the youth apprenticeship programs continue at the postsecondary level. A major advantage of these programs over co-op is that, in most cases, graduates receive certification in their field of study by professional and industry organizations. No evidence is yet available on the effects of these initiatives, although the first evaluations will soon be forthcoming.
More widespread than youth apprenticeship is school-based enterprise. In this kind of program, students produce goods or services for sale or use to people other than themselves. Frequent activities of high school enterprise include house building, school stores, restaurants, child care, and car repair. Working in a school-based enterprise may provide some of the same benefits for students as working in a non-school enterprise. Also, it may be more conducive to learning, since school-based enterprises exist for educational purposes. However, so far there has been little systematic evaluation of these programs.
Many high school students also are employed in jobs that are not supervised by the school. In fact, such students vastly outnumber those involved in school- supervised or school-based work experience.
According to research studies, students who work during high school obtain higher earnings the first few years after leaving high school than their nonworking classmates. In addition, students who work only a moderate number of hours per week have been found to perform better in school than those who do not work at all. However, studies have also shown that students who work long hours tend to perform worse while in high school and to obtain less postsecondary schooling. Whether this reflects a harmful effect of working, or simply that students who are more interested in work are less interested in school, has not yet been determined by the research.
One implication here for program designers is the importance of structuring programs with an optimal amount of work experience. Further, an important question, as yet unanswered, is whether providing some school supervision for jobs that are not now supervised by the school would improve the academic performance of students in these jobs.
The programs described so far have been examples of work-based learning. However, not all vocational education has a work-based component. Researchers have measured how the course of study relates to later success in the work force. One clear finding is that the payoff is greater when vocational graduates find work related to their field of training. At the two-year college level, studies have found that women who obtain associate degrees in vocational subjects earn significantly more than individuals with high school diplomas only. There is also evidence that men with associate degrees in math and science earn more than those with degrees in conventional vocational fields.
With the intent of improving instruction at both the high school and community college level, vocational education is changing to support the integration of academic and vocational curriculum. This change has been prompted, in part, by the 1990 Carl Perkins Act that authorizes funds for new approaches to vocational education programs. These approaches are well underway in some schools, and researchers have found some positive effects on students' school performance and retention when vocational and academic curriculum have been integrated. This is particularly true for some career academies and magnet high schools.
While in the past many programs have existed at either the high school or college level, an increasing number of programs are designed to strengthen the connection between these two stages of education. These are known as tech prep programs and have been stimulated by federal funding. The programs are diverse, and include such fields as health, metal working, and business services. In all cases, the emphasis is on the development of technical skills that are immediately applicable to the workplace. In some tech prep programs, students can continue their learning in academic fields and transfer to four-year institutions. Most of these programs are relatively new, and many are undergoing evaluation at this time.
Despite numerous studies, research on school-to-work programs remains limited in several respects. Most programs are complex, and when a program is found to have positive effects it is usually impossible to know exactly which element or elements are responsible. Also, there is no evidence yet on the effect of a comprehensive state or locally based school-to-work system. Testing alternative systems in different areas would be a useful undertaking over the coming years as the School-to-Work Opportunities Act is implemented.
A strategic question is whether to design school-to-work programs only for students who are not expected to attend college, or also to include students who may go on to four-year college or university. Keeping open the four-year college option avoids stigmatizing students and limiting their future career prospects. On the other hand, it adds to the complexity of designing programs that combine school and work. Though design and implementation are difficult, new school-to-work systems can help young people find their first full-time jobs while at the same time acquiring a capacity for learning as they work. This latter skill will help them throughout their working lives.
David Stern, Director, NCRVE
Neal Finkelstein, Assistant Director, Policy Analysis for California
Education (PACE)
(This article, originally published in the Educator magazine [Vol. 8, No. 2], is based on the book "School to Work: Research on Programs in the U.S." (Falmer Press 1995). An earlier and slightly different version of this book was published by NCRVE in the summer of 1994 under the title, "Research on School-to-Work Transition Programs in the United States", by D. Stern, N. Finkelstein, J. R. Stone, J. Latting, and C. Dornsife. To order the NCRVE version, call (800) 637-7652 and ask for MDS-771. To order the Falmer Press book, call (215) 785-5800. For more information about NCRVE's school-to-work research, call (800)(old phone deleted).)