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CENTERWORK IN PRINT AND ONLINE

Gleanings--Research for Practitioners

by Damaris Moore

For the past several years, this column has presented selections from recent NCRVE reports on themes such as school-to-work, international studies, exemplary programs, assessment, work-based learning, and others. In this last 1998 "Reflections" issue of CenterWork we focus on reports of particular interest to practitioners. Although much NCRVE research has bearings on teachers and adminstrators' experience, the following reports stand out for their direct applications to the school and classroom.

From Designing Classrooms that Work: Teacher Training Guide by Kimberly Ramsey, Cathleen Stasz, Tor Ormseth, Rick Eden, and Jennifer Co (MDS-963)

(Designing Classrooms that Work guides teachers and trainers through a six-week "mini-sabbatical" on how to make the changes implied by reforms to integrate vocational and academic education and to improve the school-to-career transition.)

Almost universally, America's teachers have been trained to teach curricula that are school-based and subject-specific. But federal legislation and school reformers are urging that teachers develop and teach curricula that focus on "generic" skills, such as problem-solving and teamwork, integrate vocational and academic education, and emphasize "real world" applications, especially applications found in the workplace. Unfortunately, most teachers are being asked to change their practice without the requisite knowledge or the means for acquiring it. To make use of the workplace as context for learning, teachers need: (1) knowledge of work and work practice; (2) a new model for classroom design and instruction; and (3) the opportunity to learn and apply both.

The mini-sabbatical provides teachers with a unique opportunity to learn about today's workplace and draw meaningful connections between workplace and classroom. The goal of the mini-sabbatical is to enable teachers to acquire skill and behaviors that will: (1) increase their knowledge of work practice; (2) help them create a high-quality, integrated curriculum that incorporates both domain-specific (e.g., academic, technical) and generic (e.g., problem-solving, communication skills); (3) help them design classrooms that promote authentic learning; and (4) help them develop assessments that provide meaningful feedback to students and the teacher.

In order to accomplish this, teachers participating in the mini-sabbatical will:

From Learning How to Learn at Work: Lessons From Three High School Programs by C. Stasz, T. Kaganoff (MDS-916)

(Through case studies of three high school programs, this report describes the characteristics of teaching and learning in work-based learning, and identifies how the work context supports or hinders both.)

Overall, we conclude that most of what we learned in examining teaching and learning opportunities in these programs was quite positive. The longer-term, fairly intensive work-based learning experiences studied here provided opportunities for students to learn many work-related skills and attitudes. Students were generally satisfied with their work experience, although, on average, felt work was not very challenging. Although the programs varied with respect to opportunities for learning specific skills, the work-based learning experiences generally met each program's goals. However, the study does raise some questions and implications that we offer not as criticisms of the programs we studied, but as general lessons to consider when developing educationally valuable work-based learning opportunities for young people.

Make Sure Students Are Work Ready

. . . Students' attitudes and dispositions toward work are perhaps more important than technical skills, since the jobs they are given are not very demanding to learn and do not require specialized skills. In this environment, to be successful, students must be energetic, meticulous, and sociable. Students who are shy or slow in their work habits are less successful. . . .

Match Students to Social Context of Work

A corollary to preparing students for work is to carefully match students and worksites. Program coordinators spend a great deal of time getting to know employers so they can maximize employer satisfaction. A good experience with a student is often the best selling point for a program and the best way to keep employers involved. . . .

Maybe Smaller Is Just Better

These three different programs have one thing in common--all enroll a small number of students. . . . An important question, which we cannot examine but only raise here, is the extent to which the small size and focus of these programs contributes to any positive outcomes. It may be that while work-based learning or industry exploration provides a focus for the program's activities, the real power in the program, from the students' perspective, is being part of a small group that includes caring adults. The "treatment," per se, may not matter as much as the fact that there is one.

Must School and Work Be Connected for Work-Based Learning To Have Value?

This study corroborates other research on school-to-work programs in finding that school and work are often only loosely connected and that connections are difficult to establish. But the study also shows that students learn many valuable lessons and develop many skills even though connections between school and work are weak. . . .

Perhaps the effort to connect school and work is misplaced. Perhaps the real power of the work-based learning concept is pedagogical--authentic work experiences should give students opportunities to apply knowledge in useful contexts, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of both their abilities and the opportunities they can create for themselves through experience and/or education. By this criterion, all the programs arguably have value, whether they explicitly connect to school or not. By focusing on how learning happens, rather than where it happen--at school or at work--and how the two are connected, perhaps we can better determine what value work-based learning provides over other learning opportunities. In the end, learning is a personal, developmental transformation, so we must pay attention to whether or not that transformation occurs, as well as to the context that will make such a transformation possible. It is this context that educators and teachers, in and out of schools, have the most ability to shape.

from The Right Fit: A Practitioner's Guide for Choosing Among Alternative Assessments, by Mikala L. Rahn, Martha Naomi Alt, Brian M. Stecher, and Kristi M. Rossi (MDS-947)

(This practitioner's guide will help teachers, administrators, and district- or state-level educators make decisions about appropriate strategies for individual student assessment. The materials address various trade-offs to consider in reviewing current assessment strategies, revising them, and developing and phasing in new ones.)

Over the years, the nation has witnessed a wide range of proposals to change the structure and content of education and employment preparation programs. A major impetus for reform efforts has been recognizing that many high school graduates' knowledge and skills fall short of what is required in high-performance workplaces. Despite different approaches to reform, all sides agree on the need for trustworthy methods for assessing students' knowledge and skills to discern whether students are making progress towards desired outcomes.

This consensus leads to the question "Which methods for assessing students are most useful and appropriate for your goals?" This practitioner's guide is designed to help you find an answer that is meaningful in your particular context by taking you through these steps:

  1. Clearly identify the purpose of the assessment,
  2. Determine the knowledge and skills to be measured.
  3. Select assessment strategies that best measure that knowledge and those skills.
  4. Investigate the quality of the assessment to be implemented.
  5. Make sure your planned assessment is feasible to implement.
  6. Consider the trade-offs involved in these choices.

Because different assessment strategies provide different kinds of information, they are more effective for some purposes than others.

Examples:

One form of assessment is not necessarily better than another in every case. The choice depends on the purpose, the knowledge and skills that you want to assess, and quality and feasibility considerations.

Damaris Moore, a member of the Dissemination Program, handles NCRVE's public information initiatives.

NCRVE New Products

The following new reports are available from the NCRVE Materials Distribution Service. You may order these documents by phone (800) 637-7652, by e-mail, NCRVE-MDS@wiu.edu, or by sending your request and/or purchase order to: NCRVE Materials Distribution Service, Western Illinois University, Horrabin Hall 46, Macomb, IL 61455.

Executive summaries and/or full text of recent NCRVE publications are available electronically on NCRVE's various online services. If a document is available at our Web site, the online location is listed underneath the pricing information in this article. To connect to NCRVE's World Wide Web site, point your WWW browser to <http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/>. (Note: electronic addresses given are enclosed in <angle brackets> to set them off from the text. Do not include the brackets when typing the addresses on your computer.)

MONOGRAPHS

Lessons Learned: Five Years in the Urban Schools Network--E. Nielsen Andrew, C. Dornsife, M. Flack, M. Tsuzuki Hallinan, L. Jackson, M. Raby, M. H. Steadman

The Urban Schools Network is NCRVE's coalition of schools and institutions engaged in reform around the idea of school-to-work. This capstone report offers reflections on the project from NCRVE staff and consultants which synthesize lessons about school change applicable to all school reform efforts. It offers background, stories from the schools, and practical strategies on topics including work-based learning; career and guidance programs; alternative scheduling; professional development; and whole school change. Throughout the book, a wealth of examples from Network schools, recounting their challenges and successes, makes this report a rich and panoramic survey of work-related education reform in America today. The concluding chapter offers broad lessons about how schools change, useful both to those working from within schools, and to those in organizations helping from the outside.

MDS-1110, November 1998, $ 27.95

Separate Tables: Academic and Vocational Education Reforms in Traditional, Comprehensive High Schools--N.A. Prestine

Perhaps nowhere can the rift between academic and vocational secondary education be viewed in starker relief than in the reform movements associated with each. The case studies in this report focus on high schools engaged in more than one reform: the academically oriented Coalition of Essential Schools, and the more vocational Tech Prep approach. While there has been a good deal of research on essential school initiatives and changes in vocational education, what happens when these two movements are implemented in tandem has drawn little attention until now. This report found that high schools involved with both initiatives can turn into arenas for clashing ideologies and interests that end up emphasizing differences rather than looking for commonalities. As a result, and because of vocational education's secondary status in many traditional, comprehensive high schools, reforms like Tech Prep may take a back seat to more academic, college-oriented approaches.

MDS-1076, August 1998, $7.00

<http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/abstracts/MDS-1076/>

Resource Guide to Educational Standards--P. A. Holmes, M. L. Rahn

Standards for what all students should know and be able to do have become a hallmark of educational reform that spans knowledge of academic subject areas, general workforce preparation competencies, and more specific industry and occupational qualifications. Since the introduction of "systemic" reform--changes centered around standards and accountability--standards for students have been introduced by a wide range of organizations and all states except one. This document serves as a resource guide to the wide range of efforts currently underway to define the essential skills and competencies that Americans will need now and in the future. It lists and annotates numerous resources for industry and academic standards, standards for teachers, and others.

MDS-1205, October 1998, $ 3.25

<http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/abstracts/MDS-1205/>

The Standards-Setting Process in Accounting: Lessons for Education and Workplace Reform--D. Merritt, T. Bailey

Perceptions about the changing nature of work and changing skill requirements have led many to believe that the United States needs a better system of education and workforce preparation. Standards could play a central role in that system by emphasizing educational outcomes and by clarifying what young people need to know and be able to do to embark on a career. Merritt and Bailey examine the accounting profession's complex system of standards and assessments in order to draw lessons for other groups presently working on a national system of industry-based skill standards.

MDS-949, August 1998, $8.50

<http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/abstracts/MDS-949/>

The View from Higher Education: Public Universities Respond to Educational Reform--A. C. McCormick, M.N. Alt, S. Geis

Institutions of higher education are often portrayed as unsupportive of high school reform. This is the first study to objectively analyze evidence about how colleges and universities are responding to current reforms, principally through their admissions process. Through a wide-ranging survey of public universities, this report discusses realities of the admissions process, empirical data on universities' responses, and the development of policies geared towards changing admissions processes. The authors find that although many large universities are making sincere efforts to accomodate reform, these efforts are most often a minimal accomodation rather than innovation and adaptation. This study will interest policymakers, reformers in government, secondary and postsecondary education, and independent education policy groups.

MDS-913, September 1998, $ 5.50

REPRINTS AND WORKING PAPERS

Administrative Leadership for Workforce Education: What Research Says--C. Finch

Leadership has always been a most elusive concept. This article synthesizes many of NCRVE's research and development activities in the area of vocational administrators/ leaders. These activities, extending over 10 years, cover leadership concepts, leadership characteristics, assessment, development resources and services, and learning to lead through on-the-job experiences. Several implications for practice are drawn. Reprinted from Workforce Education Forum, Vol. 25, No. 1, Spring 1998.

MDS-1259, December 1998, $ 2.50

International Comparisons of School-to-Work Transition--C. Finch, M. Mulder, G. Attwell, F. Rauner, and J. Streumer

School-to-work transition presents difficulties in many countries. The authors demonstrate how comparative studies of the vocational education and training systems of different countries help to shed light on the nature and complexity of these difficulties. School-to-work systems in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States are described with particular attention to the level of formalization and internal variation. A cross-national comparison highlights differences between the four countries in terms of school-to-work policy and practice. Reprinted from EERA Bulletin , October 1997

MDS-1260, December 1998, $ 2.50

On-The-Job Experiences of Vocational Administrators that Develop Leadership Capabilities--C. R. Hopkins, J. J. Lambrecht, J. Moss, Jr., and C. R. Finch

Telephone interviews were conducted with 69 vocational administrator-leaders in 12 states to explore the perceived importance of on-the-job experiences as a means of leadership development. Information was gathered about (a) the types of on-the-job experiences in administrators' past that were perceived to be effective in their leadership development, (b) the aspects of those experiences that made them effective, (c) the leader qualities that were improved, and (d) recommendations for on-the-job experiences that would help prepare future leaders. Certain types of on-the-job experiences appear to be effective for developing selected leader qualities and should be used to help prepare future leaders. This article is closely related to Importance of On-The-Job Experiences in Developing Leadership Capabilitie s, MDS-814. Reprinted from Journal of Vocational Education Research, Vol. 23, No. 1, 1998.

MDS-1262, December 1998, $ 2.50

The Returns to Education in the Sub-Baccalaureate Labor Market, 1984-1990--W. Norton Grubb

While the sub-baccalaureate labor market is large and growing, there has been relatively little analysis of its effects on employment. This paper adds to our knowledge by analyzing the Survey of Income and Program Participation, for the years 1984, 1987, and 1990. The benefits of sub-baccalaureate credentials--associate degrees and credentials--are generally positive and statistically significant, contrary to the critics of two-year institutions. However, the benefits of completing some postsecondary education but failing to earn credentials are much lower, especially for women; there are substantial variations in returns among fields of study; and individuals who do not find employment related to their field of study also have lower returns. The implications are that better information should be provided to students so they can make rational choices, and state and federal policy should emphasize practices to improve completion rates and placement rates in both two- and four-year institutions. Reprinted from the Economics of Education Review , vol. 16, no. 3, 1997.

MDS-1235, 1998, $ 2.50

School-to-Work Transition for Youth With Disabilities: A Review of Outcomes and Practices--L. Allen Phelps and C. Hanley-Maxwell

These authors report two main findings about improving the school-to-work transition for youth with disabilities. First, the general expectations for educational achievement by youth, including those with disabilities, are changing markedly as we approach the 21st century. The resulting uncertainty regarding valued knowledge and competence creates new dilemmas for both defining and assessing student learning for youth with disabilities. Addressing these dilemmas is especially critical for these youth, who have not fared well in terms of postschool outcomes--employment, earnings, and further education. Second, the review of educational practices linked to positive learning outcomes for youth with disabilities aligns with two components of school-to-work: (a) integrating academic and vocational learning, and (b) providing expanded opportunities for work experience. These authors call for a collaborative search for teaching and learning experiences that will produce high-quality postschool outcomes for all youth with disabilities. Reprinted from Review of Educational Research, vol. 67, no. 2, 1997.

MDS-1237, 1998, $ 3.25

What Difference Does It Make If School and Work are Connected? Evidence on Co-operative Education in the United States--D. Stern, N. Finkelstein, M. Urquiola, and H. Cagampang

Recent policies have promoted work-based learning as part of the curriculum. Many students in the U.S. already work in part-time jobs, but spending a lot of hours per week in after-school jobs has been found to detract from students' performance in school. Co-operative education (co-op) ties work to school, usually as part of vocational education. A new longitudinal data set reveals that the negative association between hours worked and GPA is less strong for high school students in co-op than in non-school-supervised jobs. High school co-op also leads to higher wages soon after graduation, mainly because (1) co-op students are less likely to enroll in higher education and (2) recent graduates who are enrolled in higher education earn lower wages than those who work full time. Tying co-op to a curriculum that integrates academic and vocational education might produce better results. Reprinted from the Economics of Education Review, vol. 16, no. 3, 1997.

MDS-1236, 1998, $ 2.50

Work-Based Learning: Student Perspectives on Quality and Links to Schools--C. Stasz, D. J. Brewer

Programs that integrate work-based learning experiences with school activities are proliferating, yet very little is known about their quality as learning experiences for young people. This article examines two programs operating in the same school district, where students receive course credit for participating in work-based learning. In contrasting the kinds of learning opportunities each offers to students, two issues are highlighted: the quality of students' work experiences in these programs, and the relationship between program participation and school learning. Students perceive the quality of their work to be very similar across the programs despite differences in the type of work involved and in several structural features of the programs. Both programs have weaknesses in establishing connections between school and work, and the numbers of hours students work negatively affects some aspects of school performance, such as having time to do homework and the desire to stay in school. These findings raise questions about the value added of work-based learning, given costs associated with the program design and delivery and, in some cases, with participation.

MDS-1245, 1998, $ 2.50


New Products Online

by David Carlson

Full text of many recent NCRVE publications are available on the NCRVE website. You can search titles and abstracts at <http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/prodsearch.html>, or browse the available full-text items by title at <http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/fulltext.html>. New items are added regularly, so check back often, or subscribe to the ncrve-www-announce electronic mailing list (see below for details on how to join).

(Note: electronic addresses given here are enclosed in <angle brackets> to set them off from the text. Do not include the brackets when typing the addresses on your computer.)

Thirteen items went online in August-October:

Keep Up with the NCRVE Website

David Carlson managed electronic communications for NCRVE's Dissemination Program.

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