METHODOLOGY

Problem

The purpose of this study is to examine what happened to vocational education reforms within the context of these traditional high schools already involved in essential school change initiatives. The focus of this examination is bounded by the parameters of the two change initiatives within each of the individual schools. Each school followed a different path, had different numbers of individuals actively involved, had different priorities, faced different contingencies, and focused on different means of implementation. While there are vast differences between the schools, there is also a bounding commonality in that each presents a compelling portrait of a traditional, comprehensive high school attempting substantive change.

An examination of what happened to both reforms in these schools is investigated in two ways. First, single case studies of each school are presented. Included in these is the story of the schools' reform efforts, including an overall chronology of the change efforts engaged in as well as influential/significant events that influenced the course of change. Conclusions are then drawn about (1) what happened to vocational education reforms within the context of the traditional, comprehensive high schools engaged in essential school change and (2) the interactions and/or relationships (or lack thereof) that occurred between the essential school restructuring reforms and the vocational education initiatives in each school. Then a second cross-case analysis is made to identify themes that emerged from the data about factors that affected the course and outcome of the two reform initiatives. Finally, implications for policymakers are drawn.

Site Selection

The site selection was necessarily purposeful and based on a number of qualifying criteria. First, the schools selected had been involved with both the essential school and vocational education reforms for five years. At least as far as the essential school initiative is concerned, the schools are doing about as well with the reform as any of the other traditional, comprehensive high schools involved in Illinois. Employing this criterion of evidence of sustained efforts with both initiatives permitted the focus of the investigation to concentrate more directly on relatively mature relationships rather than being diverted by what might be early implementation issues. At least some consequences of actions taken, the development or lack thereof of relationships, and the interplay between two major, national secondary school reform movements should be evidenced within this time period.

The second criterion concerned the selection of traditional, comprehensive high schools. In spite of nearly two decades of intense scrutiny and criticism, the clearly dominant pattern for American secondary education institutions remains the traditional, comprehensive high school. Added to this, of all educational institutions, the traditional, comprehensive high school has proven to be the most impervious to substantive change efforts (Newmann, 1992; Prestine, 1994b). Thus, if any reform sets its sights on bringing substantive change to secondary education, it must consider, weigh, and devise means to deal with the consequences of this sturdy and ubiquitous design.

A third criterion concerned school organization and community/geographic characteristics. Two senior high schools were selected for this study. Although both of the schools are located in Illinois, every effort was made to select schools with as diverse organizational and geographic characteristics as possible. Thus, one high school is small, with less than 300 students, and located in a rural area. The second high school is located in a suburban area and enrolls over 2,800 students divided between two campuses, one housing grades 9-10 and the other, 11-12. Both of these schools are identified only by pseudonyms and the respondents by position.

Data Collection

Investigation of the possible linkages between the two change initiatives in these schools was based on data gathered in part from an intensive, longitudinal study of essential school change in Illinois. Data gathering for the larger study has been ongoing since 1989. More intensive data collection for the purposes of this study was initiated in spring 1995.

Intensive, open-ended interviews and follow-up focused interviews at each site were a primary means of data collection. Over the nearly two years of this study, the number of intensive interviews varied somewhat by site. At the rural school, 12 individual respondents were interviewed out of a total of approximately 35 teachers, staff members, and administrators. At the suburban high school, a total of 34 individual respondents were interviewed out of a total of approximately 160 teachers, staff members, and administrators. (Total staff numbers varied somewhat by year at each school.) These key respondents included building principals, assistant principals, teacher union leaders, teacher coordinators for the Alliance, Tech Prep coordinators, and vocational education and core academic classroom teachers. No attempt was made to interview a representative sample of staff at either school. Rather, the primary criterion used for respondent identification was involvement with and knowledge of either the essential school or Tech Prep reforms.

Voluminous forms of documentary and archival evidence (especially as related to essential school efforts) were also available and examined. Agendas and summaries from essential school and Tech Prep team meetings and general faculty meetings; relevant school board minutes; Coalition and Alliance communications and correspondence; brochures; pamphlets; or other publications highlighting either initiative, local newspaper accounts, and individual school end-of-year site reports, plans, and grant applications to the Alliance were collected.

Data Analysis

Overall, a qualitative, thematic strategy of data analysis was employed to organize the data, to make judgments about the meaning and importance of the lines of inquiry, and to allow the focus of inquiry to be first at a single-case, then a cross-case perspective (Merriam, 1988; Rist, 1982). Preliminary data analysis was first completed at the individual school level. In essence, two single case studies emerged from this process and are reported as such. Data was then aggregated across both schools in searching for commonalties and shared themes. This approach allowed important themes and categories significant to the issue of programmatic linkages to emerge from the data across the two cases according to grounded theory precepts (LeCompte & Goetz, 1982; Miles & Huberman, 1984). Through triangulation of data, potential problems of construct validity addressed as multiple sources of evidence essentially provide multiple measures of the same phenomenon (Rist, 1982).

Two Caveats

The reader will doubtlessly notice that the major emphasis in this report is on essential school restructuring efforts. Thus, the role of the vocational education reforms is largely viewed within the Coalition change context in the schools. This in no way is intended to devalue or question the significance of the vocational education reform initiatives. Rather, this approach is a consequence of several factors. First, both schools identified themselves much more directly with the Coalition reform effort than they did with the vocational education reforms. This may have been because the Coalition reforms simply hit the schools first. Nevertheless, this importance for both schools was clearly evidenced by the incorporation of Coalition/Alliance logos onto school letterheads, press release materials, and even over the front door of one of the buildings.

This emphasis is also simply a reflection of the researcher's previous orientation. In point of fact, this researcher has been involved since 1989 with looking at essential school restructuring in Alliance schools. Thus, much of the database is centered on and relates to the essential school restructuring efforts of the schools. The fact that over this period of time any connection to or examination of vocational education issues or reforms have been minor and in passing is, in itself, a most telling fact.

A second factor must be noted as well. In both of the schools, references to vocational education or voc tech are only rarely used. One respondent summed it up well: "Voc tech is not a word you will hear at this school. We do talk about Tech Prep but voc tech does not exist here." With near unanimity (and, perhaps, not a great deal of insight), respondents at both schools used the term, "Tech Prep," in lieu of references to "vocational education" and/or the newer reform initiatives focusing on career development, computer technology, and school-to-work activities. This overlap, at times, leads to some confusion as to exactly what is being referred to as "Tech Prep." Respondents, other than the Tech Prep coordinators themselves or those directly connected to the vocational area, had only the vaguest ideas of what Tech Prep constituted, let alone the distinction between vocational education, Tech Prep, and school-to-work. This confusion extended from (and was nearly unanimous among) everyone, including building principals and curriculum directors. Thus, the lack of clarity in the uses of the terms "voc ed" and "Tech Prep" displayed in the following cases is merely an accurate reflection of the data collected. Usage of these terms appeared not only to shift from individual to individual but often within conversations with the same individual. While every effort was made by the researcher to clarify the use of the terms with the respondents, this was not possible in all cases and often caused more confusion for the respondent. Again, the salient point is that the confusion in terminology evidenced below is reflective of the respondents' foggy understandings and is true to the data gathered. To alter their words or their understandings would be unacceptable as well as unethical. In most of the direct quotations that follow, "Tech Prep" is used as an inclusive term, referring to what is traditionally considered the vocational education area as well as the newer vocational education reforms unless noted otherwise or clarified by context of the statement.