A review of interviewee responses concerning the benefits their middle school STW curriculum had provided to their students revealed the following seven categories of responses:
Many of the benefits related directly to reasons previously mentioned for having implemented the STW curriculum. In other words, students benefited in ways that educators had hoped they would. However, some of the other benefits mentioned such as, "improved student behaviors and attitudes" and "strengthened academic curriculum," were not specifically mentioned as reasons for having implemented the curriculum. These seven categories are not mutually exclusive and thus may have some overlapping characteristics.
Connected Classwork and the "Real World"
A majority of respondents indicated that the number one benefit derived from the STW curriculum consisted of opportunities for students to apply what was learned in the classroom to real life situations, settings, and problems. STW activities and experiences were viewed as beneficial because they were "realistic," "relevant," and "meaningful" to the students. This "connection" with reality was seen as not only between the classroom and the workplace, but between the classroom, the community, and students' future goals. One inner city school principal shared her overall view:
They [students] begin to see the connections between what they do, what they learn, what they produce, and what opportunities are available to them. The major issue would be that there's real life application; real-life application of values, real-life application of what do we think a good society ought to have, and how do we support that, and a real-life application for the various academic areas that one is studying.
A guidance counselor commented on how the students connected the requirements and expectations at school with those they will confront in the workplace:
I think it [the school-to-work curriculum] made coming to school, . . . relevant to them [the students]. They saw the reasons that attendance and punctuality and cleanliness and getting assignments done on time and being able to work with different individuals in the public do mean something. It makes it real. It brings it to life, and you see a real change in some of these people now.
One seventh-grade teacher explained how students recognized that the structure within a school genuinely reflected the existing societal structure:
My number one thing that it has contributed to, I go back to realistic application of concepts and strategies and skills learned in school. Relating them to a definite outside connection, outside of the school setting, showing them that there are already infrastructures that are working like this. You can see these things operating and create your own little microcosm right here at your school and be able to compare it with what's already out there in the workforce and world.
One school system had hired independent evaluators to assess the benefits of their curriculum. An eighth-grade teacher within that system described how the assessment results indicated that students had "connected" certain levels of academic preparation with future educational and occupational goals:
The surveys that they [independent evaluators] have taken say that our kids are very much aware that there is a lot more needed to go to school. They are more aware of different occupations. They are more aware of the things that are involved in getting to a career, things like that, you know, colleges, postsecondary education or some type of training. So, they're really aware of the world, the career-world outside . . . much more so I think than a lot of other middle schoolers around us would be. They are definitely aware of it.
Enhanced Student Personal Development
Interviewees revealed that one of the major benefits of implementing a STW curriculum for middle schoolers is that it appealed to the students at their developmental level. This curriculum had more "personal meaning" for the students. One inner city school principal elaborated on this point, "It empowers them, and what we know is that children at this age need to feel that their voices are heard. It also addresses the issues that are germane to a young adolescent." This opinion was echoed by a rural site administrator:
I think junior high students are particularly . . . looking to try and make sense of what it is they're studying and of their world and their place in the world. They are really eager to connect with the real world and some of the issues that are going on in the world and the stories that are happening in the world. So curriculum projects, project-based learning, hands-on learning, service learning, learning connected to the community in some way are really important to them.
Several respondents indicated that the STW curriculum helped the students to build meaningful relationships with adults and peers. Students were also viewed as having improved in their ability to work as members of teams. A science and technology academy administrator explained how her students have come to understand teamwork:
They [students] understand the whole issue of team work in a very different way, because for the society to function, you need people with different areas of strength, with different expertise, and you have people with different levels of commitment. They come to terms with how to work in the society and make it a successful society.
A seventh-grade math teacher echoed this response:
The kids get a real sense for people, that sometimes people are lazy bums and they don't do their share in the groups. They have to deal with their frustration and decide how to deal with somebody like that.
A career counselor suggested that the nontraditional aspects of the curriculum helped to nurture the student-teacher relationship and that both sets of individuals ultimately benefited:
It's helped nurture that [relationship] and bring it along, down to a more human level, almost a family focus type level where the teachers are beginning to get real concerned with the student's career outcome. I think it's just another contact with an adult that the middle school student has that helps them with their ability to work with adults.
According to another guidance counselor, group dynamics were improved. He said, "The kids, especially middle schoolers, developed that bonding with one another and with positive adult role models."
Many respondents also indicated that students benefited in the area of individual growth and self-understanding. Personal growth was witnessed by educators in the increase of student pride, poise, sophistication, patience, self-esteem, confidence, and the motivation and responsibility to learn. Students were able to "reflect on and think critically about their experiences" and "recognize the intrinsic value of education and of success and the work ethic." The students' ability to "learn for the sake of learning, for the sake of having fun" was seen as a major benefit.
Improved Student Behaviors and Attitudes
Frequent references were made to the STW curriculum's direct and positive effect on student behavior. Interviewees had witnessed an increase in active learning behaviors such as, asking questions, participating in discussions, task engagement, and attendance. A few schools specifically stated that they had seen a "steady rise" in standardized test scores for those students involved in the STW curriculum. Improved behavior and attitude adjustment were also evident to educators because of the decrease in truancy, delinquency and discipline referrals, social service interventions, arrests, insolence toward adults, and general "acting out." One dean of students explained her reasoning behind the positive changes in student behavior at her school:
I think overall the gains we've made here are a reflection of our emphasis on school-to-work. I think all of that improvement is a reflection of the way that school-to-work is infused in almost every aspect of our school life.
Positive behavior and attitude changes were also witnessed by school personnel outside the classroom. For example, a community education director commented,
One of the things that I keep hearing throughout our school, from our cooks to our janitors to our teachers, is that students aren't acting out as much. They're more respectful. There are still problems in that area but people have observed a different kind of environment.
A guidance counselor shared similar information:
I did see some of the kids who are behavior problems turning around a bit because of this curriculum. That's what I saw. They weren't coming to my office so much because of behavior problems; they were coming and telling me the things they were doing on the worksite and on field trips. It was a positive thing instead of getting a negative thing out of them.
Strengthened Business and Community Linkages
Interviewees indicated businesses and industries that had invested time, personnel, and funds in the career component of the STW curriculum were beginning to re-evaluate their initial apprehensions about the program and middle school students. A careers counselor responsible for recruiting businesses to participate in a STW internship program explained the "change of heart":
A lot of the business people were "What can you do for me" when I was trying to recruit, but then at the end of the internship program, it was like "When can I have another one." It's like, not all of them, but most of them, they got an intrinsic reward, and they're not used to that.
Interviewees also noted that over time, businesses, industries, and community agencies offered more extensive and varied firsthand worksite experiences for both the teachers and the students. In addition, businesses provided more reliable and more involved adult worker role models and mentors for the students. Participating businesses were also eager to recruit new businesses into the STW program.
The STW curriculum was viewed by many respondents as a benefit because it provided a way for parents, teachers, and community members to "talk the same vision and goals." The curriculum was seen as a way to bring the community into the schools and the schools into the community. A few interviewees used the popular adage "it takes a community to raise a child" as their STW motto. One rural site administrator extended this idea to include the building of a participatory culture:
I think there's a cultural change here, the way we think about our community. I think there's this idea of community building within the school and being active players in a kind of community building process. I think that's really the heart of how our teachers and a growing number of parents and students are starting to think about school and our community. I think that's an indicator that people are telling us there's something that's working there. I don't think it's just the curriculum, you know; it's the culture that's kind of emerging.
Strengthened Existing Academic Curriculum
One of the benefits commonly expressed by the interviewees was how the STW curriculum focus had strengthened the academic curriculum currently in place in the schools. The STW focus was said to incorporate traditional educational experiences and values with innovative techniques and methods. One academy principal referred to the curriculum as a superior way of "integrating theory, practice, and hands-on activities." Interviewees indicated that the STW focus benefited students by "tying our current curriculum to something that's important to students" and because "it's a curriculum that makes sense to the kids." Teachers from several schools commented that students were drawn to this STW curriculum focus because of its "realistic," "different," "more involved," and "experiential" approach to learning. A site administrator explained how the STW focus benefited middle-level students by stimulating and maintaining their interest:
Well, the kids are doing stuff they're interested in. The kids, it's really neat, the kids sort of catch on fire. If the kids are interested in some things, they're going to put more energy, time, and effort into learning it and into doing it right. With an integrated curriculum, the kids are seeing the connections, they're seeing how math applies to real life. They're seeing how language relates to social studies and how that will be important in their real life.
Another district administrator echoed this sentiment:
One of the big complaints students have, especially in junior high, is that it's so boring. Many times they're right, you know. I feel here are teachers, a curriculum, projects that they can relate to. I think the connections to the field trips, the job shadowing, the kinds of curriculum that teachers are developing are getting better and better.
Other interviewees recognized the STW curriculum as having benefited students by providing an increased depth and breadth of information and experience, when compared to the traditional curriculum. An independent evaluator explained how middle schoolers in one school system benefited:
It's not just go on a field trip and get out of the classroom. Because they're doing units and it's interwoven through the other content areas, I think they're getting a deeper understanding of what they're supposed to be experiencing.
An eighth-grade teacher described how the STW curriculum allowed students to explore future alternatives on a firsthand basis, an opportunity not offered in a traditional middle school setting:
[We] could have talked about it, but they wouldn't have had the experience that they had this year. I could have told them how it would be in the job market, how it would be if they went to college, but they actually had the experiences themselves and now can decide for themselves.
The STW curriculum was also seen to change classroom dynamics for the better. Interviewees commented that both students and teachers benefited from a more interactive and multidirectional curriculum approach. One city site administrator explained this as follows:
I think with all the different themes we do, the integrated projects we do, the kids see the teachers working together; teachers are modeling for kids what they expect in the classroom and in the classroom; kids are working together.
Served Special Populations Needs
Another benefit commonly cited by interviewees was that the STW curriculum assisted educators in providing a more appropriate and comprehensive curriculum for certain special populations, specifically educationally or economically "at-risk" students and minority students. A career counselor discussed several of the benefits "at-risk" students receive through participation in a STW middle school curriculum:
I think there are some benefits for . . . at-risk kids. A lot of at-risk kids have relatively small spheres of experience and [the school-to-work activity] gives them an opportunity to get out into places that they've never been before, to see what other people are doing. It gives them an opportunity to feel special, I believe that it does. I think it probably contributes to their motivation, a little bit to getting their education. I think it raises their self-esteem to some degree. I think it gives them an opportunity to see models in the community that they don't typically see. From time to time, there are companies which kind of adopt some of our students and want to continue to work with them beyond what we have orchestrated for them.
Other interviewees commented on the curriculum's positive effect on minority students in their schools. The STW curriculum was viewed as a way to "pull minority populations together" and to provide minority students with "new ways to view their futures." One administrator of a predominantly minority school stated that "the kids learn about each other's background and how to be sensitive. The kids work together, the kids don't necessarily see color."
Prepared Students for the Future
Interviewees indicated in their responses that middle-level students benefited from a STW curriculum because it better prepared them for high school, postsecondary education, the working world, and adult living. Responses indicated that the STW curriculum prepared students for these future settings and situations by "opening their eyes" and "opening their minds" to all the options and occupations available and the "path" commonly taken to achieve certain desired outcomes. The STW curriculum was seen by some interviewees as a workforce preparation program but not in the sense of having middle-level students decide on a future career at this young age. Instead, the curriculum was meant to expose students to many different careers and "help and guide them in eventually choosing a career based on their values, based on their personalities, based on their abilities." In a few cases, middle schoolers discovered their career path after participating in an intensive career program. An eighth-grade teacher revealed, "It has made a change in them [students]. I know a lot of them know what they want to do. I think they are prepared to make a decision about their career choice."
Several interviewees from larger cities emphasized the need to prepare students at a younger age (middle school level) because eighth graders in their districts were required to select and apply to individual high schools based on their personal career interests and the schools' career themes. A city district administrator explained how middle school students were benefiting from their career pathway/STW model:
. . . they [middle school students] enter high school with a better focus of what they are interested in studying. They are seeing that accountability and teamwork are critical to work in the high school instructional environment. Regardless of whether these students go on to college, to further training, or enter the workforce directly, middle school students enter the high school being prepared to succeed by working with "real world" application in their education.