Career academies are increasingly prominent in American secondary education. However, our understanding of these academies is limited by a paucity of research about the factors that make them viable and effective. This case study highlights, from the perspective of 52 academy coordinators and teachers and 41 students, distinctive features that enable career academies to provide valuable job-related experiences and improve student engagement. Employing the theoretical framework of social capital, the findings emphasize the importance of boundary spanners who have the ability to maintain relationships between industry and educational institutions, bounded solidarity that facilitates an exchange of resources within an academy, and the information potential of the academy in terms of academic and personal support for students outside of the classroom.

Career academies — small learning communities within high schools that introduce students to specific industry sectors — have become a popular way to expand career education. Yet certain institutional, economic, and social factors can inhibit their viability and scalability. Michael Lanford and Tattiya Maruco conducted a yearlong qualitative study of career academies in Southern California to identify six conditions that are necessary for establishing and maintaining a career academy that has a positive influence on students and the community.

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