Support for career development in youth: Program models and evaluations

Abstract

This article examines four influential programs-Citizen Schools, After School Matters, career academies, and Job Corps-to demonstrate the diversity of approaches to career programming for youth. It compares the specific program models and draws from the evaluation literature to discuss strengths and weaknesses of each. The article highlights three key lessons derived from the models that have implications for career development initiatives more generally: (1) career programming can and should be designed for youth across a broad age range, (2) career programming does not have to come at the expense of academic training or preparation for college, and (3) program effectiveness depends on intentional design and high-quality implementation.

Stimulating engineering design through the Junior Solar Sprint at Citizen Schools extended learning time apprenticeship

“…[12] • Studio Thinking: An effective way for students to learn and for designers to learn focuses on presenting the work in a studio setting for review. David Perkins describes the principle for students to learn by starting with a scaled version of the problem [13].…”

Critical Success Factors in a High School Healthcare Education Program

“…Participation in career academies reduces high school dropout rates and increases high school completion rates (Brand, 2008;Castellano, Stone, Stringfield, Farley-Ripple, Overman, & Hussain, 2007;Farr et al, 2009;Hoachlander, 2008;Kemple, 2004;Kosine & Lewis, 2008;Mekinda, 2012;Stringfield et al, 2013). Likewise, students in small schools accumulate more credits, graduate at higher rates, demonstrate better attendance, and achieve higher test scores than students in larger high schools (Ancess & Allen, 2006;Barrow, Schanzenbach, & Claessens, 2015;Bloom & Unterman, 2013;Bloom & Unterman, 2014;Rivera-McCutchen, 2012;Schwartz, Stiefel, & Wiswall, 2013).…”

“…Common critical success factors include strong teacher-student relationships and a sense of community for their students, in addition to high expectations accompanied by academic rigor, all of which result in high attendance and graduation rates for students in these programs (Barnett & Bragg, 2006;Bloom & Unterman, 2013;Brand, 2008;Castellano et al, 2007;Castellano et al, 2012;Dixon et al, 2011;Farr et al, 2009;Fletcher & Cox, 2012;Hoachlander, 2008;Kemple, 2004;Kosine & Lewis, 2008;Mekinda, 2012;REL, 2012;Rivera-McCutchen, 2012;Stringfield et al, 2013). These common critical success factors formed the conceptual framework for our study.…”

“…CTE graduates have high rates of postsecondary enrollment (Farr, Bradby, Hartry, Sipes, Hall, & Tasoff, 2009;Staklis & Klein, 2010) and college persistence (Rodriguez, Hughes, & Belfield, 2012). Research also demonstrates that participation in CTE helps to improve students' academic performance, school behavior, and attendance (Brand, 2008;Farr et al, 2009;Hoachlander, 2008;Kosine & Lewis, 2008;Mekinda, 2012;Stringfield, Shumer, Stipanovic, & Murphy, 2013) and lower dropout rates (Brand, 2008;Feller, 2003;Hoachlander, 2008;Howard & Wu, 2009;The James Irvine Foundation, 2009). Additionally, CTE graduates who enter careers after high school are likely to realize higher wages than students who enter the workforce after graduation from academically focused programs (Hoachlander, 2008).…”

Underrepresented minorities and social cognitive career theory

“…The authors also noted a lack of programs that provided linkages between school-based and work-based activities, neglecting a potential source of increasing academic engagement (Arora, Schneider, Thal, & Meltzer, 2011). Mekinda (2012) analyzed four STW programs located across the U.S. differing on the basis of methodology: Citizen Schools, After School Matters, career academies, and Job Corps. Citizen Schools focuses on low-income, middle-school students in 18 cities across the U.S. and takes place after school during the school year.…”