Cover Story
Beyond the "V" Word

Vocational education has a new name--and a new strategy for educating students.

At first glance, Mark Maund's Virginia automotive services class fits preconceived images many have about vocational education: His students are working on cars and learning a trade.

But a closer look reveals the depth of knowledge his students acquire. In addition to learning about carburetors and braking systems, they learn computer technology, knowledge they'll need to work on high-end automobiles. At the same time, they're building their math and English skills and reinforcing other academic subjects.

At the end of the year, these students will come away with the foundation they need to pursue a fulfilling-- and highly lucrative--career, plus an industry certification and 18 college credits.

This is voc-ed in the 21st century.

Vocational education is now called career and technical education (CTE), "and the word 'career' is underlined in my mind," says Maund, who teaches at the Virginia Beach Technical and Career Education Center.

Courses focus on preparing students for careers, not just getting jobs. Students gain practical skills and intense academic instruction that prepare them simultaneously to enter the work force and college.

Changes in the workplace have caused career and technical educators to strengthen their programs, says Dianne Mondry, president of the Association for Career and Technical Education. Courses are more rigorous, both academically and technically, and increasing numbers of secondary programs offer college credit, Mondry says. About 11,000 comprehensive high schools and 1,400 "vo-tech" centers provide programs to 11 million students nationwide.

Maund's students must balance the two-year automotive services program with their general academic requirements. They receive intensive instruction in engine repair, electronics, and automobile operating systems. At the same time, students spend their evenings, weekends, and summers working with mentors at local dealerships. By the time they graduate, students have their certification from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence and a semester's worth of college credits.

Maund's students then go to work for one of the 43 dealerships in the area, which pay for students to complete their associate degrees. All enroll in either two- or four-year college programs, and 90 percent still are working in the industry or furthering their education.

Salaries for new graduates start at $7.50 per hour but can jump to $100 per hour within two years, Maund says. It is not uncommon for master technicians to earn more than $100,000 a year at luxury auto shops. Most dealerships also provide health insurance and retirement plans, Maund adds.

Where the Jobs Are
Career and technical education keeps pace with the labor market by preparing students for newly created jobs and ones vacated by retiring employees.

Automotive services, for instance, is the third-fastest growing occupation among those that require an associate degree or postsecondary vocational award, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Bureau projects there will be 151,000 jobs available between now and 2010.

But career and technical education also prepares students to work in new and emerging industries.

Down the hall from Maund, Linda Lavender specializes in one of those emerging fields: information technology.

Students in Lavender's two-year network administration program learn how to manage a computer network, provide user support, and install and replace computer hardware. They earn eight college credits and can become certified Novell and Microsoft systems administrators. Many students pursue additional training to become certified systems engineers, a position that commands an even higher salary. About 75 percent of Lavender's students enroll in two- or four-year colleges. Students often work as systems administrators while they pursue their degrees, she says.

"When we talk about career and technical education, I never understood the difference between the academic college-bound students and my students," Lavender says. "We're all out for the same goal. The students all need to get jobs in the workplace."

Changes In Industry
To stay current, career and technical educators must regularly update their courses to respond to trends in business. IT courses have seen the greatest increase in student enrollment, says ACTE's Mondry, which isn't surprising since the top five fastest growing jobs focus on computer systems, software, and applications.

Courses increasingly emphasize technology, a trend that reflects the dramatic changes seen in the workplace, says Floyd McKinney, director of the National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education.

"In fact," he says, "you will not be around long if you don't pay attention to the technology in your area."

Brian Cave has witnessed first-hand how far career and technical education has come. When he enrolled in the printing program at the Virginia Beach Technical and Career Education Center in the 1970s, the course focused almost exclusively on offset printing, he says. Now Cave teaches the course, and his emphasis is on printing in the digital age. His students also learn basic graphic design and desktop publishing. Graduates qualify for entry-level jobs in the printing industry. But Cave encourages his students to go to college and work toward managing a print shop, which commands a higher salary.

George Fausel has also seen dramatic changes in his electronics and computer repair course during his 15 years at the Technical Center.

Not only has the curriculum changed, but Fausel's students can earn an industry certification in computer repair, a perk that did not exist 15 years ago. His students also earn between 16 and 18 college credits, which they can put toward an associate degree. After they earn the two-year degree, students can enroll at Old Dominion University and earn a bachelor's after two more years.

Down the Road
The future is bright for career and technical education, says ACTE's Mondry. Courses offer high academic and technical standards and prepare students for careers and four-year degrees. Meanwhile, businesses receive well-educated and technically-skilled employees. McKinney at NDCCTE believes career and technical education is becoming a more respected option for learners. Lavender in Virginia Beach agrees.

"Most people think technical education is for the student who can't do it in the home school," Lavender says. "That's not true at all. This is for the student who wants to focus in a certain area. We are not alternative education. We are enhanced education."

--Kristen Loschert

Engineering a New Look

Academic high-achievers see the benefits of career and technical education.

When most people envision a career and technical education class, the image of students in white lab coats performing biomedical research doesn't necessarily come to mind. But that vision is a reality for a group of high schoolers in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, outside Minneapolis.

A select group of advanced level chemistry students at Brooklyn Center High School work side by side with research scientists at Medtronic, a medical technology firm that develops and manufactures medical devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators. Students enrolled in the "research mentorship" receive specific research problems from their mentors and spend time at school and in Medtronic's lab finding solutions. At the end of the year, students present their findings to the company.

"Mentorship programs have been around for years, but with this the students have an engineering problem they have to help solve," says Paul Mueller, a career and technical education teacher who oversees the program. "They are challenged to solve a real research problem in the world of work."

The program enrolls between four and nine seniors each year. Participants couple the mentorship with an independent study in advanced chemistry and must take physics and calculus as well. Most already have expressed an interest in a science or engineering career, and all rank at the upper level of their graduating class, Mueller says.

The caliber of Mueller's students reflects a new trend in career and technical education.

More and more "academically gifted" students are seeking out technical programs. Between 1982 and 1998, the percentage of students who earned three or more vocational credits and completed advanced coursework in math increased by 16 percent, according to the National Center for Educa-tion Statistics. The number of students taking both technical and college-prep courses is rising as well. In 1990, only 19 percent of career and technical students followed a college-prep curriculum, defined as at least four years of English and three years each of math and science, according to the U.S. Department of Education. By 1998, 45 percent were taking those classes.

Today's career and technical education students often are in the top 5 percent of their graduating classes, according to the National Dissemina-tion Center for Career and Technical Education. For instance, the winners of the 2000 All-American Vocational Student Awards had a median grade point average of 3.35 on a 4.0 scale. And nearly two-thirds of all high school graduates of career and technical education programs pursue some form of postsecondary education, according to the Association for Career and Technical Education.

Philadelphia has retooled its CTE programs to appeal not only to "middle-of-the-pack" students, but to high achievers as well; while in New Jersey lawsuits have been filed on behalf of high-achieving students whose home districts have sought to prevent them from attending technical schools.

"This is 21st century career and technical education," Mueller says. "It's interdisciplinary, interdepartmental, and it's designed to reach out and involve all students."

--Kristen Loschert

Where the Jobs Are--The Top 10 Fastest Growing Occupations

Q&A
All About Lifelong Learning

Dianne Mondry is president of the Association for Career and Technical Education, the largest national group dedicated to advancing education that prepares youth and adults for careers. ACTE, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, serves a membership of more than 38,000 that includes teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, university professors, state and local employees, and students at middle, secondary, and postsecondary levels.

Why is vocational education now called career and technical education?
The name "career and technical education" really better reflects what is happening in the field and the direction we are setting for the future. Our courses are more challenging, more academic, and more technical to reflect the skills of business and industry. It's a unifying voice for a broad diverse field of education programs.

What is its purpose?
The purpose or mission of career and technical education is to provide students with the opportunity to learn academic and technical skills, explore different career options, and discover ways to balance life and work roles. We're about lifelong learning, and we recognize that there cannot be dead ends at any level of education.

How has the area changed?
Our programs change as industry changes, so we are constantly upgrad-ing our curricula. In addition to technical skills instruction, our programs emphasize the soft skills needed in the workplace, skills like teamwork, ethics, and interpersonal and human relationship skills.

How do you keep up with the changing job market?
All of our career and technical education programs have active advisory committees that reflect the business or industry of the program. This partnership with the business community is inherent in all career and technical education programs. We have partnerships where industry provides curricula, professional development resources, and sometimes equipment to help our teachers and students remain current and prepare for future industry needs. Teachers also remain active in the occupational areas in which they teach.

What role does technology play?
Technology has a huge influence, not only in what we teach, but on how we teach. Our teachers and students have the opportunity to use computer smart boards that make presentations more interactive, simulations, and 3D animation programs that allow automotive teachers to perform diagnostics in the classroom.

Technology has made professional development absolutely necessary so our teachers keep up and integrate the use of technology in the classroom. I really don't know of any area in any program that does not use technology at some time.

What issues does career and technical education face?
We're concerned with quality teaching, which may be defined differently in career and technical education. We want the best teachers teaching our students, so we have to figure out how we're going to get them and make sure they meet a standard of quality.

Another issue is the impact of standards. Many states still feel that the only way to improve student academic achievement is to give more of the same, that one-size-fits-all approach, instead of finding ways to help students succeed. We believe in strong academics, but also that they be taught in a contextual learning environment.

What does the future hold for career and technical education?
Career and technical education can be a partner in economic development. Often businesses will relocate because of the quality of the career and technical education in an area. The economic engine is driven by a well-prepared workforce and the preparation of that workforce requires strong academic skills, good work ethics, specific technical skills, and the abilities to communicate, work with others, solve problems, and use information. Career and technical education can do all of that.

Resources

• The College of Education at the University of Central Florida has a comprehensive Web resource list on career and technical education. The list includes general information sites as well as links to recent legislation, international vocational education interests, and career information. Go to http://reach.ucf.edu/~voced/mainresources.htm.

• Teachers whose students enter the workforce shortly after high school will find the Workforce Preparation Curriculum Database especially helpful. The site offers curricula to help teachers prepare their students for first-time jobs and help them navigate the transition between school and work. For more on workforce preparation, visit www.ncrcd.iastate.edu/workprep/welcome.html.

• DiscoverySchool.com offers links to the Automotive Encyclopedia, the Journal of Vocational and Technical Education, and more. The site provides resources for students enrolled in career and technical education classes and is a valuable guide for teachers who want to learn about the latest trends and issues. DiscoverySchool.com is located at http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/vocation.html.

• For more information about the Virginia Beach Technical and Career Education Center, check out the school's Web site at www.techcenter.vbcps.k12.va.us/index2.htm.

Other Useful Web Sites:

National Dissemination and Research Centers for Career and Technical Education

Association for Career and Technical Education

ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education

International Technology Education Association