The challenge
High schools facing the educational challenges common in low-income urban areas struggled to keep students engaged and prepare them for further education and work.
The case
Career Academies typically serve 150 to 200 students from grade 9 or 10 through grade 12, organised as small learning communities that combine academic and technical curricula around a career theme and offer work-based learning through local employers. Starting in 1993, the research organisation MDRC randomly assigned more than 1,400 applicants at nine high schools across the US, about 85% of them Hispanic or African-American, to an academy or to the regular school program. Over the eight-year follow-up, academy students earned 11%, or $2,088, more per year on average, a total of $16,704 (in 2006 dollars). Young men gained most, $3,731 or 17% a year.
Why it worked
Linking school to real careers raised earnings for years without reducing academic attainment: more than 90% of both groups graduated or got a GED. Both groups earned postsecondary credentials at similar rates, so the gains came through higher wages, more hours and steadier work.
Sources
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