We all are aware that today?s workplace demands higher levels of problem solving skill in its entry-level workers. However, numerous studies show that many, if not most, students leave high school without basic knowledge or understanding in literacy, numeracy and employability skills.
Recent data shows that many students require remediation when they attempt to enter community, technical or four-year colleges. More than half of those entering two-year colleges and nearly half of those entering four-year colleges require remediation in math, reading, writing or all three. In short, they are "high school students" in a higher education setting.
Since many of the math and literacy skills required for both workplace success and entry into higher education are taught in the late middle school and early high school years, one problem is the lack of follow up or reinforcement of these basic skills, especially in areas like algebra. The need for work-bound students (estimated at between 67 percent to 75 percent of students) to develop strong high school level skills in math, reading and writing has increased in recent years.
In particular, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) recently reported that math is one of the "new basic skills" for industry. Other research shows that higher wages depend on the ability to think mathematically. Mathematics is no longer a requirement only for scientists and engineers. Some degree of mathematical literacy is required of anyone entering the workplace or seeking advancement in a career.
The National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE) is about to embark on a national study designed to test the notion that high school students in a contextual, math-enhanced CTE curriculum will develop a deeper and more sustained understanding of mathematical concepts than those students who participate in the traditional CTE curriculum or other high school pathways. We invite you to take part in this study.
Within the next month, we will be sending you an invitation to participate in this study, and we strongly urge you to apply. As part of the study team, you will benefit from professional development, earn stipends and college credits, and, more importantly, increase the value of your CTE program to your students. By responding to our invitation, you will not only become part of the first national experiment in CTE but may also have a direct hand in raising the math performance of our nation?s high school graduates.
We know from work conducted by the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education that participation in CTE reduces the likelihood an adolescent will drop out of high school. Yet many, if not most, of our CTE students graduate school with insufficient skills in math, communications and problem solving to be successful in the emerging workplace or further education.
We also know from a number of recent studies that participation in high school CTE leads to economic advantages as far out as eight years after graduation. These studies compared two groups of students who did not attend college after high school. This represents nearly half of all students who enter ninth grade.
One group included students who "concentrated" in a high school CTE program with students who "concentrated" in traditional academics. CTE concentrators earned more per hour and had higher total earnings. The advantage for CTE concentrators grew over the period of eight years.
So, high school CTE helps keep youth in school and can provide economic advantages after high school but does not appear to improve math skills necessary for the future workplace. The question raised by Perkins III accountability requirements and the No Child Left Behind law becomes: can CTE add more value to the high school experience by enhancing students? ability to understand and use mathematics?
In CTE courses, math becomes contextualized and therefore more readily understandable. The concept of "contextual learning" is not new. John Dewey argued that the great waste in school comes from students? inability to use the experience they bring from out-of-schooling settings, while on the other hand they are unable to apply in daily life what they are learning in school. The isolation of the school?and its isolation from life?prevents students from connecting their learning to their everyday activities, including work.
More recently, researchers have used other language to describe what Dewey observed. In the early 1970s, the term experiential learning was used to describe contextual teaching and learning. Learning while engaged in an activity has also been called applied learning in the 70s and 80s. Later, the term situated cognition or situated learning has been advanced to explain this phenomenon.
What all of these terms describe is a theory that says that students gain deeper understanding of the curriculum because they actively construct knowledge in contexts that are meaningful and motivating. We believe that CTE provides such a context.
Contextual learning has been defined in a number of ways, but the most direct and most simple definition is provided by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education. Their documents defined contextual learning as learning that motivates students to make connections between knowledge and its applications to their lives as family members, citizens and workers.
CTE teachers can play a major role in helping students find meaning in their education and make connections between what they are learning in the classroom and ways in which that knowledge can be applied in the real world. To some extent, this is already being done, especially with the content of the different CTE programs (e.g., business, health, auto mechanics, marketing). However, there is no evidence that this transfers to the already embedded mathematics we find in most CTE courses. We at the NRCCTE believe it can.
When you respond to our invitation, you will help determine if CTE curricula can build skill in key academic areas and further increase its important role in the high school education of American youth. You will also help determine if CTE is to become a major player in the national education reform agenda. Please look for your invitation in the mail in the coming weeks.
American Institute of Archects: www.ala.org
The Council of Educational Facility Planners International: www.cefpi.org
National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities: www.edfacilities.org
Steed Hammond Paul: www.shp.com
TRIAD Architects, Inc.: www.triadarchitects.com
James R. Stone III is the director of the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education. For more information, visit www.nccte.org.
