| The number of students graduating within a standard 4-year period is a serious concern throughout the United States. To address this issue, several school districts are restructuring large urban high schools into career academies. Reflective of smaller learning communities, career academies appear to offer an excellent strategy to address low student achievement. Although considered an ideal reform initiative, some educators question whether career academies actually impact student graduation. In an effort to find measurable evidence of academic success, the researcher selected and studied four career academy programs.;This applied dissertation study utilized an evaluative research method to examined five areas within the career academy model: student recruitment, curriculum, instructional methodology, graduation requirements, and external support. For this research, data were collected through the use of the faculty surveys, student data, and school and district reports. The subjects included 24 faculty members and 200 students.;To help guide this study, five research questions were established: (1) What are the commonalities and differences in the recruitment of students among the career academies? (2) How do the career academies and their respective curricula address the adaptations or modifications needed by ESOL and ESE students? (3) How does each academy address the needs of students requiring reading remediation services? (4) How does the integration of career education curricula help or hinder students in completing high school graduation requirements? (5) What type of district or community support does each academy receive to help students meet program objectives?;The results indicated that factors influencing graduation percentages varied throughout each academy. Because no school site study existed to examine student achievement and teacher performance for each academy, one recommendation resulting from this study was the development of an evaluative instrument. Assessing academy strengths and weaknesses aligned with graduation rates will help to validate continued support of the career academy model. |
