My Research Results

I began my research convinced that our society does not adequately prepare its’ young people to assimilate their education along with their individual personality and attributes, to better identify potential careers that will resonate with them, and ignite their passion to learn more, as a result.

I completed this paper more convinced than ever that this is a missing piece in American education. We tell youngsters that they will fail without a degree from a four-year college or university and then we proceed to make that prediction a reality. The majority of young people, regardless of socio-economic status, drop out of high school due to lack of interest and a feeling of disassociation.

In an article I read just the other day (posted on my blog), I saw that Delaware, in an attempt to make high school “more relevant” will require students to create a “student success plan and pursue a career pathway designed to guide them through high school and their first year after graduation.” Valerie Woodruff, DOE Secretary, says that students must be better prepared for “success in college, work, and citizenship when they graduate. We need to focus on having all students finish with their goals in mind.”

Woodruff explained that before they created the new initiative they held a “listening forum.” They brought together representatives from every Delaware high school and asked about middle school and high school and “what they needed.” She stated that “three strong messages emerged from the comments made by the students: They said they need us to expect more of them and also need us to help them. They said they need to know people in school care about them and that someone they can connect to is paying attention to them.”

Part of their program will include a “career cruising” component that will address middle schoolers and the need for them to not only see potential career opportunities, but to also investigate the requirements that those careers demand. And so I become more convinced on a daily basis that “Career Discovery” can be a tool to help the youngsters in Lawrence know that “people in school (and their community) care about them.”

While Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Lawrence currently has a partnership with the Guilmette Middle School and provides approximately 45 Guilmette students with Big Brothers or Big Sisters; I believe that we can increase the effectiveness of this already successful program by adding another dimension. I developed the following PowerPoint presentation to describe the Career Discover Program to the Mayor and/or Superintendent of Schools in Lawrence.

The Career Discovery Process
A Pilot Program for Guilmette Middle School
6th, 7th, and 8th graders


Slide 1

In their position paper – Reinventing the American High School for the 21st Century, the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) tells us that:

"America has evolved from an industrial economy to a knowledge economy, and workers must be prepared to apply increasing knowledge and skills that can be quickly upgraded and adapted to meet the rapidly changing conditions of the 21st century".


Slide 2

U. S. Educational Gaps

The United States is beset by the following three education gaps:
1. Domestic achievement gap - the disparity in learning among American students, correlated to racial and economic status.
2. International achievement gap - the discrepancy between U.S. students and young people from other nations who are more highly educated and often able to carry out skilled work for lower wages than skilled U.S. workers.


Slide 3

U. S. Educational Gaps

3. “Ambition gap” – the term coined for the more disturbing aspects of American culture that are devaluing hard work, personal achievement, exerting effort toward reaching future goals and other aspects of strong character. These factors are contributing to an overall lack of focus and purpose among American youth.


Slide 4

Background Students with access to information technology in their out-of-school life, regularly use commercial learning and gaming resources that are highly Individualized and customizable to their particular interests and tastes.
 Our industrial model of education often continues to treat students as parts of mechanistic system, expecting them to fit into the system rather than investing in them as uniquely gifted individuals.


Slide 5

Background
 In the past, minorities and women were often told they were not “college material”; now, it seems that the pendulum has swung to the other extreme, where all students are directed to four-year colleges.
 Students were not provided with a clear awareness of career and income opportunities for careers requiring a two-year degree or industry-based certification.


Slide 6

ACTE Suggestions

ACTE suggests that educators:
 Ensure a smooth transition between eighth and ninth grade; while engaging in specific career-related learning experiences.
 Place a renewed focus on the transition of students from high school into further educational and career opportunities.


Slide 7

ACTE Suggestions

1. Encourage students to reach for challenging personal goals and see themselves rising to management and leadership roles within their chosen professions—roles; while not prescribing one-size-fits-all solutions (e.g. going to four-year college) for each and every student.
2. Align middle school instructional programs to meet the expectations of these career/college preparedness goals



Slide 8

ACTE Suggestions

3. Give students structured opportunities to identify their evolving personal interests, and interactively connect those interests to employment opportunities and planning for postsecondary education.


Slide 9

Learnings

 Clarify that while each student at the new Lawrence High School must choose the school they will attend; this does not mean they have chosen a career.
 Students who take these career based classes may discover that a career area is not a good fit for them, and they opt to pursue a different interest in the latter part of high school or in postsecondary education.


Slide 10

Learnings

 Students benefit from this experience through increased self-awareness and circumventing the time and money that would have been spent if college was the only opportunity for serious career planning and experimentation.


Slide 11

Objectives

 Use the Career Discovery Program to provide students with the support and tools they need to make an informed decision as to which school - within Lawrence High School - they will attend.
 Create and coordinate the Career Discovery Program, a three year program, to gradually prepare Guilmette Middle School students for their transition to high school.


Slide 12

Goals

 Administer the Murphy-Meisgeier Type Indicator for Children (MMTIC) to provide each youngster with a guide to their “discovery” process.
 Provide students with information, tools and support to help them discover themselves, and investigate potential career choices that best suit their individual personalities and potential passions.
 Provide students with mentors who will work with them throughout their discovery process.


Slide 13

The Necessity

 Lawrence has a graduation rate of 41%.
 The majority of youngsters drop out of school due to lack of interest and boredom, regardless of socio-economic status.
 The new Lawrence High School will contain six schools, each limited to 500 youngsters per school. While this will provide a better learning environment for Lawrence students; it requires that they choose the school they wish to attend before they are psychologically prepared to make that decision.


Slide 14

The Plan

Desired outcomes:
 Administer the Murphy Meisgeier Type Indicator for Children (MMTIC) –to 6th grade young students attending the Guilmette Middle School during the 2007/2008 school year.
 Create and coordinate a process that will support 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Guilmette Middle School students through a career discovery process.


Slide 15

The Plan

Desired outcomes:
 Provide students and mentors with information to assess the careers that might prove most attractive to them.
 Provide ongoing support and tools to prepare Guilmette students to effectively choose the school within Lawrence High School that they wish to attend.


Slide 16

The Plan

Required resources:
 Formal school time (minimum of two hours per month) devoted to this process and related activities.
 One full time guidance counselor or consultant to coordinate the Career Discovery Program and work individually with students throughout the school year.
 Funding for coordinator salary and the costs associated with the assessments.


Slide 17

The Plan

Next Steps:
 Set up an initial meeting with Mayor Sullivan and Principal Heneken, prior to the end of the 2006/07 school year to present the Program.
 Upon approval, coordinate steps needed to begin the Program with 6th graders in October 2007.