2020-2021: Evaluating the Impact of High School Inc. Career Academies
Goal:
Evaluating the impact of the Career Academies at Valley High School has the capacity for measurable and meaningful differences at Valley High School and promising research need: How and to what extent are the High School Inc. Career Academies helping to contribute to the college and career readiness of Valley High School students and what makes the different Academies more or less successful in terms of students' college and career readiness?
Impact:
This research affects about 70% of the students at Valley High School who participate in one of 6 Career Technical Academies, a program which began in 2007 and is currently operated through High School Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The Academies, Culinary Arts and Hospitality, Healthcare, Global Business, Engineering Manufacturing and Construction, Automotive Transportation and Logistics, and New Media, leverage the expertise and mentorship of local business and industry professionals, alongside dedicated classroom teachers, to equip graduates with skills for the 21st-century workplace. At least six other high schools in the Santa Ana Unified School District feature similar Career Academies, with various degrees of integration into the curriculum of the school.
History:
Valley High School (VHS) in Santa Ana was selected by the Santa Ana Unified School District as a site that would benefit from participation in a Research Practice Partnership. Informed by research in developing partnerships and leveraging already established relationships between U.C. Irvine and VHS, such as the Center for Educational Partnerships (CFEP), we sought to establish a long-term relationship with the school and develop knowledge of problems of practice at Valley High School in order to improve student outcomes.
A series of conversations including the Dean of the School of Education, School District leaders, Valley High School Administrators, and members of High School Inc., a non-profit currently operating 6 Career Academies at Valley High School, led to the determination of an initial research project: evaluation of the impact of High School Inc.’s Career Academies at Valley High School.
Current Project:
Since the fall of 2018, Directors of High School Inc. and researchers from the School of Education have worked together to design a research plan, determine data to be collected for program evaluation, and designed surveys to describe the impact of the Career Academies on student career and college readiness. Broadly, we will examine students’ feelings of belongingness and support across the academies. We will also analyze how opportunities with internships, business mentors, and other unique components of the Career Academies are associated with higher degrees of college and career readiness, including college acceptances, industry certifications, and securing employment.
We are currently gathering data from students surveys taken by all Seniors in the Career Academies. Specific questions to be answered include how many students from each academy participate in internships and competitions and how meaningful do they find these experiences. We are also gathering administrative data to better understand how participation in the Career Academies affects school attendance and job securement or college attendance after graduation. A final program analysis will be completed during the summer to allow High School Inc. and Valley High School to better understand student outcomes across the six academies and to identify areas for future study and improvement in order to better serve students and prepare them for life after graduation.
Summer:
Program analysis will be completed this summer in two phases. The first phase will produce broad descriptive measures of student outcomes across the six academies, including:
This data will be presented to the school and stakeholders as a current state of the Career Academies.
The second phase will involve more detailed statistical analysis, including:
These models will offer insight into the Career Academies specific factors leading students to college and career readiness. The report will also allow us to revise the working theory of improvement for the Career Academies and identify areas for future study.
Goal:
Evaluating the impact of the Career Academies at Valley High School has the capacity for measurable and meaningful differences at Valley High School and promising research need: How and to what extent are the High School Inc. Career Academies helping to contribute to the college and career readiness of Valley High School students and what makes the different Academies more or less successful in terms of students' college and career readiness?
Impact:
This research affects about 70% of the students at Valley High School who participate in one of 6 Career Technical Academies, a program which began in 2007 and is currently operated through High School Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The Academies, Culinary Arts and Hospitality, Healthcare, Global Business, Engineering Manufacturing and Construction, Automotive Transportation and Logistics, and New Media, leverage the expertise and mentorship of local business and industry professionals, alongside dedicated classroom teachers, to equip graduates with skills for the 21st-century workplace. At least six other high schools in the Santa Ana Unified School District feature similar Career Academies, with various degrees of integration into the curriculum of the school.
History:
Valley High School (VHS) in Santa Ana was selected by the Santa Ana Unified School District as a site that would benefit from participation in a Research Practice Partnership. Informed by research in developing partnerships and leveraging already established relationships between U.C. Irvine and VHS, such as the Center for Educational Partnerships (CFEP), we sought to establish a long-term relationship with the school and develop knowledge of problems of practice at Valley High School in order to improve student outcomes.
A series of conversations including the Dean of the School of Education, School District leaders, Valley High School Administrators, and members of High School Inc., a non-profit currently operating 6 Career Academies at Valley High School, led to the determination of an initial research project: evaluation of the impact of High School Inc.’s Career Academies at Valley High School.
Current Project:
Since the fall of 2018, Directors of High School Inc. and researchers from the School of Education have worked together to design a research plan, determine data to be collected for program evaluation, and designed surveys to describe the impact of the Career Academies on student career and college readiness. Broadly, we will examine students’ feelings of belongingness and support across the academies. We will also analyze how opportunities with internships, business mentors, and other unique components of the Career Academies are associated with higher degrees of college and career readiness, including college acceptances, industry certifications, and securing employment.
We are currently gathering data from students surveys taken by all Seniors in the Career Academies. Specific questions to be answered include how many students from each academy participate in internships and competitions and how meaningful do they find these experiences. We are also gathering administrative data to better understand how participation in the Career Academies affects school attendance and job securement or college attendance after graduation. A final program analysis will be completed during the summer to allow High School Inc. and Valley High School to better understand student outcomes across the six academies and to identify areas for future study and improvement in order to better serve students and prepare them for life after graduation.
Summer:
Program analysis will be completed this summer in two phases. The first phase will produce broad descriptive measures of student outcomes across the six academies, including:
- Students’ sense of belonging and support
- Students’ college and career readiness
- Measured by industry certification, secured employment, college acceptance
- Students’ completing industry certifications
- Students’ experiences attending unique Career Academy experiences like field trips, competitions, and internships
- Associations between Academy Experiences and career outcomes.
This data will be presented to the school and stakeholders as a current state of the Career Academies.
The second phase will involve more detailed statistical analysis, including:
- Associations between academic engagement (self-reported and attendance) and Academy enrollment
- Associations between completion of A-G requirements and Academy enrollment
- The relation between G.P.A., attendance, Academy enrollment, and the likelihood of securing a job or college acceptance.
- Associations between having reported positive mentorship, competition, or field trip experience, and career outcomes
- Regression models to predict the likelihood of a student choosing an industry for employment or college based on his/her Academy enrollment and Academy experiences.
These models will offer insight into the Career Academies specific factors leading students to college and career readiness. The report will also allow us to revise the working theory of improvement for the Career Academies and identify areas for future study.