NASSP Sees a Role for CTE in High School Reform

The National Association of secondary School Principals (NASSP) believes that career and technical education (CTE) plays a crucial role in efforts to improve student achievement in grades nine-12, according to Gerald Tirozzi, NASSP executive director.

Tirozzi was among the reviewers of ACTE's

In 2004, NASSP released Breaking Ranks II: Strategies for Leading High School Reform, a principal's handbook to high school improvement. This report advocates school-wide changes around three themes:

* Collaborative Leadership

* Personalization of the School Environment

* Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

Breaking Ranks II includes recommendations and strategies, as well as a three-part survey to assist a school's team in exploring and establishing its progress in meeting those recommendations.

According to NASSP, "The strategies come from coaches who have worked and observed in schools that have been successful in implementing effective reform measures; however, they are not a definitive set of strategies. As school teams work with this activity, they should add other strategies that fit the context of the specific school."

Some of the recommendations included in Breaking Ranks II reflect the recommendations of ACTE. For example, "Recommendation 22" of Breaking Ranks II states, "The content of the curriculum, where practical, should connect to real-life applications of knowledge and skills to help students link their education to the future."

The areas in which NASSP asks secondary school principals to rate their progress include career academies, career exploration in school, internships, service-learning, and project-based learning and curriculum.

"Recommendation 24" states, "The academic program will extend beyond the high school campus to take advantage of learning opportunities outside the four walls of the building."

Suggested strategies include apprenticeships, internships, mentorships and job shadowing.

Improving high schools demands that students see real-life connections between academic learning and their future careers, and NASSP notes that CTE can help to do that. However, while pointing out the role that CTE can play in high school reform, NASSP also says that CTE must become more rigorous to prepare students for postsecondary education.

NASSP believes that the integration of academic and technical skills will best serve high school improvement efforts, and CTE provides an excellent vehicle for these efforts. The organization's position is that no longer can the concept of dual track (college bound and vocational) be justified, because workers today need at least some postsecondary education in order to obtain desirable employment.

"As the only substantial federal investment in high schools" says Tirozzi, "support for CTE programs is pivotal to high school restructuring efforts for all students in grades nine-12."

For more information about the NASSP and its report, Breaking Ranks II: Strategies for Leading High School Reform, visit www.nassp.org.