Upperclassmen in Fern Creek High School’s computer science pathway work on various group projects in early December. Credit: Javeria Salman/The Hechinger Report
This story about the academy model was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It had been a slow morning at the Class Act Federal Credit Union. But a little after 11 a.m., a client walked through the door.
“Who’s waiting on me?” said the elderly man, smiling.
“I will,” said Gracie Lacefield, one of three tellers behind the counter. “How are you doing? What can I help you with?” The man gave his account information to Lacefield, and then handed her his money to deposit.
The Class Act Federal Credit Union isn’t a typical bank. It’s run by Jefferson County Public Schools, and Lacefield and the two other tellers are high schoolers.
The credit union is one small piece of a districtwide effort, Academies of Louisville, to embed career and technical education, or CTE, alongside core subjects like math and English and require every student to pick a career pathway by 10th grade. Piloted in 2017 at 11 high schools, the model has expanded to all 15 of the district’s main high schools. As part of that effort, the district has also launched a career exploration program at 14 middle schools, partnered with local colleges and universities to provide dual credit courses and smoothed the path for students to graduate with industry-recognized certifications.
The Academies of Louisville is one of roughly 30 such programs that are working to provide CTE for all students, regardless of whether they plan to go to college or directly into the workforce, according to Jessica Delgado, marketing and communications director of Ford Next Generation Learning, which supports school districts in adopting the approach. This “CTE for all” model has grown in popularity as support for the idea of “college for all” has eroded amid high tuition costs and low completion rates. The “CTE for all” model has support from employers interested in meeting local and regional workforce needs. And some experts argue that combining workforce and academic learning makes students more engaged and helps them build professional networks.
“A lack of access to work-based learning can actually limit the career prospects and economic mobility of youth and adults,” said Kyle Hartung, associate vice president for education at the nonprofit Jobs for the Future. He noted that there’s some evidence for the effectiveness of individual “CTE for all” programs and models, although data on the impact of the approach as a whole remains scant.
Meanwhile, the career academies model requires a significant overhaul of the traditional high school model, and without buy-in from teachers, families and local and regional business leaders, it’s unlikely to work. In late November, Anchorage School District in Alaska postponed fully adopting the model after parents and school board members raised concerns about shorter class periods and the possibility that some core subjects would be replaced by career-themed courses.
For Marty Pollio, now Jefferson County Public Schools superintendent, the inspiration to adopt career-oriented education sprouted from a desire to engage more students in learning. He remembers as principal of Jeffersontown High School in early 2010 walking into a chemistry class to find one of the students asleep.
After Pollio woke him up, the student explained that he didn’t care about the class and asked why he had to learn about the periodic table. Next period, the same student was attentive and engaged in the school’s welding lab, Pollio said, even as the class talked about some of the same content the chemistry class had covered.
“We have a kid who has a passion for welding, why are we not teaching science from that perspective? Why are we not teaching math from that perspective?” Pollio recalled thinking. He encouraged his teachers to experiment and collaborate to find real-world applications for lessons. To help make science lessons more concrete, for example, the chemistry teacher began holding her class in the welding lab and both the chemistry and welding teachers began interweaving projects and lessons into each other’s classes.
Around that time, the district was seeking to expose more students to career pathways, especially after the state legislature in 2011 expanded how it evaluates schools to include students’ career readiness, a metric it has continued to refine since. In 2014, the city of Louisville was designated a Ford Next Generation Learning Community, and it joined the network of school districts that intend to provide CTE for all students. In 2016, Jefferson County leaders and principals, including Pollio, visited nearby Nashville, one of the first cities to launch the career academies model.
Adopting the model in Louisville required a shake-up of how the schools were organized: Every school created a freshman academy and two to three career academies, each with a designated principal and counselor (in addition to the schoolwide executive principal).
Today, across the 15 high schools, there are 56 academies offering a total of 155 different industry pathways. As freshmen, students are introduced to each career pathway available at their high school before selecting one. Sophomore year, students start taking career courses in their chosen pathway, getting hands-on education.
Depending on the pathway, students earn either an industry certification or college credit through local postsecondary institutions such as Jefferson Community and Technical College. Students from the same academy also move through the majority of their core classes together, when possible.
