Carrying clipboards and dressed sharply in khakis and red polo shirts, they listened to Bill Vogal, a school administrator and former factory owner, as he read the questions they were assigned to ask exhibitors about their products and services: “What kind of lubricant do Index machines use?” “How many inserts does it take to make an airplane?” Mr. Vogal hollered over the chatter. For some of the students, the show would be the first encounter with a globalized industry that many of them hope to enter after graduation.

The academy, which is located in the struggling Austin neighborhood, is the city’s first and only career academy dedicated to occupations in high-skill manufacturing. Dan Swinney, chairman of the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council, founded it in 2007 as a Chicago Public Schools “performance school.” Austin Polytech’s mission is to redefine vocational education and revive the city’s manufacturing industry by educating the next generation of advanced manufacturers – in effect, students who enter the workforce as hybrids of machinist and engineer.

Austin Polytech’s diverse curriculum is designed to prepare its 381 students for college, but school leaders also encourage them to pursue manufacturing careers that do not require four-year degrees – an approach that not all educators agree with. ”We’re proposing the revitalization of this nation’s economy, and places like Austin should be at the forefront of that, not left behind,” said Mr. Swinney, who worked as a machinist in a factory in the neighborhood early in his career. Learn more…

Some say bypassing a higher education is smarter than paying for a degree. By Sarah Kaufman. Published: Friday, Washington Post, September 10, 2010. You’ve been fooled into thinking there’s no other way for my kid to get a job . . . or learn critical thinking or make social connections,” hedge fund manager James Altucher says. Altucher, president of Formula Capital, says he sees people making bad investment decisions all the time — and one of them is paying for college. College is overrated, he says: In most cases, what you get out of it is not worth the money, and there are cheaper and better ways to get an education.

The hefty price tag of a college degree has some experts worried that its benefits are fading. “I think it makes less sense for more families than it did five years ago,” says Richard Vedder, an economics professor at Ohio University who has been studying education issues. “It’s become more and more problematic about whether people should be going to college.”

Now, take a key argument in favor of getting a four-year degree, the one that says on average, those with one earn more than those without it. Education Department numbers support this: In 2008, the median annual earnings of young adults with bachelor’s degrees was $46,000; it was $30,000 for those with high school diplomas or equivalencies. This means that, for those with a bachelor’s degree, the middle range of earnings was about 53 percent more than for those holding only a high school diploma.

Before hackles are raised about boiling the salutary effects of higher education down to its cost, there are obvious disclaimers: Education is a priceless thing. Many high-school graduates are not ready for independence and adult responsibilities, and college provides a safe place for them to grow up — for a fee. Learn more…

At Harvard, the Kitchen as Lab. By KENNETH CHANG, New York Times. Published: October 19, 2010In a basement laboratory at Harvard, Ashley Prince read from the instructions as her lab partner, Allan Jean-Baptiste, poured fruit nectar into a pot. ”Heat it to 113,” Ms. Prince said. Then Mr. Jean-Baptiste added a mix of sugar and pectin, and Ms. Prince whisked. “So far, so good,” Ms. Prince said.

These Harvard students were making chewy fruit gelées for From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science, an undergraduate course that uses the kitchen to convey the basics of physics and chemistry, a most unusual Ivy League approach to science. Learn more…

More high school students choose vocational study. November 2. National Centre for Vocational Education Research. The number of Australian high schools students following a ‘VET [Vocational Education and Training] in Schools’ programme in 2009 was up by 4% from the previous year according to research by the National Centre for Vocational Educational and Research (NCVER). The research published in: The Australian vocational education and training statistics: VET in Schools 2009 shows that in 2009 nearly 230,000 high school students enrolled in various VET in School programmes including school-based apprenticeships and traineeships. Sandra Pattison, General Manager of Statistics at the NCVER, said ‘VET in Schools programs provide a valuable opportunity to mix curriculum-based subjects with those that have a vocational focus  …giving students a good head start if they continue with vocational studies after finishing school’. Learn more…

Will We Ever Learn? What’s Wrong With the Common-Standards Project. By Robert I. Lerman & Arnold Packer. Published Online: April 20, 2010, Education Week.  The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers launched the common-core initiative in 2009, and presented the proposed standards to the public last month. President Barack Obama has endorsed them, Kentucky has already pledged to adopt them, and other states will soon follow suit. But what could they be thinking? Learn more…

Graduated Success: Sustainable Economic Opportunity Through One- and Two-Year Credentials. We often assume that a higher degree guarantees earning a higher salary and having greater economic opportunity. This assumption is not always the case. One- and two-year credentials can represent a viable path to economic prosperity, particularly for those graduates who, for whatever reason, do not earn more advanced degrees. Learn more…

Plan B: Skip College. By Jacques Steinberg. May 14, 2010, New York Times. WHAT’S the key to success in the United States? Short of becoming a reality TV star, the answer is rote and, some would argue, rather knee-jerk: Earn a college degree. The idea that four years of higher education will translate into a better job, higher earnings and a happier life — a refrain sure to be repeated this month at graduation ceremonies across the country — has been pounded into the heads of schoolchildren, parents and educators. But there’s an underside to that conventional wisdom. Perhaps no more than half of those who began a four-year bachelor’s degree program in the fall of 2006 will get that degree within six years, according to the latest projections from the Department of Education. (The figures don’t include transfer students, who aren’t tracked.) Learn more…

College Prep for All? What We’ve Learned in Chicago. By Christopher Mazzeo, Elaine Allensworth & Valerie Lee. As state and national policymakers look for ways to improve the rigor of the high school curriculum and enhance students’ readiness for college, many have turned their attention to increasing course requirements in core academic subjects. The national policy group Achieve reports that about 20 states now require all students to take some version of a “default curriculum” to graduate-generally defined as four years of English and mathematics and three or more years of science and social studies. Learn more…

Brookings Institution 2009 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning?B Fourth-grade math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were unchanged from 2007 to 2009. Eighth-grade scores were up a little. However, in the context of the 19-year history of the test and comparing the latest scores with results from other tests, the trend, which began sometime around 1998 or 1999, is historically unprecedented and extends across subjects (reading and math), grades (fourth and eighth), and tests (long-term trend and main NAEP). Read report

The Education Trust Stuck Schools: A Framework for Identifying Schools Where Students Need Change—Now! Schools often lumped together as “low performing” are not all alike. Some low-performing schools remain “stuck” year after year, while others that started as low performers are among the fastest improvers in their states. Tracking proficiency rates and improvement over time can help policymakers focus scarce resources on the neediest schools. Read report

Professional development for secondary career and technical education: Implications for change. Louisville, KY: National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, University of Louisville. After a quarter century of education reform, the essential role of the teacher is receiving the attention it deserves. Standards have been raised, testing has been mandated, principals have gained increased autonomy, schedules have been revised, computers have become widely available. None of these changes has as much impact as ensuring that teachers have the skills and knowledge to identify their students’ leaning needs and the ability to deliver instruction that responds to those needs. In this paper, the implications of this statement for the professional development of secondary-level career and technical education (CTE) teachers are examined and the evidence upon which it is based is cited. Read report

Common Postsecondary Data Dictionary for Perkins Accountability. National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, University of Louisville, and MPR Associates, Inc, (April 2010). Many states maintain sophisticated, longitudinal data systems that contain detailed, student-level data on postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) participants. Designed for administrative use and institutional research purposes, these systems contain comprehensive data on student coursetaking, achievement, and programmatic outcomes. Read report

Looking for a Leg Up in a Bad Economy. New York Times, January 25, 2010. By TRYMAINE LEE. On the 10th floor of an office building in the West Village, situated a few doors down from a video store advertising “blowout prices” and a “huge selection,” and a “gourmet” deli that offers two eggs and a coffee for $3, students of various ages, occupational backgrounds and ambitions are in class, training to be medical assistants, chefs and hotel managers. Read article – Watch companion video

What the Workforce Will Require of Students. EdWeek, November 11, 2009. By Catherine Gewertz. We’ve heard it before, but here it comes again: today’s students must have some postsecondary training or education in order to get good jobs. Read blog entry…

Will Science and Engineering Now Be a Good Career? EdWeek, November 6, 2009. By Lindsay Lowell & Hal Salzman. Adequate numbers of top students are being trained in the fields, write Hal Salzman and Lindsay Lowell, but many are being lured away by higher salaries elsewhere. Read blog entry…

It’s All What You Study. October 21, 2009. At community colleges, an underperforming high school graduate studying computer science is much more likely to see an earnings increase than is a well-prepared high school graduate studying literature. That is the conclusion of a new analysis designed to explore the factors that predict which community college students will gain the most from their education. Read article…

Examining the ‘No Effects’ Phenomenon in Education Research. By Russell Gersten. “Like a steady drip from a leaky faucet, the experimental studies being released this school year by the federal Institute of Education Sciences are mostly producing the same results: ‘No effects,’ ‘No effects,’ ‘No effects.’ ” So began Education Week’s description this past spring of findings reported in rigorous, more scientific evaluations from the 7-year-old research agency. Read article…

Some jobs just need the right workers. (Daytona Beach News-Journal © 10/25/2009). In a brutal job market, here’s a task that might sound easy: Fill jobs in nursing, engineering and energy research that pay $55,000 to $60,000, plus benefits. Yet, even with 15 million people hunting for work, even with the unemployment rate nearing 10 percent, some employers can’t find enough qualified people for good-paying career jobs. Read article…

CEO compares business world with time as principal-for-a-day. (Florida Times-Union © 10/27/2009). Wes Benwick found a few things he didn’t expect last year when he stepped away from his role as CEO of Bennett’s Business Systems to become a school principal for a day. “I was surprised to see how much work the principal and the school put in surrounding FCAT preparation,” he said, “and how much it ran like a business. Read article…

Top 5 Questions Asked by RNs Considering a Bachelor’s in Nursing. (Orlando Business Journal © 10/20/2009) (Registration Required). Answers Reveal How Getting a BSN Makes a Major Difference in an RN’s Career TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ — In today’s difficult economy, many job seekers — and those who are gainfully employed — are returning to school to increase their chances of landing a job or a promotion. Registered nurses (RNs) are returning to the classroom in record numbers to earn their Bachelor’s in Nursing. Read article…

Duncan Laments ‘False Dichotomy’ of College vs. Career (October 15, 2009, High School Connections Blog). When she hears people say “not every child is going to college,” it really bothers her, she told U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan last night, because “It’s always someone else’s child we are talking about.” Read article…

Helping Students Navigate the Path to College: What High Schools Can Do. Paper by W. G. Tierney, Thomas Bailey, J. Constantine, N. Finkelstein & N. F. Hurd — 2009 This guide, published by the Institute of Education Sciences, is intended to help schools and districts develop practices to increase access to higher education. The guide indicates the level of research evidence informing each of its five recommendations. View Abstract | Download the PDF

Who’s at the Leading Edge of Career-Tech Ed Policy? (October 9, 2009, High School Connections Blog). As more people talk about the importance of college and workplace readiness, the evolution of career and technical education is worth keeping an eye on. Read background note | View/Download Brief

Standards Aren’t Enough. Susan Fuhrman, Lauren Resnick, and Lorrie Shepard tell what else will be needed to make the proposed common standards work. Read article…

The College Calculation.  September 27, 2009 – By DAVID LEONHARDT. In January, “20/20” ran a similar segment, in which somebody identified as an education consultant and a career counselor summed up the case … Read article…

State Secondary Career and Technical Education Standards: Creating a Framework from a Patchwork of Policies. By Marisa Castellano, Linda Harrison, and Sherrie Schneider. Many states are currently working to define secondary career and technical education (CTE) content standards that specify the knowledge and skills students are expected to master in CTE program areas. This study explores the progress and status of states in developing statewide secondary CTE standards systems. Read article…

Math Group Issues New High School Guidelines. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is urging an instructional approach that focuses on reasoning and sense-making skills. Read article…

Even as layoffs persist, some good jobs go begging. By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD. — In a brutal job market, here’s a task that might sound easy: Fill jobs in nursing, engineering and energy research that pay $55,000 to $60,000, plus benefits. Read article…

A Place at the Table: A Pathway Worth Pursuing. Susan Graham doesn’t see what’s controversial about Mississippi’s plan to foster multiple career paths for students. Read article…

A Learning Pyramid That Puts Knowledge at the Peak. In history, moving from factual knowledge to critical thinking may require that the traditional steps of learning be adjusted, Sam Wineburg and Jack Schneider write. Read article…

Envisioning the Future: Career Pathways as a Systemic Framework Fully Implemented in the Community College. A Sequel to Career Pathways as a Systemic Framework: Rethinking Education for Student Success in College and Career. Compiled from the 2007 National Council for Workforce Education Conference Session. View/download PDF copy or Career Pathways Presentation

Panel Wants Engineering Integrated Into Curriculum. The National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council committee recommends integrating engineering into other subjects. (Education Week). Read article…

Many go to bat for SCF’s four-year degree programs. (Bradenton Herald © 09/25/2009) BRADENTON — A parade of local police and fire officials, childcare experts, businessmen, and hospital executives Thursday vouched for six new four-year degree programs that State College of Florida hopes to offer. Read article…

Colleges conflict on plans. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune © 09/24/2009) (Registration Required) BRADENTON – USF Sarasota-Manatee is challenging State College of Florida’s plans to add more four-year degree programs in what appears to be a growing battle between the two schools over students and funding. After earning approval to offer a four-year nursing degree, SCF officials are seeking the state’s OK to add six more four-year degree programs, including early-childhood education and… Read article…

National Subject-Matter Standards? Be Careful What You Wish For. Marion Brady writes that national content standards may hinder the development of educated generalists who are able to tackle today’s big issues. Read article…

A School Where STEM is King. EducationWeek. June 13, 2008. For the past two decades, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute has remolded its curriculum around blending disciplines known as STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Read article…