N.C.’s Technical High Schools Graduate, But Do They Educate?

North Carolina public school students attending career and technical high schools appear to be lagging in traditional areas of instruction such as math and science, although graduation rates for these specialized schools outpace their traditional counterparts.

Career and technical high schools are few in number and tend to produce mixed results on end-of-year tests, based on a review of academic performance scores maintained by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

The schools are similar to vocational schools, where students learn specific job- or trade-related skills. However, vocational instruction has evolved in recent years to incorporate broader academic instruction, rather than simply providing a primer for automotive, construction, and other service trades.

Advocates for career and technical schools suggest that placing students who show little interest in pursuing a traditional, four-year college degree on a career/tech path are less likely to drop out and find more job opportunities.

Meantime, those who do attend four-year universities tend to be more successful. Roughly 10,000 North Carolina public school students earn postsecondary credits through career and technical education each year, reports Rebecca Payne, director of career and technical education for DPI.

DPI reports that 86 percent of students taking at least four hours of CTE-track courses graduated in 2008, the most recent year comparative data is available. That compares with a statewide graduation rate of 69.9 percent that year.

There are fewer than a dozen free-standing career and technical high schools in the N.C. public school system, although there are numerous “career academies,” or schools-within-a-school, DPI says. They include the Berry Academy of Technology in Charlotte; Weaver Academy in Greensboro; the Highland School of Technology in Gaston County; the Collaborative College for Technology and Leadership in Statesville; and the Southern School of Engineering, Durham Performance Learning Center, and City of Medicine Academy, both part of Durham Public Schools.

Career and tech schools have sprouted up, in part, as a result of the state’s New Schools project. That project was designed to prepare students not only for college but also for service-oriented careers, such as automotive and information technology.

The schools are small by design — typically no more than 400 students, DPI says. Each school is structured around a specific model or theme. Students take a sequence of courses to receive specialized training in a particular career pathway.

Critics, however, argue that career and technical high schools essentially duplicate courses offered at the state’s 58 community colleges. For instance, Alamance Community College in Graham offers tracks tailored for high school students, at no additional cost to the student, since the Alamance-Burlington Middle College is considered part of the county’s public school system.

Critics also say the specialized schools squander taxpayer dollars while failing to address problems such as overcrowding in traditional schools. Students typically are assigned to a traditional school and then bused to the career/tech school, where specialized instruction is offered.

In June 2009, S.B. 754 allowed state agencies to administer $275.8 million in bonding authority for new, qualified school construction bonds. Funding came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aka the stimulus bill.

One project funded by that program is the North Carolina’s newest career and technical high school in Burlington, scheduled to open January 2012. The 40,000-square-foot center will serve an average of 250 students daily, providing career pathway courses in video production, information technology, drafting, health and human services, culinary instruction, and the traditional automotive and construction vocations.

While construction costs will be paid with $8.2 million in qualified school construction bonds, little has been said about how the cash-strapped district will cover the school’s annual operating costs.

George Griffin, director of school programs for the Alamance Burlington School System, said the projected costs of building a new high school — needed to alleviate longtime overcrowding within the district’s six existing high schools — prohibited ABSS officials from using the bond money for a new, traditional campus.

Alamance County Commissioner Tim Sutton said the only reason he initially supported the center is because ABSS Superintendent Randy Bridges had promised the commission the center would free up space in existing high schools.

Removing courses such as carpentry, drafting, and automotive technology would open between 30 and 35 classrooms, Bridges told the commissioners. “If you relocate these classes somewhere else, it does create a little more elbow room in the classroom,” Bridges said.

But the new school will not open any classroom space in the existing high schools, and Bridges has since left Alamance-Burlington to head a school system in Virginia.

“I would have never supported the career/technical center if [Bridges] had told me it was not going to free up any space,” Sutton said.

CTEC student performance mixed

End-of-course test scores for the 2009-10 school year provided by DPI show mixed results from students attending specialized career and technical schools.

At the Highland School of Technology in Gaston County, students scored around 95 percent on English and Algebra I and comparably in other areas, including civics and U.S. history.

Students at Durham’s City of Medicine Academy improved from 2008-09 to 2009-10. In the most recent year, 87.3 percent of students scored at or above grade level in English I; 55.6 percent in Algebra I; 87 percent in Algebra II; and 73.8 percent in geometry. The previous year, only 81.5 percent of students performed at or above grade level in English I; 36.2 percent in Algebra I; 32.4 percent in Algebra II; and 55.8 percent in geometry.

In 2009-10 at Durham’s Southern School of Engineering, roughly 83 percent of students tested at or above grade level in English I; 50 percent in Algebra I; 58.8 percent Algebra II; and 52.8 percent in geometry. The previous year, only 50.1 percent of students tested at or above grade level in English I; 20.3 percent in Algebra I; and 13.4 percent in Algebra II.

By contrast, at Greensboro’s Weaver Academy, at least 95 percent of students performed at or above grade level in English I, Algebra I, Algebra II, biology, civics, and U.S. history in 2009-10.

Kristy Bailey is a contributor to Carolina Journal.