Career and Technical Education: An Alternative Approach to Educating At-Risk Youth Seminar in Applied Theory and Research II By Nicole Morris Final Presentation Spring 2010 –

Table of Contents Introduction  Statement of the Problem  Review of Related Literature  Statement of the Hypothesis Method  Participants (N)  Instruments (s)  Experimental Design  Procedure Results Discussion Implications References

Introduction Shadowing the so-called “well adjusted” high school student are the youth falling victim to an extensive range of risk factors that make them a member of a growing population of diverse teens labeled “at- risk”. Their risk factors, be it low achievement, retention in grade, or behavior problems all bear the unique stamp of the individual that experiences expulsion, suspension, or other forms of rejection. (Poyrazli, Ferrer-Wreder, Meister, Forthun, Coastworth,& Grahame, 2008).

Statement of the Problem At-risk behavior patterns, be it prankish or criminal, is challenging educators’ to question their professional skills and their ethics. Hence, the question remains, how will the educational system carry out the job of reaching the high school student who has become so accustomed to academic failure?

Review of Related Literature The CTE Approach Education policy cannot continue to believe all students will proceed through a traditional four years of high school followed directly by two to four years of college. Sagor, R. (1999). Education should include all members of society, not just the elite. Dewey, J. (1916)

Review of Related Literature: The CTE Approach Instructional Strategy #1  Alternative high schools that incorporate CTE programs have been effective in engaging academic understanding through Experiential Learning. Alfeld, C., Hansen, D., Aragon, S., & Stone, J. (2006). Leone, P. E., & Drakeford, W. (1999). Experiential Learning Theorist: Carl Rogers  Academic understanding and learning takes place when the subject matter is relevant to the personal interests of the student.  The student participates completely in the learning process and has control over its nature and direction.  Understanding and learning is practical, social, and personal.  Students learn the method of self- evaluation to assess progress and success.

Review of Related Literature: The CTE Approach Instructional Strategy #2  CTE’s positive approach uses Contextualized Learning to connect information to real-life understanding. Bennett, J. (2007). Contextualized Learning Theorist: Nancy Karweit  Contextualized Learning connects the student’s current environment, by providing relationships to abstract content areas.  Address math and science in context to a career such as construction or engineering.  Provides clear transitions from education to career pathways.

Review of Related Literature: Pros  Alternative education settings assist students to achieve both personally and academically through:  Individualized academic instruction.  Behavior modification.  Academic and social counseling.  An alternative academic setting transforms the school to nurture and re-engage the student who has given up on learning through:  Reduced class size.  Instructional models that have a real-life approach.  Use of technology. D’Angelo, F., & Zemanick, R. (2009).

Review of Related Literature: Cons  Exchanges between the teacher, administrator and At-risk student must remain positive, and an understanding of consequences for inappropriate actions must be established. When rules are not established for At-risk students:  Unpleasant or violent confrontations erupt.  Students become dis-engaged.  Students choose to leave or dropout of school.  For some students, the traditional academic setting and course names are a constant reminder of their educational shortcomings, failure and overall rejection that takes place year after year. Foley, R., & Pang, L. (2006). Hughes-Hassell, S. (2008). Aron, L.Y. (2006, January).

Statement of the Hypothesis H R 1 : An alternative high school in Queens, NY that includes Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are more effective to re-engage academic understanding of Mathematics, over a 5 month period to 17 over-aged ninth graders that exhibit at-risk behavior patterns.

Method Participants  Total population of 17 over-aged ninth grade boys and girls: 65% or 11 students are boys 35% or 6 students are girls  Racial breakdown of ninth grade students: 71% or 12 students are African-American 29% or 5 students are Latin-American  Socio-Economic status of ninth grade students: Lower SES to include one homeless student  Public Transfer high school located in Queens, NY

Method : Instruments  Consent Forms administered to:  Principal  Teacher  Students  Likert Scale Surveys administered to:  Teacher  Students prior to intervention (pretest) and after intervention (posttest)  Math Assessment:  2 Pretests and 2 posttests administered to students using Prentice Hall Brief Review for the New York State Regents Exam  Integrated Algebra and CTE (sample) lesson plan, “Pythagoras: Using a Carpenter’s Square”

Research Design  Pre-Experimental Design: One-Group Pretest- Posttest Design.  Single Group: Single group is pretested (O), exposed to a treatment (X), and posttested (O).  Symbolic Design: OXO

Procedure  The field research was conducted over a five month period from November 2009 to April 2010: Consent forms distributed to and collected from Principal, 2 Teachers and 17 Students, November Surveys distributed to and collected from 2 Teachers and 17 Students, December Integrated Algebra I blended with CTE intervention - Carpentry Skills I, December Pretest #1: June 2008 Regents Exam administered to 17 Students, January Pretest #2: August 2008 Regents Exam administered to 17 Students, February Posttest #1: January 2009 Regents Exam administered to 17 Students, March Posttest #2: June 2009 Regents Exam administered to 17 Students, April Posttest Survey administered to Students, April 2010.

Results: Pre-Experimental Design/ One Group Pretest and Posttest Scores * Analysis illustrates that 94% of students showed an increase in Math Scores following CTE intervention.

Results: Pre-Experimental Design/ One Group Pretest and Posttest Scores

Results: Correlation of Student Confidence in Mathematics and Pretest #1 Math Scores Likert Scale Survey Question #7: Solving math problems often makes me nervous and upset. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree (1) (2) (3) (4) * Correlation Coefficient (rxy)= 0.84; hence, the line of best fit shows a positive correlation between student’s (lack) of confidence and Pretest #1 math scores.

Results: Correlation of Content Mastery in Mathematics and Posttest #2 Math Scores Likert Scale Survey Question #8: I enjoy math more when blended with the CTE/ Carpentry Co-teacher because he makes solving math problems more understandable. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree (1) (2) (3) (4) * Correlation Coefficient (rxy)= -0.89; hence, the line of best fit shows a negative correlation between student’s content mastery and Posttest #2 math scores.

Results: Data Analysis of Pre-Experimental Design Single Group Posttest #2:  Mean is 75%, Median is 79% and Mode is 82%  The Standard Deviation from the Mean was +/-.15  Five of the seventeen scores or 29% is approximately 1 Standard Deviation below the Mean

Discussion  This study supports the hypothesis that Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are more effective to re-engage academic understanding of mathematics.  CTE programs meet the educational needs for youth identified as at- risk by providing Experiential and/ or Contextualized Learning to make instruction more relevant and less abstract (Conner, & McKee 2008; Foley & Pang 2006).  Education should be non-discriminatory and provide alternative settings for the variety of learners and their academic abilities. Hence, schools that blend the core academics (Math, Science, English, Social Studies) with CTE Programs help to refocus at-risk youth, and can prepare them to successfully graduate from highs chool and transition to the workforce (Aron 2006; Bennett 2007; Dewey 1916).

Implications The results of the research show that educating at-risk students through CTE programs positively influence the engagement of abstract subjects like mathematics, by constructing the content to be more relevant to a student’s life (Rogers, 1969). However, the research would require a longer study to truly investigate whether the students improved academically from the CTE programs, and graduated from high school. The students evaluated in the research have all repeated one grade or more during their educational journey. Additionally, they have spent time away from the classroom because of suspension, temporary incarceration or other personal issues. Thus, any setbacks or reminders of failure is likely to cause these students to withdraw from school completely!

Threats to Validity Internal Threats to Validity  History  Maturation  Testing  Instrumentation  Differential Selection  Mortality  Selection-Maturation Interaction External Threats to Validity  Pretest Treatment  Selection-Treatment Interaction  Experimenter Effects  Reactive Arrangements/ Participants Effects