High schools that soar
Discovering what works in school-to-career programs

"Does it count?" That's the first thing students will ask about any education program, the late Albert Shanker used to remind policy makers. And the answer better be an unequivocal "yes" or chances are slim that students will achieve at high levels.

At Aviation High School, it counts--big time.

Complete the rigorous academic and vocational coursework at this public school in Queens, N.Y., and you'll have the skills and knowledge necessary to become an FAA-certified aviation mechanic. More than 90 percent of graduates pass the FAA certification exams--opening the door to worldwide job opportunities and starting salaries of $17 an hour or more. An Aviation High School diploma also means strong grounding in core academic disciplines, an education that can lead to postsecondary education. About 80 percent of graduates go on to two- and four-year colleges.

This magnet public school certainly doesn't cater to the wealthiest families in the city; a little more than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Nor does it take only the academic stars, although the school does want incoming freshmen to read on grade level and maintain a "C" in both math and science. "The feeling among staff is 'give me the average students with average abilities and let me take them the rest of the way,'" says instructor Paul Casella.

Aviation High School is not for everyone, faculty, administrators and students all agree. But it does provide a model of how one school has cultivated a connection between academics and a challenging occupation, one that keeps students motivated throughout the school day. School principal Eileen B. Taylor points out, for example, that more than 90 percent of Aviation High School students passed the state-mandated English exams given last June, and more than 70 percent scored high enough to earn Regents-level credit--an "excellent first showing" for students under the state's new initiative to raise academic standards across the board for high school students.

A sense of purpose, of shared identity, runs throughout the high school, which occupies a full city block in a neighborhood between John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. They seem to understand that the learning that goes on inside the high school counts not only for them but for the public. "Making aircraft parts has to be precise, down to a thousandth of an inch sometimes," says upperclassman Mike Ochtabec. "If something you make isn't just right or breaks...it can be a pretty big problem."

It's also clear that students who love a challenge feel right at home at Aviation. Vincent Lindner, a junior at the school, is planning to work as a mechanic while he pursues a legal degree. His ultimate goal, he says, is to be an aviation lawyer. Classmate Vanessa Rengifo, one of a growing number of girls entering Aviation in recent years, says she is excited about pursuing a career that historically wasn't open to women.

Many of the instructors at the school were also students and are either current or former employees from the aviation industry. "It's a good opportunity to bring to the classroom what happens on a daily basis," says Aviation instructor George Zanetis, manager for production control for two airlines. And the career path that many instructors have chosen also has inspired some of the school's students. Alumnus Mike Koumoullos, a scholarship student at St. John's University, is currently working at Aviation with an eye toward being an instructor at the school. "I really like it when you apply lessons and then really see it start to come together" for students, he explains.

Keeping focus
Many of the strategies in place at Aviation also are being used with success at William H. Turner Technical High School in Miami. The school is organized into seven career academies geared to occupations such as finance, information services and public service. Like Aviation, the school also builds aggressive links to area businesses that lead to valuable internship opportunities for students, along with scholarships and other real-world incentives. Like Aviation, the faculty maintains a climate of high expectations in academic subjects and maintains an interdisciplinary dialogue that helps prevent students from "falling through the cracks."

Each academy at Turner is built around a team of teachers who are responsible for developing integrated curriculum units that reinforce student learning across disciplines. The team is responsible not only for helping to ensure that students meet state standards in core academic areas but also has major input in budget, scheduling and other major considerations.

"Teachers are really empowered at our school because of the academy structure," says Nancy Erdvig, team leader for Turner's Academy of Information Technology and Entrepreneurship. "Administrators really listen to what the teacher leadership team has to say. And integrated curriculum units really are a reflection of common planning time among teachers."

The academy structure is a critical piece of the Turner approach that "personalizes education for the students and the faculty in a way you don't get in a traditional high school."

To make it work, the school places a premium on joint planning time for the academy teams. It ranges from traditional afterschool meetings to retreat days for faculty, funded through grants the school has won. Common planning time is critical to the success of the program, she stresses. "You really need these connections. It gives depth to learning."

The career-based approach also provides a critical contextual link for student learning, she stresses. For example, the Academy of Residential Construction offers a project in cooperation with a local builder that challenges students to build a new home according to industry guidelines. Proceeds from the home sale help fund student scholarships at Turner Tech.

In the Academy of Finance, about 96 percent of students go on to two- and four-year colleges. A big reason, says academy director Lois Kahn, is the school's Fortunes 500 scholarship program, which allows students to apply for up to $4,000 in scholarships for postsecondary education through good grades and attendance. "It's a huge carrot that gives them motivation to continue," she says.

The Turner approach appears to be working well. The school's 96 percent attendance rate was the highest in the district in 1997, and the dropout rate is less than a third of the district's 8.9 percent average. The school also has ranked in the top 20 percent of district high schools on many parts of the state's high school competency test.

AFT resources
The lessons of successful school reform are beginning to be recognized at many policy-making levels. The AFT's 1999 paper "Improving Low-Performing High Schools: Ideas & Promising Programs for High Schools" lists many features that are common to schools such as Aviation and Turner. They include:

• establishing high academic standards and providing all students with challenging coursework and support they need to reach the standards;
• organizing all schools into personal communities; and
• creating incentives for students to study and achieve.

"These recommendations were formulated after looking at many different approaches to successful high school reform," explains Dawn Krusemark of the AFT's educational issues department. "We recognize the complexity of high school reform and wanted to provide folks with starting points and promising programs."

As part of that effort, the union recently released "Reaching the Next Step: School to Career--One Path to better High Schools," a multimedia package illustrating the strategies and foundations for successful high school reform. The resource includes a 20-minute video and was developed under a grant from the National School to Work Office and is aimed at those engaged in high school reform efforts at the local, state and regional level. "Reaching the Next Step" is available for $20 prepaid from the AFT order dept., 555 New Jersey Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20001. Ask for Item No. 283.

American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO - 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Washington, DC 20001