Thanks to a funding surge, more California schools are launching career academies, or programs that combine academic and technical skills. That means students get a jumpstart on connecting what they learn in school to the real world.
ConnectEd is an organization that advocates for student success by building career-focused partnerships with schools, districts and community leaders.
On this week’s podcast, Rob Atterbury of ConnectEd joined co-hosts Scott Lewis and Laura Kohn to talk about “linked learning,” a strategy to prepare students for both college and career.
“What Linked Learning and ConnectEd is supporting is … an opportunity to have an experience outside of the classroom … doing something that’s meaningful,” Atterbury said.
He said it’s challenging to convert some folks to believing in marrying academics and career-technical pathways.
Lewis and Kohn also talk about San Diego Workforce Partnership’s distribution of career pathway posters to local K-12 schools.
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Number of the Week
63 percent: That’s the percentage of jobs in the United States that will require a degree or certificate beyond high school by 2018, according to a Georgetown University study.
What’s Working
Clairemont High School launched four linked-learning academies meant to align with San Diego’s employment needs. The school’s career pathways include business, information technology, health and medical science and engineering design.
Correction: An earlier version of this post misspelled Rob Atterbury.