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Career Academies Home · School Reform · How To · National Standards · Resources · Models · Programs · Technical Assistance · Succeed: 2005-06 · 2006-07 · 2007-08

A Good Idea

Academies usually start with one or a few teachers or administrators learning about this approach and deciding it would be a good idea for their high school. If you are here, you have already thought that a career academy is a good idea, and you actually want to start one!

Where to Start

While there is no pat formula for this, usually the next step is sampling interest more broadly in the school and community. Share the information that has made you interested with other teachers, the principal and other administrators, and members of the school board. Others, that have a stake in an academy, are employers, institutions of higher education, parents and students. An excited teacher or two can provide good leadership, but they cannot make an academy successful by themselves. All the stakeholders listed above need to be on board.

A Proposed Taxonomy of Career Clusters

One of the first and most important decisions in starting a new academy is the choice of career field. Academies draw on the inherent interest students have in learning about some feature of the world of work to motivate them to take seriously their core academic subjects as well. Thus, the field needs to be one that holds interest for students. It also needs to be one with interested employers in the community who will provide the support needed for an academy: Steering Committee members, speakers, field trip hosts, mentors, and internships. And it needs to be an industry that is healthy and growing, so there will be jobs available when academy graduates are ready for them. Florida’s Statewide Targeted Occupations List of the Workforce Estimating Conference is a great resource for lists of high-skill, high-demand occupations in your region. (http://www.workforceflorida.com/wages/wji/index.htm)<

Economists usually categorize economic activity into industries. The U.S. Department of Education suggests organizing instruction related to careers into 16 Career Clusters. Standards and curriculum are being developed for each cluster. More information can be obtained about this at www.careerclusters.org.

The 16 Career Clusters

  • Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources
  • Arts, A/V Technology & Communication
  • Education & Training
  • Government & Public Administration
  • Hospitality & Tourism
  • Information Technology
  • Manufacturing
  • Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
  • Architecture & Construction
  • Business, Management & Administration
  • Finance
  • Health Science
  • Human Services
  • Law, Public Safety & Security
  • Marketing, Sales & Service
  • Transportation, Distribution & Logistics

Schedule of Planning Tasks

Once the stakeholders to be affected by an academy have been involved and the career field identified, a more precise set of planning tasks can be undertaken. It usually takes from eight months to a year to effectively plan a career academy from this point. The set of planning tasks and schedule below define the key steps in this process and the time frame in which they need to be carried out.

Form a Steering Committee - January-February

Identify school, business, community, and parent representatives; establish a regular schedule of meetings to provide oversight.

Form Steering Committee Task Forces - January-June

Some examples: curriculum development, staff preparation, employer support, facilities preparation, and equipment needs and acquisition.

Identify Academy Staff - January-February

Select Director/Lead Teacher, other teachers, both a career field teacher and several academic teachers, school administrator, counselor, and district representatives.

Coordinate the Academy with the High School - March-June

Inform the entire high school staff of the plan; orient the counselors; arrange cohort scheduling/schedule the academy classes; meet with the instructional leaders; union leaders; reaffirm district support.

Develop Curriculum (in detail for grades 9 and 10, at outline level for grades 11 and 12 depending on academy implementation) - March-August

Have the teachers draw on employers for career field input; examine state standards; map academic curriculum accordingly; conduct internet research; visit other academies; develop project based learning/ integrated curriculum ideas.

Recruit and Select Students - March-May

Distribute information on the academy to all freshmen (or eighth grade students); screen and accept applications; hold interviews and parent meetings; identify and schedule students; welcome them into the academy; plan summer activity.

Identify Postsecondary Education Partners - March-August

Develop plan for articulation agreement and/or dual-enrollment.

Prepare Facilities and Equipment - April-August

Adapt a classroom as “home base;” prepare necessary space; obtain and install necessary equipment.

Plan Motivational Activities - June-August

Identify activities that will make the academy appeal, types of student monitoring and rewards to be used.

Plan Business Speaker and Field Trip Program - July-August

Explore what companies will participate, topics of most interest, schedule for the year. Develop a calendar of events for these activities.

Related Costs, Sources of Support

Career academies do require additional work, and therefore entail additional expense. The biggest expense comes from the time needed to coordinate the various elements of the program: for the team of teachers to meet regularly, develop integrated curriculum, coordinate employer involvement and the program elements they support, and organize links to college programs.

Most high schools have funding outside their mainstream support, such as Title I funds, or those for vocational education, technology, staff development, or districts initiatives. Often some part of these may be used to help support an academy. There are also state (SUCCEED Florida-Career Paths Program) and federal (Small Learning Communities) grant initiatives that can be used for academies. There are many private foundations interested in educational improvement, sometimes applicable to career academies. A listing of possible sources of funding for academies is included in one of the documents at the Career Academy Support Network (CASN)’s website.

A complete guide for career academies can be found at the CASN website (http://casn.berkeley.edu/). Their clearinghouse of career academy resources and templates for forms will save you hours of time and frustration.