Ten of the region’s 12 career tech centers also had at least 90 percent of their graduates placed in jobs, apprenticeships, colleges or the military in the six months after graduation. That’s up from only six of 12 schools meeting that standard on last year’s report card.
A narrow majority of regional career tech centers also saw a rise in student graduation rates and technical skill test scores.
All of this is the result of what Springfield-Clark CTC Superintendent Rick Smith called “a perfect storm.”
“If the governor says career tech education is important, that hits the mark with a lot of people,” he said. “Certainly there has been a renewed focus, starting with the governor, on career tech training.”
Smith has been in career tech education since 2001. He has seen a lot of changes in the field and the not-so-flattering perceptions of it. Many families now understand that having a career tech certificate can be just as important as a college degree, he said.
“I don’t think every student needs to go to college to be successful,” Smith said. “It used to be maybe schools would talk kids out of going to a tech center, and now that’s not the case.”
The changes are now returning big dividends.
“Our hard work to make career technical education a valuable pathway to skilled jobs is paying off,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Richard Ross said.
The state’s career tech report card is very different from the report card for traditional schools, as only one of the four graded areas is based on student test scores — technical aptitude exams in this case, although reading and math passage rates also are reported.
The career tech report card also has a significant time lag, largely because it includes data on what students did after graduation. This month’s new report card data tracks the graduating class of 2013. The state plans to release the class of 2014 report card this winter, then the 2015 class next summer, cutting that lag time from two years to one.
Scores normally higher
Grades on the career tech report cards are higher than the traditional report cards, which are test-score driven. Thirty of the state’s 91 career centers got A’s in all four graded areas. Cleveland’s grades were the lowest in the state.
Miami Valley CTC, Centerville-Kettering-Oakwood, Upper Valley in Piqua, Warren County and Butler County joined Springfield-Clark CTC and Hi-Point on the career tech center report card’s elite list.
The state plans to review the grading scheme for career tech centers this year, according to Emily Passias, data manager for the state’s Office of Career Technical Education. Passias said the difficulty level of the state’s technical skill tests has been increased, and those scores will show up on future report cards.
“I like that the report card captures a little bit of everything,” Passias said. “We have information about student graduation, information on how students are performing on their technical assessments, about how they’re earning industry-recognized credentials, about what they’re doing in their transition after high school.
“It’s a really broad mix that captures the essence of what career technical education is trying to do.”
Passias added that the state has tightened standards on what counts as an industry credential, because some schools were counting a first-aid certificate that could be earned in an hour or two.
The success formula
The Springfield-Clark CTC’s success has been intentional, Smith said, and a couple of years ago the school started to focus on the areas it wasn’t doing as well in, such as literacy.
The school has started its fourth year in the Achieve 3000 literacy program.
“It has really upped our literacy scores,” Smith said. “Literacy can have an effect across many different curriculum and career pathways.”
It also partnered with Clark State Community College last year on a college and career readiness program.
“Students have learned soft skills that help prepare them for job interviews, and help them prepare to attend Clark State,” Smith said. “It takes away the uncomfortability of thinking about going to college.”
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