The gatekeepers.

The gatekeepers. Will parents hear the school-to-careers message? The job is toconvince them there's more than one way for their children to win. To many in the vocational education vocational education,training designed to advance individuals' general proficiency, especially in relation to their present or future occupations. The term does not normally include training for the professions. community, theschool-to-careers concept makes perfect sense: Get students to thinkabout how they'd like to make a living and guide them toward theirgoals. Teach them academic subjects in context. Give them options toPursue after high school: work, postsecondary education or both. Since the early 1990s, the school-to-careers believers have madepartners of many educators and policymakers. Now that school districtshave begun to implement STC STC Supplemental Type Certificate (FAA)STC Society for Technical CommunicationSTC Subject to ChangeSTC Surf the Channel (website)STC Sound Transmission ClassSTC Singapore Turf Club programs around the country, however, it isbecoming clear that we may have failed to win over the most importantconstituent group: parents of school-age children. As the article on page 20 of this issue notes, a vocal oppositionto STC programs is building. Many of the parents' comments reflecta misunderstanding of STC philosophies, which means reformers have notdone an adequate job of explaining the issues. And it also shows we havenot paid enough attention to the core problem: Parents who believe theirchildren have only one way to win are not interested in educationoptions. The parental "one way" mentality men��tal��i��tyn.The sum of a person's intellectual capabilities or endowment. is rooted in the beliefthat a four-year college degree will secure their child's place inthe shrinking middle class. They are wary of any education plan thatsounds at all different from the familiar college prep route. While college always has been the hope of some parents for theirchildren, the percentage of "all" parents who advise collegeincreased by 20 percent between 1982 and 1992. In a national sample ofhigh school sophomores, more than 80 percent said their mothers hadrecommended college. When parents think of college, what they have in mind is afour-year college, or if not that, then a two-year general studiesprogram designed to transfer into a four-year bachelor's degreeprogram. The percentage of all SAT test takers who planned to pursue atwo-year technical education reached an all-time low in 1995. In oneGulf Coast state, part of scholarship money for attendance at two-yeartechnical colleges went unused. Why is this happening? Largely because of myths that have grown uparound the economy, higher education higher educationStudy beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. and the relationship betweencollege degrees and good jobs. Unless the school-to-careers communitycan debunk de��bunk?tr.v. de��bunked, de��bunk��ing, de��bunksTo expose or ridicule the falseness, sham, or exaggerated claims of: debunk a supposed miracle drug. these myths, both secondary and two-year postsecondarytechnical education could be in jeopardy jeopardy,in law, condition of a person charged with a crime and thus in danger of punishment. At common law a defendant could be exposed to jeopardy for the same offense only once; exposing a person twice is known asdouble jeopardy. . Nor are related high schoolprograms such as integrated tech prep and school-to-careers likely tosucceed widely unless parents can be convinced such programs open doorsto high-skill, high-wage careers. Plan A: The Baccalaureate Game If most parents already have their hearts set on Plan A for theirchildren, how can educators get them to consider any other option? Theycan start with the facts. Communicating economic and education facts toparents doesn't mean issuing statistics with doomsday overtones.Instead educators should stress their desire to give parents theinformation they need to understand the big picture. FACT: When today's youth are asked what they value, theirresponses are decidedly conservative. At the top of their list is"get a better job" and second is "job security,"according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. the 1994 Annual Survey of Entering College Freshmen. Themajority think Plan A is the route to this goal. Ninety-five percent ofhigh school sophomores surveyed for a recent Education Department studysaid they would go directly to college after high school, and 85 percentaspired to at least a four-year college degree. Why Parents Should Worry; The career goals of most of the teens inthe NCES NCES National Center for Education StatisticsNCES Net-Centric Enterprise Services (US DoD)NCES Network Centric Enterprise ServicesNCES Net Condition Event Systems study were unrealistic and probably uninformed. Half of themale students and 68 percent of the female high school students figuredthey'd have a job in the professional ranks by the time they turned30. These high school students now preparing to graduate either areunaware that professional occupations make up only 20 percent of alljobs, or they are choosing to ignore the fact. While it is the American ideal to pursue dreams, attempting Plan Aand failing to achieve a career objective (or even a degree, for thatmatter) is not a fanciful fan��ci��ful?adj.1. Created in the fancy; unreal: a fanciful story.2. Tending to indulge in fancy: a fanciful mind.3. side trip without consequences. FACT: Most high school students do not graduate prepared forcollege-level academics. Even though most high school students now takecollege prep courses in high school, my research and National Assessmentof Education Progress (NAEP NAEP National Assessment of Educational ProgressNAEP National Association of Environmental ProfessionalsNAEP National Association of Educational ProgressNAEP National Agricultural Extension PolicyNAEP Native American Employment Program ) data suggest that, at best, only 30 percentof high school graduates have the aptitude and academic preparationnecessary to handle college academic courses. Why Parents Should Worry: Open admissions open admissionspl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)A policy that permits enrollment of a student in a college or university without regard to academic qualifications. Also called open enrollment. policies at all butabout 200 of the nation's more than 3,000 four-year colleges havegreatly broadened access to higher education--even for those who werejust mediocre me��di��o��cre?adj.Moderate to inferior in quality; ordinary. See Synonyms at average.[French m��diocre, from Latin mediocris : medius, middle; see medhyo- performers in high school. One negative result of thislaudable laud��a��bleadj.Healthy; favorable. practice is that colleges must offer remedial REMEDIAL. That which affords a remedy; as, a remedial statute, or one which is made to supply some defects or abridge some superfluities of the common law. 1 131. Com. 86. The term remedial statute is also applied to those acts which give a new remedy. Esp. Pen. Act. 1. courses. Whilesome call these courses a "second chance," very few remedialstudents emerge with a college degree. A recent Ohio study found thatonly 35 percent of students enrolled in college remedial coursesgraduated, and only 56 percent returned for their sophomore year. Parents naively think that C's and B's earned in thecollege prep track are enough proof that their children will be preparedfor college--especially if a college has accepted them. Wrong on bothcounts. Most parents have never heard of remedial courses in college andmany are shocked to find their tuition dollars paying for them. FACT: At best, only about half of those who enroll in a four-yearprogram have graduated six years later. Some estimate the figure to beas low as 30 percent. The American College American College is the name of: American College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland The American College in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India The American College of the Immaculate Conception, Leuven (also known as Louvain), Belgium Testing Service (ACT) reportsthat the college dropout (1) On magnetic media, a bit that has lost its strength due to a surface defect or recording malfunction. If the bit is in an audio or video file, it might be detected by the error correction circuitry and either corrected or not, but if not, it is often not noticed by the human rate hit an all-time high in 1996--27 percentof freshmen dropped out that year. Just 53 percent managed to graduatein five years. Nor is the news good for parents who hope their children willtransfer into four-year colleges from a community college. According toNCES, only 12 percent of these students are found at four-year collegesthree years later. In the 1995 Condition of Education report, Commissioner ofEducation Statistics Emerson J. Elliot noted that high rates ofnoncompletion may indicate "students do not have enough informationabout the actual skills in demand in the labor market labor marketA place where labor is exchanged for wages; an LM is defined by geography, education and technical expertise, occupation, licensure or certification requirements, and job experience " beforemaking education decisions. Why Parents Should Worry: Do they want to stake theirchildren's future on 2:1 odds? If not, it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to explorethe options. FACT: A four-year college education is getting more and moreexpensive each year. The costs have outpaced the rate of inflation.Between 1980 and 1991, college costs rose 55 percent at private collegesand 32 percent at public colleges, while family income fell 2 percentduring the same period. As a result, the typical college student nowreceives some sort of financial aid, usually in the form of loans. Loanscomprised 55 percent of all financial aid in 1994-95--up from 20 percentin 1974. Why Parents Should Worry: The depressing reality is that a studentloan payment schedule probably is a likelihood for both winners andlosers in Plan A. And failing at Plan A is not without human costs, too. A collegedropout faced with a significant student loan payment, or a collegegraduate who ends up working for minimum wage, is quite likely to bemore than a little discouraged. And their frustration extends toparents, who may agonize over what went wrong. Finding a job FACT: In the 1970s, only one in five who graduated with abachelor's degree failed to find a job in their field of study. Nowthe figure is one in three, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Why Parents Should Worry: Remember, most young people hope to beworking in the professions by the age of 30. They should know, then,that the odds are against them. Only one in two who graduate with aprofessional credential--such as for teaching, engineering, accountingor the biological sciences--will find commensurate com��men��su��rate?adj.1. Of the same size, extent, or duration as another.2. Corresponding in size or degree; proportionate: a salary commensurate with my performance.3. employment. While ournation's colleges graduate 1.2 million students each year withprofessional degrees, the economy generates only 600,000 jobs. FACT: Technical employment is the fastest-growing segment of thelabor market. What Parents Should Know: Most technical work will not require afour-year college degree. Only 25 percent of all technical work requiresa four-year or graduate degree. The fastest-growing piece of thehigh-skill, high-wage technical workplace is occupations that willrequire an associate's degree as��so��ci��ate's degreen.An academic degree conferred by a two-year college after the prescribed course of study has been successfully completed. . FACT: Although college graduates continue to earn more than highschool graduates, a bachelor's degree is not a guarantor guarantorn. a person or entity that agrees to be responsible for another's debt or performance under a contract, if the other fails to pay or perform. (See: guarantee) GUARANTOR, contracts. He who makes a guaranty. 2. of a highincome. The economic return from college is a complex issue. Educationaccounts for only some of the variation in individual earnings. Supplyand demand are the key factors. What Parents Should Know: Many baseball players seem to earn atleast a million dollars a year. So why don't all parents encouragetheir children to become baseball players? Because they know noteveryone is born with the kind of talent it takes to be a professionalballplayer, and there are few of these choice jobs available. It'snot such a stretch to apply that analogy to Plan A: Only a third of allstudents graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college, andthere are not enough jobs to satisfy the professional goals of allcollege graduates. Sadly, college graduates who lacked a career focus in school oftenfind themselves working in low-skill, low-wage jobs while they search invain vain?adj. vain��er, vain��est1. Not yielding the desired outcome; fruitless: a vain attempt.2. Lacking substance or worth: vain talk.3. for an opening in the field for which they studied. At the sametime, graduates of two-year college programs in high-demandoccupations--such as certified See certification. welders, dental hygienists dental hygienistn.A person trained and licensed to provide preventive dental services, such as cleaning the teeth, usually in conjunction with a dentist. , chefs andmachine technicians--usually find high-paying jobs quickly. The challenge is to get parents--and students, for that matter--tounderstand that labor market advantage for high-skill, high-wageemployment comes not from education for the sake of a degree buteducation that is focused on a career goal. If the goal is a place inthe middle-class, postsecondary plans should focus on obtaining realskills. Parents should be reminded of the old-fashioned advice that thekey to success is to select an occupation in which one has aptitude andinterest, then focus on preparing to make oneself marketable. Plan B: Other ways to win For the small percentage of students who thrive in the traditionalcollege prep atmosphere, Plan A may be worth the risk. For others,especially those from the academic middle or lower, the odds of successare long. In the 1960s and '70s, young couples were told that theirhouse would be their biggest expense. Today, for many, it will be theirchildren's higher education. No one makes these kinds ofinvestments without considering alternatives. No one willingly sendstheir children off to likely failure at a cost of thousands of dollars. There are, of course, many reasons parents want their children togo to college that have nothing to do with careers and future earnings.Among them is a belief that a child's acceptance into a four-yearcollege, particularly if it is a prestigious college, has become themost visible sign of parental effectiveness in the teenage years. But if Plan A has proved to be a winner for only 25 percent of thestudent population, it makes sense to have another plan. And Idon't mean alternatives that seem to be afterthoughts or thatnarrow a student's options. Here's where it's importantfor parents to know that school-to-careers programs can guide theirchildren into challenging, well-paying occupations without closing anyavenues. FACT: School-to-careers programs do not preclude pre��clude?tr.v. pre��clud��ed, pre��clud��ing, pre��cludes1. To make impossible, as by action taken in advance; prevent. See Synonyms at prevent.2. college. What Parents Should Know: Adopting a school-to-careers mindset mind��setor mind-setn.1. A fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person's responses to and interpretations of situations.2. An inclination or a habit. usually means introducing some meaningful forms of career guidancethroughout the K-12 years; encouraging students into a broad careerpathway, such as the health sciences, that encompasses their interests;delivering core academics in a career context where possible; andensuring some type of work-based learning experience, from job shadowingto internships. A student who performs well in the health careers pathway mayelect to pursue a medical degree or, for example, a two-year nursing orlab technician degree. There are a range of possibilities within STCprograms. The key is to make parents aware of career options and theeducation their children need for each. Most important, they need tounderstand that a child's decision to seek a two-year degree or askilled job after high school should be supported. FACT: Sometimes college graduates with bachelor's and evengraduate degrees enroll in two-year technical education programs. Calledreverse transfers, they are so common now that many two-year collegesreport the largest new source of students is the nearby university.These graduates have found their degrees in academic subjectsaren't enough of a credential credentialverb To determine or verify titles, qualifications, documents, completion of required training, and continuing education, in those persons who function in a professional or official capacity–eg, ER physician, neurosurgeon, etc. Cf Credentials. for non-teaching jobs. A community ortechnical college education can supplement a bachelor's degree withoccupational skills and foster connections with area employers. What Parents Should Know: Of six job groupings recognized bit theLabor Department--managerial/professional: craft; precision metal andspecialized spe��cial��ize?v. spe��cial��ized, spe��cial��iz��ing, spe��cial��iz��esv.intr.1. To pursue a special activity, occupation, or field of study.2. repair; technical support: service; operative/laborer; andfarming/fishing--professional occupations are at the top of the paytier. But parents usually are surprised to find that the precisionmetal/craft grouping offers, on average, the next highest salaries.These technical occupations exist in virtually every industry and inevery work environment. Examples include construction drafter, medicallab technician, manufacturing systems operator, computer repairperson re��pair��per��son?n.A repairman or repairwoman. and paralegal paralegaln. a non-lawyer who performs routine tasks requiring some knowledge of the law and procedures, employed by a law office or who works free-lance as an independent for various lawyers. . These jobs share an essential characteristic: they paywell but require specific occupational skills. These are skills that canbe learned in a combination of high school vocational-technicalprograms, two-year colleges and employer-sponsored apprenticeship apprenticeship,system of learning a craft or trade from one who is engaged in it and of paying for the instruction by a given number of years of work. The practice was known in ancient Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as well as in modern Europe and to some extent programs. FACT: Technician jobs not only pay well, but they are moreplentiful plen��ti��ful?adj.1. Existing in great quantity or ample supply.2. Providing or producing an abundance: a plentiful harvest. than professional ones, which comprise only 20 percent of alloccupations. For example, technical colleges in Milwaukee, Wisconsin For other places with the same name, see Milwaukee (disambiguation).Milwaukee is the largest city within the state of Wisconsin and 25th largest (by population) in the UnitedStates. ,say they receive hundreds of calls from area manufacturers willing topay top dollar for qualified graduates. This refrain has been repeatedthroughout the country. Opportunities for women and minorities are even better. Women holdless than 10 percent of the jobs in the second-highest-payingoccupational group in the economy, and minority participation is equallylow. As a result, many firms are conducting national and internationalsearches for skilled workers in these occupations, particularly forwomen and minorities with the relevant prerequisite pre��req��ui��site?adj.Required or necessary as a prior condition: Competence is prerequisite to promotion.n. skills. FACT: A two-year technical education is less expensive. Tuitionand fees for a two-year associate's degree are at most half that ofa four-year degree. And students who choose this route are able to entertheir career field sooner. Succeeding in Plan B requires sound secondary-level preparation inschool-to-careers programs that give students an academic and technicalfoundation. These are the tips I give parents who want to know how to advisetheir children on career goals: * Focus on postsecondary success, not postsecondary admissions.There's a college out there that will enroll your child. The hardpart is making it through a college-level academic program andgraduating. * If the goal is high-skill, high-wage employment, do not confuse con��fuse?v. con��fused, con��fus��ing, con��fus��esv.tr.1. a. To cause to be unable to think with clarity or act with intelligence or understanding; throw off.b. education with skill. This type of employment is highly competitive.Individuals who have the prerequisite occupational skills, not just abachelor's degree, will have the advantage. * Get serious about career exploration. Do not be fooled by themoldy moldyanimal feed overgrown with fungus; the feed may be harvested and stored or be still in the ground.moldy corn diseasesee leukoencephalomalacia, fusariummoniliforme. advice that college is the best place to start thinking aboutcareers. First, it's an expensive testing ground Noun 1. testing ground - a region resembling a laboratory inasmuch as it offers opportunities for observation and practice and experimentation; "the new nation is a testing ground for socioeconomic theories"; "Pakistan is a laboratory for studying the use of American . Second, studentswho go to college without adequate occupational focus are less likely tograduate and even less likely to end up with commensurate employment ifthey do graduate. * Make sure your children get a high school education that preparesthem for a clear transition upon graduation Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the associated ceremony. The date of event is often called degree day. The event itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation. . Simply taking courses isnot a program of study. Good program examples are vocational-technicaleducation, integrated tech prep and school-to-career activities. Makesure your child takes math and science during senior year so he or shedoesn't wind up in remedial education at college. * Have a Plan B, and be open-minded about when Plan B should becomePlan A. Many educators feel uncomfortable telling teens the oddsassociated with Plan A because they don't want to discourage themfrom pursuing a particular pathway. Faced with this dilemma, manyeducators at both the secondary and postsecondary levels have opted forthe neutral or "benign neglect benign neglectDecision-making A stance of nonintervention that a clinician may adopt in the face of lesions and clinical conditions which have an uncertain or stable clinical course. Cf Watchful waiting. " approach, encouraging everyoneto try Plan A and then letting higher education/labor market Darwinismsort out the winners and losers. In this approach, losers outnumber out��num��ber?tr.v. out��num��bered, out��num��ber��ing, out��num��bersTo exceed the number of; be more numerous than.outnumberVerbto exceed in number: winners and the process is costly, both in human and financial terms. Ultimately parents must decide what is best for their child, andthey deserve to know the facts. Some may blame the messenger and manywill not like the news, but in the end most will welcome the truth. RELATED ARTICLE: Fast-Growing Job Fields The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)A research agency of the U.S. Department of Labor; it compiles statistics on hours of work, average hourly earnings, employment and unemployment, consumer prices and many other variables. forecasts healthy job growththrough 2005, but some fields are more promising than others. The 1994BLS See Bureau of Labor Statistics. report forecasts 1.4 million "technicians and relatedsupport" jobs will be added in the economy by 2005--a growth rateof 32.2 percent over 1992. Within this group are some of thenation's fastest-growing occupations--paralegals and healthtechnicians. And many of the technician jobs do not require a four-yeardegree. Here are examples of occupations that will provide the most newjobs in the decade ahead. In parentheses See parenthesis. parentheses - See left parenthesis, right parenthesis. is the total projected numberof jobs by 2005; at right the number of new jobs for the occupation.Health CareRegistered nurses(2.6 million) +786,000Nursing aides, orderlies(2.4 million) +594,000Home health aides(827,000) +479,000Licensed practical nurses(920,000) +261,000Computers and BusinessGeneral office clerks(3.3 million) +654,000Systems analysts(956,000) +501,000General managers/executives(3.3 million) +380,000Receptionists/informationclerks (1.2 million) +305,000Accountants and auditors(1.2 million) +304,000Clerical supervisors(1.6 million) +301,000Computer engineers andscientists (447,000) +236,000Trades/ServicesConstruction trades(4.3 million) +786,000Vehicle mechanics & repairs(2.3 million) +327,000Truck drivers (3 million) +648,000Guards (1.2 million) +408,000Maintenance workers(1.5 million) +319,000Gardeners/groundskeepers(1.2 million) +311,000Human services workers(445,000) +256,000Machine Operators(4.3 million) +241,000 RELATED ARTICLE: The College Conundrum conundrumA problem with no satisfactory solution; a dilemma It used to be that a four-year college degree, regardless of theeducation focus, could almost guarantee entry into the professional jobmarket. Reports on the income differential between those with collegedegrees and those without has led to a steady increase in collegeenrollment. Here's the dilemma: Now that most high school studentschoose the college route, the bachelor's degree is not theautomatic door opener door openern.1. An electromechanical or electronic device for automatically opening a door, as one to a garage.2. Informal An effective means of gaining success or seizing an opportunity. it once was, nor are all students sufficientlyprepared to succeed in postsecondary education. Poorly Prepared? A 1996 American College Testing survey of 2,564 schools noted arise in the college dropout rate and a drop in the number of studentswho graduated within five years. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Changed Marketplace Significantly more high school students are aiming forprofessional occupations today, although the number of professional jobsas a percentage of the economy remains essentially unchanged and otheroccupations offer better opportunities than in the past. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]Kenneth Gray is a professor in the College of Education atPennsylvania State University Pennsylvania State University,main campus at University Park, State College; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1855, opened 1859 as Farmers' High School. . With Edwin L. Herr, he recentlyco-authored Other Ways to Win, a book about "creating alternativesfor high school graduates." It is available through the AmericanVocational Association.