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Vocational Schools Prove Effective In Combating Dropout
By Bob Oakes (WBUR)
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A welding class at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School in Upton, Mass. (Sarah Bush/WBUR)
An estimated 3.8 percent of Massachusetts high-school students never graduate, but there’s one segment of high schools where the drop-out rate is about half that — vocational schools.
“Voc schools” outperform traditional high schools by some other measures as well. For example, the four-year graduation rate is 10 points higher than the state average.
We visited Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School in Upton, where the drop-out rate is actually under one percent, to find out what’s going right.
Jeremy Lacourse is a sophomore at Blackstone. (Sarah Bush/WBUR)
There we met successful student after successful student, including sophomore Jeremy Lacourse, who was busy working on a project in the heating, venting and air-conditioning unit, or HVAC.
JEREMY LACOURSE: The big line with the insulation on it right now is the suction line. And then the smaller line, which I ran, is the liquid line, which is the hot line…
Clearly pleased with his work, we asked Lacourse why he applied to come here over two years ago.
LACOURSE: I wanted to have a good standing of where I would be when I got out of school.
BOB OAKES: So you came here with a good idea of what you wanted to do when you got out of school?
LACOURSE: Yes.
OAKES: And what is that?
LACOURSE: I want to go to college for actually business management for HVAC.
OAKES: Tell us how you think your experience is different here than it would be if you’d gone to another high school.
LACOURSE: I don’t think I would be able to know as much as I do now. I wouldn’t know the basic electrical that goes into just flipping a switch every day.
OAKES: How’ve you been doing school wise?
LACOURSE: A’s and B’s.
Voc schools still train students in HVAC and other trades such as plumbing and carpentry, but they also offer instruction in areas such as graphic communication and business technology.
Students split their time, spending one week in shop and then one week in academic courses, but that doesn’t mean academic standards are any lower than at traditional high schools.
By law, vocational high-school students must pass the MCAS student achievement test to graduate.
Blackstone Valley became the first voc-tech school in the state where 100 percent of students passed the MCAS to graduate. In fact this year’s senior class is the sixth in a row to achieve that 100-percent competency.
Blackstone Superintendent Michael Fitzpatrick says it’s that hands-on experience that’s key to student success in this and other voc-tech schools.
SUPERINTENDENT MICHAEL FITZPATRICK: One of the biggest differences is the fact that they offer curriculum that is applied or a situation where students can utilize the theory that’s taught in classroom and actually see a practical application in multiple laboratories and in integrated instruction. Clearly in our conversations with the more than 1,100 students that we serve, it’s a motivational aspect to their learning.
OAKES: They’re motivated because they get their hands on and that’s a good thing. They can see how the learning applies right in front of them.
FITZPATRICK: That’s correct, but a key aspect to that is the manner that teachers in both academic and vocational and career tech blend a little bit of both to create the added motivation, the added experience and the exciting aspects of the learning that motivate students to do more.
That is certainly the case in the noisy heating, venting and air conditioning shop run by Thomas Belland, himself a Blackstone graduate. We spoke in the high-school boiler room, which is in fact a classroom.
THOMAS BELLAND: You’re looking at four modern boilers. These burn either oil or gas, but they burn it at a very efficient rate.
OAKES: The kids are responsible for some of this, aren’t they?
BELLAND: We do 99 percent of the maintenance, repairs and installations in the building. It’s like their signature on the school.
OAKES: It’s like everything becomes a learning experience, even heating and cooling the building at the moment?
BELLAND: Absolutely. We have a crew of students throughout the building every day working on the systems, designing new systems, dealing with customers, taking calls, filling out the paperwork. They get the real world experience.
Katelyn Christiansen is a senior at Blackstone. (Sarah Bush/WBUR)
It’s that real world experience that makes 17-year-old Katelyn Christiansen’s eyes light up as we talk with her in the crowded school cafeteria. Katelyn will graduate in June.
KATELYN CHRISTIANSEN: It gives you a head up because you’re learning not only regular high school, you’re learning a job – you have a trade. Say you go to college — you can work in that field and further your education in the field as well.
OAKES: So you feel that based on this you can see where you’re going?
CHRISTIANSEN: Yes.
OAKES: And where are you going?
CHRISTIANSEN: I’m going to college for biotechnology to do research.
So voc ed isn’t only for trade training anymore. In fact about 70 percent of the Blackstone Valley graduates have pursued college education in recent years.
But there’s more to getting voc-ed students interested in school than giving them hands-on shop training.
One in four students enters Blackstone at a fourth-grade reading level, exacerbating the risk they could eventually fail the MCAS test, not graduate or drop out.
We asked Superintendent Michael Fitzpatrick how Blackstone addresses that issue.
FITZPATRICK: As soon as a student makes application to our system in the eighth grade, we’re immediately analyzing their previous skill sets in MCAS — we’re already building up programs that will strengthen their skills before they take the test.
OAKES: In the application process, does the school tend to filter out kids that are going to need help — kids that you know by looking at the data that they have when they apply are going to have trouble getting the pass grade on the MCAS?
FITZPATRICK: No, the real pride is you can take students wherever they might be and advance them. The admissions process is a state-approved adnmissions process that doesn’t indicate if a student is, for example, on a special-education plan and there is no entrance exam to come here. And the population mirrors that of the district we serve.
For some Blackstone students slipping behind academically there is individualized remediation. Others are coached in a variety of different settings in person at school or at Saturday camps, summer camps and vacation camps. And there is online help.
And the help, says Superintendent Fitzpatrick, goes beyond academics as the school assists the child in both mind and body.
FITZPATRICK: In fact, every student here has a wellness plan. It’s a case where our partnership with an area hospital is a satellite center in our building. And we have access to a nurse practitioner, a nutritionist and other staff members, all of whom work in tangent with our traditional instructors and we also have two school nurses. All contributing to better test scores. And another reason: We want every student to be safe here, and we also want them to know that we care. We want them to be very much a part of our family.
More and more eighth graders across the state are applying to vocational schools.
At Blackstone, 700 students signed up for the class of 2012 — competing for just 300 spots – and there’s similar demand at other voc schools.
So, if voc schools are so successful at combating dropout and improving student performance, why aren’t there more of them?
David Ferreira is executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators.
DAVID FERREIRA: Capacity is an issue. And I think, quite honestly, a lot of it is finance. In this fiscal climate, to enlarge these schools is very difficult.
And money is an issue beyond school expansion or school-building projects. Voc-ed schools spend more per student — about $4,000 more per year — than at traditional high schools.
The higher cost is partly due to the pricey technology and shop equipment on hand, and the lower student-teacher ratio required for safety reasons because the students use all that equipment.
While voc-tech education is not for everyone, administrators say its success surely means demand for it — whether it’s HVAC, carpentry, computer tech, or welding — will remain high in coming years.
March 24th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Vocational education has come a long way over the last two decades and, with the economy as it is, will become even more competitve as parents search for ways to give their children the competitve edge they’re going to need when they enter the workforce. With future engineers, educators and medical personnel learning alongside mechanics, technicians and tradesmen, the standards will continue to be raised as more is expected from students across the vocational programs. It will certainly bear watching over the coming two decades and I am excited to be part of the process.
March 24th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Great report. Voc schools work miracles! I have two children at Northeast Regional Voc Tech who have excelled there. I know many kids who were on the verge of failure in 8th grade who were “saved” by making the choice to go to vocational high school. Not all kids learn in the same way. Many kids need the hands on experience, it seems help them with their academic work as well. One success creates another.
Additionally, voc schools tend to bring kids from different backgrounds & cultures together. Our school is a community made up of 12 cities & towns. The hall of flags in the cafeteria rivals the UN! I’m glad my kids can experience multi-culturalism in school rather than be unable to deal with it when they get out into the “real” world.
Voc schools are tough…they are training youngsters to have all the right work ethics…be on time, be there every day, zero tolerance for fighting, drugs, etc. just like the work place.
March 25th, 2009 at 9:41 am
I have followed some of the schools that are trying ingenious programs to motivate students. Chrysalis Experiential Academy, Inc, in Georgia is a private school that includes its students in grades four through twelve in creating projects that are authentic and beneficial to the community at large. Some people see it as an alternative school, which negatively implies an institution with a weak curriculum. In contrast, the school provides a rigorous curriculum that holds the students accountable for their learning. Many great projects have developed via student or teacher interest including saving one of the oldest farms in Roswell and cleaning up a cave in north Georgia that was devastated by grafitti. The problem of uninterested students won’t change until teacher training changes. I have written, Rekindling the Love of Learning, which takes parents and students through the steps to actively engaging students.
March 31st, 2009 at 8:36 am
I love being apart of Blackstone Valley Tech’s family. I’m Kayla Barber, i’m a Junior at BVT and I think that BVT is a wonderful vocational school. I am so thankful to have been chosen to be apart of this school. I wanted a chance to expand my knowledge and get a great trade so i applied to BVT and it was the best choice i’ve made so far! I’m studying Buisiness Technology and let me tell you, the teachers are absolutely GREAT! The teachers in this school are simply amazing. They make you feel welcome and they show they care for you and your education. Blackstone Valley Tech. is one big family. Everytime i enter my school, i feel at home and safe. I love BVT and i love that the teachers make it fun to come to school everyday.
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:55 am
I also love valley tech im a freshman here also in business tech. just like kayla. I plan on going in to culinary senior year. My schoole i sgreat a few year ago they added on to the school makingit even more great added a competition center with an overhead catwalk. Also we have over 14 Shops here from Cosmotolgy all the way to Manufacturing Technology. I beleve the most fun shop in the school is MT but i dont think i wouuld want to do it for the rest of my life. I am so glad i got in to this school it deffinentaly changed my life and i apreciate it totaly!
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:37 am
I’m a senior at BVT and, like I tell everyone I talk to, choosing to go to BVT was the best choice I ever made. I am in Graphic Communications and I have learned everything you might need to know in the field of design and printing. I am also an honor student and I have never felt like I was not being challenged. BVT is the perfect balance of academics and vocational training, and I know I will be better off in the “real world” because I went here.
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I remember when i first applied to Valley Tech i was so nervous! When i received that acceptance letter i was the happiest i’d ever been. I consider getting into Blackstone one of my greatest acheivements up until this point. Im a junior in Health Services and I am proud to be a student here. I know the education im given is helping me prepare for my future and to better my life…and i’m really psyched about becoming a Nuse Aide…anyone who is looking to go to a vocational school, I advise you to join our family here at BVT…I promise you, you will not regret it. =]
April 7th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
I am a sophomore at BVT. I am in Painting and Design Technologies. My shop is really fun. We refinish furniture, make vinyl signs, and paint things. We do outside jobs and also bring in furniture form home. Our school helps teens get ready for the real working world. It teaches you things about the work force. You do worksheets in shop but most of the time you are doing hands-on work. I know a lot more people now than i did before I went here. I am friends with the freshman, seniors, and the juniors, and obviously my graduating class too. Choosing to go to BVT was the best choice that i have made in my life. Being at BVT has taught me so many things to be ready for the working field.
April 9th, 2009 at 10:45 am
i absolutely hate BVT im a drop-out hence me hating the school…the curriculum is too crammed…most of the shop teachers use profanity… and the security around the school makes me feel like im in a maximum security jail… there are only some teachers worth actually paying attention to…the school sucks so i urge that you dont send your kids to this school…
April 9th, 2009 at 11:07 am
I am currently a Junior at Valley Tech in the Automotive Technology shop. I love this school mainly because we get amazing academic classes along with a basic knowledge of a field which can help jump start our careers which is very vital in today’s economy. It’s also alot of fun. I’ve never heard of any school were all grades can interact with each other and have no hatred involved. Our teachers will do as much as they can to help us succeed and they provide us with a very fun and friendly learning environment. I can’t stress enough how amazing my experience at this school has been.
April 9th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
johnny appleseed;
There are dropouts at every school. You get out of it what you put into it. Hopefully you ended up somewhere that worked for you.
From what I have read Graduates from BVT are currently attending MIT, WPI, RPI
and West Point to name a few.
Many of those who don’t go on to college have started careers.
Maybe BVT was too strict for you, sounds like you had issues.
My Son goes there, so I know there are High MCAS Scores, High graduation rates, Championship Teams, millions in building renovations, Clubs like Robotics,etc,etc.
If a High School has 2.5 applications for every seat they must be doing something right!!!!
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:14 pm
I am also enrolled at BVT. What I did not see mentioned in this story was the amazing amounts of activities here at the school. Mossy61 mentioned the championship teams here. I am a member of the track team and last year for the first time in school history we won the league championships. The championship teams are numeous every season. Mossy61 also mentioned the robotics team, The Shifters, this year we won the Boston Regional against over 50 teams. We also made it to the quarter-finals in the Connecticut Regional, and we just go back from the 2009 First International Championship in Atlanta, Georgia, competing with over 350 teams. The greatest part of robotics though, is that the entire robot is designed by the students with the assistance of area professionals who do this stuff everyday as their job.