Curriculum Data

Grace King High School in Metairie, Louisiana took pride in being "the best" high school in the district, but Associate Principal Pamela Pritchard (formerly a district administrator responsible for data collection) was still appalled by the fact that only 76% of freshmen were being promoted to the 10th grade. She introduced the Career Choices curriculum along with the concept that "Failure is Not an Option." Once failure was "forbidden," the percentage of freshmen failing one or more classes dropped from 48.8% to 9% within one year. The percentage of freshmen promoted to the 10th grade rose from 76% in 2005-06 to 91% within one year and to 93% within three, while the 9th grade dropout rate fell from 2.9% in 2005-06 to 0.1% in 2008-09. Furthermore, the percentage of freshmen suspended one or more days fell from 38.8% to 9.9% within one year and to 3.6% within three years.

Quoting Pritchard, "The biggest surprise for me personally was that it actually worked with every kid. I was shocked. Because you look for that panacea, where every kid gets everything, every day... This actually works."

Indio High School in Indio, California was struggling with abysmal test scores among its largely Hispanic population before a freshman transition course using Career Choices was implemented. This course, called Success 101, continues to transform the culture of the school. From 2009 to 2010, the number of freshmen with three or more Fs decreased by nearly a half from 29% in 2009 to 16% in 2010 and freshmen were responsible for 49 points out of the school's 65-point API (Academic Performance Index) score increase within that first year. By the time the first class of freshmen became sophomores, 70 students had joined CSF (the California Scholarship Federation) versus 10 students from the previous class.

"Just seeing students in different places, they're mature, focused, they have a sense of direction, they have a plan," said Assistant Principal Margo McCormick of the students she's worked with before, during, and after the course. "Those are the things they'll carry with them. They'll remember that connection you made with them."

In 2012 Indio was ranked in the top 10% of High Schools in the United States by the prestigious U.S. News and World Report.

When Bobby Cunningham was hired as a "turnaround" principal for McCormick High School in McCormick, South Carolina, the school had one of the highest dropout rates in South Carolina. He chose to introduce Career Choices to all grades at once in the first year, and the results were staggering. "After one year, [McCormick High School] received national attention when it moved from a below average school to one of two excellent [per the state of South Carolina educational ranking system] schools in South Carolina," Cunningham said.

The results from the second year were even more impressive. The rate at which freshmen were retained fell from 10.8% in 2006 to only 1.5% in 2008 while the percentage of students passing the HSAP (High School Assessment Program, required for graduation in South Carolina) rose from 63.4% to 78.6% in that time frame. In addition, the percentage of students enrolled in CATE (career and technical education) classes jumped from 44.8% in 2006 to 67.3% in 2008. Said Cunningham, "The biggest surprise has been the brevity... to take hold of this in our school, it only took a year, and it only took a year to make a major impact on our students."

High dropout rates, poor attendance, and low test scores prompted Silverado High School in Victorville, California, one of the largest high schools in the nation, to initiate freshman small learning communities using the Career Choices curriculum. A random sample group of 10th and 11th grade students who had been in these small learning communities increased their GPA by 69% from 2004-05 to 2007-08. While in a 2005 survey 30% of teachers believed that SLCs were useful and 30% believed they would reduce dropout rates, by 2007 nearly 93% of teachers believed SLCs were useful and almost 77% believed they would reduce dropout rates. In addition, suspension rates for all freshmen dropped from around 65% in 2003-04 to around 10% in 2006-07.

"This kind of long-term planning gives kids a chance to dream and a lot of them don't usually do that because they are stuck in the hard reality of where they are... it's really good for them to look beyond where they are," said Small Learning Communities Coordinator Georgette Phillips.

Duval County Public School District of Jacksonville, Florida mandated a Freshman Transition course for over 9,000 freshmen in 19 high schools as part of a district-wide freshman initiative during the 2006-2007 school year. In a presentation to the American Youth Policy Forum in Washington, DC, Director of High Schools for the district Beverly Strickland reported that their 9th grade promotion rate went from 51% to 82% after the first year. One teacher reported that, "Most of my students are able to make the connection between this course, everyday life, and their other subjects. It is very encouraging to see that about 98% of them have already decided on a career [path] and are putting a plan together to achieve their goals..."

In 2006, Depew High School in Depew, New York set out to create a Freshman Academy that would give incoming freshmen the best chance for success by providing a supportive environment and helping students to form personal connections at the school. The Career Choices curriculum provided the foundation for the program. From the 2005-06 school year to 2010-11, the freshman daily attendance rate rose from 92.5% to 96% and the percentage of freshmen failing two or more classes fell from 21% to 13%. The number of freshman internal suspensions fell from 313 in 2005-06 to 107 in 2008-09, when internal suspensions were discontinued.

Tennessee implemented a statewide Freshman Transition Initiative entitled Career Management Success (CMS) from 2002-04. The vast majority of school districts adopted the state-recommended Career Choices curriculum to meet this new requirement for standards-based career education.

Noted in the 2009 report Raising Graduation Rates: A Series of Data Briefs: Progress Toward Increasing National and State Graduation Rates, published by the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Social Organization of Schools: Between 2002 and 2006, Tennessee witnessed an 11.2 percentage point gain in high school graduation rates, which was greater than any increase of any other state during that period of time.



The Delaware School-To-Work Program used the Career Choices curriculum in a 24-day summer program. The data-rich report states, "While the 1999 program results were satisfactory, the year 2000 results are spectacular as can be seen on the attached T-Test result graphs... Of the 25 students beginning and ending the program, 20 showed overall improvement in reading, math, and language mechanics; 4 regressed slightly and 1 showed no change...these results show the need for replication of format and instruction at each level of student endeavor."

These results were attributed to the following: "Positive factors included staff stability. There was only one replacement between 1999-2000. The utilization of the entire anthology of Career Choices by Academic Innovations, Inc., from their career orientation to the reading manual and integrated math program, facilitates learning and increases the awareness of the relationship between academic achievement and work. Students continually comment that learning in this manner is fun."



Former State Coordinator of the Delaware Tech Prep Consortium Dr. Jim Campbell was looking to add a comprehensive guidance component to the program when he discovered the Career Choices curriculum in 1991. Career Choices was subsequently introduced in six vocational districts in Delaware. A few years later, he reported that Delaware Tech Prep students dropped out at rate of less than 1% as compared to a statewide rate of 6%; Tech Prep students in seven high schools earned higher math and language scores on Iowa Basic Skills than non-Tech Prep students statewide; and only 18% of students graduating from Tech Prep programs needed remediation, as compared to the overall rate of 70%. Tech Prep graduates also had a much higher retention rate for community colleges: 92%, as compared to 40% for non-Tech Prep students.

Campbell reported, "After utilizing Career Choices as a counseling instrument and a career cluster selection, less than 5% of our students are changing programs. This evidence supports our belief that the program is a key to career decision-making."

In an effort to address the very highest dropout rate in the county, Coachella Valley High School in Thermal, California required a Career Choices course for all freshmen in the fall of 1993. The population was reportedly over 90% Hispanic with nearly every student qualifying for free lunch. The majority of students were children of agricultural workers.

It was discovered at the end of the implementation year that the students who began the year with a semester of Keyboarding dropped out at a much higher rate than the students who began the year with a semester of Career Choices. As a creative solution the following year, a combined Career Prep/Keyboarding course was taught to all 9th grade students over the course of the entire school year so that all students were exposed to Career Choices from the first weeks of their freshman year.

An article in the June 14, 1995 edition of The Desert Sun reported on the preliminary success of the program, including the data below. Career Choices is the restructured 9th grade curriculum mentioned in the article and was required of all 9th grade students at Coachella Valley High School.

Annual percentage dropout rates	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94
Coachella Valley Unified	15.7	12.7	3.8
Desert Sands Unified	5.8	9.4	7.2
Palm Springs Unified	8.3	6.9	3.1*
Riverside County	4.8	4.8	Unreadable
California	5.2	5.0	4.9

* Palm Springs High School also used the Career Choices curriculum in a substantial way beginning in 1993.

Denver, Colorado's Summer Youth Employment and Training program used the Career Choices curriculum to provide academic enrichment services for at-risk students. In an evaluation from 1996, 83% of students and 84% of staff believed the program would help the students in school during the coming year, 95% of students and 100% of staff believed the program would help students get a job, 95% of students and 68% of staff believed the program would help students be more independent, and 90% of students and 74% of staff believed the program would help students become more responsible. In addition, pre- and post-WRAT assessments (Wide Range Achievement Tests) showed significant gains in reading scores among seven of eight groups and in math scores for five of eight groups. All other groups showed positive gains. The evaluation stated, "The Career Choices Curriculum provided a clear focus and multiple activities for the participants which gave them a reason for learning. Further, the curriculum helped the participants discover new career interests, opportunities and abilities they did not know they had. The combination of the curriculum and the staff, which provided expertise, support and personalized teaching strategies, ensured personal and academic growth in all participants who completed the program."

Monterey County, California used Career Choices in a program for high-risk students, including students who had deficits in reading, writing, and/or math, little or no knowledge of English, special needs, or criminal records. "The results of this project were extraordinary," reported JTPA Administrator Joe Werner. "Participants were exposed to the writings of poets, visionaries, and other great authors. They learned the practical applications of math. For the first time, these students began to understand the correlation between knowledge, employment, and education. The success of the program amazed even the teachers, many of whom had dual master's degrees... By the fourth week, many parents had called to thank me for the changes they'd seen in their children. In previous years our dropout rate averaged 40%; this year it was only 3%."

The results were in. At Edison High School in Jefferson County, Ohio, the first graduating class to go through the sophomore English classes integrated with the Career Choices curriculum proved the success of the program design. Of the 221 graduates, 70% went on to pursue further education, receiving over $1 million in academic scholarships. The year before, students received one half that amount. The instructors, Cathy Miles and Rosann Lauri, attributed the rise in ambition and involvement to the goals students set for the future in their sophomore English course. "Parents told us they were surprised how their children had learned so much about money and planning for the future," Miles said. "These are skills that helped them go after the scholarship money available instead of sitting back as in previous years."