Expanding and Reinforcing the Educational Pipeline

Rippner (2016) reminds us the American education system has changed greatly over the last century and that it has only been in the “later part of the 20th century that America began a move toward mass higher education” (p. 171). With more students anticipating and participating in all three levels of the American educational system--including early childhood education (ECD), K-12, and higher education--there becomes a greater need for coordinated policy efforts to “ensure students move efficient and effectively through the entire educational” pipeline (p. 171). In other words, to expand and reinforce the educational pipeline to make sure it can accommodate the surge in attendance. In a recent study conducted by Kirst and Venezia (2003) through Stanford’s Bridge Project, it was revealed that while 88 percent of high school students said they plan to go to college, only 66 percent of high school graduates actually immediately enroll in higher educational courses.

While the good news includes more students entering the pipeline earlier through ECE program both public and private, and continuing to move through the K-12 educational pipeline fairly fluently, there are challenges facing many students desiring to transition from high school into higher education which must be addressed. In fact, there are those within the system raising the alarm that the broken pipeline between K-12 and higher education is harming overall completion rates (Rippner, 2016). The challenges include personal cultural, financial, and academic preparational factors as well as policy and practices which are creating transitional blockages.  The policy factors can include lack of alignments between high school graduation and college entrance requirements, misalignment between high school and college curriculums, and lack of information sharing between counselors in both educational arenas (Rippner, 2016).

Unfortunately, this disconnect, or disjuncture is not new and began more than 30 years ago (Clark, 1985). When comparing America with other countries, it is clear America has a more forgiving view and a system of second chances which allows continuing education into adulthood (Clark, 1985). However, while this system of second chances provides for life-long education, it also makes creating uniform policies and system to facilitate a smooth transition through pipeline difficult (Clark, 1985).

Of interest is a recent interest and growth involving career technical education (CTE). While CTE has moved in and out of popularity, it has been a part of the American educational system since the 1800s. CTE provides students with the academic and technical skills, knowledge and training necessary to succeed in future careers and to become lifelong learners” (Advance CTE, 2017).  However, CTE has long been seen as a split-track; an either or in education. A recent trend which fits with America’s increased interest in high education is the addition of college preparatory education (CPE) to CTE. This combination has created a new form of educational reform policy, which has been implemented in California for nearly the last 10 years. One such approach is the Linked Learning (LL) program. LL was founded in the mid-2000s by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation and found support within the California legislature (Linked Learning, n/d). LL is a California-based organization offering pathways organized around industry and sector themes, which can be offered in standalone schools or academies within larger comprehensive high school campuses (Warner, M., et. al., 2016).  LL has been partnered with nine school districts in California, has begun to move into other states across the nation as well as internationally. While the results are not definitive, LL appears to be obtaining results and is a good educational policy making the transition between K-12 to college a bit smoother. This is definitely educational policy worth watching.

References:

Advance CTE. (2017). Career Technical Education. Retrieved from https://careertech.org/cte

Clark, B. (1985, February). The high school and the university: What went wrong in American, Part 1. Phi Delta Kappan, 391-397.

Kirst, M., & Venezia, S. (2003, Spring). Undermining student aspirations. National Crosstalk. Retrieved from www.highereducation.org/crosstalk.

Linked Learning. (n/d). About the Linked Learning Alliance. Retrieved from http://www.linkedlearning.org/en/linked-learning-alliance/

Rippner, J. A. (2016).  The American policy landscape.  New York: Routledge.

Warner, M., Caspary, K., Arshan, N., Stites, R., Padilla, C., Park, C., Patel, D., Wolf, B., Astudillo, S., Harless, E., Ammah-Tagoe, N., McCracken, M. & Adelman, N. SRI International. (2015). Taking stock of the California Linked Learning District Initiative. Sixth-year evaluation report. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.