2012-2015 VCSB Career Academy Strategic Plan
INTRODUCTION
Volusia County Schools, in 1994, opened its first career academy, with the support of the Career Connection Cadre. The Cadre represents the business community, Volusia Schools, postsecondary educational institutions, Workforce Development Board (Center for Business Excellence), Economic Development Agencies, Team Volusia, Chambers of Commerce and other community agencies. The evolution of the career academy model as a part of high school redesign continues to adapt to meet the needs of the 21st Century student in Volusia County. With a total of 34 career academies in 2011, in the cluster areas of Agriscience, Business/Technology, Communication and the Arts, Engineering & Manufacturing and Health & Human Services, the success of the academy model is directly linked to the committed teachers, directors, business members, school based administrators, district staff, parents and students who have a stake in the rigorous career based curriculum. Volusia Schools was recognized as a Next Generation Learning Community at the Leadership Level by the Ford Motor Company in 2008 for its extensive career academy development.
In May 2010, Volusia County Schools, with its Career Connection Business Cadre, embarked on a Five Year Strategic Planning Process designed to drive business input into the development and redesign of its CTE programs and career academies so that our schools will keep pace with the current and future demands of the business community. Five pillars of work were identified, with the primary goal of positively impacting economic development in this region through quality Workforce Education. As the development and growth of career academies continues across the district, the development of a comprehensive three-year strategic plan integrates the mission of workforce education, best practices in teaching and learning, and input and guidance from all stakeholders including but not limited to: school district representatives, business leaders, industry representatives, post-secondary institutions, business development and support organizations, civic and government officials, and community members. The resulting vision for the career academies and workforce education is illustrated in the Career Connection CADRE Strategic Planning Framework below.
The success of school reform depends on long range planning involving district and school leadership, business and community leaders and parents and students. In order for Career and Technical Education and Career Academies to remain a viable force in the district and community, an ongoing process of program and academy evaluation and planning is essential.
The underlying framework for our strategic plan is to focus on rigor, relevance and relationships throughout all CTE courses, programs and academies. The goal being that all students leave the CTE programs and academies prepared for work and postsecondary education.
The Cadre continues to refine the strategic plan and in the fall of 2011, the Cadre identified that the mission of the Career Connection Cadre is “to create connections between business and education ensuring a talented and skilled workforce.”
The Strategic Planning Framework has been refined, renaming the original five major pillars (areas of focus} for the strategic plan as:
1. Workforce Needs Analysis (Formerly Program Development)
a. Business Intelligence & research: Incorporate economic development trend information into the program review and planning process.
b. Talk to the chief, get to on the ground person and then go back to chief for ask
c. Have a seat at the economic development table
d. Questions to determine current and future workforce needs of the business
e. Meeting also to “sell” the MOU and commit partnerships between businesses and academies
f. Focus on pathways that prepare students for work and postsecondary education
2. Marketing/PR (formerly CTE Support)
a. Determine the message and means to grow awareness
b. Communicate connections to students, parents, business, educators and community at large
c. Establish academy alumni associations
d. Maintain an on-going list of CTE accomplishments
e. Use data to tell the story
f. Provide for modern technologies such as social networking among CTE students and Alumni.
3. Efficiency and Effectiveness
a. Collaborate with committees to set and monitor committee activities and results
b. Develop data sets that can measure the efficiency and effectiveness of CTE Programs
c. Implement a process for cost analysis of academies and CTE programs.
d. Set benchmarks based on data.
4. Partnerships (formerly Sustaining Change)
a. Redefine the MOU
b. Recruit individual and corporate participation
c. Encourage the development of articulation agreements
d. Provide teachers with training on advisory committees and support to schools for establishing and retaining active advisory committees.
e. Establish an active plan for recruitment of new members to the Career Connection Cadre.
5. Curriculum Design and Delivery, (formerly Instructional Design)
a. Assess and report on cluster advisory work
b. Create cluster advisory committees
c. Communicate changes to staff and school board
d. Embed integration and industry certifications into all programs to increase rigor and relevance.
The Development Process and TimelineDate / Event / Stakeholders involved
May 3, 2010 Kick-off Planning Session 26 Business Leaders
32 School Academy teachers
32 Academy students
4 Community leaders
4 Post-Secondary representatives
5 Volusia administrators
May 26, 2010 Cadre Planning Comment Session 18 Business Leaders
4 Community leaders
4 Post-Secondary representatives
5 Volusia administrators
July 6, 2010 Cadre Executive Meeting
July 20, 2010 Cadre executive meeting
August 19, 2010 Instructional Design Committee
Sept 8, 2010 CTE Support & Sustainability Committee
Sept 14, 2010 Effectiveness & Efficiency Committee
Sept 22, 2010 Career Connection Cadre meeting 24 Business Leaders
3 Community leaders
5 Post-Secondary representatives
6 Volusia Administrators
Sept 26, 2010 Instructional Design Committee
Sept 27, 2010 Sustaining Change Committee
Nov 3, 2010 Sustaining Change Committee
Dec 8, 2010 Career Connection Cadre Meeting 25 Business Leaders
6 Community leaders
3 Post-Secondary representatives
6 Volusia administrators
1 Ford Motor Company Representative
Dec 7, 2010 Presentation at School Board meeting 10 Business Leaders
2 Community leaders
1 Post-Secondary representatives
40 Volusia administrators
1 Superintendent
5 Volusia County School Board
Jan 13, 2011 Sustaining Change Committee
Feb 9, 2011 Program Development Committee
March 15, 2011 Program Development Committee
March 30, 2011 Program Development Committee
May 4, 2011 Career Connection Cadre 28 Business Leaders
5 Community leaders
4 Post-Secondary representatives
5 Volusia administrators
2 Ford Motor Company Reps.
August 17-18, 2011 Ford Presentations “Millennials in the Workplace”
Sept 12, 2011 Instructional Design Committee
Sept 13, 2011 Cadre Executive Meeting to refocus Strategic Plan
5 Committee Chairs
4 Volusia Administrators
2 Postsecondary Reps.
2 Ford Motor Company
Sept 14, 2011 Career Connection Cadre Meeting 26 Business Leaders
3 Community leaders
4 Post-Secondary representatives
6 Volusia administrators
Oct 25, 2011 Cadre Executive Committee Meeting 5 Committee Chairs
4 Volusia Administrators
2 Postsecondary Reps.
Nov 22, 2011 Cadre Executive Committee Meeting 5 Committee Chairs
4 Volusia Administrators
2 Postsecondary Reps.
Dec 6, 2011 Career Connection Cadre meeting 5 Committee Chairs
VCS Superintendent
VCS Deputy Supt/Curriculum
4 Volusia Administrators
5 Postsecondary Reps
16 Business Reps
Feb 2012 Presentation to Volusia Schools Senior Staff
Feb 2012 Presentation to AASA Annual Conference, Dr. Smith, Tom Besaw
Houston, Texas
March 2012 Review of Strategic Plan by Bo Brewer and report to Cadre Executive Committee
5 Committee Chairs
4 Volusia Administrators
2 Postsecondary Reps
March 2012 Volusia CTE team and President of Center for Business Excellence visit Nashville Academies
April 2012 Workforce Needs Subcommittee identifies additional STEM Academy for Volusia for 2013-14
May 2012 Career Connection Cadre meeting
26 Business Leaders
3 Community leaders
4 Post-Secondary representatives
6 Volusia administrators
May 2012 Volusia 1st Academy Awards as part of the Center for Business Excellence Business Summit
75 Academy teachers & students recognized
26 Outstanding Business Champions recognized
June 2012 Career Connection Cadre recognized as 2012 Florida Commissioner’s Business Recognition Award (CBRA)
June 2012 Cadre members participate with academy teams in Summer Curriculum Integration Writing Workshop
8 Cadre members
Fall 2012 School Board Presentation of Strategic Plan
What is the Mission of Career &Technical Education?
The Mission of Career & Technical Education is shared in the Vision Statement of Volusia County Schools: “Through the individual commitment of all, our students will graduate with the knowledge, skills,and values necessary to be successful contributors to our democratic society."
The Volusia School District is a leader in the quality and diversity of education offered to students. The CTE Department offers unique educational opportunities for in-depth experiences and study in specific career and technical areas of interest such as Agriscience, Health Science, Business Technology, Diversified, Industrial, STEM and Marketing. Each program emphasizes a specific career theme. Secondary career and technical education provides rigor and relevance through an integrated system of career and academic instruction, preparing students for success in a four-year university, a community college, or a technical center. CTE provides an integral part of a relevant educational system, leading to career pathways for each student. CTE provides rigor and relevance through an integrated system of career skills and academic instruction, articulating to postsecondary institutions.
What are the Volusia Career Academies?
Career academies are “schools within a school”, small, personalized learning communities within a high school. Students enter the academy through a voluntary process; they must apply and be accepted with parental knowledge and support. A career academy involves teachers from academic and CTE subjects working together as a team. Staff teams, who often share common planning time, work together to implement the key features of the academy and provide students with training in the career field. Students may be grouped together for several periods every day with a core group of teachers. This promotes a family-like atmosphere and results in close student-teacher ties. Since 2005, Volusia has utilized 12 Standards for Career Academies as a means to evaluate each academy on a yearly basis. Academies must meet minimum standards to retain their gold, silver, or bronze academy status. Integrated curriculum, pure schedule, and common planning are the three key components that separate an academy from any other CTE program. The additional standards further clarify a structure for what an academy should look like. This level of standardization has helped to serve as a benchmark for academies and a way to achieve the goal of measureable outcomes related to academy success.
In 2010, the implementation of a revised evaluation model was the direct result of feedback from stakeholders. The development of the Academy Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation Wiki was a thoughtful process that was intended to move the evaluation process to the next level. www.volusiaacademies.wikispaces.com. Demands on time and resources, both human and financial, have also shaped the changes. This wiki is meant to assist and support Volusia's career academy stakeholders in an effort to continue to maintain the highest quality offerings for the students of Volusia County, Florida. The Career Academy Standards that each Volusia Academy must meet are outlined on the Career Connection WIKI at : www.volusiaacademies.wikispaces.com.
Governance Structure
The Career Connection Cadre is a partnership of Volusia County Schools, the Center for Business Excellence (F-VWDB), the business community, economic development agencies, area chambers of commerce, and postsecondary institutions. The Cadre advocates within the community and within their respective organizations the importance and successes of Volusia Career Academies. The Mission of the Cadre is “to create connections between business and education ensuring a talented and skilled workforce.”
Volusia’s Career Academy Strategic Plan
Volusia’s Strategic Plan is based on the Ford Motor Company’s Essential Practices for Next Generation Learning Communities. Below you will find the vision for the three learning strands of Ford’s Next Generation Learning Communities. Each vision is supported with additional goals and objectives that can be found listed in detail in Appendix A, including a 3 year timeline. In addition, action steps and assigned responsibilities are indicated for each objective. VCS has integrated the strands into the framework for career academy structure and this relationship is illustrated below in Figure
Strand 1: Transforming Teaching and Learning
Vision. The vision is meant to intone a style of teaching that is effective because it engages the students more deliberately in real-world applications of knowledge, focusing more on coaching students than lecturing them. We believe that students who are enjoying their learning experiences -because the curriculum is purpose-driven, teachers deliver stimulating content, and students are the subject, rather than the object, of learning. Finally, we understand that not all students are created equal, so we hold that all students should be driven to achieve their best possible outcome.
Essential Practice 1.1
I. Teachers will guide students toward achieving their maximum individual potential by facilitating relevant, exciting, and interactive learning experiences.
Essential Practice 1.2
I. Academy teachers will be highly qualified and well prepared to take on the initiatives associated with quality and relevant instruction. There will be a continuous improvement process for teachers to access professional development that will keep them up to date in the fields of technology and instruction. School administrators will embrace being guided and directed by the business and community so that resources (both tangible and human capital) can be utilized in an efficient and relative manner. This newer approach to teaching and learning will replace the existing traditional model of education in a way that fosters sustainability and ownership by all stakeholders.
Strand 2. Redesigning High Schools
Currently, approximately 23 % of high school students are in one of the 33 VCS career academies. In the next three years, VCS will enroll at least 35% of secondary students in a career academy with a seamless transition between the middle school feeder academies and the high school specialties. All academies will have programs of study that lead to a high quality occupation or post-secondary institution.
Vision. Volusia County will have at least 35% of secondary students enrolled in a career academy, with a seamless transition from middle school and programs of study that lead to either a high quality occupation or post-secondary institution.
Essential Practice 2.1
I. In three years, Volusia County Schools will have at least 35% of secondary students enrolled in career academies.