Career Education.

Overview & Synopsis

A 1991 study conducted by the Ohio Legislative Office of Education Oversight examined the Career Education program funded through the Ohio Department of Education. During the 2 years studied, the Career Education program was funded for $11.5 million in 60 local programs serving 365 school districts in grades K-12. (Career education is not a course or curriculum; it is a set of principles that are to be infused into all courses and curricula.) The study sought to determine whether the principles of career education were more effectively taught in districts that received funding than in districts that did not. To evaluate the program's effectiveness, eight surveys were designed and field tested to students, graduates, parents, teachers, and employers. The researchers also gathered information on the history of the program, attended conferences of leaders in the Career Education program, and reviewed newsletters from a variety of schools and districts that described special events and teacher training programs. The surveys found no statistically significant difference between funded and unfunded districts. Of several hundred studies conducted on this topic, less than 50 percent found career education to show a difference in the lives of the students at whom it is directed. The study recommended that the Ohio Legislature delete Career Education funding from the state budget. Future funding of only $500,000 should be used by the Ohio Department of Education to fund a small central office to diffuse career education principles, disseminate materials, and conduct conferences. (Survey documents are included in appendixes to the report.) (KC)