Real School Reform

There was an Op-Ed in last Friday's Wall Street Journal written by Peter Downs addressing the shortage of skilled workers. His solution? Start an apprenticeship program.

In Switzerland, 70% of young people age 15-19 apprentice in hundreds of occupations, including baking, banking, health care, retail trade and clerical careers. In Germany, 65% of youth are in apprenticeships; in Austria 55%. All three countries have youth unemployment rates less than half of America's 16%. 

There is evidence that such apprenticeships can do more than just train young people for future careers: They can also improve student academic performance. In the few U.S. school districts that have offered apprenticeships, high school juniors and seniors who have been apprentices have improved in the classroom. 

In the Bayless School District in suburban St. Louis, for example, students who entered the district's Middle Apprenticeship Program with the Carpenters' Union had better attendance than before entering the program. The mean grade point average for these students 1.7 at the end of their sophomore year, before they entered the apprenticeship program. By senior year, it was 3.13. They graduated with better attendance and better grades than did a group of similar students who weren't in the program. 

To the extent that the American business community is involved in education reform, they are typically investing in faddish reforms such as banning tenure, that, even if passed, would do little little to ensure the competitiveness of the nation's workforce. If this same money and effort went into pushing for a two-track education system - college or apprenticeship - it would do far more to produce students prepared to compete in the 21st-century economy.

That's the condensed version but you get the picture. It's all about relevance. Students go to work at jobs they like, come back to school and get the education they need to get one of those jobs. Pretty simple - direct cause and effect. And, of course, employers get students that can perform the tasks the job requires with minimum additional training. Everybody's happy. So why don't we see more of it? Mr. Downs doesn't really hit on that much but he's authored a book with the title Schoolhouse Shams: Myths and Misinformation in School Reform that just might. There's an online review of the book here that, like the Diane Ravitch book I just finished, says the book not only addresses the silliness of all the testing and charter schools but comes right out and states what most reformers never mention: It's not reform, it's privatization. Looks like another book I should add to my reading list. Might have to double down on my blood pressure medicine before reading it but that's OK. According to the reviewer, the book doesn't cover the Common Core standards but I read in the paper the other day that Governor Pence in his State of the State speech says that Indiana is going to develop its own standards rather than adopting the Common Core. That and his positive stance on vocational education are about the only things I agree with the governor on as far as educational issues go but it's something.

So once again I say to you, if you want a decent education for your child, get some tools in their hands. With apprenticeships, they'll learn skills that will help them get a decent job and they won't be saddled with huge amounts of college debt. Get them into the habit of reading, have them listen to and play music, get them outside and play. Have them do some chores.Take them to museums and sporting events. Develop their minds and bodies. Invest time in your children and their education but beware of the reformers.