What's New from EdITS |
COPSystem (web-based) Site RegistrationThe COPSystem is now available as a convenient web-based career assessment package. Administer assessments, view results and provide users with post-assessment resources to make testing faster and easier than ever. To begin a free trial at your site, please complete our registration form.
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Career Guidance Solutions |
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COPSystem Career MeasurementThe COPSystem Career Measurement Package includes all of the materials you need to administer, score and interpret the COPS Interest Inventory, CAPS ability battery and the COPES work values survey. |
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Learn More About Support Materials -
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Does Career Education Reduce Dropout Rates?The national high school dropout rate is of concern to school faculty, parents, and students. Educational Testing Service released a report indicating that the high school dropout rate is on the rise with as many as 30% of high school students dropping out. In addition to the increase in rates, students are dropping out at younger ages, as early as ninth and tenth grades. The report points out that there is a declining opportunity for dropouts in a workplace that is requiring higher skill levels and this is an issue that needs to be addressed (ACTE, 2005). (Continued from previous) There are some solutions and programs that increase retention. “Numerous studies have demonstrated the positive effect of Career and Technical Education (CTE) on reducing high school dropout rates,” according to the National Dropout Prevention Center (Reese, 2005). Research shows that when students have a balanced course load between academics and CTE and these students are made more aware of the connection of school to work, they are more likely to stay in school. There are several ongoing examples of how these career education and school to career programs are succeeding at reducing the dropout rate. In an issue of Career Tech Update (2004), an article focuses on the success of at-risk students in a national school-to-career program. According to this article, ninety percent (90%) of students in the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) program graduate and as many as 80% of these graduates eventually find work or continue on to college. Each state supports career specialists, working as counselors, with career development opportunities so that they may provide academic support to participants in the program. Consistently, schools are finding that when curriculum is based on career education and linked to core academic subjects, their dropout rate declines. One example of curriculum that integrates career education throughout the academic curriculum, is Career Education Responsive to Every Student (CERES). CERES is a full line of career education material for grades K-12 that also has a career education component for students with special needs. CERES is a flexible program designed to work within existing curriculum, to provide a means of infusing career education into basic skills instruction. CERES focuses on connecting academic abilities to the world of work while helping students develop knowledge about career options and the U.S. economic system. The diagram shows the cumulative career guidance goals measured by CERES. CERES has lesson plans presented in many formats for grades K-12. The use of programs such as CERES, which both integrates and infuses career guidance into existing curriculum and CTE, can improve student retention and reduce high school dropout rates. References
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