REPORT TITLE:
School-to-Career System


DESCRIPTION:
Proposes and implements a pilot school-to-career program at
Honolulu district high schools.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2821
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO A PILOT SCHOOL-TO-CAREER PROGRAM. 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The efforts to implement school-to-work
 
 2 components in Hawaii's schools have been embodied in the Honolulu
 
 3 District School-to-Career Council (Council).   The Council,
 
 4 composed of thirty-one members from the public and private
 
 5 sectors, operates with the belief that school works best when it
 
 6 is part of a coherent, integrated effort to prepare a student for
 
 7 higher education, the workforce, and the general responsibilities
 
 8 of adult life.  Within this framework, students are in the best
 
 9 position to:
 
10      (1)  Master rigorous academic standards and develop
 
11           practical skills, both of which will be applied and
 
12           learned through challenging and relevant classroom
 
13           exercises; and
 
14      (2)  Prepare themselves for higher education, be competent
 
15           to enter the work force, and be equipped to contribute
 
16           as responsible citizens.
 
17      The Council plans to achieve these results by implementing a
 
18 plan that fulfills four recommendations that came out of a
 
19 national assessment of Hawaii's school-to-work infrastructure.
 

 
Page 2                                                     2821
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      The first recommendation is to focus on high schools and to
 
 2 show vigilance in allowing school-to-career measures to mature.
 
 3 High schools are the most crucial link to higher education and
 
 4 the work force, and a sustained commitment of four to five years
 
 5 is required for significant improvements in student achievement
 
 6 to occur. This is evidenced by the positive results that have
 
 7 only recently become clear in districts whose school-to-career
 
 8 systems pre-date 1994 federal legislation.
 
 9      The second recommendation is to strengthen connections
 
10 between high schools and post-secondary institutions.  Colleges
 
11 are well equipped to help high schools redesign themselves to
 
12 create the most well-prepared graduates.  This open line of
 
13 communication benefits both high schools and colleges, and is the
 
14 best way to achieve a coherent educational system.
 
15      The third recommendation is to fuse academic learning with
 
16 work-based exercises, while keeping the nature of today's
 
17 workplace in mind.  With only twelve per cent of jobs classified
 
18 as no or low skill jobs, the worker of 2000 is expected to
 
19 possess a wide range of skills.  These include good academic-type
 
20 skills, including problem solving and critical thinking abilities
 
21 that have been wedded to practical, career-based knowledge.
 
22      The final recommendation is to engage students in their
 
23 studies.  This requires adherence to the principles of school-to-
 

 
Page 3                                                     2821
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 career learning, whose aim is to get students involved in
 
 2 activities which ask the student to master traditional academic
 
 3 knowledge while being clearly relevant to real world challenges
 
 4 and goals.  The challenge to excel in exercises that are
 
 5 unquestionably related to careers and other aspects of adult life
 
 6 will keep students focused and interested in work that previously
 
 7 seemed hopelessly removed from their futures.
 
 8      With these recommendations in mind, the Council proposes a
 
 9 pilot program to be implemented at seven Honolulu district high
 
10 schools.  The program requires staff members specifically hired
 
11 as teacher/coordinators for the pilot initiative.  The program
 
12 will consist of several initiatives, some of which will be
 
13 implemented in the first year of the program, and others that
 
14 will be initiated in the program's second year.
 
15      The legislature finds that this school-to-career program
 
16 proposed by the Council is based on sound educational principles
 
17 that are aligned with the needs of today's students and workers-
 
18 to-be.  The legislature further finds that the program is an
 
19 effective means by which to achieve positive outcomes in:
 
20 student attendance, student motivation and satisfaction, rigorous
 
21 course selection, employer engagement, dropout prevention,
 
22 college acceptance and attendance rates, wages in first jobs, and
 
23 the overall quality of adult relationships.
 

 
Page 4                                                     2821
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 2.  (a)  There is established within the department
 
 2 of education the Honolulu district school-to-career pilot
 
 3 program.  The department of education shall provide staff as
 
 4 needed for the implementation of the project.  The pilot program
 
 5 shall consist of nine initiatives, the first six of which shall
 
 6 be adopted in the program's first year.  The final three
 
 7 initiatives shall be implemented in the second year of the
 
 8 program.  Other initiatives shall be adopted as needed for the
 
 9 effective implementation of the pilot project
 
10      (b) The initiatives to be implemented in the first year
 
11 shall be as follows:
 
12      (1)  The gate program via contextual learning:  Students
 
13           enter the gate program as freshman and have the same
 
14           teachers for two years.  There are approximately ninety
 
15           students and a team of four teachers who teach the core
 
16           content areas in an integrated format.  The major goals
 
17           are:  subject matter integration based on academic
 
18           standards, contextual learning, and building stronger
 
19           teacher/student/parent relationships.  Contextual
 
20           learning strategies will be utilized to meet the Hawaii
 
21           content and performance standards.  Utilizing a
 
22           project-based curriculum, students develop target
 
23           skills, understand content areas, and are exposed to
 
24           adult expertise outside the classroom;
 

 
Page 5                                                     2821
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (2)  CE2 (community experiences for career education):  This
 
 2           career-based alternative program shall be available to
 
 3           qualifying students who are sixteen to eighteen years
 
 4           old.  An individualized study plan is designed for each
 
 5           student.  The plan includes jobsite experience,
 
 6           journals, and survival skills and projects, all of
 
 7           which are determined by student interests and abilities
 
 8           while achieving graduation requirements.  CE2 places
 
 9           the responsibility for learning directly with the
 
10           student;
 
11      (3)  Running start:  Running start shall allow qualified
 
12           eleventh and twelfth grade students to take college
 
13           level courses at community colleges.  Students
 
14           simultaneously earn credits for high school, as well as
 
15           college credits which transfer within the University of
 
16           Hawaii system.  Tuition for these courses shall be paid
 
17           by the student;
 
18      (4)  Professional development center:  To support the pilot
 
19           program initiatives the professional development center
 
20           shall assure that all stakeholders in the schools'
 
21           communities be made aware of the content, purposes, and
 
22           outcomes of each of the components.  Year one includes
 
23           training information and emphases on CE2, running
 

 
Page 6                                                     2821
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           start, the gate program, contextual learning, gathering
 
 2           student information via database, and "professional
 
 3           development for parents";
 
 4      (5)  School/student database:  Data on traditional academic
 
 5           performance, as well as "focused" data on post-
 
 6           secondary outcomes (college attendance, wages, career
 
 7           trajectory, persistence) shall be generated and
 
 8           documented.  Alternative achievement measures that
 
 9           determine competencies may be considered implemented;
 
10           and
 
11      (6)  Parent involvement project:  Parents shall be equipped
 
12           with knowledge about what their children can be
 
13           expected to face, and will be made ready to create
 
14           viable action plans to help them establish and achieve
 
15           goals.  The Honolulu District School-to-Career Council
 
16           shall support activities that will promote these goals
 
17           of parental involvement.
 
18      (c)  The initiatives to be implemented in the second year
 
19 shall be as follows:
 
20      (1)  Honolulu District Skills Center:  The skills center
 
21           shall provide a foundation for an associate degree and
 
22           shall allow students to earn advanced college credits
 
23           where possible.  During the last two years of high
 

 
Page 7                                                     2821
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           school, juniors and seniors may choose a major course
 
 2           of study in one of the skills center's programs.  The
 
 3           programs shall be linked to a two-year associate degree
 
 4           program at Hawaii community colleges;
 
 5      (2)  Career pathway majors:  This initiative shall consist
 
 6           of a cluster of sequenced courses that connect students
 
 7           to post-secondary education and careers.  The pathways
 
 8           shall consist of but shall not be limited to business
 
 9           and management systems, arts and communications, health
 
10           and human resource systems, and industrial, engineering
 
11           and human resource systems; and
 
12      (3)  Enterprise learning program:  This program shall give
 
13           students skills and experiences in various work
 
14           environments at their school sites.  Students shall
 
15           create and maintain enterprises such as:
 
16           (A)  A bank;
 
17           (B)  A health/fitness center;
 
18           (C)  A food court;
 
19           (D)  A market place for products and product
 
20                development; or
 
21           (E)  A gallery to exhibit student-designed projects.
 
22      SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
23 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $319,582 or so much
 

 
Page 8                                                     2821
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001 for six and
 
 2 one half full-time equivalent (6.50 FTE) teaching and
 
 3 administrative positions to operate the Honolulu district school-
 
 4 to-career pilot program.
 
 5      SECTION 4.  The sum appropriated shall be expended by the
 
 6 department of education for the purposes of this Act.
 
 7      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000, and
 
 8 shall be repealed on July 1, 2003.
 
 9 
 
10                       INTRODUCED BY:  ___________________________