National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090

For Immediate Release

Webcast Addresses Strategies for Reinvigorating Career and Technical 
Education in Urban Settings

The National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education will 
present a webcast entitled "Reinvigorating Career and Technical Education 
in Urban Settings" on November 4, 2005, 3:00 to 4:30 PM (EST). This 
interactive event, and previous webcasts, can be viewed on any computer 
with Internet access at http://www.nccte.org.

A career focus lies at the core of many high school reform models. This 
webcast presents the findings from a five year longitudinal study that has 
examined reforms organized around career pathways, career academies, and 
half-time "shop"-half-time academic courses. The longitudinal design of the 
study enabled it to track how the reform efforts evolved and the factors 
that influenced their success.

The webcast presents findings on the effects of the reform initiatives. 
Academic performance and rates of continuation to postsecondary education 
of students in the reform schools will be compared to those of students in 
schools not participating in the career-based reforms.

The webcast includes videotape from a visit to Foshay Learning Center, one 
of the schools that participated in the study. Foshay is an inner-city 
school in the Los Angeles Unified School District that serves a low-income 
neighborhood. Its students perform very well on statewide tests, virtually 
all of them graduate, and a high proportion continue on to higher 
education. Administrators, teachers, and students will describe how 
Foshay's curriculum is organized around three career academies and how this 
model contributes to the school's success.

The presenters for this webcast are Marisa Castellano and Samuel 
Stringfield from the University of Louisville, and James R. Stone, III, 
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, University of 
Minnesota.

Castellano is a visiting associate professor in the College of Education 
and Human Development at the University of Louisville. Her research has 
spanned the entire K14 spectrum, from primary school reading programs to 
community college basic education and occupational training. The 
overarching theme of this broad research agenda is in improving the 
educational opportunities of minority studentsespecially those for whom 
English is a second language.

Castellano is also interested in studying whole-school-reform designs and 
revamped career and technical programs that provide strong academics 
integrated into relevant, real-world learning environments. She is 
currently heading a longitudinal study examining the effects of whole 
school reform on career and technical education at the middle school, high 
school, and community college levels. Castellano has authored numerous 
research articles on K12 school reform, high school career and technical 
education, and community college occupational programs.

Stringfield is a distinguished university scholar and co-director of the 
Nystrand Center of Excellence in Education in the College of Education and 
Human Development at the University of Louisville. He is a founding editor 
of the Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk (JESPAR) and is 
currently serving as the acting chair of the Educational and Psychological 
Counseling Department. His research focuses on designs for improving 
programs within schools, for improving whole schools, and for improving 
systemic supports for schools serving disadvantaged students.

Prior to coming to the University of Louisville, Stringfield directed the 
Systemic Supports for School Reform Program of the Center for Research on 
the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR), at Johns Hopkins 
University. From 1999 to 2004, he served on the Baltimore City New Board of 
School Commissioners. Stringfield has worked as a teacher, a program 
evaluator, a Tulane University faculty member, and a coordinator of the 
Denver office of Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. He is currently 
a Wood Johnson Urban Health Initiative Fellow, studying the interactions of 
diverse social systems as they impact health and education.

Stone has served as director of the National Research Center for Career and 
Technical Education since 2002. He has also served as the deputy director, 
with responsibilities for developing new research initiatives and 
coordinating the work of the Centers' associate partners Johns Hopkins 
University and the Academy for Education Development. He is presently 
involved in two studies: an examination of Career Technical 
Education-based, whole school reforms in schools serving disadvantaged 
youth; and the math-in-Career Technical Education study.

Beyond the traditional forms of disseminating research results, Stone has 
worked directly with schools and school systems supporting efforts to 
improve occupationally oriented education. He worked for more than five 
years with the Oakland California Public Schools helping to implement a 
community-based, school-to-work plan that included career academy 
development and school-based enterprises. He worked with a Minneapolis high 
school developing a program in partnership with the American Indian OIC 
targeted at urban Native American youth. He recently completed a study of 
postsecondary occupational/technical education in Minnesota.

Viewers of the webcast may ask questions of the panel by signing up (no 
charge) for a chatroom account at http://www.nccte.org. The chatroom allows 
you to submit questions during the presentation. Please allow one full day 
for your account to be validated by e-mail confirmation.

To subscribe or unsubscribe from this e-mail list, please visit this web 
page: http://www.nccte.org/ctemail/subscription.asp or send an e-mail to 
nagy.8 at osu.edu or contact Barbara Reardon below.

The work reported herein was supported under the National Dissemination 
Center for Career and Technical Education (PR/Award No. VO51A990004) and/or 
under the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education 
(PR/Award No. VO51A990006), as administered by the Office of Vocational and 
Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education. However, the contents do not 
necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Office of Vocational 
and Adult Education or the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not 
assume endorsement by the federal government. The National Dissemination 
Center for Career and Technical Education and the National Research Center 
for Career and Technical Education are funded by the Office of Vocational 
and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education.


For Additional Information Contact:
Barbara Reardon
The Ohio State University
Director of Communications
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090
Phone: 614-292-2894
Fax: 614-688-3258
Email: reardon.30 at osu.edu
Web site: www.nccte.org





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