In “Do by learning” (Aug. 15, 2013), I examined the case for providing alternatives to college prep as a path to a high school diploma. Among the pieces I drew upon for that column was Alex Tabarrok’s “Tuning In to Dropping Out “ in a recent issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education.
I described, briefly, how things are done in Germany. Here Sarah Goodyear tells us a little about interesting developments in this country. Called Citizen Schools, one program that debuted in Boston offers kids in urban public schools apprenticeships that weave academic principles into the curriculum while providing real-world instruction by members of the private sector.
Something very similar is underway in Chicago, where the Emanuel administration is setting up five Early College STEM Schools (ECSS) that focus on technology skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. The schools aims not only to provide Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students with saleable skills but college credits under a partnership agreement with five technology companies, CPS and Chicago’s community college system.
