In Prince George’s County, administrators are careful not to downplay academic rigor, but are finding increased success with career and technical education as more students eschew a traditional path to college for a direct route to the work force.
“College-ready and work-ready mean the same thing,” said Verjeana Jacobs, chairwoman of Prince George’s Board of Education. “If our students make the choice to go to college, it will not be because they’re not prepared to do anything else.”
Jacobs was one of nearly 1,000 educators, students and business leaders in Greenbelt on Tuesday to celebrate the district’s School to Careers program placing hundreds of seniors in internships from the Department of Agriculture to local karate schools.
Creavery Marshall of Hyattsville’s Northwestern High School took top honors in the program for her work as a communications systems analyst at the Federal Communications Commission.
At school, Marshall excelled at academics and took part in several extracurricular activities. Though not the traditional vocational-tech student, she’s exactly the type the district is trying to attract.
“The biggest challenge I face,” said Robert Kight, supervisor of the district’s career and technical education program serving more than 20,000 students, “is changing old perceptions as to what career tech is about, and what types of students it’s for.”
While Prince George’s County, one of the region’s most troubled school districts, is finding success in opening options for students looking for alternative routes, the approach in neighboring Montgomery County has been different.
In 2007, 60 percent of Montgomery’s students took at least one Advanced Placement exam, far outpacing any district in the state. The district was one of only two in the country with more than 1,000 African-American students scoring high enough to earn advanced-placement college credit.
Some Montgomery parents have expressed worries that the district’s focus on hyperachievement has meant fewer opportunities for job training.
This year, the district had about 14,500 students taking part in its Career Pathways program, but it expects closer to 16,000 next year as it shifts away from trade programs and into more academically challenging tracks.
