Mission

SLCs/CAs offer a strategy for transforming the American comprehensive high school from its traditional arrangement into college-prep, general and vocational tracks, to a set of self-contained thematic schools which prepare students for both college and careers. The intent of CASN is to encourage serious commitment to using SLCs/CAs to raise academic achievement, and to collect data in order to know how well they are working.

About CASN

The Career Academy Support Network (CASN), begun in 1998, is a center based at the University of California, Berkeley. Housed in the Graduate School of Education, the center focuses on high school reform, and in particular supports the growth and improvement of Small Learning Communities (SLCs) and Career Academies (CAs), which many high schools are using to prepare students for college and careers. CASN has been funded by several foundations, including the Stuart Foundation, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the Lumina Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Wallace Readers Digest Fund.

Most of CASN's guides and reports are distributed free, largely through this web site (go to the Resources section). In addition, this website offers a National Directory of Academies, organized by state and searchable by career field; a downloadable Forms Bank (Resources section); an online inquiry service (ask_casn@berkeley.edu); and links to the websites of other organizations with an interest in SLCs /CAs.

Project Staff, Partners

The Principal Investigator of CASN is David Stern, a professor of Education at U.C. Berkeley and past Director of the National Center for Research in Vocational Education (NCRVE). Dr. Stern is a member of the Berkeley faculty committee and state BOARS committee that oversee admissions, and leads many of CASN's research efforts. Charles Dayton, who helped to start the first Career Academies in California and has worked to evaluate and provide assistance to SLCs/CAs for over two decades, is CASN's Coordinator. He also serves as a third party evaluator for several districts with federal SLC grants.

Susan Tidyman, past administrator of the Partnership Academies for the California Department of Education, oversees work at the state and regional level, working with numerous high schools around the country. Alan Weisberg, past Director of the Oakland Alliance, served as Program Manager for CASN's SLC/CA work in Seattle. Patricia Clark, past Director of the Health Careers Academy at Oakland Tech High School, serves as Program Manager for support of several high schools in California and Hawaii implementing SLCs/CAs and issues a regular CASN electronic newsletter. All three serve as Regional Coordinators for a project that provides electronic analyses of student transcripts in selected pilot high schools in an effort to increase college going rates among underrepresented students. Finally, Tracy Hanna is our resident data expert and has worked on several SLC evaluations as well as the college access project.

CASN works with partners at Berkeley (the Center for Educational Outreach, the U.C. Office of the President) and from around the country. MDRC in New York, and the Institute on Education and the Economy (IEE) at Teacher's College, Columbia, conduct academy related research. The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in Atlanta sponsors High Schools That Work and helps to build capacity to support SLCs/CAs through its extensive network of states and high schools. The National Academy Foundation (NAF) in New York offers expertise in curriculum, professional development, and academy development to its network of over 500 CAs. The Center for Social Organization of Schools (CSOS) at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore supports Talent Development and the schoolwide implementation of Career Academies. The National Career Academy Coalition (NCAC) in Philadelphia holds a national Career Academy conference each year in Philadelphia.

CASN Services

CASN contracts directly with high schools and districts, providing professional development for teachers, counselors, and administrators, and conducting evaluations of SLCs/ Academies. Such support can be on a variety of topics that include:

• Planning new SLCs/Academies
• Grant writing
• Establishing teacher teamwork
• Ensuring curriculum meets college entrance requirements
• Integrating academic and career-technical curriculum
• Fitting SLCs/Academies into the master schedule
• Developing employer support/ advisory committees
• Developing mentor and/or internship programs
• Identifying career-technical course sequences
• Evaluating SLCs/Academies
• Avoiding common pitfalls, following best practices

Services are usually arranged on a contractual basis, for a defined period, often a given school year. Shorter efforts can be arranged through purchase orders. CASN's rates vary with the length and nature of the work involved, and can be discussed through contacts with staff members. All funds go through the university, where CASN staff are employees.

Definition of Career Academies

Overview of CASN Work