Attached below is the student enrollment data chart for the Education for Employment program and the entire Hayfield Secondary School population. In reviewing Hayfield's data collection, the 2009-10 data is not available as part of the school profile; hence only a three year trend can be analyzed.
Evaluation of Hayfield Secondary's Education for Employment program by analyzing the student data provided for the last three years proved to be an informative, reflective, and a proactive learning experience. Seeing the numbers on paper confirmed some truths and cited student enrollment trends by ethnicity, gender, and special populations. From this data, conclusions could be drawn on the positive and negative impacts on the EFE program and a proactive plan for change could be developed, keeping in mind that trends happen over time and may need further research and data for accurate interpretation. Please remember as the data is reviewed that the Hayfield Secondary School profile only displays data collection through 2008-2009 so a three year rather than 4 year trend is being analyzed.
Viewing the Hayfield Secondary total enrollment profile, conclusions can be reached that the school enrollment is steadily increasing annually since the opening of South County Secondary School in September 2006 due to boundary changes and overcrowding. The Education for Employment program enrollment has fluctuated over the last four years with a huge dip in 2007-2008; however the growth since 2007-08 is noteworthy and steadily increasing annually. The major influence on decreased enrollment numbers in 2007-2008 was compliance to a state regulation regarding student enrollment cap based on work stations and the Education for Employment classification as a special needs/disadvantaged program. The Education for Employment class under Family and Consumer Sciences has always been regulated by state guidelines as a disadvantaged, special needs course and at the time I had 15 computers work stations. The State Audit brought to light the discretion in enrollment and policy. Now with the new mobile CTE laboratory of 16 laptops, budget cuts, and increased class sizes projected, the enrollment for Education for Employment will be 20-25 students.
In analyzing the Education for Employment enrollment data in comparison to the Hayfield profiles during this three year snapshot, the following trends were discovered:
1. Our Hayfield profile is fairly gender equal, staying fairly close to a 50-50% male-female population ratio. Education for Employment has been a predominantly male enrolled course in the past. It is becoming more gender-balanced and I will continue to recruit female enrollment in this course as it will more closely mirror the school enrollment data.
2. Hayfield is known for a diverse student population, which is one of its greatest strengths. This is reflected in our enrollment numbers with the statistical ethnicity breakdown to be approximately 40% White, 25% Black, 15% Hispanic, and 21% “Asian and Other.” The trend in Education for Employment shows that the White population is increasing in number with a 14% growth this school year; however I have no school enrollment breakdown to compare it with. The EFE Hispanic and Asian population has been increasing since the 2007-2008 school year; however both ethnicities show a 6-8% decrease from the two previous school year data collection. Again the 2009-2010 school profile enrollment data is not available for comparison. Doing a general three year trend comparison between the general school population and EFE enrollment data from 2006-2009, the two data collections closely mirror each other in ethnic diversity breakdowns.
3. As for students with special education services, the school total averages about 14% of the total student population. The Education for Employment enrollment is double - triple in comparison; with nearly half of my students receiving special education services. Their needs are varied from specific learning disability, mental retardation, emotionally disturbed, speech and language impaired and other health impairments. All of my EFE special needs students find success in the course as it combines academic rigor, technical skill building, variation of teaching strategies, computer literacy, and more importantly—individual relationship building with students. You may be familiar with the educational quote, “Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care!” I am especially aware of and implement the accommodations for the individual students and am so actively involved that I am considered an “Honorary Member of the Special Ed Department.” My participation in individual education plans (IEP) and re-evaluation of special education services conferences is increasing to an average of 2-3 weekly.
4. In Limited English Proficiency (LEP), our student enrollment data shows slowly increasing growth at the school level with only slightly higher percentage points at the EFE program level; hence a consistent mirror image of each other in general comparison. During this school year, 2009-2010, Education for Employment shows a 10% decrease in students with language barriers, but no school profile to compare the enrollment change however increases in past school years, increased in proportion to the growing Hispanic population schoolwide.
5. Our economically disadvantaged population is increasing at both the school and program levels. The interesting statistic is that in Education for Employment, the disadvantaged population is 15-20% higher than the school profile. This growing statistic is not all surprising as it confirms the need for this disadvantaged program and mirrors the current national economic trends being addressed with budget cuts across the board.
Trends happen over time and are able to be explored with data; however it is important to remember that the data is not totally conclusive; it simply provides a 3 year snapshot of the program area. Further discussion and research is needed to figure out some of the “why’s and how’s” to our questions. I am still perplexed about how to recruit specifically more Whites and Asians into Education for Employment program. Further data collection and discussion with my FACS department members and collaboration with the EFE colleagues at the county level who have completed the Exemplary Standards Review should prove insightful in this continuing process of improvement.
Analyzing the Competency Attainment Data Chart in Artifact 75, it is essential to note that during the 3 years showcased, no Education for Employment student failed and all of the completers have met 80% or better in competency attainment since the current EFE instructor began teaching the program. Reflecting first on student ethnicity, one can see the definite growth in percentages of Hispanic and "Other" classification of students to include the Asian population. Secondly, the completers categorized as special needs and economically disadvantaged have more than doubled to 67%. Likewise the Limited English Proficient (LEP) student completers have nearly doubled to 27%. These statistics verify that Hayfield's Education for Employment program is varied in ethnic diversity, students with special needs, the economically disadvantaged and students with limited English proficiency; yet all of these populations reached competency attainment. The Education for Employment program is successfully meeting the specific "at-risk" student populations specified above and illustrating success in competency attainment based on the Virginia course description, framework, and performance indicators achieved.
It is also important to focus on the three year growth of completers in Hayfield Secondary's Education for Employment program. The number of completers has more than doubled, allowing these students to graduate with a Career and Technical Education Seal on their high school diplomas. The ability to retain students in this program for a second year speaks volumes for itself - Education for Employment is a relevant elective option, diverse students are able to be successful as demonstrated through competency attainment, and the program continues to expand in a positive direction with the growth of total student completers.
At the time Ms. Gordon assumed the role of Education for Employment instructor five years ago, no industry certifications were being offered to EFE students and the state was beginning the push for increased program credibility and accountability through industry certifications. From that point on, it was decided that all Education for Employment students would have the opportunity for CTE industry credentialing.
OSHA CareerSafe was the first credentialing introduced in Education for Employment because the students had no previous exposure to it. Now OSHA credentialing is offered in three of Hayfield Secondary's CTE disciplines--Auto Technology, Cosmetology, and EFE. This explanation illustrates the decreased number of students participating in this particular assessment over the three year trend shown. It is not surprising that more students are receiving OSHA CareerSafe credentialing as it is an awesome entry level resume builder. The completion rate of this credentialing assessment shows a 93% pass rate as compared to previous years of 85% in 2006-2007 and 77% in 2007-2008. Education for Employment students are quite successful with this peer networking online course approach of modules as it provides an instructional format to accommodate all styles of learners-visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. In addition, the majority of special needs and English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students demonstrate success as the module assessments allow students to pass with a 70% or higher score and students are given three repeat attempts to pass. Attrition rates in Education for Employment accounts for the less than 100% completion of OSHA due to students moving, suspensions, expulsions, incarcerations, or drop out rates.
National Retail Federation's Customer Service certification has been offered for years in Marketing at Hayfield and in 2006-2007, Education for Employment began offering it as well after the EFE instructor personally became certified. As one can observe from the credentialing data chart, the majority of EFE students are working toward this certification. Customer Service is very challenging for the Education for Employment student and as an instructor I constantly network to gain insight into strategies for improvement. Two years ago, the National Retail Federation pass rate for Customer Service was only 60% nationally; hence the test was being re-evaluated. At that point educators in Fairfax County collaborated to create a practice pretest for students and accompanying lessons for staff to access on Blackboard. Along with these two great resources, I set up a plan of action for greater EFE student success on this certification test. My strategies each year increase and currently are as follows:
Student feedback has been very interesting and I would like to share four major concerns for reflection. The EFE students said that since they were not paying $50 for the Customer Service test, they did not take it as seriously. Also, the test was too long and the majority of my special needs students with extended time accommodations did not take advantage of the opportunity; they simply got tired and guessed without even reading questions. Other standardized tests in school such as the SOL's and SAT's allow for re-takes so students did not see the one time testing opportunity as fair. Finally, the test cannot be monitored by the EFE teacher; hence students felt out of their "comfort zones" in taking the test with the Marketing teacher proctoring in the Marketing computer lab rather than familiar surroundings. These were honest, yet very disturbing attitudes/excuses for failing pass rates.
As for the National Retail Federation's Sales Certification, one can see that student participation has increased by 400% since the assessment was first offered in 2007-2008. The same instructional strategies are being utilized for this assessment as Customer Service. In the first year, the baseline was 0% pass rate with one participant. In 2008-2009, the pas rate was 60% of which I am proud; it could be slightly higher as no special needs or students with language barriers have attempted this certification yet.
My goal is to continue to offer these three industry certification to all Education for Employment students. As I implement the improvement model with the strategies shared above, I am hoping that future data will reflect a realistic, yet increasingly higher student success rate for all genders, ethnicities, and special needs categories in industry certification testing.
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