In analyzing the quantitative student enrollment data chart or performing a job site visit, one will notice the diversity of Hayfield's school population as well as the diversity in the Education for Employment classroom. Reviewing the 3 year trend, it is evident that we are servicing a diverse population in relation to gender, ethnicity, special education services, economically disadvantaged, and limited English proficiency. The data collection speaks volumes and has been thoroughly scrutinized in the previous artifacts.   Diversity can be viewed as a challenge to educators or as a strength or a blend of both. In Education for Employment the answer is both with a diverse student population being a strength as everyone grows so much in learning about one other -- the richness of others' ethnicity, culture, family traditions, food, and attitudes.  On the other hand, diversity in differentiating and individualizing instruction is a challenge.  All students despite their ethnicity, gender, academic abilities, special needs, or language barriers find success in the Education for Employment and the Cooperative Education Internship programs. When students find academic success in these real world learning experiences, their self-esteem and confidence level increases, while the classroom environment becomes a “safe haven” for them to grow academically and personally. As an instructor, I am in constant search for new teaching practices that actively engage students in learning, differentiating instruction for various academic levels and EFE 1 and 2 students, evaluating student progress through a variety of authentic assessments, and accommodating students with individual education plans as mandated.  Equally important as the instructional component, success happens when an instructor builds positive relationships with students. Our school theme is Academic Rigor + Relevance + Relationship Building = Student Success. In Education for Employment all of these essential components of the formula for student success need to be in place.  The best practices highlighted in Artifact 88 can all be replicated in different schools across the nation based on how they are incorporated with their respective student populations by keeping the components of student success in focus – academic rigor, relevance, and relationship building and gaining expertise in teaching practices by curriculum development courses.

In reflecting on the student credentialing data chart requested for the Governor's State Exemplary Program Review, the biggest challenge in Education for Employment is to increase the pass rates on industry certifications, particularly the National Retail Federation's Customer Service Test. The  personal goal is to increase the overall pass rate by 5% so that the gap can be narrowed between Hayfield's Education for Employment pass rate of 60% and the Virginia pass rate of 67.24%.  Even though it would be wonderful to be able to close the gap and increase the pass rate to meet Fairfax County's 73.91%, this would be an unrealistic short term goal.  A continuous improvement plan was created by the EFE instructor to help meet this challenge.  Steps include:  working collaboratively with the lead Marketing teacher at Hayfield, networking with the EFE teachers at the county inservices for testing strategies, and continuing to work with the Special Education Department and National Retail Federation to apply for extended time and other testing accommodations for the special needs students.  Instructionally, more of the Retail Smarts series published by the the National Retail Federation have been purchased, additional Customer Service DVDs have been bought, practice tests for Customer Service and Sales have been placed on Blackboard, and warm-up questions are being implemented daily.  

Further synthesis of the ethic breakdown of the Customer Service certification data revealed that the Black and Hispanic populations had the poorest pass rates. This is the one reasons that class each day begins with a warm-up question relating to customer service taken from a practice test in hopes of closing the gaps for these minorities.  Also the requirement will be changed that the practice tests (which randomly change the questions on each attempt) must be taken 5 times with scores printed off for the instructor before a student is allowed to take the real Customer Service online exam.  Hopefully by being familiar with the standardized online testing style, format, test length, and practice testing, the post test results will show improvement. Also the teacher will be available to Education for Employment students before school, during lunches, and after school for additional help or individualized instruction. 

Analysis of the special needs data collection revealed low pass rates correlated with the students possessing disabilities and Limited English Proficient students.  Those students with IEPs and language barriers find this assessment very challenging.  In order to maximize student success on Customer Service Certifications, IEPs are reviewed with Special Education before testing, accommodations are applied for with the National Retail Federation and the organization has never denied any special needs students. Lastly NRF even granted a reader for one special needs student as an audio version of Customer Service is not available.  The students with Limited English Proficiency were another sub-group not successful in passing customer service. These students can request an interpretor if needed and I'm sure the National Retail Federation would meet the request as they have all others in the past.  The National Retail Federation is going above and beyond to accommodate!  Not seeing other additional options, I discussed the low pass rate with last years' students.  Although it was an informal interview to gather information and gain insight, the students expressed that the test length was too long and when the students became bored, they randomly selected answers.  Also, students in honesty said that they should have an opportunity for free re-takes like an SOL test.  This attitude of entitlement does not really surprise me as I observe it with students in general, not just this specific population. 

A final challenge in the Education for Employment program is to increase student involvement in the FCCLA District, State, and National Competitions.  As an educator of primarily juniors and seniors, I understand the pressures of balancing school, extracurricular involvement, sports, volunteerism, and part-time employment.  Besides those demands, students face the decision-making process of post-secondary education, campus visits, college admission applications, and scholarship opportunities.  Students can only spread themselves so thin and balance only so much in 24 hours.  Involvement a decade ago in student organizations seemed easier with less extracurricular choices and societal pressure for resume building activities.  I have had 11 National Gold Award Winners in my 34 year career as an FCCLA sponsor and was personally involved in FHA/HERO as a high school student; hence I know the rewards of involvement in a Career and Technical Education Student Organization (CTSO).  Convincing students to participate in the "above and beyond" is a huge challenge!  I am thrilled to say that on Monday, February 1, 2010 three Education for Employment students will be entering the "Job Interview" FCCLA District Competition.  The entire process has been an invaluable learning experience for all three students involved.  With lots of pictures to share with students and hopefully a winner from Hayfield, more students will be interested in the Competitions in years to come as they see their peers advance to State and National levels of recognition.

Artifact 84 identified three challenges that Hayfield Secondary School's Education for Employment program faces.  As one reflects on the quantitative data collections involved in this Exemplary Program Review, strategies for improvement are addressed with each issue discussed in the previous artifact; however, a brief synopsis is of the strategies for each challenge is given in bullet format below.

Challenge 1:  Diversity of student enrollment with differing ability levels of the general education population, a 49% special needs student populations with a variety of accommodations for specific learning disabilities, emotionally disturbed, mental retardation, speech and language impaired, and other health impairments, and Limited Language proficient students all together in a class or 20.

Strategies to Meet Challenge 1:

Differentiate and individualize instruction for all students to the best of my ability.

Simulate the classroom setting as a workplace environment for students to experience real life learning.

Create a warm, welcoming classroom climate so that all students feel safe and comfortable to make mistakes and learn from them in this environment.

Actively engage students in the learning process daily and change learning activities frequently within a class block.

Build genuine relationships of care and concern for the students, both academically and personally.

Challenge 2: Increase Education for Employment student  pass rates on the industry certifications, particularly Customer Service Certifications.

Strategies to Meet Challenge 2:

Work collaboratively with the Lead Marketing Teacher at Hayfield Secondary who administers the Customer Service Certification to the advanced Marketing students.

Network with the Education for Employment teachers at the County Lead Teacher meetings regarding this issue.

Continue to collaborate with Hayfield's Special Education Department and the National Retail Federation to obtain testing accommodations for the Education for Employment students who qualify with IEPs.

Purchase more Retail Smarts Packets from the National Retail Federation so resources would be available for individual use rather than sharing.

Purchase more Customer Service DVDs to supplement learning.

Utilize warm-up questions from the National Retail Federation Customer Service and Sales Exam practice tests.

Require students to take the practice test at least 5 times before the real examination is administered.

Challenge 3:  Increase Education for Employment student participation in the FCCLA Star Event competitions at the district, state, and national levels.

Strategies for Meet Challenge 3:

Create student awareness and excitement for competitive events.

Encourage those students with strong interviewing skills to participate in the Job Interview event.

Register students by the FCCLA required deadline.

Allow FCCLA competitive participants to work on the job interview portfolio during class time.

Publicize the results of the competition with pictures on the Hayfield web site, announcements over the intercom, and an FCCLA display showcase.