Vocational education topic of forum

Nearly 200 educators from throughout the North Bay gathered Wednesday to wrestle with how to prepare high school students who take vocational classes for both careers and college.

“We need to broaden the idea of what is college-ready,” said Cindy Pilar, director of the Leadership Assistance Center at the Sonoma County Office of Education.

Wood shop concepts translate to algebra, and science is infused in auto shop, according to many of the panelists at the fourth annual Career Technical Education Conference in Rohnert Park.

So-called “shop classes” that feature cutting-edge technology and career courses that offer students job-shadow opportunities at hospitals and laboratories should not be considered watered-down versions of college-prep courses, panelists said.

“They are not sacrificing rigor, they are infusing context,” Pilar said.

Panelists and participants from Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Marin and Contra Costa counties challenged the notion that career pathway classes emphasizing vocational skills make students any less ready to not only apply to college but excel once enrolled.

“Pathway is not about forcing kids to choose a career at 13, 14, 15, 16,” said Gary Hoachlander, president of ConnectEd, the California Center for College and Career. “The point is to give students the academic foundation, technical foundation for any postsecondary or career choice they make. And most of the young people today will have multiple careers.”

But participants acknowledged that budgetary constraints and accountability demands make the notion of wholesale overhauls unrealistic.

“We certainly know that high schools are under particular pressure,” said Jeannie Oakes, presidential professor in educational equity and director of UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access.

Finding small ways to copy successful programs is a start, Pilar said.

“The greatest thing we can do is replicate success,” she said.