Vocational classes combine school and skills
The smell of metal permeates David Swanson’s first-period class as he swaps bluejeans and sneakers for a pair of Carhartts and steel-toe boots.
Like many of his classmates, Swanson, 17, has taken the required reading, writing, math and science classes in his four years at Kent-Meridian High School.
He earned mostly As but says that once he discovered welding - he signed up for the class last year on a whim - all of those textbook lessons became real to him.
“I’m a hands-on learner,” Swanson said. “[Welding] has helped me connect with everything - math, physics, writing. It makes more sense now.”
Once thought of as the dumping ground for troubled students, vocational classes are no longer taking a backseat to more refined subjects.
Throughout Southeast King County - where manufacturing is a strong part of the local economy - district leaders are increasingly looking to vocational teachers to help students understand complicated subjects and meet tough graduation requirements.
David Bilyeu, director of Kent’s Career and Technical Education Department, said today’s students are learning more than how to build things - they are learning math, reading, writing and communication skills.
These days, the emphasis in vocational classes isn’t training students for jobs in the field. Increasingly, the focus is on using the classes almost as labs to reinforce what students learn in core subjects.
“It’s really important for students to see why they are learning things,” Bilyeu said.
Re-evaluating classes
In Southeast King County, community colleges and high schools have long been known for training workers to fill local manufacturing jobs.
Much of that has changed the past decade or so in high schools, said Jay Leviton, the director of career and life skills education for the Renton School District.
New standards set by the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) have pressured many districts to re-evaluate how to best use vocational classes, Leviton said.
Throughout the area, students can now earn science and math credits through vocational classes. Some vocational classes require that students pass advanced math or science courses before enrolling.
“One student might learn biology in a bio class,” Leviton said. “But others may have to learn bio in a fisheries horticulture class.”
Junius McCloud, Swanson’s welding teacher, said he uses everything from geometry to drafting to help his students understand the principals of welding.
McCloud - who joined K-M’s Career and Technical Education Department after two decades working as welder on major projects all over the country - says vocational classes benefit two types of students: those who are college-bound and those who want to pursue technical careers.
“My students can come out of here with three years of welding,” McCloud said. “They can go on to work or they can use their experiences to help them in college.”
At Lindbergh High School in Renton, vocational teachers actively look for ways to apply math, reading, writing and science to other courses.
Creed Nelson, head of the school’s technical department, said vocational teachers are focusing on explaining the math and science behind what they do. Nelson regularly uses math in his carpentry lessons.
If a student is painting, Nelson encourages them to find the area of an object using algebra, rather than guessing. If someone is building a shelf, they are asked to center the wood using the Pythagorean theorem, rather than a T-square.
“We’ve always taught math,” Nelson said. “It didn’t used to be intentional.”
Facing criticism
The WASL has played a major role in how vocational programs are changing. Leaders in the field say the test has led districts to face two options: update or eliminate.
Many districts have reduced funding for technical classes in favor of hiring teachers for fundamental subjects. Districts that choose to update vocational curriculum still face critics who say these programs funnel students in a direction that does not include a degree from a college or a university.
Leviton says districts are right in reinventing their vocational programs.
“This a story about how districts are working to help kids meet necessary core academic skills,” he said. “We are integrating those skills in a career and tech program.”
Measuring success
Measuring the success of this new generation of vocational programs will take time.
The Renton School District has commissioned Washington State University to produce a study that will compare the WASL scores of students enrolled in career and technical programs against those who are not enrolled.
Swanson says seen the benefits from welding the past two years at Kent-Meridian. It has given the teen options: He is deciding whether to pursue a degree in engineering or head to a technical college to earn an advanced welding certificate.
Karen Johnson: 253-234-8605 or karenjohnson@seattletimes.com