Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
John Michael Bodi
Committee Member
Charles Amuso
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Committee Member
Claudia Santin
Keywords
alternative high school, career development, career maturity, conflict resolution, descriptive method, guidance counselors, interview skills, job readiness, job retention, life skills, public transit, quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, readiness inventory, résumé writing, school-to-work, students, urban schools, vocational maturity, work-study, work-study programs, work-study supervision
Abstract
This applied dissertation designed an intervention plan that sought to improve an urban alternative high school work-study program. This study applied quantitative and qualitative analysis to determine why only 40% of this program’s students successfully retained a work-study job. It was hypothesized that the percentage of successful work-study students would increase from 40% to 80% by implementing the following interventions: having each student take a career development and readiness inventory before they entered the world of work, providing each student with 5 monthly hours of structured work-study supervision from the same guidance counselor, and developing and teaching a school-to-work curriculum that emphasizes job-related life skills.
This applied dissertation was able to increase the percentage of successful work-study students from 40% to 75% by implementing 3 intervention areas that addressed job readiness, work-study supervision, and school-to-work curriculum. Quantitative and qualitative analysis demonstrated that the combined implementation of these interventions helped the students to retain their jobs for work-study. The use of the career development and readiness inventory helped the program staff to identify which students were ready to enter the world of work. The work-study supervisor was able to provide 5 monthly hours of supervision and on-the-job training and support to the students at work and school. The program staff taught the school-to-work curriculum that covered topics including résumé writing, interview skills, conflict resolution, basic math, and how to navigate the public transit system.
This applied dissertation determined that the job readiness, work-study supervision, and school-to-work curriculum intervention areas effectively addressed job retention. This applied dissertation may be generalized to other urban alternative high school work-study programs. This study was unable to depict cause and effect relationships because it used the descriptive method.