and technical schools could accommodate an additional one-half million students.4 Some of the salient features of the home study or correspondence schools must be at least noted, even though such schools undoubtedly merit a much more extensive survey. The National Home Study Council, with a membership of 120 accredited schools, is the principal association for these schools. (Some of the schools have vocational school divisions similar to those considered in this study.) Accreditation is provided by the Council's Accrediting Commission, which is recognized by the U.S. Office of Education. There are also approximately 500 nonaccredited correspondence schools. Unlike the members of the National Home Study Council, the nonaccredited schools do not always require examinations and frequent "exchange" between school and student. Since homes serve, in effect, as a substitute for classrooms, the number of correspondence schools is much smaller than the estimated total of private vocational schools, and the enrollments are considerably larger. One international correspondence school has had more than 100,000 students during each of the past five years. The National Home Study Council members have students in every state, and their total enrollment is equal to that of the private vocational schools. When the enrollments in nonaccredited schools and the Armed Forces are added to those of the Council, the aggregate figure is five million students. The total number of subjects taught by correspondence is about 600 and includes vocational subjects, high school courses, and college-level courses. Students can naturally hold jobs and learn at their own desired pace. Types of Courses Offered in Trade and Technical Schools The variety of occupational courses found in private trade and technical schools reflects the unique ability of these schools to respond to the training needs of many industries and professions. About 230 different occupational courses were offered in the more than 500 trade and technical schools examined in this study.5 Since most schools offered more than one course, the 4Ibid., p. 46. This estimate excludes the unused capacity in business, barber, and cosmetology schools. 5Ibid., pp. 13-14. total number of courses provided by these schools was nearly 1,500. The six major vocational categories (based on the number of courses Less than 60 percent of all reported courses are included in the above categories. The three largest areas of training (data processing, electronics, and medical services) are acknowledged to be growth fields in most manpower projections. The other three categories cannot necessarily be designated "traditional," because drafting may be allied with the electronics industry and a radio-TV course may emphasize the repair of color television sets. Even automobile repair offers numerous employment openings for competent workers. Other important training fields include courses in commercial arts; construction; fashion design; needle trades; shoemaking; food preparation, processing, retailing, and service; interior design and related services; machine shop; major and minor appliance repair and servicing; photography; printing; promotion, sales, and related services; tool and die design; various forms of transportation and traffic management; and welding. Finally, courses in aerospace engineering technology, waste and wastewater reconversion, gardening, hotel-motel operation, and many others though listed by only a few schools, are areas of growing job opportunities. Not all of the courses (see list in Appendix) are equivalent to generally accepted occupational designations. However, occupational breakdowns are necessarily somewhat arbitrary, and personal differences are evident with respect to vocational interest, ability, and willingness to devote the required time to what is regarded as ideal, well-rounded training. The great variety of occupational training is matched by a wide diversity in course length and, quite expectedly, in tuition. Tuition ranged from about $100 to $4,500 and averaged nearly $1,200 annually for the courses offered by the members of NATTS in 1966. Aspects of Instruction The instruction in private vocational schools is highly specialized, with a view to the final employment objective. Therefore, the schools maintain close but informal contacts with employers. Course content is readily modified to reflect pertinent changes that are reported to school officials by employers. Decisions to add improved facilities can also be made rapidly and directly. This differs from the delays often encountered by public schools and colleges that must seek approval from school boards or legislatures. Training is provided in a job-simulated setting. Visual aids and operative equipment of all types are typically more important than textbooks. Classroom or lecture instruction is usually followed immediately by supplementary training in the school shop, laboratory, kitchen, or "department store" in order to demonstrate the practical application of theoretical concepts. Most schools also arrange student visits to plants and offices. Modest home assignments are required for many courses because only those theoretical concepts which are relevant to the performance of a job are taught. The emphasis upon the functional phases of instruction represents more than an adaptation to the actual requirements of an ultimate job. It also reflects the minimum level of formal education that is required for admission to the schools. A substantial percentage of all schools accept students who have not completed high school. At least 10 percent of the business schools offer a minimum of one course that calls for less than a high school education for admission. Approximately 40 percent of the trade and technical schools provide at least one course that does not require completion of high school. Educational requirements for admission to barber and cosmetology schools are lower still; less than 10 percent of these schools require high school graduation or its equivalent. The private vocational schools have also devised methods for motivating many of their students who found the general education program in high school unstimulating. Hence, course materials are presented in short, sequential units which reinforce previously learned materials. A sense of achievement is experienced by the typical student because he is informed of his progress on a continuing basis rather than at the conclusion of a term or semester. 6Ibid., pp. 28-32. Another significant aspect of the instruction offered by many of the schools is the provision of training at various levels of accomplishment within related occupations. For instance, in one school students may shift their concentration from a radio-television repair course to a more advanced course in electronics technology, or vice versa, depending on their demonstrated aptitudes and interests. Some schools even provide courses in different occupational fields and permit students to alter their specialty course. These options are, of course, advantageous to students who would otherwise fail their course or else be compelled to accept the dissatisfactions of employment in an occupation that is not their first preference. A final feature of the instruction is the result of course selectivity among the generally self-financing students. Since the students select occupational courses which they prefer, they are much more likely to be motivated than they would be in the absence of such free choice. Concomitantly, the previously mentioned components of the instruction have such a strong appeal for the students that they contribute per se to rather high student motivation. Dr. David P. Ausubel is authoritative in supporting this type of instruction: Psychologists have been emphasizing the motivation- learning and Evaluation: A Continuing Need The ultimate value of instruction in private vocational schools is demonstrated both through the graduates' success in finding training-related positions, and in their occupational progress during their working careers. Only partial assessments of student achievement have, however, been made. In any case, since schools change their curricula and teaching staffs or simply fail to adopt important changes initiated by other schools, a continuing means of evaluating the training schools must be available. 7"A Teaching Strategy for Culturally Deprived Pupils," in Miller and Smiley, eds., Education in the Metropolis (New York: The Free Press, 1967), p. 293. 8Dr. Kenneth B. Hoyt's Specialty Oriented Student Research Program at the University of Maryland is virtually the only source for such findings. Accreditation or evaluation of most private vocational schools is voluntary, as it is for all types of education in the United States. States do establish hygienic rules for barber and cosmetology schools; and state and federal laws determine the scope of training for a limited number of technical occupations, including certified pipewelder, commercial pilot, ship radio officer, and tractor-trailer driver. Generally, however, business, trade, and technical schools are evaluated by private accrediting organizations. Accrediting teams evaluate a school on the basis of its success in achieving the purposes and objectives the school has set for itself. About 500 out of an estimated 1,300 business schools are members of the United Business Schools Association (UBSA), sponsor of a recognized accrediting body which has accredited about 250 schools. Schools that are not accredited by September 1970 will no longer be eligible for active membership. In contrast, only about 10 percent of all trade and technical schools are members of NATTS, which received its accrediting status from the U.S. Commissioner of Education in 1967, two years after the Association's establishment. A "visiting team" from NATTS or UBSA is the principal effective body for evaluating private vocational schools. The team, consisting of technical specialists (industry representatives, educators, and school owners) who are not affiliated with the school under consideration, verifies the school's claims regarding its courses or programs. A check is made of a school's business practices, including job placement records and student recruitment procedures, especially when the school's recruiting representatives work on a commission basis. Student impressions are secured through random interviews. A NATTS member school must seek accreditation for any newly acquired affiliate, and an accredited school must apply for evaluation of any new course. An accrediting body examines graduate placement records at the time of accreditation, upon receipt of detailed annual reports, and at five-year reevaluation intervals. In general, practically all schools provide a placement service for their graduates, and a great majority offer the service "for life." The placement ratio (percentage of a school's graduates placed in jobs by a school) has, however, not been determined with any firm accuracy. Of course, many of the students are indirectly helped by the schools to find jobs: more or less formal sessions are conducted on how to prospect for work, and visits to schools by recruiters from industrial concerns afford students an early and convenient start in job-searching. |