This info-graphic is Courtesy of Online Colleges.net
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Tag Archives: Vocational education
Not Broken! – Part 4/5
In conclusion, when do we see these types of global education comparisons from the media or critics of public education?
Never!
The reason for that NEVER answer is because four US presidents (two democrats and two republicans) along with forty-four US governors and 50 CEOs made a huge mistake starting in the 1980s when they left out vocational training as part of educational reform.
Instead of admitting the mistake, politicians and many Americans continue to use teachers and teacher unions as the scapegoat claiming that public education is broken. If you need proof, today, America has a high unemployment rate at the same time that millions of high-skilled, high-paying blue-collar jobs that do not require a college education but do require skilled vocational training go unfilled.
Recommendation: The US should seriously consider starting vocational programs, similar to Europe, that leads to graduation from its secondary schools—this means two programs that result in high-school graduation: academic and vocational. In my opinion, it is ridiculous to treat every student as if he or she is college material.
Mike Rowe testifies before the US Senate about the need for people that can fill jobs that require skilled trades. He is the host of a TV show called Dirty Jobs about the hard work done by tradesmen and skilled workers.
All we need to do is look at information from the US Census to see the truth.
In the United States by age 24, almost 90% of young adults have a high-school degree or its equivalent, a GED.
However, only 30.44% (72.56 million) of those young adults went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree, and of those that earned a BA degree, 7.94% (18.95 million) earned a Master’s degree and 3% (7.2 million) a Doctorate or professional degree.
In addition, according to the US Census, 76% of the population is age 19 or older. That means 165.7 million (70%) adult Americans did not move from the high school academic program to a college academic program.
Many of these adults may have benefited from a vocational program leading to high-school graduation and a high skilled, high paying blue-collar job, and unemployment in America today would be much lower while the economy would benefit from more Americans working, consuming and paying taxes.
Instead, those that did not go to college were tossed into the world of work, most with only an academic high-school degree, and no guidance or support from the public education system that was designed by Washington D.C.
Continued on September 5, 2012 in Not Broken! – Part 5 or return to Part 3
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga.
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Not Broken! – Part 3/5
Because the United States does not offer vocational programs in its public high schools, comparing US graduations rates to that of other countries that offer vocational training toward secondary high school graduation is not a fair and/or equal comparison. If we remove the vocational programs in other countries then we are comparing apples to apples instead of apples to cucumbers, and we end up with a more realistic rating of the top ten countries with the United Kingdom removed from the list.
Skilled Labor Shortage – high unemployment and a labor shortage at the same time
In North America, there is far less of a tradition in the public schools of vocational education of any sort, but in the UK and EU, there are vocational programs. However, there is a difference: “The UK requires much less general education and permits all training to take place on employers’ premises, whereas in other countries attendance at college or apprenticeship centers is the rule.” Source: education.gov.uk
The graduation rates of 17/18 year olds of the top ten countries compared for academics not vocational programs:
1. United States = 75.5%
2. Japan = 72%
3. Ireland = 70%
4. South Korea = 66%
5. Norway = 60%
6. Denmark = 55%
7. Finland = 48%
8. Germany = 39%
9. Italy = 35%
10. Switzerland = 30%
In addition, there are 193 countries represented in the UN, putting the United States high-school academic graduation rate (age 17/18) number one of all the nations that are members of the UN.
In addition, the US has the third-largest population on the Earth, and due to population size, it seems fair to compare the US to other countries with large populations.
1. China = 1.347 billion (According to data from China’s Ministry of Education, China has a 99% (160 million) attendance rate for primary school. However, about 63% finished Senior Middle School and 45% complete Vocational School of 15 – 18 yr olds)
2. India = 1.21 billion (49% of females participate in secondary schools compared to 59% of males)
3. United States = 314.2 million (75.5% completed secondary education by 18 yrs of age. However, by gender, more than 90% of girls complete high school or its equivalent, while only 85% of boys do. In the US, high school focuses primarily on the social and academic and does not offer a vocational program toward graduation.
4. Indonesia = 237.6 million (29% complete general education programs and 17% complete vocational training)
5. Brazil = 192.4 million (65% complete general education programs and 9% complete vocational training)
6. Pakistan = 180.5 million (20% of females participate in the secondary schools compared to 35% of males)
7. Nigeria = 166.6 million (43% of females participate in secondary schools compared to 45% of males)
8. Bangladesh = 152.5 million (43% of females participate in secondary schools compared to 40% of males)
9. Russia = 143.1 million (53% complete general education programs and 41% complete vocational training)
10. Japan = 112.3 million (72% complete general education programs and 23% complete vocational training)
Primary Source: unicef.org
Continued on September 4, 2012 in Not Broken! – Part 4 or return to Part 2
______________
Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga.
To follow this Blog via E-mail see upper right-hand column and click on “Sign me up!”
Not Broken! – Part 2/5
I’ll start with 1900 when the total number of high-school graduates in the US numbered 16,000 of 815,000 seventeen-year olds.
In 1920, 311,000 graduated from high school or 16.8% of the total which was 1,855,000
In 1940, 1,221,000 or 50,8% of 2,403,000 graduated.
In 1960, 1,858,000 or 69.5% of 2,672,000 graduated.
In 1980, 3,043,000 or 71.4% of 4,262,000 graduated.
Source: nces.ed.gov
After 1970, high school graduation rates for 17/18 year olds level off and fluctuated but not by much.
In fact, in 2009, 75.5% of high school students that started ninth grade as freshman graduated from high school at age 17/18.
Furthermore, in 2009, eighty-nine-point-eight (89.8%) percent of 18 through 24-year-olds not enrolled in high school had earned a high school degree or earned a high-school diploma or a GED after leaving high school.
A GED is a 7 hour test on five-subject areas. Every few years a number of graduating high-school students is selected to take the GED. In order to be awarded a GED, a candidate must do better on the test than 60% of the graduating high-school seniors who took the test.
Take another look at the two numbers that represent graduation from US secondary schools before we compare public education in the United States to other countries:
A. 75.5% (age 17/18)
B. 89.9% (ages 18 – 24)
In 2008, the media reported that the US high school graduation rate was lower than ten countries but this was misleading as you will discover: Source: This list comes from a CNN Blog called Global Public Square. However, I have added more information from other reputable sources.
Note: the first number is the reported total graduation rate but it is often misleading once the facts are known. In addition, remember this: the US public schools do not offer vocational programs that lead to a secondary-school diploma (high school). In the US, programs that lead to graduation from high school are mostly academic—not vocational.
The need for Vocational Education Funding in the public schools
Top Ten List as it was reported in the media:
1. The United Kingdom (92%—In the UK, compulsory education for all children goes from their fifth birthday to the year they turn 16. In addition, one-half of British universities have lost confidence in A grades that are awarded by secondary schools and require many applicants to sit for a competitive entrance examination, and one out of five English adults [20%] are functionally illiterate telling us that graduation rates in the UK mean little to nothing in a comparison of this type—yet the United Kingdom boasts the highest secondary-school graduation rate without any mention of vocational programs)
2. Switzerland (90%, but only 30% completed the general academic program while 71% completed a vocational program toward secondary school graduation—there must be some overlap where students that complete the academic path complete a vocational program too)
3. Norway (78% below age 25 and 92% above age 25, but only 60% completed the academic program, while 38% completed a vocational program toward secondary school graduation)
4. South Korea (89%, but only 66% completed the academic program, while 23% completed a vocational program)
5. Japan (95%, but only 72% completed the academic program, while 23% completed a vocational program toward secondary graduation)
6. Italy (80%, but only 35% completed the academic program, while 59% completed a vocational program)
7. Ireland (90% before age 25 and 91% after age 25, but only 70% completed the academic program, while 62% completed a vocational program with some students completing both)
8. Germany (84%, but only 39% completed the academic program, while 45% completed a vocational program)
9. Finland (84% before age 25 and 95% after age 25, but only 48% complete the academic program, while 94% completed a vocational program with some students completing both)
10. Denmark (75% before age 25 and 85% after age 25, but only 55% complete the general academic program, while 47% complete a vocational program). Source: oecd.org
Continued on September 3, 2012 in Not Broken! – Part 3 or return to Part 1
______________
Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga.
To follow this Blog via E-mail see upper right-hand column and click on “Sign me up!”
Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé 