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This review has been accessed times since May 26, 2009

Oakes, Jeannie & Saunders, Marisa. (2008). Beyond Tracking: Multiple Pathways to College, Career, and Civic Participation. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Education Press. Pp. ix + 325         ISBN 978-1-934742-04-4

Reviewed by Gabriel Ramón Serna
University of Kentucky

May 26, 2009

Beyond Tracking is an expert collection of research essays edited by Jeannie Oakes and Marisa Saunders that examines how a Multiple Pathways approach to high school education can simultaneously serve the educational, economic and democratic ideals of American society. The book is divided into three parts. The first part explains Multiple Pathways and its effect on student success and outcomes. The second part considers the economic benefits Multiple Pathways generates and its potential to foster civic participation and, thus, a more democratic society. The third and final part discusses implementation and adoption issues surrounding Multiple Pathways.

The editors and authors observe that the comprehensive high school, has, essentially, maintained a static design from its earliest inception, one that differentiates the school’s academic and vocational missions and that segregates students according to those missions. This collection of research essays reexamines how revised education policy, school structure and pedagogy can serve to prepare students for both post-secondary education and the workforce. As Oakes & Saunders note in their introduction:

High schools can and should prepare all students for both college and careers. Programs that contextualize academic learning in the real world of adults will improve learning, reduce the drop-out rate, and bring economic benefits (p. 5).

The authors and editors here offer Multiple Pathways as a workable alternative to previously unsuccessful attempts at high school reform:

We define Multiple Pathways as a high school reform that replaces the ubiquitous comprehensive high school with a portfolio of smaller high schools and programs within high schools (“pathways”) that provide both the academic and real-world foundations students need for advanced learning, training and preparation for responsible civic participation (p. 6).

In their view, Multiple Pathways implies systematic changes in school structure, curriculum and instruction, student assignment and opportunities for choice and current notions about students’ ability and capacity that are important if not essential for successful reform.

Part I: Multiple Pathways and Student Success

In part one the four essays presented by Mike Rose, David Stern and Roman Stearns, Karen Hunter Quartz and Elliot Washor, and Patricia Gándara examine factors that limit educational achievement in American high schools. In particular, they examine the effects of large and impersonal schools, a curriculum that lacks opportunities for application, unaffecting and disengaged instruction, and unequal opportunities, on student educational outcomes. The main thrust of this section is that Multiple Pathways offers an appealing alternative to current practice that makes college education an option for all students.

In his chapter Rose, challenges the traditional separation of “hand work” from “brain work” and asserts that they are not separate processes but rather complementary cognitive functions which help develop valuable competencies for those bound for both college and the job market. Further, Rose also asserts that Multiple Pathways can help overcome social stratification and common but unjustified beliefs about student intelligence. As he puts it:

A Multiple Pathways strategy could demonstrate that a rich, hands-on curriculum provides both career and academic preparation, without dividing students into groups which are thought to be more or less capable (p. 31).

Stern and Stearns, in reviewing the empirical literature find that programs that integrate career and technical education with academic coursework improve motivation and increase post high school earnings, with no reduction in rates of high school completion or college enrollment. Moreover, they identify current practices that pose potential systemic and programmatic challenges, including dual and often competing education systems created by current legislation, and course sequencing and high school master scheduling.

Jeanne Oakes

The next two essays turn to personalization, student fit, and school theme from significantly distinct perspectives. Quartz and Washor return to the small schools issue, and explicate the relationship between this current reform movement and the continuing tension between individual freedom and civic virtue. According to the authors, the core purpose of the small schools reform movement is to create schools where both emotional support and intellectual engagement exist while simultaneously recognizing that schools are not suitable places to sort or stratify students. The goal of small schools is to personalize learning through themes which can help students develop strong attachments and inspire motivation. As they state

Only when schools carefully attend to the pathways they are setting for students as citizens, workers, friends, and parents can they mitigate the inequities of the past (p. 68).

Gándara analyzes how Multiple Pathways could offer better educational fit for students and generate improved outcomes for English language learners and immigrants through improved preparation for career and college. Schools are not currently adapted to meet these students’ needs that arise for a number of reasons, including their family situations, lack of college guidance and counseling, and segregation due to poverty and inadequate resources. These students typically lack the social capital, career models, and forms of parent involvement needed to succeed. This follows the pivotal work done by McDonough (1997) which concluded that college choice is a complex process and must be made within a number of constraints that are affedcted by social class and school resources. In Gándara’s words:

…Immigrant and English learner students often have weak academic preparation, in part because of their personal circumstances and community resources and in part because of the schools’ inability to meet their needs (p. 77).

Gándara, offers a compelling argument for Multiple Pathways to improve school flexibility and outcomes for English language learners and immigrant students. Nevertheless, she is still very much aware of the difficulties that must be overcome such as opposition from powerful or advantaged groups, geographic mismatches and the dearth of resources.

Part II: Multiple Pathways and Societal Benefit

The four essays by Manuel Pastor, Michael Stoll, Paul Ong and Veronica Terriquez, John Rogers, Joseph Kahne, and Ellen Middaugh speak to the potential economic and social benefits that bridging the academic-vocational gap can bring. They also consider the ability to increase opportunities for a more diverse population and how Multiple Pathways must be nested in a broader approach of social reform.

Pastor and Stoll in each of their chapters, examine the effect educational reforms could have on increased economic opportunity, labor market difficulties and discrimination. In particular they look at how Multiple Pathways intersects with social, economic and political fragmentation. They offer strong evidence for the creation of positive economic growth when the labor force is skilled, racially inclusive and equitable in terms of income. Similarly, Stoll looks at the educational needs of vulnerable groups in the labor market and the role education plays in mitigating potentially negative and long-lasting effects such as limited access to employment opportunities outside the local geographic area. Pastor says of Multiple Pathways:

It seeks to prepare all students for college, and thus allows them to enter college later, should they decide to work full-time at first. But even such a hopeful and appropriate educational plan must be nested in a broader approach that pays attention to improving economic growth, creating career pathways, and ensuring social guarantees that will ease transitions, retraining, and other adjustments in years ahead (p. 111).

Ong and Terriquez, follow Stoll’s lead but take the discussion to the next level. They find that despite the good intentions of school-based vocational and employment programs, such efforts have not been successful in achieving their desired education and career outcomes for minority and working-class students mainly due to a lack of opportunities. Instead they propose that these programs can be more efficacious in areas such as alleviating spatial mismatches that exist between job location and student location.They reflect:

Schools, specifically those located in low-income segregated communities, have the potential to help young people overcome the socioeconomic inequalities present in their environment by increasing access to employment opportunities (p. 149).

Rogers, Kahne and Middaugh, take a different approach to the concept of societal benefits. Their focus is on the civic role of schooling and the benefits that accrue to society by framing Multiple Pathways in terms of civic life and democratic values. They argue that while Multiple Pathways does a better job than previous attempts to improve the quality of civic education it has not yet made it a focal point. In their words:

… workers must understand how economic interests influence political processes, and they must understand how political decisions influence both work conditions and the relationships among different sectors of industry (p. 165).

The authors offer a powerful argument: the curriculum should highlight ways to address civic issues that directly affect a student’s day-to-day life, especially, for those who may not obtain this type of education otherwise.

Part III: Adopting and Implementing Multiple Pathways

The final four essays in part three by David Rattray, W. Norton Grubb, Andrea Venezia, and Samuel R. Lucas discuss the possibilities and challenges surrounding the adoption and implementation of Multiple Pathways as a viable reform alternative. Overall, the final chapter does an excellent job of summarizing the main points and highlights of the entire volume. For those in need of a quick overview this chapter will prove especially useful. In individual essays, Rattray and Grubb agree that teaching academic content in theme-based environments can serve students’ needs as well as the needs of the changing economy. They examine the structural and institutional difficulties which accompany high school reform, and as Grubb calls them, “weak” and “strong” implementation methods. Rattray’s focus is on specific elements of the implementation process that have shown promise such as new courses and broad themes, new schedules and transitions and articulation efforts from high school through to college. Grubb, on the other hand considers institutional redesign and how restructuring alone is not an end all solution. He reminds us that restructuring is necessary but not sufficient for true reform. Quality of instruction, equity issues and strategies to avoid “retracking” must be part of the process. Grubb states:

…a strong approach to Multiple Pathways, preparing all students for college and careers and for informed decisions about future options, must not only restructure high schools, but also focus on the quality of instruction, tracking, students’ attitudes toward learning, and their orientation toward the future. In addition, real reform of the high school will require fundamental changes in governance in addition to Multiple Pathways (p. 212).

In the last two essays Venezia and Lucas, consider how pathways work to help create new opportunities for students. Venezia argues a strong position: Students must have clear expectations regarding any gaps which may exist between their high school coursework and post-secondary admissions requirements. Venezia and Lucas both understand that reform will entail a complex but interconnected set of policies which will demand systemic change from both local and statewide communities. Additionally, both authors understand the potential obstacles which accompany resource reallocation and resistance from advantaged and well-organized groups.

Of personal interest is the original theoretical lens employed by Lucas. Effectively Maintained Inequality (EMI) speaks to the very core of the implementation issue. Specifically, his novel explanation and differentiation of discrepancies not so much at the quantitative but the qualitative level even after education access is made universal is innovative to say the least. As Baumgartner & Jones (1993) explain, the policy image and the stigma or pride society associates with it are just as important as the policy itself. Lucas recognizes this fact, as well as the existence of the exit option, which in this reviewer’s opinion, stems from Tiebout’s (1956) highly influential work on voter preference and mobility. Finally, Lucas draws the reader to differences in approach depending on how the policy issue is framed and whether “confrontational” or “stealth” implementation methods would be best suited to the task.

After completing this volume of essays, it becomes apparent that the authors and editors are experts in their respective fields seeking both to clarify the benefits and complexities of Multiple Pathways for the novice and provide skilled analysis for the expert. The well-developed arguments made throughout the text offer a solid foundation for those who are part of the debate, those entering it, and for those simply wishing to learn more. The book offered viable and appealing alternatives to the current comprehensive high school model. It also presented Multiple Pathways as a means for reaching economic and societal goals, where benefits accrue not only to individual students but to the community as a whole. Furthermore, the essays go beyond the high school experience and extend the analysis to both post-secondary education, relationships, and, the job market. This kind of comprehensive analysis will help clarify and inform the debate on Multiple Pathways.

A few of the small criticisms of the volume would include the lack of examples of actual implementation strategies for Multiple Pathways. The majority of the essays, while thorough, focus on the policy debate at a more theoretical level. Further, though the book did flow well, I do believe that some of the chapters may have fit together better if they had been separated into more parts. The overarching theme was apparent but the ties linking individual essays were sometimes hard to see. Finally, given that the entire volume is, generally, a case study of California, the question is whether or not the findings are generalizable to areas which are geographically, politically, and demographically different.

Ultimately, the editors themselves recognize the books limitations and that all possible solutions have not been considered. They also acknowledge that the analyses offered here do not offer a decisive conclusion to the debate about the merits of academic versus vocational studies in high schools. More research on the implementation and adoption of Multiple Pathways by states outside of California, with distinct geographic, political and demographic characteristics is required to determine if this is a suitable alternative for localities, states and the country as a whole. Nevertheless, the book is an excellent and worthwhile read. It offers critical analysis on a current and important policy debate in a clear and accessible manner.

References

Baumgartner, F.R. & Jones, B.D. (1993) Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

McDonough, P.M. (1997). Choosing Colleges: How Social Class and Schools Structure Opportunity. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Tiebout, C. (1956). A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures. The Journal of Political Economy. 64(5), 416-424.

About the Reviewer

Gabriel Ramón Serna is a PhD student in the Educational Policy Studies Program at Indiana University Bloomington. He holds an MPP in Public Finance from the Martin School of Public Policy & Administration at the University of Kentucky and a BBA in Economics from the New Mexico State University. His most recent professional experience was as Assistant Director of Admissions at the University of Kentucky. His research interests include Higher Education Administration, Policy and Finance and Equity and Access issues for poor and minority students.

Copyright is retained by the first or sole author, who grants right of first publication to the Education Review.

Editors: Gene V Glass, Gustavo Fischman, Melissa Cast-Brede

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