Employer-Linked Charter School Initiative

CONSTRUCTION TRAINING PROGRAM

Submitted by: ISUS Trade and Technology Prep Community School, Dayton, OH

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SUMMARY

Students enrolled in ISUS Trade and Technology Prep Community School acquire construction skills while pursuing their high school education. In addition to academic and technical coursework, students learn hands-on by building houses in some of Dayton's inner-city neighborhoods. Completed houses are then sold to low- and moderate-income families.

Reasons for Practice

The ISUS student body learns best by doing. Dayton is home to many abandoned and deteriorated neighborhoods. ISUS has found a successful way to marry the two: at-risk, dropout young people and abandoned or deteriorated neighborhoods. Many students at ISUS live in the neighborhoods where ISUS builds homes. Not only do students gain skills and a high school education, they also build self-confidence and pride in their neighborhoods. It is due to students' efforts that neighborhoods see improvements in their housing stock and increased pride among residents.

Length of Time in Effect

This practice was implemented at the school when ISUS Trade and Technology Prep became a charter school in 1999.

FULL DESCRIPTION

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ISUS TRADE AND Technology Prep Community School (ISUS) is a 501(c)(3), State of Ohio charter high school for at-risk, dropout young people that grants high school diplomas (instead of GEDs). With the assistance of several trade associations, ISUS created a construction training program for dropouts in 1992. Starting on Dayton's east side, students gutted and rebuilt 12 abandoned houses and an 8-unit apartment building. The beautifully renovated properties sparked what is now a complete revitalization of Dayton's Rubicon neighborhood, and students have since begun building 60 homes in two additional inner-city neighborhoods.

In 1998, ISUS expanded its partnership to include Sinclair Community College. Now all ISUS students are jointly enrolled in ISUS Trade and Technology Prep Community School and Sinclair Community College's Engineering and Technology Division. The concept is high school plus, where plus means college-level technical training in the student's chosen career. Young people alternate between high school academics, college-level technical coursework, and hands-on skills practice. The students' personal growth is a key focus, encouraged through a supportive learning community, individual and group counseling, frequent feedback, and incentives. Mutual respect and high expectations are integral to the ISUS philosophy.

ISUS's competency-based approach to youth development differs dramatically from the experience offered in an urban school system, as academic subjects are taught in the context of the trade the student is pursuing. Academic instruction in the classroom and work-based skill development are intertwined. Learning activities in one area build on and strengthen the other areas. Instruction in mathematics, for example, may use the pouring of concrete footings as an opportunity to teach geometry, the measuring of lumber dimensions to teach fractions, and the reading and preparing of blueprints as an exercise in ratio and proportion. The academic courses are taught using a variety of active learning and technology-assisted instruction. Students are offered multiple opportunities for applying cognitive skills and employing critical thinking and problem-solving methods to classroom-based and work-related problems. In addition to academic assessment, performance-based assessments are used to evaluate nontraditional areas of competence such as work skills, life skills, coping skills, and social, emotional, and personal development and achievement.

Students attend ISUS for a minimum of one year but for no more than two years. The length of enrollment is dependent upon students' level of functioning at the time of enrollment and on their progress while in the program. Typically, a student is enrolled for 18 months.

In 2000, ISUS added computer technology to the coursework it offers, and it added manufacturing technology in the fall of 2003. The project has grown from an initial group of 15 students in construction in 1993 to 560 students in construction, computer, and manufacturing technologies in 2003.