We compared career academy students (n = 669) with traditional comprehensive school students (n = 614) on the perceptions of their 21 st century skillsets. Academy students, when compared with their traditional comprehensive school peers, reported that their schools significantly contributed more to their abilities to apply knowledge from their courses to a real-world context. Students from two of the three academies – that operated as magnet schools – reported that their schools significantly contributed more to their communication and critical thinking skills. Students from one of the three academies – with a 93 % Latinx and 90 % low-income student population – reported that their schools significantly contributed more to their intra- and interpersonal skills. Findings emphasize the nature of the curriculum and learning strategies that are beneficial for students in career academies as they use curriculum integration and work-based learning activities to increase the meaningfulness and relevancy of content.

我们比较了职业学院学生（n = 669）和传统综合学校学生（n = 614）对21世纪技能的看法。与传统的综合学校同龄人相比，学院的学生报告说，他们的学校对他们将课程中的知识应用到现实世界中的能力做出了重大贡献。来自三所学院中有两家的学生（作为磁铁学校）报告说，他们的学校为他们的沟通和批判性思维技能做出了巨大贡献。来自三所学院之一的学生-拉丁裔占93％，低收入学生占90％-报告说，他们的学校对他们的内在和人际交往能力做出了重大贡献。