It's Not Just Shop Class Anymore

The subject matter in the two courses couldn't be more different. Puskaric's electronics aces probably would be baffled by the investment and interest-rate talk among Anderson's business students. And Anderson's Wall Street whiz kids probably wouldn't know the difference between a computer chip and a poker chip. But the teachers and students in the two programs--Westinghouse's Business and Finance Academy and Schenley's High-Technology Magnet Program--are all part of a vocational-education system in Pittsburgh that is attracting national attention and praise and challenging some of the common criticisms of vocational education.

Many policymakers and educators consider vocational programs outdated and irrelevant in a post-industrial society and question the wisdom of teaching students specific job skills in a rapidly changing labor market. The current wave of education reform, with its emphasis on increased academic requirements, has left little time for vocational courses, which have never quite fit into the regular 50-minute-period school day. These pressures have strained vocational-education programs in many districts.

But this isn't the case in Pittsburgh, where vocational education is thriving. The dropout rate among the city's 6,000 vocational students is low, and many of them go on to college or other formal postsecondary training. The diverse programs also enjoy support from...