Measuring the Effectiveness of a Career Academy Program from an Employer's Perspective. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 18(1

Using data collected from 254 participants, I examined the effectiveness of a career academy pro-gram. Previous research on adolescent school-to-work transition programs has measured effective-ness using academic outcomes such as grades, graduation rates, and high school credits earned. This study measures the effectiveness of an academy program using outcomes relevant to employers, that is, job performance and work attendance. School outcomes of grades and attendance were found to have a direct effect on postsecondary work outcomes of performance and attendance. Results indi-cated that the program's positive effect on high school attendance had a positive impact on work attendance. Implications for public policy, business, and the academic communities are discussed. There is considerable interest in programs de-signed to facilitate the school-to-work transition for youth. This interest is evidenced by past re-search on such programs as: school-based enter-prises (Stern, 1984), cooperative education (e.g.