May 2,2014

(Educators)Education professionals are split on whether vocational training in high school helps or hurts students.

Vocational education historically has been prevalent in European countries, such as Finland and Germany, but often comes with a stigma in the US. that suggests only low-performing and trouble making students end up in such schools. In Germany, children of middle school age take tests and either move on to apprenticeships or a university preparation route, says James Stone III, director of the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education at the University of Louisville.

"We look at that and say, 'Oh, isn't that terrible?' Because we’re condemning kids based on a test at that age," Stone says. "But when you actually look at what they do and how they do it, the system works extraordinarily well. They have one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in the industrialized world, and going through an apprenticeship in no way prevents one from moving on to college."

While the rhetoric of the last few years has centered around encouraging every young person in America to go to college as a way to find gainful employment and a guaranteed route to the middle class, some are increasing their calls for multiple pathways to those outcomes.

Even President Barack Obama has called for more robust job trainingat both the high school and college levels, saying it's not enough for students to get an education past high school – they also must have the skills needed for in-demand jobs. The president in April announced more than $100 million in awards to redesign high schools to better prepare students for college or specific career industries, such as health care, technology and engineering.

Not every student is suited to go to college, and not every student necessarily wants to go, some education advocates say.