The career academy experience challenges the assumptions of traditional high school about the role of schooling for students’ career and college transitions and stresses contextual and integrated teaching. This alternative educational approach encourages teachers to focus more collectively on preparing students through their curriculum, instructional practices, and working relationships. The National Academy Foundation (NAF) supports an intensive and coherent academy model using teacher professional development, curriculum materials, technical assistance, and linkages to industry-specific employers. Using survey results of 34 teachers in 10 career academies and 26 comparison teachers in the same high schools, coupled with case study findings of the 10 academies, this article shows the positive relationship between commitment to the academy program focus, organizational support, teachers’ collaborative work, and perceived effectiveness with students. NAF’s resources uniquely influence these outcomes for participating teachers, demonstrating the added benefit of intermediary support in fostering instructional coherence, student-centered instruction, and teacher effectiveness.
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