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NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF\
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

INTERIM REPORT TO CONGRESS

Executive Summary

2002

Marsha Silverberg

Elizabeth Warner

David Goodwin

Michael Fong

U.S. Department of Education

Office of the Under Secretary

**U.S. Department of Education**

Rod Paige

###### Secretary

Office of the Under Secretary

Eugene W. Hickok

###### Under Secretary

Planning and Evaluation Service

Alan Ginsburg

###### Director

Postsecondary, Adult and Vocational Education Division

David Goodwin

###### Director

September 2002

This report is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in
whole or in part is granted. While permission to reprint this
publication is not necessary, the citation should be: U.S. Department of
Education, Office of the Under Secretary, Planning and Evaluation
Service, *National Assessment of Vocational Education: Interim Report to
Congress: Executive Summary*, Washington, D.C., 2002.

This report ( as well as the full version of the *Interim Report to
Congress*) is available on the Department's Web site at:
www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/PES/NAVE/reports.html.

On request, this publication is available in alternate formats, such as
Braille, large print, audiotape or computer diskette. For more
information, please contact the Department's Alternate Format Center
(202) 260-9895 or (202) 205-8113.

Accompanying Statement from Independent\
Advisory Panel

Chairman John A. Boehner Chairman Edward M. Kennedy

Committee on Education and Workforce Committee on Health, Education,
Labor,

U.S. House of Representatives and Pensions

Washington, DC 20515 U.S. Senate

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Boehner and Chairman Kennedy:

In the amendments to the 1998 Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical
Education Act, the Congress called upon the Secretary of Education to
appoint an independent panel of vocational and technical education
administrators, educators, and researchers, as well as parents and
representatives of business, labor, and other interested parties to
advise the U.S. Department of Education on the evaluation and assessment
of programs authorized under this statute.

This Independent Advisory Panel---which has met a number of times to
advise the Department on research issues and priorities---wanted to use
the occasion of this first, interim report of the National Assessment of
Vocational Education (NAVE) to express its views on several issues
related to the forthcoming reauthorization of the Perkins Act. This
panel will have more extensive comments and recommendations when the
final NAVE report is completed. However, this interim report is rich in
findings that should play an important role in shaping congressional and
public discussion of the future of career and technical education in the
United States.

Vocational education has occupied a significant place in American
education since the first federal legislation was enacted in 1917 to
help ensure that our nation's young people had the skills necessary to
succeed in a changing world of work. Eighty-five years later, after 13
legislative reviews and revisions and far-reaching economic, social and
technological changes, one thing remains constant: America's young
people still need the skills to succeed in a changing world of work,
although the mix of skills is constantly evolving.

Three points are especially worth bearing in mind:

1\. At the beginning of the 21st century, vocational education remains
an important part of the high school curriculum, although its function
may be changing. Many students take vocational courses to prepare
themselves both for the world of work and further educational programs.
Moreover, while high school students are taking increasing numbers of
academic courses, the decline in vocational course taking prior to the
1990s leveled off during the last decade. In short, these are courses
that millions of students find valuable.

2\. Whereas all students should be well-prepared academically and have
the opportunity to pursue a bachelor's degree or other postsecondary
training, it is important to recognize that two-thirds of America's
young people do not obtain a four-year college degree and at least 25
percent go to work directly after high school. The reality is that most
young people must draw on skills learned outside of four-year colleges
to succeed in the workforce. That's where good career and technical
education at secondary schools and community and technical colleges
comes in. Moreover, these vocational students can be held to high
standards. States such as New York are working to provide rigorous
career and technical courses, and the standards embedded in them are
reflected in state assessments.

3\. Against a backdrop of frequent business complaints that young
workers lack both general (literacy, numeracy, etc.) and specific
technical skills, it is essential that our education system produce
young people whose skills are a match for the jobs in our nation's
workforce. Many jobs require technical skills, as well as strong
academic skills, that can be learned in secondary and postsecondary
vocational courses but do not require a bachelor's degree. That is one
reason many Americans with bachelors' degrees are also turning to career
and technical courses in community colleges. In the Los Angeles
transportation industry, for example, three-fourths of all transit jobs
do not require a degree yet demand high-level skills. These are
well-paying jobs, because these skills translate into the high
productivity that has brought the United States the world's highest
standard of living. For many young Americans, career and technical
courses can make the difference between living in poverty or entering
the middle class.

This interim report provides ample material to begin the debate on how
best to support quality career and technical education. On behalf of the
entire panel (see list on next page), we urge the reader to carefully
examine the data and analysis in this report.

Sincerely,

Naomi Nightingale

###### NAVE Advisory Panel Chairperson

Nightingale & Associates

Paul F. Cole

###### NAVE Advisory Panel Co-Vice Chairperson

New York State AFL-CIO

Russ McCampbell

###### NAVE Advisory Panel Co-Vice Chairperson

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (retired)

Independent Advisory Panel

Karl A. Anderson

Workforce Development Team Leader

Saturn Corporation

June S. Atkinson

Director of Instructional Services

North Carolina Department of Public\
Instruction

John H. Bishop

Professor of Human Resource Studies

Cornell University

Gene Bottoms

Senior Vice President

Southern Regional Education Board

Betsy Brand

Co-Director

American Youth Policy Forum

Paul F. Cole

Secretary-Treasurer

New York State AFL-CIO

Jay Cummings

Dean of the College of Education

Texas Southern University

Philip R. Day, Jr.

Chancellor

City College of San Francisco

James H. Folkening

Director of the Office of Postsecondary\
Services

Michigan Department of Career Development

Stephen F. Hamilton

Professor of Human Development

Cornell University

James Jacobs

Director, Center for Workforce Development and Policy

Macomb Community College

Jack Jennings

Director

Center on Education Policy

Dale Kalkofen

Assistant Superintendent of Instruction

Chesterfield County Public Schools

Christopher T. King

Director of the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources

University of Texas at Austin

Joanna Kister

State Director of Career-Technical and Adult Education (Retired)

Ohio Department of Education

Russ McCampbell

Assistant Commissioner for Vocational and Adult Education (Retired)

Missouri Department of Elementary and\
Secondary Education

Mark D. Milliron

President

League for Innovation in the Community\
College

Naomi Nightingale

Principal

Nightingale & Associates

Katharine M. Oliver

Assistant State Superintendent

Maryland State Department of Education

Robert A. Runkle

Administrative Director

Berks Career & Technology Center

Anthony R. Sarmiento

Executive Director

National Senior Citizens' Education and\
Research Center, Inc.

Ellen O'Brien Saunders

Executive Director

Washington State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board

Acknowledgments

This first report of the National Assessment of Vocational Education
(NAVE) benefited from the contributions of many persons, both inside the
U.S. Department of Education and in other organizations. The NAVE staff
would like to extend its appreciation to all of these individuals and to
acknowledge those whose assistance and advice were particularly crucial.

First, the work of the NAVE is conducted with the support of the
Independent Advisory Panel, whose names and affiliations appear at the
front of this report. Their guidance has been invaluable.

Several colleagues at the Department played important roles. At the
Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), we are especially
grateful for the input and cooperation provided by Assistant Secretary
Carol D'Amico, Deputy Assistant Secretary Hans Meeder, Dennis Berry,
special assistant for research, and Sharon Belli, OVAE's liaison to
NAVE. We would also like to thank former Assistant Secretary Patricia
McNeil for providing the initial support for this assessment. Our
partnership with Lisa Hudson, at the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES), was extremely productive. We also received useful
advice from Alan Ginsburg, director of the Planning and Evaluation
Service (PES).

The foundation of this report is the analysis undertaken by several
contractors with whom we collaborated closely. In particular, we would
like to thank Karen Levesque and Gary Hoachlander at MPR Associates, and
Tom Bailey of Teachers College, Columbia University, for their careful
work with the data and their help in interpreting results.

Finally, we appreciate the efforts of all those who helped with the
production of the report. Andrew Yarrow of PES provided editorial
support. Angela Clarke and Ann Nawaz from PES assisted with early
document preparation and report dissemination. Barbara Kridl and Leslie
Retallick of MPR Associates are responsible for the cover and layout
design.

In the end, however, the judgments expressed in this report are those of
the authors. While conducted by PES in the Office of the Under
Secretary, this assessment is an independent study and does not
necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Education.

Marsha Silverberg

Elizabeth Warner

David Goodwin

Michael Fong

Executive Summary

Nearly half of all high school students and about one-third of college
students are involved in vocational programs as a major part of their
studies. Perhaps as many as 40 million adults---one in four---engage in
short-term, postsecondary occupational training. Given the magnitude of
the vocational education enterprise, the ways in which students
participate and the benefits they may receive can have significant
consequences for the nation's workforce.

1998 Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act

Federal support for vocational education, and for understanding its
outcomes, has a long history. Most federal objectives for improving the
quality and availability of vocational programs are articulated through
the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act and its
predecessors since the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917. The most recent act
(known as Perkins III) was passed in October 1998, and reflects both
continuity with previous vocational legislation and some substantive
departures. As policymakers begin to consider further changes in
law---in anticipation of the reauthorization scheduled for 2003---they
will be examining vocational education as a field in transition,
prompted by sweeping changes in federal, state, and local education and
training priorities.

As was true with previous vocational legislation, Perkins III directs
the secretary of education to complete an "independent assessment of
vocational and technical education programs." This report, the first in
a series by the new National Assessment of Vocational Education (NAVE),
provides information to help policymakers shape future improvements in
this particular component of American education.

Interim Report Highlights

This interim report presents a small, but significant part of a
comprehensive research agenda being conducted under NAVE. Studies still
underway will examine the effect of vocational education on student
outcomes, the quality of implementation, and the role of accountability
provisions and other aspects of federal policy; these results will be
presented in a final report. The interim report provides both a context
for examining vocational education and a description of participation at
the secondary and postsecondary levels, a logical first step in
evaluating the status and effectiveness of vocational education. Four
key themes emerged.

1\. Current education, labor market, and policy trends are likely to
broaden Perkins reauthorization debates.

Each time Congress considers federal aid for vocational education, the
outcome reflects an understanding of the economic and educational
priorities of the time and the nature of the federal role in education.
The upcoming reexamination of the Perkins Act is likely to be shaped by
several factors:

-   ***High schools increasingly emphasize academic reform and college
    preparation.*** The poor performance of seniors on national and
    international tests, declining graduation rates, and high rates of
    college remediation have raised concerns about academic achievement
    at the high school level. Partly in response, nearly every state has
    set higher academic standards for high school graduation, and many
    have begun to include exit exams. The challenge many students,
    including those in vocational programs, face in meeting the new
    standards has raised questions about the role of high school courses
    lacking clear academic focus.

-   ***Good jobs require at least some postsecondary education.*** Both
    high- and low-paying employment are available in the labor market,
    but a college credential of some kind is needed for the
    better-paying jobs. Employment growth in occupations requiring a
    vocational associate's degree is projected to be higher (30 percent)
    than overall employment growth (14 percent) through 2008 (Erard
    forthcoming). Thus, demand for postsecondary vocational education is
    likely to remain strong.

-   ***For the past 20 years Perkins has represented a declining share
    of federal education budgets, but it is still the largest single
    source of Department funds spent on high schools.*** Perhaps because
    the primary objective of vocational education has not appeared well
    aligned with other priorities, appropriations for the Perkins Act
    and its predecessors have not kept pace with either inflation or the
    expansion of other Department of Education (ED) programs and ED's
    overall budget. In fiscal year 1980, funding for vocational
    education represented about 6 percent of total ED appropriations; it
    is now less than 3 percent (Figure 1). Despite the relative
    declining share, Perkins III remains the largest single source of
    federal education funds used to support high schools. Comparing
    dollars spent at the high school level, vocational education appears
    to be of equal federal priority as other programs focused on raising
    academic achievement (Title I) and preparing students for college
    (TRIO) (Figure 2).

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2\. Federal vocational policy attempts to achieve multiple goals and
objectives.

Evolving priorities clearly have moved federal support for vocational
education toward fulfilling a broader set of objectives than training
students for work in factories and on farms after high school, the
original aim of federal vocational legislation at the turn of the 20th
century. For example, the stated purpose of the 1998 Perkins III is to
enhance not only the vocational and technical skills of students who
choose to participate in vocational education but also their academic
skills. In addition, other sections of the legislation suggest that
vocational education is expected to contribute to high school
completion, entry into postsecondary education and training,
postsecondary degree completion, and employment.

Currently, federal policy allows states, school districts, and
postsecondary institutions to decide which objectives are the highest
priority for Perkins spending. In contrast, Title I of the recently
enacted No Child Left Behind Act, with funding now 10 times greater than
Perkins, is unambiguously focused on one core mission: raising the
academic achievement of disadvantaged students.

3\. Secondary vocational education remains a large component of the high
school curriculum, but the full effects of academic reform are not yet
evident.

Although there has been little change in the amount of vocational course
work taken by high school students over the past decade, vocational
education's share of the overall high school curriculum has declined as
students earned more academic credits (Figure 3).

-   ***Vocational participation rates have been relatively stable during
    the last decade.*** Across most of the 1990s, almost 45 percent of
    all high school graduates earned three or more occupational credits,
    the equivalent of three, year-long courses. Most of these students
    (25 percent of all graduates) "concentrated" their courses in a
    single program area (e.g., health or business). Occupational
    "concentrators" are the closest proxy for vocational program
    completers.

-   ***Many types of students continue to be involved in vocational
    education, including those in "special population" groups.*** For
    the most part, there has been little change in who participates in
    vocational education over the last decade. Vocational education
    serves a diverse set of students, with most coming from the middle
    range of academic and income advantage. Still, some groups continue
    to participate more substantially than others: students who enter
    high school with low academic achievement, have disabilities, are
    male, English-language proficient, or from lower-income or rural
    schools. Gender differences remain. Girls' vocational course taking
    has been declining while that of boys has remained consistent.
    Despite these trends, differences in the rates of participation in
    computer technology courses, geared to a potentially high-paying
    field, virtually disappeared by 1998.

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-   ***Students who participate most in vocational education have
    increased their academic course taking, but important gaps remain
    between them and other students.*** By 1998 the gap in academic
    credits earned between occupational concentrators and other students
    had grown smaller (from 1.6 in 1982 to 1.1 credits in 1998).
    However, vocational students still take less rigorous academic
    courses than do other students: for example, substantially fewer
    concentrators (26 percent) than non-concentrators (42 percent)
    completed a college preparatory curriculum (Table 1).

**Table 1**

### Academic Course Taking Patterns for Occupational Concentrators and Non-concentrators: 1998

[Course Taking Occupational Concentrators
Non-concentrators^1\ ^]{.underline}

New Basics^2^ 45.7% 59.4%

College Prep Curriculum^3^ 25.9% 43.2%

Algebra 1 87.1% 93.2%

[Advanced Math^4^ 26.0% 42.4%]{.underline}

SOURCE: Levesque 2001. Analysis of National High School Transcripts.

^1^Among the non-concentrators, the academic course taking of those
students who earned three credits in occupational vocational education
but who did not "concentrate" their course taking ("explorers") was most
similar to that of the concentrators.

^2^The "New Basics" curriculum, as measured here, is equivalent to four
years of English or language arts, and three years each of math,
science, and social studies.

^3^The "College Prep" curriculum is defined as earning four or more
credits in English; three or more credits in mathematics at the algebra
1 or higher level; two or more credits in biology, chemistry, or
physics; two or more credits in social studies with at least one credit
in U.S. or world history; and two or more credits in a single foreign
language (see Levesque et al. 2000).

^4^"Advanced Math" includes algebra 3, trigonometry, analytical
geometry, linear algebra, probability, statistics, precalculus,
introduction to analysis, and calculus.

-   ***Students take more vocational than math or science courses***
    (Figure 4). Despite the emphasis placed on academic reforms over the
    last decade, high school students earn more credits in vocational
    education (4.0) than they do in math (3.4) or science (3.1).

These course-taking patterns may well change, as school reform continues
and as rigorous state exit exams become more common. By 1998--1999,
nearly 20 states were already phasing in these assessments, and 6 more
were in the process. Many students who pursue a vocational program of
study come to high school with lower levels of academic achievement and
are therefore likely to face the stiffest challenges in passing the new
assessments. Participation in secondary vocational education and other
electives may decline as students focus their efforts on passing these
exams. Some evidence suggests that even the minimum competency exams
required for graduation in some states or districts in the early 1990s
may have reduced vocational course taking (Bishop and Mane forthcoming).

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4\. Postsecondary vocational education serves a diverse set of students,
many of whom will not complete the course work needed to fulfill their
objectives.

About one-third of all students in undergraduate postsecondary education
are considered to be in vocational programs. The Perkins Act defines
vocational education as occupational programs requiring less than a
baccalaureate degree (P.L. 105-332, Section 3(29)), some of which are
offered at four-year postsecondary institutions. Not only do
sub-baccalaureate students outnumber those in baccalaureate programs,
but twice as many sub-baccalaureate students choose a vocational over an
academic major.

These sub-baccalaureate vocational students vary in age and work
experience, and they report enrolling for different reasons---to get an
associate's degree or institutional certificate, to transfer and pursue
a bachelor's degree, to enhance their job skills, or to engage in
personal enrichment activities (Figure 5). The students also differ in
their personal resources, with students enrolled in for-credit,
degree-oriented course work more economically disadvantaged than those
who enroll in noncredit courses.

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However, like their academic counterparts, many vocational participants
leave sub-baccalaureate institutions and programs having completed few
courses (Figure 6). Just under half (47.5 percent) of the younger
students---those less than 24 years old---in vocational programs
complete eight or fewer months of postsecondary course work over a
five-year time period. Nearly three-quarters (72.5 percent) of older
vocational participants complete no more than eight months of course
work. Eight months of full-time equivalent course work corresponds to
what might be considered a year of postsecondary education and training.

For older students with substantial work experience who enroll primarily
to improve their job skills, a course or two may be exactly what is
needed or desired. Some may participate to help them obtain one of the
newly emerging industry- or employer-developed certifications (e.g.,
Microsoft, Cisco, Automotive Service Excellence), which may be an
important way to realize labor market gains without actually earning a
degree or institution-based certificate.

Those same one or two courses, though, fall well short of expectations
for those working toward a postsecondary education credential. About
half of all postsecondary vocational students indicate wanting to earn a
degree or certificate, including those who intend to transfer to obtain
a bachelor's degree (Figure 5). Many of these students are younger,
recent high school graduates with limited job history. For these
students, in particular, a college degree can lead toward labor market
success as well as the fulfillment of a personal goal. But it is likely
that the half of younger vocational students who leave postsecondary
education with fewer than eight months of course work (Figure 6) do so
without having achieved their objectives and without a concrete signal
of their skills.

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Conclusions and Next Steps

Vocational education and its place in American education continue to
evolve. The broadening of its goals, the increasing diversity of
participants, and the changing education and labor market climate in
which it operates, suggests vocational education is a flexible option
for schools and students.

With this flexibility comes some challenges, however. At the high school
level, participation in vocational education is an elective choice that
faces increasing pressure from emphasis on academic improvement and
testing. For both secondary and postsecondary vocational education, the
wide range of participants and objectives raises a question about how
effective a role federal policy plays and whether that policy can or
should promote a clearer set of priorities.

The data in this initial report addressed one of several important
questions for policy: Who enrolls in vocational education and for what
purpose? That analysis raises additional questions about the
effectiveness of vocational education in improving student outcomes, the
consequences of new funding and accountability provisions for programs
and participants, the implementation and quality of vocational
education, and its alignment with other major reform efforts. The final
NAVE report, scheduled for submission later this year, will provide more
rigorous evidence to help policymakers and practitioners respond to
these issues.