Archived Information

The Role of Career and Technical Education in the

American High School:

A Student Centered Analysis

Kenneth Gray

Penn State University

April 2002

This paper was prepared for the Office of Vocational and Adult
Education, U.S. Department of Education pursuant to contract no.
ED-99-CO-0160. The findings and opinions expressed in this paper do not
necessarily reflect the position or policies of the U.S. Department of
Education.

The Role of Career and Technical Education in the

American High School:

A Student Centered Analysis

Kenneth Gray

# *Introduction*

The curriculum in the American high school is typically differentiated
into at least three major programs of study: academic (ACA), career and
technical education (CTE), and general. One of these programs, CTE, is
the topic of this analysis. The specific question to be examined is,
"what should be the role of CTE in the American high school?"

CTE is an elective program. Students can take a single course or a
sequence of related courses. Students who take a sequence of three or
more such courses in one occupational area are classified as CTE
concentrators. Most (83%) CTE concentrators also complete an ACA
concentration as well (NCES, 2001). Approximately 20% of all high school
course work is in CTE.

The differentiated high school curriculum in general and the role of
career and technical education in particular has historically been the
subject of some debate. In the l990s this debate was re-invigorated by a
number of developments (Hoachlander, 1999). Of these, the most
influential was the widespread belief that a four-year college degree
was necessary to ensure any kind of economic success, resulting in a
corresponding increase in teens matriculating from four-year colleges. A
second important factor was educational reforms that emphasized the
mastery of academic skills solely, and the related effort by states to
assess academic achievement via high stakes tests.

Various points of view regarding the best role for high school CTE can
be condensed into four main schools of thought or options. One is the
role outlined by federal legislation, namely to provide an occupational
sequence of courses that is integrated with rigorous academic course
work as preparation for postsecondary pre-baccalaureate technical
education or full-time employment. Another is the traditional CTE role
of providing an occupational sequence of courses designed solely to
prepare students for the transition from high school to full-time
employment. Yet another is to retain CTE, not as a sequential

occupational program of study, but as unique courses or strategy that
provides an applied context for teaching academics (Bragg, 1997; Grubb,
1997; Techniques, 1996). The final school of thought is the option of
eliminating high

school CTE altogether in favor of a common academic program for all
students.

Clearly individual states or local school districts may choose to and/or
have already designed hybrids of these four alternatives, but for the
purpose of analysis, it is desirable to deal with these alternatives as
distinct or mutually exclusive. An analysis of these four
approaches----integrated CTE, traditional CTE, applied CTE and
eliminating CTE altogether----is the focus of this paper.

***Student Centered Analysis: Leaving No Child Behind***

There are two basic ways to approach an analysis of this type. One is
the macro philosophical/social reconstructionist approach (see Gray and
Herr, 1998). In this approach proposals are based on what policy makers
believe is best for the country and students in general. The assumption,
implied or otherwise, is that all students are the same. The second
approach is the micro student centered approach. In this approach
proposals are evaluated in terms of which best meet the needs of
individual students. It assumes all students are not the same and that
they have unique needs and aspirations. CTE, at least at present, is an
elective program of study so that the success of any proposal will
depend on the degree to which individual teens and parents view it as
relevant. Thus this analysis takes the client-centered approach.
Specially, the analysis first looks at high school students in general.
Then the focus turns to students who take CTE and asks the question,
"which proposal best meets the needs of this particular group or groups
of CTE course takers?" As background, the paper first outlines relevant
internal and external factors that have bearing on the analysis. Before
turning to those factors, however, a definition of CTE is needed, as
well as some historical background.

***Definition Of Terms: What Is CTE?***

Presently there are at least six major different CTE program
constituencies: (1) business education; (2) trade and industrial
education, and health occupations; (3) family and consumer sciences; (4)
technology education; (5) agriculture; and (6) marketing/ distributive
education. In light of this variation, this analysis employs the generic
definition used by National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES),
namely a program of study that offers a minimum sequence of three
Carnegie unit courses in a single Specific Labor Market Preparation
(SLMP) area. SLMP areas include agriculture and renewable resources,
business, marketing and distribution, health care, public and protective
services, trade and industry, technology and communications, personal
and other services, food and hospitality, childcare, and work study
programs (cooperative education, etc.).

## 

## 

## *Historical Background* 

The question of the role of CTE in the American high school has
significant historical foundations. Prior to 1890, the American high
school was not widely attended and had only one "classical" curriculum
that was designed for the children of the elite. At the beginning of the
twentieth century, however, children of working-class parents began to
attend high school in increasing numbers. This development presented
educators with a dilemma----these "new" students were eventually going
to work, not to college, and thus the classical curriculum was largely
irrelevant to most students. The solution was to differentiate the
curriculum into academic programs of study and vocational programs of
study. Not everyone agreed, however, with this resolution and the debate
continues today. The common versus differentiated curriculum debates of
the past is analogous to the academic skills versus CTE debates of
today. Proposals to use CTE to provide an applied context to teach
academic skills and all aspects of the industry can be traced back, for
example, to arguments made by John Dewey in the early 1900s (see Gray,
1989).

## *Part I: The External/Internal Policy Context*

As background to this study of the role of CTE in the American high
school, we take a brief look at various factors internal or external to
CTE that provide the context for this analysis.

###### External Policy Context Academic

###### 

###### Proficiency/High Stakes Testing

By the mid-1990s, the focus of educational reform----which had begun as
an effort to ensure that the country would have a world--class
workforce----had narrowed from teaching generic SCANS (Dept. of Labor,
1991) type work skills (including academics) to a narrow focus on the
mastery of traditional academics as preparation for college. As a result
of this academic proficiency movement, most state and national
educational/school reform efforts now focus on academic skills and
assessment only. In some states the stakes for not passing these tests
are quite high in that it determines what type of high school diploma a
student will receive. In most states, CTE concentrators must take these
tests.

### High School Drop Outs

The percentage of students who do not complete high school is still very
much a national concern. The national high school completion rate is
around 74% (see Greene, 2002), meaning that between the 8th grade and
12th grade graduation, one out of every four students drops out. Among
Latino students the dropout rate is estimated to be 45% or almost one
out of every two. As will be discussed presently, CTE is effective in
reducing dropout rates and Latinos are the least likely to be enrolled
in CTE.

***Preference For Baccalaureate Education And Professional**
**Employment***

In an NCES study, 95% of high school students indicated they planned to
continue their education, while 85% indicated they planned to get a
four-year college degree. By the late 1990s, over 70% of high school
students were matriculating within two years of graduating from high
school, with the vast majority entering four-year colleges. Asked what
their career goal was, 2 out of 3 girls and 1 out of 2 boys indicated
plans to pursue a professional career (see Gray and Herr, 2000). Of
respondents to the 2001-2002 survey of entering four-year college
freshmen only 4% of males and 1% of females indicated plans to pursue a
major that would lead to a non-professional technical career (American
Council on Education, 2001).

## 

## *College Graduation Rates And Underemployment* 

While college enrollment has risen dramatically, college success has
not. The six-year graduation rate at division one universities is just
over 50%. Of those who graduate with a bachelor's degree, 43% report
being underemployed two years later and the same percentage indicated
they held jobs with no career potential four years later (NCES, 1993).
Among those who majored in arts and science, the rate of underemployment
was 67%.

## *Labor Market Shortages Of Technicians* 

The high-skills/high-wage workforce is composed of three levels of
workers: professionals, technicians, and blue-collar technical workers.
Of these three groups, professionals (engineers, system analysis, etc.)
trained at the four-year level and are generally assumed to be the
largest group. In reality, however, the second group, technicians, is
equal in number and in some cases greater. For example, Department of
Labor projections predict that by 2010 there will be 380,000 computer
software engineer positions, which will require a four-year degree, but
490,000 positions as computer support specialists that require an
associate's degree. Importantly, while there is a worldwide surplus of
engineers, there are critical shortages of technicians. Equally
important, while firms will recruit engineers nationally or
internationally, they hope to find technicians in the local labor
market. Thus, "A region that does not have a growing percentage of its
non-professional workforce trained beyond high school will have ever
increasing difficulty supporting the competitiveness of high-value
business" (PA Economy League, 1996).

###### Learning Theory/Contextual Learning/Transfer Appropriate Processing

Most high school instruction is still based on the behaviorist
assumption that knowledge can be taught independent of context and that
such learning can be evaluated using non-authentic/non-performance
methods (Berrymen, 1991). Modern cognitive science research finds the
opposite. As Grabinger (1996) points out, "knowledge learned but not
explicitly related to relevant problem solving situations remains mostly
inert, meaning the learner is unable to use it for anything practical
when the opportunity arises and thus such knowledge quickly disappears."
Algebra, for example, is a mathematical procedure for solving many
practical problems but is taught and evaluated in a non-contextual
abstract form. One of the "quiet" equity issues in U.S. schools is that
classes taught in these de-contextualized abstract modalities are
effective only for a relatively small number of intellectually blessed
students. For most students, skills and knowledge are best learned
within realistic contexts where students have the opportunity to
practice and master outcomes that are expected of them (Morris et. al.,
1979).

#### Internal Policy Context

### Stabilization Of CTE High School Enrollments 

Enrollments in high school CTE programs fell dramatically in the 1980s.
In recent years, however, enrollments have stabilized nationally. At
present, one-quarter of all high school students complete a
concentration in CTE when defined as having taken three or more credits
in a single SLM.

## *Integration Of Academic And Vocational Education* 

As part of the overall basic skills movement and the assumed
relationship between academic skills and career success, Perkins Act
legislation now calls for the inclusion of academic skills mastery as an
instructional/student performance objective of CTE. By 1998, 83% of CTE
concentrators were also completing an academic concentration.

### Tech Prep 

The federally defined mission for CTE changed with the Perkins Act of
1990 to include preparing students for the transition to postsecondary
pre-baccalaureate technical education. Called Tech Prep, the program
called for high school integrated CTE to be closely articulated with
postsecondary technical education programs. Longitudinal data suggests
that presently more than half of all integrated CTE concentrators go on
to college; of this group more than half enroll at the two-year
associate degree level.

## *Federal Versus State/Local Control* 

Only a small percentage (6% or less) of vocational education funds are
federal. Thus CTE is still largely a state and local issue. CTE is also
an elective program of study. Thus, ultimately the viability of CTE is
determined by how many students elect it. Importantly, school districts
will not continue a model of CTE that students do not elect.

## *Part II: The Career and Technology Studen*t

The issue of the appropriate role for high school CTE hinges first and
foremost on who CTE students are and how they can best be served. Thus,
the analysis now turns to this issue.

It is important to note that what follows is based on data from two
"different data sets." One is the 1998 high school transcript study that
contains data regarding high school courses completed by a national
sample of 1998 high school graduates. The other is the National
Longitudinal Study (NELS 88) that began with 1988 8th graders who then
graduated in 1992. While the latter is the most current, only the former
provides longitudinal data regarding 8th-grade achievement of entering
9th graders and post-high school pursuits of graduates.

## *Curriculum Distribution of High School Students*

Table 1.

Demographic Distribution of High School Graduates by Program of Study:

1998 High School Graduates

+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
|           | Entire   | A       | Integrated | Trad    | Neither    |
|           |          | cademic |            | itional |            |
|           | Sample   |         | CTE/ACA    |         |            |
|           |          | ACA     |            | CTE     |            |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
| 1998      |          | 70%     | 20%        | 4%      | 6%         |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
|           |          |         |            |         |            |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
| Male      | 44%      | 44%     | 53%        | 66%     | 46%        |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
| White     | 59%      | 60%     | 58%        | 51%     | 48%        |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
| Black     | 18%      | 12%     | 22%        | 9%      | 17%        |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
| Hispanic  | 14%      | 13%     | 13%        | 10%     | 27%        |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
| Other     | 9%       | 10%     | 7%         | 30%     | 8%         |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
|           |          |         |            |         |            |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
| 4E,3SS,   |          | 54%     | 33%        | 0%      | 0%         |
|           |          |         |            |         |            |
| 3M,3S,2F  |          |         |            |         |            |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
| 4E,3SS,   |          | 64%     | 53%        | 0%      | 0%         |
|           |          |         |            |         |            |
| 3M, 3S    |          |         |            |         |            |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
| 4E,3SS,   |          | 100%    | 100%       | 15%     | 15%        |
|           |          |         |            |         |            |
| 2M,2S,    |          |         |            |         |            |
+-----------+----------+---------+------------+---------+------------+

##### Key

Academic (ACA) = (4 E. 3SS, 3 M, 3 S)

Integrated (CTE & ACA) = 3 or more CTE courses in the same SLM & (4 E.
3SS, 3 M, 3 S)

Traditional (CTE) = 3 or more CTE courses in a single SLM

Neither (NI) = completed none of the above.

Source: National Center for Educational Statistics. 1998 Transcript
Study. NCES 2001-98. Tables 6, 7 & 15. Note: sample distribution various
from the population at large due to over-sampling to ensure sufficient
cell size for analysis.

In 1998, 70% of high school graduates completed an academic
concentration, 20% an integrated academic and CTE program, and 4% a
traditional CTE only concentration. It is also worth noting that 6% of
the sample in 1998 failed to complete any concentration. There is some
indication that the 1998 transcript data may undercount this group of
"general" students. A study of 1992 high school graduates using NELS 88
data (Plank, 2001) and the same curriculum type definitions found that
38% had failed to complete either academic or CTE concentrations.

## *Characteristics Of CTE Concentrators*

Table 1 provides descriptive data about CTE concentrators. Based on the
transcript study distribution, males are more likely to complete both an
integrated and traditional CTE program of study. This is particularly
true of traditional CTE students where males outnumber females by 2
to 1. The distribution of whites in both CTE programs was normal.
African-Americans were slightly over-represented in the integrated
program and significantly under-represented in the traditional CTE
program. Hispanics were significantly over-represented among those who
completed neither an academic, integrated, nor CTE concentration.

## *Academic Achievement Prior To High School*

Table 2 provides 8th-grade test scores for 1992 high school students
included in the NEL88 longitudinal study. In terms of academic
preparation upon entering high school, CTE only students were the
poorest prepared, followed by NI. ACA students entering high school were
the best prepared, followed by those who ultimately completed an
integrated CTE/ACE program.

Table 2.

Mean 8^th^ Test Scores by High School Graduates Program of Study:

1992 High School Graduates

+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
|             | Academic    | Integrated  | Traditional | Neither     |
|             |             |             |             |             |
|             | ACA         | CTE/ACA     | CTE         |             |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| Math        | 41          | 37          | 31          | 34          |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| Science     | 21          | 20          | 17          | 18          |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| Reading     | 31          | 28          | 23          | 26          |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+

Source: Plank, 2001

## *High School Academic Achievement*

While as a group academic concentrators enter high school better
prepared than integrated CTE concentrators, the achievement gap was
either small or insignificant by the time they graduated (Levesque et
al., 2000; Plank, 2001). The traditional CTE only students, who entered
high school the poorest prepared, graduated from high school with the
lowest achievement.

## *High School Course Taking* 

The major difference in course taking patterns of academic and
integrated CTE/academic students is that the former are much more likely
to take a foreign language. However, when foreign language is not
included there is only a small difference between the percentage of ACA
(64%) who take three years of math and science and those in CTE (53%)
who take the same sequence (see table one). Considering that ACA/CTE
students also take, on average, 6.5 credits of CTE, these percentage
differences in course taking are smaller than anticipated (Lesveque et
al., 2000). Using the NELS 88 data set, NRC researchers (Plank, 2001)
found a similar pattern for 1992 graduates.

Only 15% of CTE and NI students took two years of math and science.
Stated another way, 85% of these students graduated from high school
with less than two years of math or science----an important clue to the
identity of these students.

On average, high school students take three courses of CTE. This number
declined only slightly during the 1990s. Of course some take a lot more,
some a lot less. Academic concentrators, for example, on average only
take one semester of CTE. Nonetheless, transcript data indicates that
CTE course taking is significant, suggesting that one-fifth of all high
school course work is in CTE.

## *Likelihood Of Dropping Out Of High School* 

Numerous studies have demonstrated the positive effect of CTE on
reducing high school dropout rates. The most recent, a study
commissioned by the National Research Center for Career and Technical
Education (Plank, 2001), found that taking CTE courses was related to
persisting to graduation. This effect was positive for any ratio of CTE
to ACA courses but was maximized at a ratio of 3 CTE credits to 4
academic or 40% CTE to 60% academic ratio. Most important to this
analysis, the drop-out prevention effect was the most dramatic for those
students who were at greatest risk of dropping out when they entered
high school; namely, students whose test scores and GPA entering high
school were one standard deviation or more below the mean.

### Attending Higher Education 

The probability of ACE/CTE graduates going on to college after high
school is 60% versus 72% for academic students. For traditional CTE only
concentrators the probability is only 37% but the probability that they
will be full-time employees is 60%. Noteworthy, and of possible
relevance to this analysis, is the fact that the probability that
students who complete neither CTE nor ACA will enroll in college is 50%
(Plank, 2001). Considering that these students may graduate unprepared
for either college or work, the fact that half are in college points to
ever-growing higher education remediation rates.

## *Special Needs Students* 

Special needs students are probably over-represented in CTE programs.
For example, while 34% of the graduating class of 1992 was composed of
special needs students (disabled, disadvantaged, or LEP), 43% of the
vocational credits earned by special population students earned this
class. Non-special needs students took on average 3.7 CTE credits,
disabled students took 5.6 credits, and LEP students 4.2 credits
(Boesel, 1994). The largest group is enrolled in occupationally specific
courses designed to prepare them for the transition from school-to-work.
Data from the 1998 transcript study confirm these 1992 findings. Among
the four curriculum groups, students completing special education
courses were predominantly in the traditional CTE only and NI categories
(NCES, 1998, Table 35).

## 

## 

## 

## *Summary* 

NCES longitudinal and high school transcript data present a fairly clear
picture of the three groups of students who take CTE courses and thus of
CTE's current role in the American high school. The picture that emerges
is somewhat different than the rhetoric that portrays all CTE students
as academically backward, in need of additional academic preparation,
and work-, not college-bound.

The first and largest group of CTE concentrators is composed of those
who graduate having completed an integrated program of both CTE and
academics. Of this group the majority go on to pre-baccalaureate
postsecondary education. Importantly, researchers found virtually no
difference in academic achievement between ACA/CTE students and ACA only
students despite the fact that the former enter high school with lower
8th--grade test scores. While empirically untested, it appears that this
gap is remedied by a combination of CTE and ACA courses. In fact, the
only standout difference between ACA and CTE/ACA students is that the
former are more likely to take two or more years of a foreign language,
and to take on average one semester more of math. Thus, for this group
of students, CTE coupled with ACA seems to be preparing them
academically as well as for college or full-time employment.

The second and much smaller group of CTE concentrators is composed of
students who complete only a traditional CTE concentration. These
students accounted for 4% of all graduates and 17% of CTE concentrators
in 1998. Demographically, they are twice as likely to be male, enter
high school academically deficient, be from the poorest homes, and be
generally at risk. Many are special education students. For example,
only 15% completed two years of math in1998, even though the majority of
states require at least two years or more of math to graduate. These CTE
students are the most likely to go to work. CTE plays a dual role for
these students by, first, being effective in preventing them from
dropping out of high school, and second, being effective in assisting
them in making the transition from high school to full-time employment.

The third group is composed of students who take CTE not as a program of
study but as a source of elective courses. For example, in 1998 the mean
number of CTE courses completed by high school graduates was 3.17. Among
ACA students, the majority took at least one semester of CTE as
electives, mostly in business and telecommunications. Thus, while some
students take a sequence or concentration, virtually all take one or
more of these courses as skill-building electives, presumably for
college.

### Part III: Policy Assessment Criteria

The following criteria will be used to evaluate various roles for high
school CTE.

Educational Equity: Ensuring a relevant and effective high school
education for all students: work bound, technical college bound and
four-year college bound.

Leaving no child behind requires that within reason, every teenager in
high school deserves to get an education that meets their needs, meaning
a program of study that is "relevant" to their post-high school pursuits
and "effective" in preparing them to be successful in these pursuits.
This is the underlying rationale, for example, in providing expensive
advance placement/honors programs for the academically gifted. Thus the
primary criterion of this analysis is to ascertain which alternative(s)
provide(s) a relevant and effective education to various groups of
students, specifically students who will go to work after high school,
those who will go to pre-baccalaureate technical colleges, and those who
will go to four-year colleges.

To a large extent the relevance and effectiveness issues are the crux of
current debates regarding the role of CTE in the American high school.
Those who argue that all students' time would be best spent taking
academic course work, not CTE, are in fact arguing that a single
academic curriculum provides both a relevant and effective education for
all students. Those who argue for some form of CTE are in fact arguing
the opposite.

## *Likelihood of Implementation at the School Level*

At present, CTE is both an elective course in the high school program of
study and funded primarily via local funds. Thus, ultimately the role of
CTE in the American high school will be determined by the form of CTE
that provides what students want, is acceptable to their parents, and
that school boards are willing to fund. For example, while ability
grouping ---- such as honors courses, etc.---- may be labeled as
undemocratic by some and ineffective by others, at the local level some
students prefer it, parents want it and school boards are willing to
fund it. Thus it is relevant to ask what model of CTE is likely to be
acceptable and thus supported/funded at the local high school level.

#### 

#### Maximizing Academic Achievement

Arguably, academic skill achievement is relevant to all students.
Therefore, one goal of an effective CTE model is to promote academic
achievement.

#### Preventing High School Drop Outs

The vast majority of young adults hold high school diplomas; however,
this does not mean they have completed high school. One in seven high
school graduates holds a GED diploma. The high school dropout rate is
still around 25%. Assuming it is preferable for students to get a
diploma via graduating from high school, preventing students from
dropping out is included as a criterion.

Reducing Technical Skills Shortages

Most, if not all, technician level employment now requires education
beyond high school, but below the four-year degree level. Presently the
demand for technicians exceeds the supply. Meanwhile only 2% of entering
four-year college freshmen expressed an interest in pursuing majors in
these fields. Thus the college prep program has not proven to be an
effective feeder of students into postsecondary pre-baccalaureate
technical education while CTE has been effective. A relevant criterion,
then, is to determine which form of CTE is effective in serving as a
feeder.

### Costs

Funds are always limited. The decision to do one thing means that a
decision has to be made not to do another. Thus, the cost of various
proposals is an evaluative criterion.

## *Part IV. Career And Technical Education Options*

A review of the literature on roles for high school CTE (see Gray &
Walter; 2001) revealed four main proposals. These options are defined
below in terms of their content, student performance, and outcome goals.

Integrated CTE: A "program" of sequential occupational courses in a
single SLM integrated with a program of sequential academic courses.
Performance goal is general occupational competency and academic mastery
of the traditional academic curriculum. Outcome goal is the transition
from high school to postsecondary pre-baccalaureate technical education
or full-time employment.

Traditional CTE: A "program" of sequential occupational courses in a
SLM. Performance goal is entry-level occupational competence. Outcome
goal is transition to full-time employment.

Related Academics: An instructional strategy of providing courses with
broadened occupation content (clusters) related to traditional academic
subjects (math, science, etc.). Performance goal is academic mastery.
Outcome goal is transition to college.

Common Academics: Traditional academic course sequences. Performance
goal is academic proficiency. Outcome goal is transition to college

## *Part V. Analysis*

Table 3 provides a cross--tabulation of four policy options for high
school CTE and the evaluative criteria. While all criteria are weighted
equally, the order in which they appear suggests the author's view of
their relative importance. By way of example, in the author's view the
population of teens most in need is composed of those who enter high
school at risk. Thus, relevance and effectiveness for this group is the
first criterion, followed by relevance to the technical college bound
and then to the college bound. These criteria are followed by the
likelihood of acceptance and thus implementation at the local high
school level, promoting academic proficiency, preventing drop outs, and
alleviating state and national technical skill shortages and costs.
Costs are listed last, although admittedly at the local level cost is a
primary consideration. A simple yes/no scale was used. Yes indicates the
proposal met the criteria, while no means it did not. Yes/no values were
assigned based on the data provided in parts I, II, and III.

TABLE 3.

Analysis of CTE Policy Options by Assessment Criteria

+------------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Options          | I         | T          | Applied    | Common     |
|                  | ntegrated | raditional |            | academics: |
| Criterion        |           |            | CTE        | eliminate  |
|                  | CTE       | CTE        |            |            |
|                  |           |            | (ACA/CTE)  | CTE        |
|                  | (CTE/ACA) |            |            |            |
+------------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Relevance &      | Yes       | Yes        | No         | No         |
|                  |           |            |            |            |
| Effectiveness to |           |            |            |            |
|                  |           |            |            |            |
| Work Bound       |           |            |            |            |
| Students         |           |            |            |            |
+------------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Relevance &      | Yes       | No         | Yes        | No         |
|                  |           |            |            |            |
| Effectiveness to |           |            |            |            |
|                  |           |            |            |            |
| Technical        |           |            |            |            |
| College Bound    |           |            |            |            |
| Students         |           |            |            |            |
+------------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Relevance &      | No        | No         | No         | Yes        |
|                  |           |            |            |            |
| Effectiveness to |           |            |            |            |
|                  |           |            |            |            |
| Four-year        |           |            |            |            |
| College Bound    |           |            |            |            |
| Students.        |           |            |            |            |
+------------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Likelihood of    | Yes       | Yes        | No         | No         |
| Local            |           |            |            |            |
| Implementation   |           |            |            |            |
+------------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Promote Academic | Yes       | No         | Yes        | Yes        |
| Proficiency      |           |            |            |            |
+------------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Prevents         | Yes       | Yes        | No         | No         |
| Dropouts         |           |            |            |            |
+------------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Alleviates       | Yes       | No         | Yes        | No         |
| shortages of     |           |            |            |            |
| p                |           |            |            |            |
| re-baccalaureate |           |            |            |            |
| trained          |           |            |            |            |
| technicians.     |           |            |            |            |
+------------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Lower            | No        | No         | No         | Yes        |
|                  |           |            |            |            |
| Cost \$          |           |            |            |            |
+------------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Totals           | Yes = 6   | Yes = 3    | Yes = 3    | Yes = 3    |
+------------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+

### Part V: Recommendations

Based on the analysis summarized in Table 3, the integrated (CTE/ACA)
model was judged superior.

## *Integrated Career And Technical Education*

The integrated career and technical education model ensures that no
child will be left behind by, first, providing a sequence of
occupational courses that keeps at-risk children in school and by doing
so effectively so that they make a successful transition from high
school to work. Second, the model provides a relevant and effective
education to students whose postsecondary goal is pre-baccalaureate
technical education (60% go on to college; of these, 60% enroll in
pre-baccalaureate programs). Finally, the occupational course sequence
of the integrated model provides elective skill-building courses for the
four-year college bound high school students, particularly in the areas
of telecommunications and business software manipulation.

Acceptance of the integrated model by some students and their parents,
and the willingness of school boards to fund it is indicated by the fact
that one out of every five high school students completes presently an
integrated career and technical education program. Furthermore, evidence
suggests the integrated model for career and technical education is
effective in promoting academic achievement. According to an analysis of
1992 longitudinal transcript data, despite entering high school with
lower 8th-grade test scores the academic achievement of students
completing an integrated career and technology program of study was the
same as for those who completed just the academic program. In fact, the
only meaningful difference between academic courses taken by integrated
career and technical students and those taken by purely academic
students was that the latter were more likely to complete two years of
the same foreign language.

Finally, the integrated model is the only approach that has the
potential to alleviate the shortages of pre-baccalaureate trained
technicians in the nation. It is the core of the high school element of
the tech prep model. Meanwhile, tech prep is the only program in the
nation's high schools that is designed to promote the transition to
pre-baccalaureate technical education. The important point is that
surveys of entering four-year college freshmen indicate that those who
complete the academic program only are not likely to pursue technical
education. Only 2% express an interest in this type of program. Teens
who do pursue postsecondary technical education are much more likely to
have completed an integrated career and technical education
concentration. One can speculate that their involvement in integrated
CTE motivates them to be upward mobile and to pursue related
postsecondary technical education. In addition, it is important to note
that just as advanced academic course work promotes success and advanced
placement in baccalaureate education, prior relevant occupational course
work in high school promotes success and advanced placement in
pre-baccalaureate technical education as well.

The one drawback to the CTE/ACA model is that it is expensive. The
per-pupil costs of providing the type of contextual education that
typically requires instructional labs or supervised work-based learning
are greater than those of providing de-contextualized academic
classroom-based education.

## *Traditional CTE*

CTE alone, without an integrated academic concentration, is effective as
a dropout prevention/transition to full-time employment for at-risk
youth, many of who are also special education students. This benefit,
however, is also achieved via the integrated model. At present it is
common practice for example to have special needs students mainstream
into integrated CTE occupational classes.

## *Applied Career And Technical Education*

The applied CTE model was judged to be relevant and effective only for
students whose goal is postsecondary technical education. Faced with
taking the traditional academic program only or applied CTE, it is
likely that some of these students would elect the applied program. But
lacking a sequence of occupational courses and thus concrete educational
experiences, it is unlikely this model would be either relevant or
effective with at-risk youth. Meanwhile, students who now complete an
academic (college prep) concentration are as just as "unlikely" to elect
applied CTE as they are to elect the integrated or traditional CTE.
These students want to be able to say they are in the college prep
program, period!

The related CTE model is in reality similar to technology education
(industrial arts). Thus, it is important to note that technology
education enrollments declined significantly in the 1990s, providing a
reason to question the viability of the applied model. Therefore, the
hope that large numbers of students would elect to take a similar
program, namely applied CTE, seems unfounded.

*Common Academics: Eliminate Career And Technical Education*

The final proposal that was examined was to eliminate career and
technical education altogether in favor of a common academic program for
all students that can be best described as "college prep" for everyone.
It is by far the least expensive option. Whereas college prep is the
curriculum completed by about 70% of high school students, most teens
and parents perceive it as relevant and effective. But is it? If the
traditional academic or college prep program is adequate for all
students, then why do most high schools need to also offer additional
and costly advance placement and honors programs as well? They do so
because the standard academic program does not meet the needs of a small
group of students blessed with academic ability and whose goal is to
compete for admission at selective colleges. More to the point, there
are other groups whose needs are not met by an academic program of
study, namely those interested in postsecondary pre-baccalaureate
technical education and those at risk. If no student is to be left
behind, then the needs of all students must be addressed. Strictly
academic high schools do not meet the needs of diverse students but high
schools with integrated career and technical education do.

### Final Thoughts 

### Federal Priorities And The Federal Role

Because career and technical education has been supported in the past by
federal legislation, the question of its role in the future leads
inevitably to the related question of whether CTE is still a federal
priority and, if so, what the federal role will be. Aside from defense
and health issues, federal priorities are those that relate directly or
indirectly to stimulating economic growth and ensuring equal individual
opportunity and thus personal wealth. The reason basic academic skills
assessment has become a relatively recent federal priority, for example,
is the perceived nexuses between academic skills and the economic well
being of the nation. The belief is that individuals who lack these
skills will not be able to maximize their human potential nor contribute
to economic growth. In this paper, it has been argued that integrated
CTE does address pressing economic labor force priorities and is
relevant and effective with students who are not well served by the
academic or college prep program now taken by the majority of students.
Thus, if an adequate supply of technicians is a federal priority and if
ensuring a relevant and effective education for one out of every four
high school students is a priority and if reducing high school drop out
rates is a priority, then CTE is a priority as well.

If CTE is a priority, what is the federal role? The first federal role
in CTE is similar to the federal role in special education, compensatory
education, etc., namely, to ensure the programs exist in the first
place. Without federal funds to leverage state and local funds,
high-cost CTE programs will gradually disappear in the face of fiscal
restraints at the local level. Thus, the first federal role in career
and technical education is to provide funds that leverage state and
local dollars to ensure career and technical education is available to
those students who need it.

The second federal role is to use federal funds to leverage CTE program
reform and improvement. While this has been a traditional federal role
in CTE, it has been tempered in the recent past by the argument that
curricular issues are best left to states and local school boards.
Recent federal education legislation suggests this attitude has changed
markedly, opening the way to a much more proactive federal role in CTE
curricular changes. Such efforts include stimulating the movement toward
broad-based clustered programs of study, mandatory work-based learning
experiences, review of CTE teacher licensure requirements, stronger
articulation with postsecondary technical education, etc.

## *Secondary Versus Postsecondary Technical Education*

One of the behind the scene issues stimulating the current debates
regarding the role of high school CTE are efforts to channel more
federal CTE dollars into postsecondary technical education. The argument
is that postsecondary technical education is now more important than
high school programs and therefore should be the main or at least an
equal federal funding priority. There is ample evidence, for example,
that many of the occupations high school CTE had historically prepared
students for now require a postsecondary vocational certificate or
degree. And while claims that all jobs in the future will require some
post-high school education are groundless (the Department of Labor
projects that only 29% of all work and 42% of new jobs will require
postsecondary vocational degrees or college degrees through 2010), it is
clear that most high-skill/high-wage occupations now require (or at
least employers prefer that applicants have) postsecondary credentials.
Thus, some argue that high school CTE should be de-emphasized in favor
of postsecondary technical education. Assuming that funding is a zero
sum game, this issue pits high school CTE against technical
college/community college based CTE. This dichotomy is, however,
shortsighted.

Experiences in the U.S. and abroad, most notably in Australia,
demonstrate the presence of a symbiotic relationship between high school
and postsecondary technical education. A strong postsecondary system
cannot exist without a viable high school system because the high school
system is the feeder for the postsecondary system. It is wise to
remember that only 2% of four-year college freshmen expressed an
interest in non-professional technical careers and that the majority of
these students come from the academic or so-called college prep program,
demonstrating that academic programs alone do not inspire students to
pursue pre-baccalaureate technical education.

Australia's experience is instructive. In the 1970s high school CTE was
virtually eliminated by mandate. The result was that the number of high
school dropouts increased and postsecondary enrollment in the technical
college system declined. Today, high school CTE is being brought back,
dropout rates are declining and postsecondary technical education
enrollment is booming.

The equation is the same in the U.S. It is interesting to observe, for
example that virtually every state that has a good postsecondary
technical college system or community college system that endorses the
technical education role, also has viable high school systems. One does
not prosper without the other. Thus the real issue is not whether high
school or postsecondary technical education is the priority but how the
two can be combined into an improved seamless system.

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