The purpose of this research was to identify secondary principals' perceptions of Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher's professional development needs. A descriptive instrument based on Borich's (1980) Needs Assessment Model was completed by 128 respondents (N = 256). Items related to teaching in a CTE program were used to…

Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study examined the relationship between student and school-based factors (e.g., educational aspirations, quality of the program of study, and adults' impact on college enrollment) and students' academic engagement and satisfaction with student life in a career technical education (CTE) setting.…

The purpose of this study was to examine Idaho career and technical education (CTE) teachers' perceived levels of efficacy as related to the domain of teaching and learning, both for traditionally and alternatively certified teachers with 10 or less years of teaching experience. Efficacy was examined for early to mid-career CTE teachers…

The integration of career and technical education (CTE) and academic curricular content represents a challenge for CTE professionals. Currently, little is known about the process of integrating science into secondary CTE programs. Grounded theory method was employed to create information about CTE teachers' perspectives of and experiences…

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent do CTSOs affect student psychosocial and achievement outcomes (above and beyond stand-alone CTE programs) when controlling for gender and race. Using a cross-sectional descriptive research design, a total of 5,677 students from 10 states were surveyed regarding their high school…

Research has discussed the benefits of cooperative education experiences for secondary career and technical education students. Yet, in this era of high stakes testing and program accountability, the amount of time that students are permitted to participate in cooperative education has diminished, fearing that time spent out of the classroom would…

This study examined how researchers of career-technical education have treated the construct of race/ethnicity in recent studies. Fifty-one of 71 articles published in the Career and Technical Education Research (CTER) over a 7-year span (2005-2011) were included. A content analysis found that only one quarter (n = 13, 25.49%) of eligible studies…

In times of uncertainty and change where the job market is fluid and the U.S. economy is weak, students need to feel empowered to construct their lives and forge their career paths. Constructivism has been suggested as one way to empower people. The current study explored outcomes in constructivist career courses using a quasi-experimental…

Super's theory of career development states that the life stages of growth and exploration are inherent to the process of acquiring knowledge of how one's interests and abilities align with the requirements of occupations. Virtually all high school students are in the exploratory stage of their career development. This article examines the…

Students must be able to create meaning from career and technical education texts. Reading and comprehension of texts are skills that develop through practice with a variety of texts, including those in career and technical education. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design was used to determine the effect of implementing content…

The sometimes poor performance of Career and Technical Education (CTE) concentrators on a state-mandated proficiency test is a major concern of CTE educators. This study examined whether (a) there are performance differences on state-mandated 11th-grade math and reading tests between CTE and non-CTE students with similar proficiency scores in the…

This study analyzes urban youths' career decision-making in a career and technical education program that provided work-based learning experiences and a pathway linking high school, community college, and work in biotechnology laboratories. The program provided work experiences not generally available to adolescents, and enabled students…

This study explored the hypothesis that Career Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) provide a variety of experiences that either directly or indirectly affect three important outcomes of secondary education: achievement, transition to postsecondary education and training, and employability. A pre-post-test comparison study of high school…

This article presents the presidential address at the annual conference of the Association for Career and Technical Education Research by M. Susie Whittington, ACTER President 2005. The purpose of the presidential address is to examine a current issue facing the profession, and pose challenges to the membership in the context of that issue. In her…