There is considerable research demonstrating strong benefits of the career academy model to students and teachers, but there is little indicating why students enroll in academies and what methods of recruitment may work best. This study assessed factors influencing students' decisions to enroll in career academy programs by looking at factors that…

The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify the dominant technical competencies needed to effectively teach architecture and construction at the secondary and postsecondary level and to determine if there are differences of opinion among educators, recent graduates and industry personnel as to what those competencies should be. To provide…

Teacher quality and student achievement have shown positive relationships in prior studies of elementary and secondary grade levels in the United States. However, postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) teacher quality and student achievement is an understudied topic. According to the literature, teacher quality is measured by…

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of high school counselors across the state of Texas toward agricultural education. This study was descriptive in nature. High school counselors had an overall positive attitude toward agricultural education. They did not believe agricultural education courses were intended for…

Industry-recognized credentials, or certifications, provide one path to match people with jobs effectively. Certifications are nationally recognized, standardized credentials created by businesses and industry groups to demonstrate proficiency in skills related to specific jobs. State education systems increasingly provide students the opportunity…

Federal legislation has attempted to move career and technical education (CTE) from a narrow focus on low-wage job attainment for non-college bound youth to programs of study that prepare students for college and career readiness. However, few studies have demonstrated CTEs potential to prepare students for college. Using propensity score…

Over the last ten years, in Washington community and technical colleges (CTC) there has been a great leap forward in access and use of data for setting and measuring goals, monitoring progress, and identifying equity gaps. Despite much progress, faculty members in career and technical education (CTE) programs still often have difficulty accessing…

Career and technical education (CTE) has recently gained national attention as a means of promoting college and career readiness. However, little is known about the joint trajectories of school and work during and following CTE participation in high school. Using the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, we conducted latent class analyses to…

Representing approximately two in five community college students, noncredit education is an important but understudied segment of the higher education population. In an effort to help open the "black box" of noncredit education in community colleges, the present study uses an established noncredit course typology (occupational training,…

Preparing students in school-based agricultural education (SBAE) to respond to emerging challenges impacting -- and being impacted by -- agriculture, food, and natural resource systems (e.g., climate change, water scarcity, soil degradation) is essential. Therefore, student involvement in SBAE was investigated in relation to metacognition,…

A Value-Achievement-Cost (VAC) Survey was psychometrically tested to continue to establish its predictive utility for future research with 12th grade female Career and Technical Education (CTE) health science classroom cohorts of less than 50 students. In this study, a 10-construct, 46-item VAC Survey was administered to 31 college-bound 12th…

The Texas Legislature passed House Bill 5 in 2013 to adopt the Foundation High School Program, a new graduation program intended to support youth college and career readiness. Texan students entering grade 9 were guided to enroll in one or more endorsements with a specific curriculum designed to introduce them to STEM, Business & Industry,…

Construction is one of the most dangerous industries in the US. Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are important settings in which new construction workers can learn about Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). CTE programs are sometimes the only place where these workers will encounter such training. We set out to examine the quality of…

Practitioners, researchers, and policymakers are interested in the potential of Career and Technical Education (CTE) to improve student outcomes by increasing students' affective engagement - their feelings of belonging at school and valuing what they are learning. Little research has studied the relationship between the breadth of participation…

Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs at secondary and post-secondary levels are gaining more and more attention from students, parents, and communities. Evaluating the merit of educational programs is a necessary practice. This study examined the academic achievement of CTE completer high school graduates and non-CTE graduates as measured…