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Research Round-Up: CTE Concentration Stays Strong Against the Challenges Posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Wednesday, March 1st, 2023

Advance CTE’s “Research Round-Up” blog series features summaries of relevant research reports and studies to elevate evidence-backed Career Technical Educational (CTE) policies and practices and topics related to college and career readiness. This month’s blog examines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted CTE concentration rates. The findings align with Advance CTE’s vision for the future of CTE where each learner has the means to succeed in the career preparation ecosystem.

Due to the specific hands-on delivery and instruction requirements of career and technical education (CTE) courses, the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting online instruction posed new challenges for CTE programs and concentrators. The study, A Multi-State Analysis of Trends in Career and Technical Education, explored the level of impact of the coronavirus pandemic on CTE concentration rates using administrative data across five states: Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Tennessee, and Washington.

Methodology

The analysis sample for each state was defined as first-time ninth graders observed consistently over their four years in high school. The population of learners, CTE concentrators, was selected for observation because the definition of a concentrator is more similar across states than the definition for CTE participation. Another reason that the authors chose to observe rates of CTE concentrators rather than completers was that indicators for program completion were not readily available across the state populations.

The following tables share the concentrator definitions used as well as a breakdown by race/ethnicity and geography of the learners observed to aid state CTE leaders in aligning the findings with their own learner populations.

The study was conducted by researchers Carly Urban, Celeste K. Carruthers, Shaun Dougherty, Thomas Goldring, Daniel Kreisman, and Roddy Theobald and examined the following questions:

Did CTE concentration rates change at the start of the coronavirus pandemic?
Did gaps in concentration rates change by student race, ethnicity, gender or identified disability status?
What are the differences in concentration rates across rural and urban areas and have these gaps changed over time?
Were CTE concentrators more likely to graduate from high school and did this change at the start of the pandemic?
Which career clusters have seen the largest changes in participation?

Findings

CTE concentration rates changed minimally in the featured states at the start of the pandemic, with the exception being Tennessee, where the class of 2020 was significantly more likely to concentrate in CTE than the previous cohorts.
The gaps in CTE concentration by gender, race and ethnicity largely did not widen at the start of the pandemic.
The gaps in CTE concentration by identified disability status did not widen in any state for the first cohort impacted by the pandemic (SY16-17). However, one year into the pandemic, concentration rates for students with an identified disability in two states fell compared to students without an identified disability.
In Michigan, Montana, and Tennessee, students in rural areas appeared more likely to concentrate in CTE than students in urban areas post-pandemic. In Massachusetts, CTE concentration was higher in urban than rural areas. While the two groups have virtually no difference in concentration rates in Washington.
CTE concentrators are more likely to graduate from high school than non-concentrators in all five states both before and after the pandemic.
Changes in CTE clusters were relatively small when comparing the cohorts who were on track to graduate just before and after the pandemic. The fields with the largest positive and negative changes to concentrator rates varied by state.

Recommendations for Members

While these findings are descriptive and suggest that CTE concentration rates did not drop at the onset of the pandemic, the researchers have recommendations for state leaders to continue to support the successful coordination of CTE programs.

Preliminary findings indicate that the ways states adapted CTE education at the onset of the pandemic maintained concentration rates for learners with a disability. However, concentration gaps widened for learners with disabilities in subsequent years in some states, signaling that more attention must be given to meeting these learners’ needs in program design.
States should consider the mode of communication they’re currently using to monitor the change in demand for or inability to supply specific CTE programs in schools.
States should continue to track and improve the quality of the outcome data they gather from CTE programs.

To learn more about how states can approach continuing to develop effective and accessible CTE data reporting tools to advance this report’s final recommendation, check out Advance CTE’s Beyond the Numbers: Design Principles for CTE Data Reporting. This guide provides state and local leaders with the necessary tools to inform early design and development of CTE data reporting tools or as a checklist to ensure their final reports align with best practices for access and usability.

To read more of Advance CTE’s “Research Round-Up” blog series featuring summaries of relevant research reports and studies click here.

By Jodi Langellotti in Research
Tags: Coronavirus, COVID-19, CTE concentrators, CTE Data, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Secondary CTE, Secondary CTE Concentrator, tennessee, Washington State

Research Round-up: Graduation, College, and Employment Outcomes for CTE Learners with Identified Disabilities

Tuesday, January 31st, 2023

Advance CTE’s “Research Round-Up” blog series features summaries of relevant research reports and studies to elevate evidence-backed Career Technical Educational (CTE) policies and practices and topics related to college and career readiness. This month’s blog highlights Career Technical Education and the graduation, college, and employment outcomes for CTE learners with identified disabilities. These findings align with Advance CTE’s vision for the future of CTE where each learner is supported and has the means to succeed in the career preparation ecosystem.

Last spring, the Career and Technical Education Policy Exchange (CTEx) at the Georgia Policy Lab published Graduation, College, and Employment Outcomes for CTE Students with Identified Disabilities. This report examines the relationship between CTE participation and transition outcomes for learners with an identified disorder and for learners receiving special education services for different identified disabilities.

For learners with identified disabilities, participating in career and technical education (CTE) programs in high school appears to positively impact graduation rates and a higher likelihood of securing employment in the year after high school. This report utilizes administrative data from three states, including Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Washington. This analysis is based on data from the 2007-08 through 2015-16 ninth-grade cohort data in Massachusettes, 2009–10 through 2013–14 ninth-grade cohorts in Tennessee, and 2010–11 through 2015–16 ninth-grade cohorts in Washington. This decision was made to address the different learner population sizes; some categories (e.g., specific disability categories) were relatively small within a single high school cohort

Graph: The chart below offers summary statistics for the population of interest across the three states. The blue bar signifies learners with an identified disorder, and the red bar signifies learners without an identified disorder

The authors examined how CTE concentration for learners with an identified disorder relates to three outcomes:

High school graduation rate within five years of their first year of ninth grade.

CTE concentration rates for learners with an identified disorder vary across states and disorder types. Concentration rates for learners with specific learning disabilities, communication disorders, or health disorders are relatively high in all three states.

Across all three states and different identified disabilities, learners with an identified disorder who concentrate in CTE are more likely to graduate from high school than non-concentrators. While not identical, these states have similar concentrator definitions. These differences by CTE concentration status and disorder type vary across the states but tend to be the largest in Massachusetts.

Graph: Five-year graduation rates by CTE concentration and disorder categories

Postsecondary attendance at two-and four-year institutions.

In Massachusetts, learners with an identified disorder who concentrate in CTE and graduate from high school are less likely to attend college. By contrast, learners with a recognized disorder in Tennessee are more likely to enroll in college if they concentrate in CTE than if they do not. In Washington, the relationship between CTE and college enrollment varies across disorder categories. The gap in college attendance among learners with an identified disorder tends to be smaller between CTE concentrators and non-concentrators in Tennessee and Washington, though in Tennessee, learners with autism who concentrate in CTE are much more likely to attend college than non-concentrators.

Graph: College attendance rates among high school graduates by CTE concentration and disorder categories

Employment rates following graduation.

Learners with an identified disorder who concentrate in CTE and graduate from high school are more likely to be employed at least half-time in the year after graduation than non-concentrators. This pattern is consistent across all identified disorder types in Massachusetts and Tennessee and across most identified disorder types in Washington.

Graph: At least half-time employment rates among high school graduates by CTE concentration and disorder categories.

While the authors noted that their findings were descriptive and may not account for unobserved differences between learners with an identified disorder that are high school CTE concentrators and those with an identified disorder who are not high school CTE concentrators, the results do support existing research trends. Given the differences across states, the authors suggested that state leaders investigate trends in their educational context. Additionally, there may be an opportunity to improve access to these programs for those groups that reported much lower program enrollment rates than learners in other disorder categories.

Suggested follow up reading: Advancing Employment for Secondary Learners with Disabilities through CTE Policy and Practice. This report provides a policy landscape of state-level efforts to support secondary learners with disabilities in CTE programs based on a national survey of State Directors and was produced in partnership with University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.

To read more of Advance CTE’s “Research Round-Up” blog series featuring summaries of relevant research reports and studies click here.

Amy Hodge, Policy Associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Research
Tags: Access and Equity, CTE concentrators, CTE Research, Massachusetts, Research Review, Secondary CTE Concentrator, tennessee, washington, Washington State

Illinois, Missouri and Pennsylvania Adopt New Policies to Help Learners Graduate Career Ready

Tuesday, June 27th, 2017

Long after the tassels are turned, the podiums are packed away, and the diplomas framed and positioned on the wall, state policymakers are hard at work devising new policies to help the next class of high school students graduate career ready. Whether through career readiness expectations, Career Technical Education (CTE) graduation endorsements or alternative CTE graduation pathways, helping learners build the skills they need to be successful in their future careers is a priority for policymakers in Illinois, Missouri and Pennsylvania.

In Illinois, a new Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) framework comes on the heels of 2016’s Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act. That legislation, designed to enhance the Illinois education system to better prepare learners for college and the workforce, adopted a number of strategies including a competency-based learning pilot, college and career pathway endorsements, and supports for educators and district leaders. Specifically, the law directed the Illinois State Board of Education and other state agencies to identify expectations for students between grades 8 through 12 to be prepared for success after high school. Under the law, these expectations would need to focus on career exploration and development; postsecondary institution exploration, preparation and selection; and financial aid and financial literacy.

Earlier this month, the Illinois State Board of Education formally released the newly-developed PaCE framework, outlining guidelines for college- and career-focused activities at each grade level. Many expectations are aligned to a student’s self-identified career pathway. By the end of 10th grade, for example, students are expected to participate in a mock interview, create a sample resume, and identify an internship opportunity related to their career pathway. However, career exploration is emphasized in earlier grades through Career ClusterⓇ interest surveys and career exploration days. Though use of the framework is voluntary, it is designed to empower local educators and administrators to better target supports to students to ensure they are on track for success after graduation.

Missouri’s New CTE Diploma Endorsement Celebrates Student Achievement

Meanwhile, the Missouri State Board of Education outlined requirements for the state’s new CTE graduation certificate. The certificate program, authorized under 2016’s SB620, is designed to recognize the value add that CTE provides, helping equip students with the technical and employability skills to be more competitive in both college and the workforce. The legislature specifically called on the State Board of Education to work with local school districts to ensure the certificate program does not incentivize tracking, or “separating pupils by academic ability into groups for all subjects or certain classes and curriculum.” Rather, the legislation emphasizes program quality, encouraging local school districts to rely on industry-recognized standards, skills assessments and certificates.

In June, the Missouri State Board of Education finalized requirements for a CTE diploma to recognize students who, in addition to completing their core graduation requirements, focus in a CTE area of study. True to the intent of the law, the requirements above all emphasize achievement. Students are only eligible to receive a CTE endorsement if they, among other requirements, maintain a 3.0 GPA in their CTE concentration, earn an industry-recognized credential or a passing score on a technical skills assessment, complete at least 50 hours of work-based learning, and maintain an attendance record of at least 95 percent throughout high school. By prioritizing student success and achievement, Missouri’s CTE diploma requirements appropriately recognize that CTE enhances the traditional high school experience.

Alternative Assessments for CTE Concentrators in Pennsylvania

Finally, CTE students in Pennsylvania will have more flexible pathways to graduation after lawmakers amended a yet-to-be-implemented examination requirement. The change comes in response to a 2014 State Board of Education rule that required students to pass Keystone examinations in Algebra I, Biology and Literature before graduating. Although the requirement was scheduled to apply statewide for the graduating class of 2017, the legislature last year decided to delay implementation to give the Department of Education enough time to identify alternative assessment opportunities for CTE students.

Under the original policy, students who failed to pass the Keystone examinations could demonstrate competency through project-based assessments in order to meet graduation requirements. However, with low Keystone pass rates and high participation in the burdensome project-based assessment alternatives, the legislature soon realized that additional options needed to be explored.

The new law, HB202, provides CTE concentrators an exemption to the Keystone graduation requirement if they 1) complete grade-based academic requirements and 2) either complete an industry-based certification or demonstrate likelihood of success based on benchmark assessments, course grades and other factors. To meet the industry-based certification requirement, CTE concentrators will be able to choose among state-approved credentials in their area of focus, including National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) and National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) examinations.

While alternative graduation pathways that recognize learners’ career goals help to expand options for high school students, it is important that academic rigor is not the price of flexibility. Graduation requirements should continue to be rigorous and ambitious to ensure all learners are set up for success after graduation, whether they choose to pursue college or careers. The Pennsylvania Department of Education can continue to uphold rigor in CTE programs by ensuring that grade-based academic requirements and selected industry-based certifications are high quality and appropriately reflect the competencies learners need to be successful regardless of their chosen pathway.

Meanwhile other states have adopted new policies related to CTE and career readiness, including:

In May the Texas state legislature passed SB22, establishing a statewide Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) program. Starting fall 2017, districts and open enrollment charter schools will be able to apply for startup funding to establish a P-TECH program, which allows learners to graduate in six years with an associate’s degree or two-year postsecondary certificate and work-based learning experience.
Minnesota’s omnibus higher education appropriations bill for the 2018-19 biennium established a $1 million Workforce Development Scholarship pilot program and provides funding to develop new concurrent enrollment courses.
Vermont passed an economic development bill that, among other things, establishes a Career Pathways Coordinator position within the Agency of Education to serve as a point person for interagency efforts to develop curriculum and design statewide career pathways.

Austin Estes, Policy Associate

By admin in Public Policy, Uncategorized
Tags: Career Exploration, CTE concentrators, CTE Diploma, graduation requirements, Illinois, Keystone Exams, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act

Posts Tagged ‘CTE concentrators’

Research Round-Up: CTE Concentration Stays Strong Against the Challenges Posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research Round-up: Graduation, College, and Employment Outcomes for CTE Learners with Identified Disabilities

Illinois, Missouri and Pennsylvania Adopt New Policies to Help Learners Graduate Career Ready

CTE in the News: Graduation Rates Increase Among North Carolina CTE Concentrators

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