Career and technical education

Leading the way to school reforms that work

American high school students earn more credits in English than any other subject. What area of study represents the second highest number of credits earned by U.S. high school students? (Hint: It’s not math or science.) The answer: career and technical education (CTE)—today’s label for classes that teach work-related applied knowledge and skills. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the overwhelming majority of American high school students (98 percent) take one or more CTE classes during high school.

Contemporary CTE covers more than 30 areas of study including business, carpentry, information technology, and health occupations. Although public opinion persistently regards vocational education as the course of study for the non-college bound, of the 25 percent of U.S. high school students who major in vocational education, 63 percent attend college following high school.

“CTE is a huge part of the enterprise of American high schools,” says James Stone, associate professor of career and technical education and director of the National Center for Career and Technical Education (NCCTE) in the College of Education and Human Development.

What the research shows

Stone’s most significant research focuses on how CTE-based school reforms can improve important student outcomes, such as math aptitude and graduation rates. His most recent research shows that all-school reforms based on CTE can have a profound impact on America’s most “at-risk” students.

What works: Best practices in CTE-based school reform

What Works is an ongoing, five-year longitudinal study comparing student progress in high schools using CTE-based all-school reforms with progress of students in traditional high schools, all of which have a large percentage of at-risk students. Preliminary findings include:

• Students in CTE-based schools graduate at a higher rate than those at comparable traditional high schools.
• More students in CTE-based schools took math every year and fewer opted out of the math sequence than their counterparts in traditional high schools.
• In a CTE-based school where 60 percent of incoming freshmen read at or below the fourth-grade level, they regained their grade-level skills and graduated at a higher rate than their counterparts at traditional high schools.

The Math-in-CTE project: Improving skills through contextual learning

In a study called the Math-in-CTE project, Stone and colleagues are testing the possibility of improving students’ math aptitude by teaching math, not as a separate subject, but by extracting and teaching it as it appears in the context of CTE classes. (Typical CTE classes focus on hands-on skills.) An example of this method has students building a pig barn using algebra and geometry to figure out how much concrete is needed for the project, rather than simply focusing on the skill of pouring the concrete.

Last spring, Stone and his colleagues conducted a pilot study with 250 teachers and 4,000 students in 12 states, randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions. During the semester-long study, teachers in the experimental schools used a new curriculum that extracted math from normal CTE topics, while CTE teachers in the control schools did nothing different. After the pilot period, students were tested using three different math assessments. Promising findings from the pilot study include:

• Overall, students in the experimental classrooms scored significantly higher on the college placement exam.
• The results of individual assessments of the six simultaneous study replications showed a statistically significant pattern of improvement in math skills of students in the experimental schools over students in the control schools.
• Students in four of the six replications scored significantly higher than students in the control classrooms on one or more of the math assessments. The test averages of students in the experimental classrooms show positive improvement in math knowledge, with two of the six sites showing significant improvement.
• The study showed that technical aptitude achievement did not suffer in the experimental schools, rather, two of the six sites showed significant improvement in technical knowledge.

Stone expects the yearlong study to yield even greater differences in achievement and generate a definitive set of parameters from which to build a strong math-enriched CTE curriculum.

What others say about this research

“Jim Stone is making singular contributions to the field of research on career and technical education in America today,” says Samuel C. Stringfield, professor at the University of Louisville, Ken., who studies school reforms for at-risk students. “As the subject of high school reform moves into the national spotlight, Dr. Stone’s research provides invaluable insights into the intersection of CTE and the broader issues of high school reform.”

“The research initiative that Stone and his team at NCCTE conceived, planned, and are implementing through the Math-in-CTE project may produce results that prove to be seminal in shaping the future of federal funding and expectations for high school CTE programs,” says Craig Edwards, professor at Oklahoma State University. “In short, the futures of millions of American youth, the communities in which they reside, and a significant portion of the U.S. economy may be significantly impacted by the outcome of Dr. Stone’s research.”

Sherrie Schneider, vice president of instruction at Red Rocks Community College, says, “This is a highly visible study and is the first major experimental study since the No Child Left Behind legislation was implemented. It involves multiple states, hundreds of teachers, and thousands of high school students nationwide. It is the first truly experimental research ever conducted around career and technical education.”

Why this research matters

According to the Urban Institute, the steadily declining American high school graduation rate is now at 68 percent. Stone’s work gives school leaders and legislators specific examples of practices and learning models proven to help American students—at-risk or otherwise—achieve, graduate, and make smooth transitions into the world of work.

“If every American student has the opportunity to take vocational education classes, at the end of high school you have not closed any doors to future work or study, but opened them to unlimited possibility,” says Stone. “Exposing kids to CTE doesn’t limit college options or end rigorous learning, but creates a foundation that gives students a much-needed opportunity to begin thinking about what comes after school, and to make connections between classroom learning and real-world work opportunities.”

For more information:
James R. Stone III, 612-624-1795, stone003@umn.edu

March 2005