This document summarizes the history of career and technical education (CTE) in the United States and discusses current issues and the future of CTE. It traces the evolution of CTE from the 19th century through various acts that funded vocational programs up to the modern debate around CTE and ensuring students are both career and college ready. The document also notes challenges for CTE, such as inadequate funding and the perception of CTE as a "second class" option compared to a college preparatory track.

1. Metropolitan Education District Understanding successful CCOC students and their career pathways: history, action research, and the future of career-technical education Board Presentation December 9, 2009

2. Naming conventions matter United States Manual arts, industrial arts, vocational education, occupational training, technical preparation, and now career-technical education (CTE) Australia Technical and Further Education (TAFE) United Kingdom Further Education Colleges Canada Technical and Vocational Education

3. Overview “… career-oriented programs are deeply embedded in the fabric of American politics; embedded in a such a way that programs and practices are transformed by ideological changes as well as by changes in program funding and regulations.” -- Mitchell and Ryan 2008, page 14

4. CTE may be less alienating… “ As will be seen later in this report, there is some evidence that career-technical educational programs are more engaging and less alienating than the mainstream academic programs. Should this evidence come to be seen as guiding policy, it is likely that career-technical education could become the model of high-status, high success education for all students.” -- Mitchell and Ryan 2008, page 16

5. A brief history of vocational education in the United States… “ Understanding the history of vocational or career education is essential to interpreting its present turmoil and reform dynamics.” -- Foster 1996 (in Mitchell and Ryan 2008)

6. Vocationalization of public education Began in the midst of the American Civil War with the Morrill Act of 1862, and later in 1890. The first public vocational high school, with a comprehensive training program in agriculture, was established at the University of Minnesota in 1888. Society was moving from an agricultural-based society to one that was becoming increasingly industrialized. Typically seen as a “special” program for special populations Never a broad-based consensus on necessity Assumed that wage laborers are trained on the job Industrial revolution, “for boys and girls to go to work.” Smith-Hughes National Vocational Act of 1917 (allocated funding for vocational education) John Dewey argued against this segregation

7. During the Great Depression… Home economics and agriculture George-Reed Act of 1929 Strengthen industry and the trades “ Productivity and efficiency” Helped veterans; doubled funding George-Barden Act 1946 Added nursing and fishery occupations Directed toward young people who were not expected to go beyond high school graduation. Vocational students were tracked, not capable of, or interested in, academic subject matter. Tracks: college bound, general, vocational (no respect for latter two).

9. WWII/Post-war boom Russia and the Cold War Sputnik 1, the world’s first earth-orbiting satellite Launched October 4, 1957 The first “man-made” satellite The resulted in the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) Passed by Congress; signed into law September 2, 1958 Expanded for older adults, included curricula in science, mathematics, foreign languages, and social sciences During this time there was a great expansion of vocational programs Manpower Development Training Act of 1962 Vocational Education Act of 1963 Civil Rights/Equal Opportunity 1960s, 70s, and early 80s Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act 1984-2006 Centralization over planning etc.; Program improvement over expansion

10. CTE: a new idea? “ The idea of combining vocational and academic education is not new …. John Dewey (1916) was among those who argued in favor of keeping them together. But Dewey lost the argument, and the 1917 Smith-Hughes Act created federal support for a separate kind of vocational education that became well-established…” -- Urquiola et al 1997 (in Mitchell and Ryan 2008)

11. CTE is facing important changes in its conceptual foundations “ Today, education and career development are intimately intertwined. Continuing technological revolution, the integration of women and minorities into the workforce, and the spins of the economic cycle have produced a society that requires integration of career preparation into the fabric of secondary education.” -- Castrallano, Stringfield, and Stone III 2003 (in Mitchell and Ryan 2008).

12. National Center for Research in Vocational Education (UC Berkeley) “ In high schools, the only part of the curriculum to hold the respect of students, teachers, and parents is the program preparing students for four year college and the baccalaureate. Vocational education is derided.” -- Benson, C. S. (1997). New vocationalism in the United States: Potential problems and outlook. Economics of Education Review, 16 (3), 201-212.

13. Dominant critique of high schools “ Boring and irrelevant” for many who won’t or don’t want to go to the most competitive colleges Disjunction between the academic character of the standard curriculum and the vocational orientation of most students Simply a mechanism for getting into college Students lack motivation and aren’t “engaged” Grubb and Lazerson,2004 (in Mitchell and Ryan 2008)

14. The “new vocationalism” Three distinct but interrelated types of integration: Blending of theoretical with practical applied skills Secondary with post-secondary education Closer relationship between education and work

15. Issues facing CTE “ Vocational” is socially stigmatized Speed of globalization and changes in work Selection bias; evidence of success College for all education gospel; alienation Evaluation is limited

16. Future of CTE “ The future of career and technical education [CTE] at the high school level is being debated seriously around the country, in communities and at the state and federal levels. This debate has been building for at least a decade…. The terrain has shifted dramatically as No Child Left Behind and the standards-driven reform have raised academic achievement to a primacy that allows little room for some of the priorities that drove school-to-work advocates.” -- Kazis 2005 (in Mitchell and Ryan 2008)

17. Implications for policy for CTE Needs: more stability, time, and support to catch up with policy initiatives Threat: the “college for all” gospel Change: Program improvements should take on a business-like approach – incremental and marginal (i.e. not a complete systems change)

18. Observations Data systems Narrative accounts Changes in workforce & society that affect chances for work More support for teachers, administrators, and students Woefully underfunded data collection and research study

19. In closing… “ Career-technical education is enmeshed in a complex, intense and politically charged environment aimed to dramatically overhaul public education, and CTE has historically been on the losing end as college-oriented academic reformers and the families of college-bound children have continually seen occupational preparation as “second class” education which should be separated from the “real” schooling of first class citizens.” -- Mitchell and Ryan 2008

20. Q&A References: Mitchell, Douglas E. and Sarah Ryan 2008 “Successful career technical, occupational, and vocational education programs: a review of the professional and scholarly literature.” University of California, Riverside. Cabrera, Gregory 2009 “Successful students and regional occupational centers and programs in Santa Clara County: an applied anthropological perspective.” Metropolitan Education District.