Career Technical Education, Academic Achievement, and Behavioral Engagement
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Authors
Hartzog, Joshua Gabriel
Issue Date
2024
Type
Dissertation
Language
Keywords
Career , CTE , Education , Technical
Alternative Title
Abstract
Career technical education (CTE) in the 21 st century has been a highly visible component of the American public educational framework, with the majority of graduates estimated to have taken at least one CTE course during their time in school. Yet as CTE continues to benefit from atypically broad levels of support in both legislative circles as well as the general public, its association as an educational model with positive results for students remains equivocal in scholarly research. A quantitative research methodology was used to guide the purpose of this study, which was to investigate the relationship between students' exposure to CTE programs and positive academic and behavioral outcomes over the course of four successive graduate cohorts. The research questions were: (a) Do statistically significant differences exist in on-time graduation status between groups of graduates who take only the first year of one or more CTE programs of study, who concentrate in one or more CTE program of study, and who take no CTE courses? (b) Do statistically significant differences exist in Composite ACT scores between groups of high school graduates who take only the first year of one or more CTE programs of study, who concentrate in one or more CTE program of study, and who take no CTE courses? (c) Do statistically significant differences exist in number of days attended between groups of high school graduates who take only the first year of one or more CTE programs of study, who concentrate in one or more CTE program of study, and who take no CTE courses? (d) Do statistically significant differences exist in total incidents of exclusionary discipline between groups of high school graduates who take only the first year of one or more CTE programs of study, who concentrate in one or more CTE program of study, and who take no CTE courses? (e) Do statistically significant differences exist in academic and behavioral variables between groups of high graduates who take varying levels of CTE, while controlling for gender, race, and special population designation? Results from this study revealed that exposure to CTE does associate at a level of statistical significance with positive academic and behavioral outcomes. While the strengths of associations were determined to be relatively low, results were consistent for all four years of data as analyzed. Students who took two or more years of one or more CTE programs (concentrators) were found to have had a significantly higher likelihood of graduating on time, while students who took only the first year of one or more programs (participants) were more likely to demonstrate improved behavioral engagement and achieve a higher composite score on the ACT assessment. The results suggested that CTE programming in a broad context has the potential to serve as an integral part of a comprehensive educational system, being consistently associated with an increased likelihood of positive academic and behavioral outcomes for students. It is recommended that educational practitioners consider how CTE programs can meet the unique academic and behavioral needs of their respective educational systems, relative to the methods and findings surfaced in this study. Furthermore, it is recommended that researchers in this space focus next on how student outcomes relate to CTE exposure at a more granular level, considering program type and quality of implementation. Ultimately, this study serves to shed light on the relationship of CTE exposure to positive student outcomes, highlighting the complexity of measurement while providing a foundation for further inquiry aimed at enhancing educational systems through evidence-based CTE programming.