Public School Principal, Counselor, and Teacher Opinions of Career and Technical Education at the Secondary Level
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Authors
McMurray, Michael H.
Issue Date
2021
Type
Dissertation
Language
Keywords
Career & Technical Education , Educator Opinions , Pathways , Postsecondary , Secondary , Survey Research
Alternative Title
Abstract
Career and technical education (CTE) has long endured public scrutiny and bias, but unfortunately, the extent to which varying opinions have permeated secondary schools remains elusive. Therefore, this study examined secondary administrator, counselor, and subject-specific teacher opinions in three areas: (a) student secondary and postsecondary CTE options, (b) their own role in conveying job skills, and (c) school leader ability to implement such programs using a quantitative methodology. A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to examine the validity and reliability of the survey pertaining to existing data, and Kruskal-Wallis omnibus H-tests and Mann-Whitney U-tests with effect sizes were used to test for statistically significant differences among groups. The survey pertaining to the data was found to be valid and reliable, demonstrating unique factors with reliable measures and moderate to high reliability. Importantly, a pattern of statistically significantly different opinions was consistently found across research questions that demonstrated educators focused on CTE and JROTC, as well as those in administration and counseling, had significantly higher mean rank scores than other content area groups, most notably when compared to educators in math and science. Also, differences among gender, middle and high school, total years as a certified educator, and years at current site as a certified educator were also found, but distinctions in opinions these demographics were those between middle and high school teachers were the most unique. Finally, open-ended responses further supported findings of the data. A discussion, implications for practice, and recommendations for future research are shared.