Resources

Making It Happen: How Career Academies Can Build College and Career Exploration Programs

  • Research/ Report
January 2013 —

This report from MDRC summarizes a three-year evaluation of the Exploring Career and College Options program in California, Florida and Georgia. The report provides critical lessons and strategies for expanding career exploration activities in career academies. 

Improving the Quality of Career and Technical Alternative Teacher Preparation: An Induction Model of Professional Development and Support

  • Research/ Report
  • Guide/Tool
January 2013 —

This report from the Southern Regional Education Board presents key elements of a CTE teacher induction model and provides findings from a five-year field test.

Common Core State Standards & CTE: Bridging the Divide between College and Career Readiness

  • Research/ Report
  • Guide/Tool
May 2012 —

The Common Core State Standards offer an opportunity for education leaders to "bridge the divide" across disciplines, and provide a more rigorous and relevant learning experience for students. This report from Achieve provides key strategies for state and district leaders.

Recognizing Academic Achievement in Career/Technical Education

  • Case Study
  • Guide/Tool
January 2012 —

This report from the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) explores various approaches taken by states to award credit for academic content taught and mastered through CTE courses, as well as the policies states need to consider as they develop, validate and assess such CTE courses.

Developing Human Capital: Meeting the Growing Global Need for a Skilled and Educated Workforce

  • Guide/Tool
December 2011 —

The report from the National Association of Workforce Boards, the Association for Career and Technical Education and McGraw-Hill explores the intersection between education and workforce development and provides a valuable industry perspective for policymakers seeking to engage employers.

Expanding Career Readiness through Career and Technical Student Organizations

  • Case Study
  • Research/ Report
June 2011 —

This brief from ACTE reviews and summarizes extant research on Career Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) to demonstrate how they help learners build academic, employability and technical skills.

Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century

  • Case Study
  • Research/ Report
February 2011 —

Pathways to Prosperity, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, analyzed the reasons that America has failed to prepare so many of its youth, and suggests a national strategy that focuses on approaches beyond an academic, classroom-based education system.

Conducting Return on Investment Analyses for Secondary and Postsecondary CTE: A Framework

  • Guide/Tool
January 2011 —

This framework by the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE) provides guidance for CTE evaluators seeking to show the positive impact of CTE programs on the economy.