As we celebrate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month, it’s important to consider opportunities to expand CTE participation, persistence, and outcomes for all students, not just those who already engage in the CTE curriculum.

At the federal level, reporting requirements tend to focus on current CTE participants. Accountability provisions in the federal Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act highlight a set of commonsense metrics documenting state and provider performance. High school students who achieve concentrator status in a CTE program of study—those earning two or more credits in a single field—are expected to meet or exceed performance targets established by the state. States and districts that fall short are required to create an improvement plan to address identified deficits.

Each federal performance indicator consists of a numerator, the number of CTE concentrators who achieve a desired outcome, and denominator, the total number of CTE concentrators in the measurement population. For educators, the goal is to increase the percentage of concentrators attaining the state target for a given indicator year over year. This requires increasing the number of CTE concentrators who attain the desired outcome (the numerator) but does not require increasing the number of students who are counted as CTE concentrators (the denominator). In other words, the performance indicators do not require increasing overall access to or participation in CTE.

Directing educators to focus their improvement efforts on current CTE participants diverts attention from a sizable population of youth who are not accessing the full benefits of CTE. Nationally, nearly three-fifths (56 percent) of high school graduates earn less than two credits in a single CTE program of study. Given that CTE helps students make informed career choices, more than half of our high school graduates are missing early opportunities to learn about and explore potential careers.

How Data Analysis Uncovers CTE Participation Trends

At Education Northwest, we believe that who participates in CTE matters, and we are committed to working with educators to advance equitable participation in CTE programming.

This starts with data.

We partner with schools, districts, and state agencies to assess longitudinal student-level course data to identify student credit attainment over time. Through our analyses, we explore which students participate in CTE across different credit thresholds (not just concentrator status) in CTE programming overall and at the cluster and program of study levels. To gain additional perspectives, we disaggregate data by student demographic characteristics, including gender, race/ethnicity, and special population groups, such as individuals with disabilities, individuals from economically disadvantaged families, and English learners. We analyze the data to understand whether student participation, overall and at the cluster and program of study levels, varies by student demographics. Do some programs of study attract a disproportionate share of male or female students? Are students from economically disadvantaged families more likely to participate in some programs of study than others? Why is this?

We also want to understand which students begin CTE but do not persist. Do we see disparities in which students continue in CTE programming? Are male students more likely to persist in some programs of study than others? Do students with disabilities persist at different rates than students without disabilities? Is this true across all programs of study or just some?

Equip Educators with Tools and Knowledge to Analyze CTE Data

Educators are central to any efforts to turn data into action; to make participation and persistence in CTE programming more equitable.

Our CTE team seeks to empower educators with their own data and the tools to make sense of them. We create interactive data dashboards that allow CTE program providers to explore which students participate and persist in CTE programming and how these patterns vary across clusters, programs of study, and different student groups.

We align these data displays with technical assistance strategies to help educators act on their findings. This includes root cause analyses to identify the underlying factors that affect student behavior, evidence-based strategies for educators to motivate site change, and strategic planning templates to identify practical and coordinated actions that will improve results.

If you’re ready to start exploring how your CTE data can support program growth and participation, get in touch with one of our CTE experts today.

Steve Klein is a senior expert in career and technical education (CTE) at Education Northwest. For more than 30 years, he has worked with federal and state agencies, school districts, and colleges to design improved performance accountability, finance, and career pathways systems for CTE.

Sam Riggs is a managing researcher at Education Northwest. He uses research and evaluation to identify opportunities to ensure that all students can access and succeed in CTE and postsecondary education. Sam draws on his technical skills and professional experience to ensure that his research findings are accessible and actionable.