Does Career and Technical Education (CTE) Course-Taking in High School Link to CTE in College?

• In Event: 54.054 - Transition Factors Bridging Secondary and Postsecondary Career and Technical Education

Abstract

The importance of career and technical education (CTE) has grown concomitantly with Federal initiatives to promote career and college readiness. We used transcript data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) to examine how CTE coursetaking in high school links to CTE coursetaking in college. Our analysis yielded these key findings: CTE coursetaking in high school was significantly related to increased CTE unit completion in college; higher rates of CTE unit completion in high school were not related to lower performance in academic courses; and different categories of CTE in high school influence postsecondary CTE coursetaking differently. Conclusions from this study help provide evidence of the importance of CTE in high school as an entry into an overall pipeline.

Authors

• Jay Plasman, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Michael A. Gottfried, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Cameron Sublett, University of California - Santa Barbara