CTE: The Repair, the Remedy and the Revitalization of a District

• In Event: After the Locusts: Just Education Renewal for Black Communities After Racial-Capitalist Predation and State Dissolution

Abstract

Under Inkster Superintendent Dr. Thomas Maridada, and before the state’s dissolution of the district, there was intentionality around students being missioned, focused, and driven, which presented a pathway to success. Support mechanisms were provided throughout the students’ journey through secondary school that connected them directly to post-secondary institutions or careers upon graduation. With the decimation that came with the state takeover, that seed of success that authored and offered so many branches of opportunity and dreams was destroyed. With the emphasis that is currently being placed on career technical education pathways and career pathways, this seed can be replanted within the district and form the core for Learning that could take place in the future, similarly to how it was done when the district was alive and well. Utilizing a framework of culturally responsive education with critical race theory as the mode of inquiry, this paper will continue to build upon previous thinking about how career technical education could be a framework for learning core curriculum subject matters and create or duplicate the intentionality that surrounded students when they enrolled in Inkster public schools. The emphasis of the research will be on career technical education as a means for student engagement and retention as well as connecting selected career pathways to high-wage, high-paying job opportunities or industries both local and out of state.
Culturally responsive leadership is necessary to fully assess the suitable needs of the students in the resurgence of the Inkster public school district, and those same leaders then connect and build relationships with surrounding industries. This leadership is on two levels. It needs to be reflected both in the building administration and in school board leadership as well. The content also reflects connections to parental decision-making processes. CTE as a framework for learning creates an environment where parents no longer have to decide between the psychological welfare of their child and the academic welfare of their child. Data has shown that CTE programs do not lose rigor and can be and are linked to more significant enrollments and success in post-secondary institutions. This paper also will have a component that will speak to students with special needs as well as other students in the development of career counseling and connectivity to internships and potentially jobs. In past presentations, data has shown that special needs students thrive in a career technical education environment due to its skills-oriented focus. Using that information as the core of the development of a career growth counseling component, information or intentionality can be placed around creating viable opportunities of independence for students with special needs and certainly for students from general populations. Finally, it has been shown or will be shown that for students who are engaged in activities and learning that are relevant to them, there is joy and a feeling of purpose, which is a direct component of that relevant curriculum. CTE can speak to joy and love as a critical component of student retention and engagement.

Author

• Donald Walker, Wayne State University