Using Statewide Administrative Data to Examine the Inputs and Outcomes of Career and Technical Education (CTE)

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Interest and investment in Career and Technical Education (CTE) is experiencing a boom across the country with 33 state governors describing priorities related to CTE and workforce development in their 2025 State of the State addresses (Bloomquist & Peisach, 2025). While most public high schools offer some form of CTE and over 80% of high school graduates participate in CTE (NCES, 2024), there are vast differences in the resources that schools dedicate to CTE and wide variety in the amount and quality of CTE programs available to students. In the context of this growing interest there is even greater need for rigorous research on relationships between CTE participation and student outcomes. Yet estimating the causal effects of CTE participation is fraught with challenges, perhaps the largest of which is that students are not randomly assigned to participate in CTE so comparisons to non-CTE students or CTE students in different fields are often skewed by selection biases. In recent years, robust partnerships between researchers and state Department of Education offices have enabled the use of statewide administrative data to paint a more detailed picture of CTE inputs and outcomes. The four papers in this panel use state data to describe patterns of CTE teacher attrition, student enrollment in CTE, and relationships between CTE participation and important outcomes including high school graduation, industry-recognized credential attainment, postsecondary enrollment, employment, and wages.

Using data from Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington, Carruthers et. al. explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected CTE teacher attrition rates across these diverse states. Jacob, Miller, & Ricks use longitudinal data on students and schools in Texas to describe changes in CTE course offerings and student enrollment over time and exploit within-school changes in CTE options to estimate causal relationships between CTE participation and later postsecondary education and employment trajectories. Yoon and Dougherty use administrative data from Massachusetts to examine whether students just above or below a consequential 10th grade standardized test score cutoff are more likely to enroll in CTE and assess whether CTE participation is significantly related to education and workforce outcomes. Finally, Meissner and Jacob use data from Michigan to explore whether gender and racial disparities in the attainment of industry-recognized credentials in high school CTE programs is explained by strong patterns of student sorting into different career clusters or more related to differences in credential attainment rates at the school level.

As more states invest in building comprehensive statewide longitudinal data systems that link K12 education data, postsecondary data, and employment data, the potential for collaboration between researchers and state agencies is growing every year. These papers collectively illustrate the power of leveraging administrative data for conducting policy-relevant research that can inform decisions at local, state, and national levels to foster more inclusive and effective educational opportunities that prepare all students for future success.

Policy Area

• Education

Secondary Policy Area

• Employment and Training Programs

Chair

• Matt Giani, University of Texas at Austin

Discussants

• Shaun M Dougherty, Boston College

• Blake H Heller, University of Houston

Organizer

• Lynn Meissner, University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Individual Presentations

• Post-Pandemic CTE Teacher Attrition Across Five States - Presenting Author: Roddy Theobald, American Institutes for Research

• Selection into Technical Education and Postsecondary Outcomes at the Academic Threshold - Presenting Author: Yerin Yoon, Boston College

• The Effect of CTE on Long-Run Education and Labor Market Outcomes: New Evidence from Texas - Presenting Author: Brian Aaron Jacob, University of Michigan

• Attainment of Industry Recognized Credentials in Michigan’s CTE Programs: Variations Within and Across Career Clusters - Presenting Author: Lynn Meissner, University of Michigan Ann Arbor