Assessing the Quality of Career Technical Education Programs: Defining Indicators of Success by Angel Kern

DATA COLLECTION

angelkern — 2014-11-10 03:06:08 UTC

Collecting qualitative data concerning how well Perkins (2006) indicators address the success of CTE is best completed through a survey of key stakeholders. Defining the propensity of a stakeholder group to align with certain indicators may help quantify a particular group’s perspective. A five point Likert scale is employed to address the indicator relevance to CTE success. Surveymonkey.com is an online survey tool that provides researchers the ability to quickly build and analyze survey results. The surveymonkey.com instrument for this project is found in appendix B. Respondents are asked to select the stakeholder category that most closely aligns to their relationship with CTE. Respondents are also asked to describe additional indicators of success that they feel are important to CTE. A Secondary goal of this project is to develop a list of CTE success indictors above and beyond the Perkins (2006) core indicators.

The Million $ Question

angelkern — 2014-11-10 03:06:08 UTC

1. How well do current indicators address the success CTE?

1S1: Academic Attainment – Reading / Language Arts 1S2: Academic Attainment – Mathematics 2S1: Technical Skill Attainment 3S1: Secondary School Completion 4S1: Student Graduation Rates 5S1: Secondary Placement 6S1: Nontraditional Participation 6S2: Nontraditional Completion 2. Do stakeholder groups align with or prefer a certain type of indicator?

3. What indicators of success are not addressed in Perkins (2006) list?

angelkern — 2014-11-10 03:06:08 UTC

Perkins Indicators

angelkern — 2014-11-10 03:06:08 UTC

Stakeholders

angelkern — 2014-11-10 03:06:09 UTC

Survey Instrument

angelkern — 2014-11-10 03:09:44 UTC

Evaluation Matrix

angelkern — 2014-11-10 03:14:16 UTC

Program Overview

2014-11-12 14:51:34 UTC

The U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Dunn wrote the opening address to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (2012) report, Investing in America’s future a blueprint for transforming career and technical education. Mr. Dunn testified that, “the strength of the American economy is inextricability linked to the strength of America’s educational system,” and “CTE is central to rebuilding our economy,” (U.S. Dept. of Ed., 2012). Mr. Dunn also reported that Perkins Act (2006) is in need of reform and updating; and that CTE must be transformed. Research suggests that accountability portion of Perkins (2006) is too vague and does not address the success or failure of CTE. Therefore, there is a demonstrated need to evaluate the applicability and relevance of current indicators and define new indicators.