Many students lack the comprehension skills required to navigate high school and the world (Turner, 2019). This qualitative narrative analysis study examined how the background of Career and Technical Education (CTE) educators' shaped their educational experiences when embedding literacy in the CTE curriculum. The researcher interviewed ten CTE…

This article presents a philosophical and pragmatic critique of critical mathematics (CM) and current vocational mathematics (VM) in the United States. I argue that, despite differences, CM and VM advocates share the view that the inauthentic contextualization of secondary mathematics does particular harm to students from historically marginalized…

Career and technical education (CTE) is a vital education model in 21st century America. Furthermore, disciplinary literacy has gained traction over the last 20 years as an essential way to develop literacy skills across content areas. However, most disciplinary literacy studies focus on the academic subjects of English, history, science, and…

In this study, we evaluate the effectiveness of vocational education and training (VET) in linking education outcomes to employment needs, with a focus on integrating industry-specific internships into VET curricula. This research highlights a disparity in the perceived value of VET, especially among women, indicating a broader sociocultural…

Although prior studies have examined the influence of career and technical education (CTE) on high school completion in the United States, few studies provided direct empirical evidence on how it worked. Using the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:2009), this study examined public high school students' CTE experience from three integral…

Educational taxonomies are classification schemes which provide the terminology that educationalists need to describe and work with different areas of knowledge. It is good practice to use taxonomies to formulate and review curricula, learning objectives, and associated assessments. Demonstrating sufficient coverage of each of an adequate range of…

Background: STEM fields are instrumental in increasing the technological and innovative capacity of the economy. As women are underrepresented in the STEM workforce, diverse strategies have been implemented to boost their preparedness and interest in these fields, including early exposure to academic and vocational STEM courses. Using the case of…

Technical literacy instruction and authentic learning opportunities need to be implemented through cross-curricular collaboration into secondary ELA curriculums to bridge the disconnect between K-12 education and the demands of the 21st-century workforce. The Common Core State Standards as well as newly adopted legislation in Maryland, Blueprint…

A notable segment of high school students interested in STEM careers is underserved by the traditional college preparatory-vocational education duality structure employed by public school systems over the past decades. The mismatch between student interest in STEM vocational pathways and the "college-for-all" precept indicates that our…

To engage all learners, schools must offer career-pathway courses that combine academics and deeper learning. Gene Bottoms, until recently head of the Southern Regional Education Board, describes a transformation he believes must happen in US high schools--adopting curriculums that include intellectual rigor in career and technical education (CTE)…

Many countries are trying to increase the recruitment to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) studies. Some have implemented curriculum reforms to this end, others may do so. Using experiences from curriculum reforms in Germany, the Netherlands and, in particular, Sweden, we consider a proposal from the Royal Society in England…

The legacy of career and technical education (CTE) in years past, stretching into the vocational education era, was lower college enrollment after participating in CTE. More recently, others have concluded that college enrollment is not affected but that CTE students enroll more frequently in 2-year degrees over 4-year degrees. I revisit the…

This report describes the development of the Secondary School Course Taxonomy (SSCT), to be used with high school transcript course-taking data that have been coded using the School Courses for the Exchange of Data (SCED). The SSCT aggregates the SCED-coded courses into 20 subject fields that align with how the National Center for Education…

Background/Context: Career and technical education (CTE) coursework in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical/health (STEMM) fields has been supported by policy makers as a way to align the secondary-to-postsecondary-to-career pipeline. Yet, in the research, the focus has been on whether STEMM CTE coursetaking in high school…

Background/Context: Career and technical education (CTE) coursework in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical/health (STEMM) fields has been supported by policy makers as a way to align the secondary-to-postsecondary-to-career pipeline. Yet, in the research, the focus has been on whether STEMM CTE coursetaking in high school…