Jay S. Plasman

The purpose of this project is first to explore and then to evaluate career development opportunities (CDOs) in Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS). The research team is part of an established practice partnership between the Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC) and BCPS. They will first identify patterns related to differences in student participation in, access to, and benefits of CDOs and then they will conduct an impact, implementation, and cost study of a CDO.

In this initial efficacy study, the researchers will examine the career and technical education (CTE) credentialing program for high school students in the state of Pennsylvania (PA). PA requires all graduating CTE students to take a technical assessment that can lead to a CTE credential. This study has three aims, each with an associated study: (1) enhance the field's understanding of how teachers, students, administrators, and local employers view and use CTE credentials (implementation st...

There is a growing body of empirical research into the efficacy of career and technical education (CTE) participation in high school in the United States. However, little of that work can be identified as truly causal, nor has much of this prior work empirically explored the theoretical mechanisms of change linked with CTE participation. This project used a unique selection process into CTE centers within a large school district, linked with longitudinal state data, to provide strong evidenc...