Review Protocols
A better understanding of CTE interventions is critical because there has been a growing demand for workers with postsecondary education and training - and those with a high school diploma or less have struggled to find and keep jobs with middle-class wages (Acemoglu & Autor, 2011; Carnevale, Jayasundera, & Hanson, 2012; Carnevale, Jayasundera, & Gulish, 2016; Rosen, Visher, & Beal, 2018). Meanwhile, rising requirements for skilled service and blue-collar industry workers have resulted in employer demand for better alignment between technical education and industry needs (Carnevale, Cheah, Ridley, & Strohl, 2017). In this environment, attention from researchers and policymakers has led to significant investments to improve postsecondary CTE, which can potentially increase postsecondary attainment and earnings while also building the workforce's skills needed in occupations currently in demand.
WWC reviews in this topic area focus on postsecondary CTE interventions that help students achieve technical skill proficiency and/or an industry-recognized credential, a certificate, a license, an associate degree, or in the longer term, a baccalaureate degree. The primary goal of these interventions is to improve labor market outcomes, including employment and earnings. Systematic reviews of evidence in this topic area address the following questions:
- Which CTE interventions are effective at helping students progress toward the completion of an industry-recognized credential, a license, a certificate, or a postsecondary degree?
- Which CTE interventions are effective at helping students obtain an associate or a baccalaureate degree?
- Which CTE interventions are effective at helping students obtain an industry-recognized credential, a license, or a certificate?
- Which CTE interventions are effective at helping students achieve technical skill proficiency?
- Which CTE interventions are effective at helping students obtain and/or retain employment?
- Which CTE interventions are effective at increasing earnings?
Protocol Details
- Version: 4.0
- Released: August 2019
What is a Protocol?
Starting in January 2021, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) uses the Study Review Protocol in combination with the Procedures and Standards Handbook to guide reviews of all studies. In particular, the Study Review Protocol provides additional information on eligible outcome domains for all topic areas reviewed by the WWC and provides examples of outcome measures that fall within each domain.
When conducting systematic reviews, the WWC uses the Study Review Protocol to review studies and an accompanying topic area synthesis protocol to define the parameters of the systematic review. The synthesis protocol provides criteria for the literature search; guidance on how to identify and prioritize relevant studies for review and inclusion in evidence synthesis products; and guidance on intervention, sample, and outcome eligibility criteria for the synthesis.
Prior to 2021, studies were typically reviewed using a topic-specific synthesis protocol and the corresponding version of the Procedures and Standards Handbook. In addition to defining the parameters for the review, these protocols described any topic-specific applications of the design standards, such as how to establish baseline equivalence between samples when required.