Description:

Co-Principal Investigator: Dougherty, Shaun

Partner Institutions: Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), Jobs for the Future (JFF), and Vanderbilt University

Related Network Teams: The Causal Impact of Attending a Career-Technical High School on Student Achievement, High School Graduation, and College Enrollment (R305A180511), Assessing the Implementation, Impact & Variation of CTE Innovation: NYC as a Lab for Rigorous CTE Research (R305A170498), P-TECH 9–14 Schools: An Impact, Implementation and Cost Study (R305A170250), The Evaluation of Career and College Promise (R305H190036), Choice and Information: The Impact of Technology-Based Career Advising Tools on High School Students' CTE Choices and Academic Performance (R305A200307), An Evaluation of the Efficacy of Virtual Enterprises (R305A210198)

Purpose: This project team serves as a research network lead for the Expanding the Evidence Base for Career and Technical Education (CTE) research network. They are responsible for the CTE network administration and coordination, and they carry out research, training, and dissemination activities designed to increase the number and quality of CTE impact evaluations and strengthen the capacity of the field to conduct future CTE research and evaluation. The specific aims of this CTE Network are to increase: 1) the evidence base about the impact of CTE programs and policies on student outcomes, and 2) the pipeline of new CTE researchers.

Network Leadership Activities:

• Administration and Coordination: The lead team will coordinate communication across network research teams to achieve its goals, and they will coordinate the development of supplementary activities that network research teams will carry out.
• Research: The lead will carry out two research projects:
1. Evaluability Assessment: They will conduct an evaluability assessment to identify two to six programs or models that are most ready for rigorous evaluation to advance CTE research.
2. Research Synthesis: They will synthesize key findings from the evaluations completed by network members and other relevant CTE research.


• Research Training: The lead team will help train the next generation of CTE researchers in causal research methods through postdoctoral fellowships, conference sessions, and a summer institute for researchers. They will also train state and district CTE policymakers and practitioners to use data and research to inform decision making about CTE and will create online training modules aligned to the needs and experiences of CTE practitioners using data and research.
• Leadership and Dissemination: The lead team will disseminate and promote the network's activities, findings, and products. This includes hosting a network website that will serve as a hub for CTE research and resources and identifying opportunities to communicate about the network and its activities, including organizing briefings for key stakeholders and presenting at national conferences. The team will also coordinate with national associations and federally funded programs to promote the work of the network.

Products: The network lead will engage in ongoing dissemination activities with other members of the network to develop products that advance the CTE research field and educate the public about what works in CTE. Products will include the network website, an evaluability assessment report, a research synthesis, briefings for policymakers and practitioners, and presentations for a range of stakeholders.

Related IES Projects: Extending the Reach of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Research Network—Research Network Lead 2.0 (R305N230016)

Products

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.

Project Website: https://cteresearchnetwork.org/