Project Activities
The researchers examined relationships between CTE program model and student outcomes, as well as the role of WBL experiences of varying levels of intensity. They tested hypotheses about potential moderators of these relationships: student characteristics (gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and prior academic achievement) and CTE program characteristics (such as industry sector). The study also examined patterns of participation in different types of WBL experiences, including the extent to which all students could access exploratory WBL (such as career fairs and employer site visits) as well as the more intensive WBL activities (such as internships and student-run enterprises). To support these analyses, the research team worked with district staff to develop a new system for more rigorously documenting individual student participation in WBL activities.
Structured Abstract
Setting
This project took place in 9 comprehensive high schools in a large district in California that offers more than 15 career academies and dozens of CTE course sequences in a wide range of industry sectors.
Sample
The study tracked a longitudinal cohort of more than 2,700 CTE students from the start of their enrollment in career academies or CTE courses in the 2014/15 school year through 2019/20. In addition, the research team analyzed records of WBL participation among CTE students at 4 of the high schools and conducted focus groups and interviews with nearly 200 students, instructors, and CTE program staff about career academy and WBL experiences.
The researchers compared students who took career technical education (CTE) courses in regular high schools with students who experienced CTE coursework in the context of a focused career academy.
Research design and methods
In this mixed methods study, the researchers first identified patterns and relationships through quantitative analysis of administrative data. Then, they delved more thoroughly into the characteristics of and processes contributing to those patterns and relationships using qualitative methods. Because students opted to participate in different CTE programs and activities and were not randomly assigned to conditions, the researchers used a quasi-experimental design to reduce selection bias in estimates of relationships between outcomes and program participation. They collected qualitative data from a purposive sample of CTE programs representing different industry sectors and included interviews with school and district CTE administrators, focus groups with a sample of technical and academic instructors, and focus groups with students in career academies and CTE courses.
Control condition
Due to the exploratory nature of the design, there was no control condition.
Key measures
Student academic achievement was measured by state standardized English Language Arts and mathematics assessments and academic grade point average (GPA), academic persistence (credit accumulation, year-to-year persistence, high school graduation, and college enrollment),and CTE achievement as measured by CTE GPA and CTE course pass rates. Measures of malleable factors (namely CTE course or academy enrollment) were gathered from extant administrative data, supplemented by primary data collection on the dosage and intensity of students' work-based learning experiences.
Data analytic strategy
The research team estimated relationships between CTE participation and student outcomes by using propensity score matching to create statistically equivalent samples of students who enrolled in career academies and in CTE courses only. The relationships among program participation and outcomes were estimated using regression analyses accounting for the clustering of students in high schools. Student and CTE program moderators of those relationships were also tested using interaction terms. For qualitative data, researchers coded transcripts of qualitative interviews and focus groups and used “memoing”, a structured process for writing analytic memos to uncover themes and synthesize findings, to explore themes that extended the quantitative findings.
Key outcomes
- Descriptive data analysis suggested that historically disadvantaged students participated at lower rates in career academies and in the more intensive forms of WBL than their peers (Kantrov & Shields, 2020.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
Publications:
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Select Publications:
Kantrov, I., & Shields, K. (2020). Harnessing data to drive equity in career academy access. Techniques: Connecting Education and Careers, 95(3), 38-43.
Waterman, C., Shields, K. A., & McMahon, T. (2022). Work-based Learning Data Collection Toolkit: A Guide for Educators & Researchers. Education Development Center.
Questions about this project?
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