We examine participation in Career and Technical Education (CTE) using a typology that better reflects the CTE credit-taking experience of all public high school students, and it is based on the several changes in academic requirements that all students need to meet in order to graduate, including those considered CTE students. We argue that the more traditional approach of classifying students as either academic or vocational concentrators does not reflect the current requirements. We propose this typology using restricted data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002. Our analyses show that the typology provides a more effective means of understanding the credit-taking experience of high school students than analyses based on dichotomous, CTE versus academic classifications. About 17% of all high school students complete high-intensity CTE in addition to their academic requirements. Although CTE has historically targeted low-income and special populations, our study reveals high levels of participation among higher income students and those with parents with higher levels of educational achievement. Positive results were also found for academic outcomes, such as a high rate of high-intensity CTE participation among students who were also enrolled in advanced mathematics and, to a lesser extent, in advanced science classes.

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is employed to construct an index of relative efficiencies by maximizing two proxies of high-tech output subject to minimizing five specific resources often associated with high-tech infrastructure. This approach ranks the 50 U.S. states from the most robustly efficient to the most robustly inefficient. The DEA approach avoids using equal or subjective weights employed in the New State Economy Index rankings. The ranking of the 50 states yields some interesting differences between some states' dominance in high-tech industries and their economic performance.

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Purpose – This paper aims to review technical vocational education and training (TVET) literature, identify different components of the TVET system and develop a conceptual framework that integrates human resource development (HRD) and national human resource development (NHRD) outcomes. The renewed focus on technical vocational education and training (TVET) is important for human resource development (HRD), as it expands current understanding of its role in economic development through workforce training. National human resource development (NHRD) perspectives recognize the role of TVET in linking regional and national economic development strategies. Furthermore, TVET’s focus on literacy education, poverty alleviation and inclusion of marginalized and vulnerable populations emphasizes social development outcomes that are critical for NHRD. Using this background, the integration of HRD and NHRD outcomes into one conceptual TVET framework for addressing workforce, economic and social development outcomes has been proposed. Design/methodology/approach – A targeted literature review approach was used for exploring relevant research on TVET systems, identifying the components which support and/or inhibit its effectiveness and an integrative framework that connects education, workforce development, social development and economic development was developed. Findings – Three major themes were identified. The first theme identifies nine sub-themes that make an effective TVET system. These are as follows: national TVET policy, regional TVET policy, training, participation, curriculum, coordination of stakeholder institutions, individual and institutional attitudes toward skill development, managing supply-demand mismatches and economic and social development outcomes. The second major theme underlines the increasing overlap and connection between workforce development, social development and economic development strategies. In the third and final finding, effective TVET systems are positioned as the linking pin connecting the four TVET components (skills, education, innovation and knowledge) to the strategic goals of workforce development, economic development and social development. Originality/value – Integrating national and organizational-based HRD strategies is a unique focus and reflects the broader examination of the differences in the relationship between corporate HRD and more traditional TVET systems. It is argued that the role of TVET in social and workforce development at the regional and societal level cannot be ignored. HRD and NHRD outcomes were integrated by utilizing TVET as a framework for linking economic, social and workforce development strategies.

The paper uses the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data system (IPEDS) data to simulate the 2020 American Graduation Initiative (AGI) goal introduced by President Obama in the summer of 2009. We estimate community college graduation rates and completion numbers under different scenarios that include the following sets of variables: (a) internal education variables; (b) external workforce development variables; and (c) state and national environmental factors. Our analysis suggests that the likelihood of success of meeting the AGI goal increases dramatically if community colleges are able to raise graduation rates and increase completion numbers by doing the following: (a) lowering the inherent risk factors that prevent students from graduating by implementing proactive retention and completion strategies; (b) operating in economic and workforce development environments of low unemployment levels and (c) taking into consideration the ever-growing globally competitive environment.