The Relationship of High School Curriculum Tracks to Degree Attainment and Occupational Earnings

Abstract

The scope and direction of career and technical education (CTE) has been reconceptualized based on federal legislation objectives, particularly the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990. Consequently, CTE's historical focus on preparing students solely for the workforce is no longer adequate. Thus, a new emphasis on preparing students for the workforce and for postsecondary education is now on the agenda. In the midst of heightened accountability standards set forth by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, it is essential to evaluate long-term CTE student outcomes. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between high school curriculum tracks and student achievement outcomes through the consideration of degree attainment and occupational earnings. Data on graduates from the 1996-1997 academic school year cohort were analyzed through the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) 1997 dataset. This study investigated the linkage between participation in high school curriculum tracks, degree attainment and occupational earnings. Findings of this research study indicated that the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 may not be meeting its objectives in terms of CTE students earning postsecondary degrees. However, this study found that CTE students were indeed outperforming the general, dual, and college preparatory tracks in terms of occupational earnings. More promising was the dual track that was iii more likely to earn associate's degrees than their general tracked counterparts. As expected, the college preparatory track outperformed all tracks in terms of degree attainment, particularly in earning bachelor's degrees. This study also found that general track students were not as likely to earn degrees and higher earnings as those in the college preparatory, CTE, or dual tracks. In terms of participation rates, Blacks were much more likely to participate in the CTE track, Hispanics were more likely to participate in the general track, and non-Black/non-Hispanics were more likely to participate in the college preparatory track. In addition, this research study provided several implications for CTE programs, teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, parents, as well as for students choosing to enroll in CTE, college preparatory, general, or dual tracks. Future directions for further research that include additional variables that predict participation in high school curriculum tracks, degree attainment, and earnings were provided. Further, the need for longitudinal studies regarding student outcomes of tracking, as well as student outcomes on high school reform initiatives were suggested.

Does Vocational Still Imply Tracking? Examining the Evolution of Career and Technical Education Curricular Policy in Texas

“…For both cohorts, students who had the highest rates of CTE participation (four or more credits) had the lowest rates of postsecondary enrollment within 8 years of high school graduation. In addition, the high-CTE groups were also the least likely to attain a bachelor’s degree within 8 years for both cohorts, congruent with the findings from other studies (Fletcher & Zirkle, 2009). However, the analyses also showed that the gaps in enrollment and attainment between the high- and no-CTE groups had shrunk considerably between cohorts.…”

Equity in Secondary Career and Technical Education in the United States: A Theoretical Framework and Systematic Literature Review

“…While no formal mention of CTE exists within NCLB, its emphasis on programs and strategies with demonstrated effectiveness created challenges for the promotion of CTE courses within secondary schools (Reeves, 2003). A study by Fletcher and Zirkle (2009) found that CTE was ultimately "left behind" by this piece of legislation, as a result of increased focus on core academics. NCLB's successor, the ESSA (2015), took yet another step toward equity by requiring the same disaggregation of data by underperforming subgroups but also requiring multiple accountability measures, including one or more indicators of "school quality or student success" (Cook-Harvey et al, 2016).…”

“…The authors emphasized that "addressing girls' under-representation in non-traditional courses was a key component to ensuring the effectiveness of secondary career and technical education in improving the career prospects of all students" (Eardley & Manvell, 2006, p. 414). Fletcher and Zirkle (2009) utilized the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to predict participation, degree attainment, and earnings potential based on high school curriculum tracks. They found that Black students were almost twice as likely to participate in the CTE track as White students (Fletcher & Zirkle, 2009).…”

Predicting Community College Outcomes: Does High School CTE Participation Have a Significant Effect?

“…The modified predictive model based on Wang (2009), which displays the general characteristics and specific variables under each characteristic, is shown in Table 1. (Arum & Shavit, 1995;Castellano, Stringfield & Stone, 2003;Cellini, 2006;DeLuca, Plank, Estacion, 2006;Fletcher & Zirkle, 2009;Gemici, 2011;Karp & Hughes, 2008;Levesque et al, 2008;Lichtenberger & Dietrich, 2012;Plank, DeLuca & Estacion, 2008;Reese, 2008) Environmental Factors (Wang, 2009) Hours expected to work and family size (Bean, 1990;Bean & Metzner, 1985;Lichtenberger & Dietrich, 2012) Context (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Klein, White, and Martin (2015); Richards, 1907) High school context (Chen & Vazsonyi, 2013;Nelson, 1972;Smith et al, 2004; Rowan-Kenyon, Perna, & Swan 2011)…”