CTE Credential Attainment in Virginia: In Virginia, Standard diploma high school graduates have historically been less likely to enroll in postsecondary education than Advanced Studies diploma graduates. Aiming to improve postsecondary and career outcomes for these students, the state added a CTE credential requirement to the Standard diploma for learners starting grade 9 in 2013 or later. The CTE credential options include earning an industry credential, completing state licensure, passing a Workplace Readiness Skills assessment, or passing a NOCTI assessment.
The Institute of Education Sciences studied Standard diploma graduates in Virginia from 2011 to 2017 to determine the policy’s impact on postsecondary enrollment and CTE credential attainment and found the following:
- Standard diploma graduates earning at least one CTE credential increased from 23% to 91%, with a similar increase for Advanced Studies diploma graduates, even though the CTE credential requirement did not apply to the Advanced Studies diploma. Additionally, Standard diploma graduates earning multiple CTE credentials increased from 6% to 17%.
- CTE credential attainment increased for Standard diploma graduates across all learner groups. Black and Hispanic graduates and graduates not proficient in writing experienced the largest increases.
- While postsecondary enrollment for Standard diploma graduates overall decreased from 46% to 42%, the rate decreased more gradually for those who were CTE credential earners.
The researchers propose that future studies examine workforce outcomes for Standard diploma graduates to fully understand whether this policy is meeting its intended goals.
COVID-19 and Post-High School Supports: Using 2020 and 2021 survey results from high school teachers and principals, RAND Corporation released a study on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted student access to career and postsecondary supports. Researchers found that while 84% of principals stated that almost all students received supports, this percentage decreased sharply when asked specifically about underachieving students and students who didn’t expressly ask for supports. Both teachers and principals identified more school counselors as one of the most-needed resources to ensure students are better prepared for their future careers.
Strengthening Pathways: A recently released brief by JFF discusses the importance of ensuring that high-quality CTE programs not only provide pathways to postsecondary education and high-wage careers for young adults, but also flexibility to pursue a variety of education and career options at any given point. Formulated with feedback from postsecondary and K-12 practitioners, the brief outlines overarching commitments for strong pathways policies and recommended policy changes and describes four states with CTE programs that provide strong connections between education and the workforce.
CTE and Employer Attitudes: In 2020, Advance CTE conducted a national survey of more than 300 employers from in-demand industries to examine top skills employers are seeking, their attitudes toward CTE and their current involvement with CTE. A few of the survey’s key findings are outlined below:
- Roughly 79% of employers in in-demand industries were aware of CTE and 96% of those aware of CTE had a favorable view of it. In fact, 77% of employers surveyed reported hiring an employee in part because of their CTE experiences.
- Over 50% of employers reported seeking entry-level candidates through CTE channels, including high school and college CTE programs and career and technical student organizations.
- Of employers not engaged with CTE, 75% indicated they were very or somewhat interested in promoting CTE, providing program input, offering mentorship and participating in CTSO events.
- About 92% of employers favored increasing funding for CTE, specifically for expanding high school CTE programs, increasing employer engagement and improving program quality.
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