A new publication by Advance CTE touts parental and student satisfaction with Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.
The short six-page report describes the findings of a March 2017 survey that asked 252 ninth through twelfth grade CTE students and their parents for their opinions about this pathway. For comparison, the authors asked similar questions to a group of 514 “prospective” students and their parents who “demonstrat[ed] some degree of interest after hearing a brief description of CTE”.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the survey found that CTE students and parents love CTE. Students reported 88 percent overall satisfaction, while 96 percent of their parents responded favorably. In comparison, only 76 percent of prospective students were satisfied with their overall school experience, while 79 percent of their parents liked their kid’s schooling. Statistically significant differences persist down the list of questions, nearly all showing that CTE students and parents were the more satisfied group.
I suspect these findings may be due, in part, to the prospective group feeling like the grass is greener on the other side. After all, they took the survey after being told about CTE by a CTE advocacy organization. Additionally, the authors admit that while their sample is “representative” of the population, the results are “not generalizable to all adult Americans.” In short, take this with a grain of salt. Opponents of CTE could easily paint this study as a red herring, arguing that satisfaction is not the same as success when it comes to preparing our nation’s children for college and career.
Before discounting this work, however, notice one key finding: “nearly eight out of ten CTE students plan to attend college, including 62 percent who plan to attain a bachelor’s degree or higher, which are incredibly consistent with prospective student’s attainment goals.” In other words, CTE programs do not track students away from college. This should comfort skeptics, who worry that CTE relegates students to lesser ambitions.
Personally, CTE supplemented my higher education experience by helping me test out a possible career option. My training as an emergency medical technician (EMT) allowed me to take a few steps down a path that led many of my peers to become medical doctors. While I changed course towards research, I still see my time as a volunteer EMT as one of the best parts of college, in part because it informed my career choice. This Advance CTE publication does not ask what these students plan to do in college, but if my experience is any indication, their decisions will undoubtedly be influenced, for the better, by their hands-on experience in CTE.
SOURCE: “The Value and Promise of Career Technical Education: Results from a National Survey of Parents and Students,” Advance CTE (April 2017).
