The Institute of Education Sciences has awarded a $3.75 million federal grant to the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to lead a new iteration of the Career and Technical Education Research Network. This new network, Extending the Reach of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Research Network – CTE Research Network 2.0, will build on the previous network lead grant that AIR was awarded in 2018.

The CTE Research Network 2.0 will serve as a hub for CTE research, research training, leadership, and dissemination of findings. The purpose of this new grant is to provide information and evidence to the CTE community about what works, for whom, and why. While the original Network focused on expanding the evidence base by producing and promoting causal CTE research, the Network 2.0 is not limited to studies with causal research designs.

As the Network lead, AIR will:

• Create a dynamic peer-learning community to coordinate and move the CTE research field forward through cross team collaborations;
• Conduct an evidence review on work-based learning across secondary, postsecondary, and adult education populations;
• Facilitate annual training institutes targeted to early career researchers, with new content for conducting CTE research with an equity focus and communicating research evidence to inform policy and practice;
• Lead the dissemination and promotion of the Network’s activities, findings, and products.

Katherine Hughes, a principal researcher at AIR, will serve as the principal investigator for this grant. Shaun M. Dougherty, professor of education & policy at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education & Human Development, will serve as co-principal investigator. Partnering organizations are the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), Boston College, and the Career and Technical Education Policy Exchange, part of the Georgia Policy Labs at Georgia State University.

View press release: https://www.air.org/news/announcement/american-institutes-research-lead-new-research-network-career-and-technical