Research

The CTE Research Network currently includes six research teams, each of which is working on a major IES-funded research project studying the impact of CTE. These teams participate in collaborative activities to share findings, strengthen their research, and learn from one another. The Network Lead facilitates these efforts, carries out research activities of its own, and communicates the network’s findings—all to provide policymakers and CTE practitioners with reliable evidence on CTE programs, policies, and practices.

Network Lead and Cross-Network

The Network Lead team is carrying out two projects to advance CTE research. An evaluability assessment, which has been completed, identified four CTE programs or models that are ready for rigorous evaluation. A second project will synthesize key findings from the network members' evaluations and other recent causal CTE studies. In addition, a cross-network team is carrying out a project to explore the role and effects of high school advising on CTE students’ transitions to postsecondary education and the workforce.

Network Members

The research teams are using causal designs to measure the impact of CTE programming on student outcomes. The six projects are examining technology-based career advising tools in a group of high schools; dual-enrollment CTE programming in a state (North Carolina); a school-based enterprise program (Virtual Enterprises) in a group of high schools across three states; and CTE programming in a group of schools (P-TECH 9–14), a large city (New York City), and a state (Connecticut). The projects also include implementation research and cost analyses.