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A Qualitative Analysis of High School Level Vocational Education in the United States – Three Decades of Positive Change

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Vocational Education and Training in Times of Economic Crisis

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Abstract

Historically plagued by concerns about the quality of the curriculum, instruction, vocational education teachers, and responsiveness to the needs of the workplace, the United States vocational education system has long suffered from negative perceptions among students, parents, school personnel, policymakers, and business and industry representatives. However, in the years since the publication of The Unfinished Agenda (National Commission on Secondary Vocational Education. The unfinished agenda: the role of vocational education in the high school. National Center for Research in Vocational Education, Columbus, 1984), a highly critical report authored by The National Commission on Secondary Vocational Education, the U.S. vocational education system has undergone many changes and reforms. Many of these changes have focused on the vocational education curriculum and have been directed at ensuring a supply of skilled labour to address the skills gap that exits between the abilities of workers and the needs of the workplace. Other changes have increased linkages to post-high school training to meet the needs for a more educated workforce. Additional efforts have focused on increasing school-business/industry collaboration, improving teacher quality and marketing the value of vocational education. Challenges still remain, including funding for vocational education, providing career awareness and guidance for students as they progress through school, and educating an increasingly diverse high school student population.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Author’s note: Vocational education in the United States is now commonly known as career and technical education (CTE). The title career and technical education replaced vocational education, which was thought to have many negative perceptions among students, parents, educators and policyholders, and has been a barrier to students enrolling in these courses and programs. This name change officially occurred in 2006 via legislation but had been slowly implemented by states for almost a decade (Threeton 2007). For the purposes of this paper, however, the author will use the term Vocational Education, as it is the one most commonly used in international circles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, 787 Neil Ave, Columbus, Ohio, 43210, USA

    Christopher Zirkle

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  1. Christopher Zirkle
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Correspondence to Christopher Zirkle .

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  1. German Research Center for Comparative Vocational Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T), University of Cologne, Köln, Germany

    Matthias Pilz

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Zirkle, C. (2017). A Qualitative Analysis of High School Level Vocational Education in the United States – Three Decades of Positive Change. In: Pilz, M. (eds) Vocational Education and Training in Times of Economic Crisis. Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47856-2_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47856-2_17

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