Keeping up with business and industry: secondary‐level career and technical education's struggle

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to detail how the need for secondary‐level career and technical education (CTE) programs to keep up with technological change in the workplace is conflicting with policy, procedures, and beliefs held by many in the education community. More specifically, the conflicting areas are the manner and type of professional development offerings provided to CTE teachers; funding priorities at the federal, state, and local levels; CTE administrative support and structure; and partnerships between CTE teachers and their local businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a viewpoint supported by extant literature.

Findings

The paper finds that in order for secondary‐level CTE to be readily accessible and of high rigor, large systemic change needs to occur at the federal, state, and local levels.

Originality/value

This viewpoint is intended to be a call to action concerning the sustainability of secondary‐level CTE.

Citation

Adam Manley, R. (2012), "Keeping up with business and industry: secondary‐level career and technical education's struggle", On the Horizon, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 17-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748121211202035