Career and Technical Education Reforms and Comprehensive School Reforms in High Schools and Community Colleges: Their Impact on Educational Outcomes for At-Risk Youth.

Overview & Synopsis

A literature review examined educational research on school reform and vocational and technical education. The first area examined student risk factors in education, the state of the art in secondary vocational education (career and technical education or CTE), and the interplay of these new forms of CTE and other comprehensive school reform efforts in high schools. The second area of the review examined reforms and other trends in postsecondary CTE, usually in community colleges. The review determined that the current state of the art of research includes limited evidence of improvement in outcomes such as student attendance and transition to postsecondary education. The review found that there is very little strong research on student outcomes, although school-level and non-experimental evidence appears to show positive outcome trends, and descriptive studies of current reform efforts give cause for cautious optimism regarding their ability to improve the education and life chances of at-risk students. Recommendations are made for specific elements of reform that appear to yield positive results when combined in a manner consistent with an individual school's context and needs. Some of these elements include high academic standards, sustained professional development, new forms of pedagogy and assessment, reorganization of the learning environment into smaller communities with a broad career focus, and partnerships with business and postsecondary institutions. The study concluded that further robust research efforts are badly needed. (Contains 190 references.) (KC)