Vocational Education

Abstract

In the United States, vocational education typically begins in either high school or middle school, and may take place within a traditional school or a separate, vocational school. Vocational education, also known as career and technical education, has its roots in the apprenticeship system that dates back at least to the beginning of recorded history. As the United States economy exploded beginning in the nineteenth century, vocational middle schools and high schools were established to train hundreds of thousands of laborers in the skills needed by the new industries. These efforts were aided by federal legislation such as the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, the George-Deen Act of 1936, and the George-Barden Act of 1946. Now that the United States has gone from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge-based, high-tech economy, the role of vocational education is evolving yet again, this time into a motivator for better collaboration between classrooms, colleges, and workplaces. This seems fortuitous because, as the United States K–12 public educational system has been reworked under the federal mandates in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and its successor, the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, vocational teaching methods, which have long been used to efficiently transfer knowledge through active student involvement, are being studied as possible models for enhancing the learning process in the classrooms of tomorrow.

Overview

Now more properly known as career and technical education, vocational education typically begins in either high school or middle school, and may take place within a traditional school or a separate, vocational school. According to research conducted by the US Department of Education, "male students, students in rural schools, and students with lower grade-point averages (GPAs) completed more specific occupational coursework and were more likely to be vocational concentrators than female students, students in urban and suburban schools, and students with higher GPAs" (Levesque et al., 2000, p. 54). In 1994, 16 percent of all credits earned by public high school students were for vocational education, down from 22 percent in 1982 (Levesque et al., 2000, pp. 49-50). In 2013, it was reported that from 1990 to 2009, the average number of career and technical education credits earned by high school students had declined from 4.2 to 3.6 ("Fast facts," 2013).

According to the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 2006, the prevailing federal legislation on the subject, career or technical education is defined as a series of "organized educational activities" that provide:

• "Coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge and skills needed to prepare for further education and careers in current or emerging professions"
• "Technical skill proficiency, an industry-recognized credential, a certificate, or an associate degree"
• "May include prerequisite courses (other than a remedial course)" (perkins act, 2006, s. 250-3-4)

According to the Act, career and technical education can also include competency-based applied learning that contributes to the academic knowledge, higher-order reasoning and problem-solving skills, work attitudes, general employability skills, technical skills, and occupation-specific skills, and knowledge of all aspects of an industry, including entrepreneurship, of an individual. (Perkins Act, 2006, S. 250-3-4)

The Development of Vocational Education. Vocational education in the United States was—and still is—a creature of necessity. By the nineteenth century, the time-honored apprenticeship system had evolved into more formalized training programs provided by "manual-labor schools, lyceums, mechanics' institutes, technical institutes, corporation schools, and private trade schools" (Mobley, 1964, p. 167). But these schools and institutes could not keep pace with the demand from businesses—the American economy was growing far too quickly, and too many American and immigrant laborers needed job training.

The situation facing vocational educators at the time was daunting. By the end of the Civil War, wrote one historian, America "was already engaged in the most astonishing economic expansion in human history, which was to last, with one or two brief interruptions—and a world war—until the end of the 1920s" (Johnson, 1998, p. 507). The United States, which had been a primarily agricultural economy throughout its history, was, seemingly overnight, making the transition to a manufacturing economy. During the 1890s the United States surpassed Germany to become the world's leading industrial power, a position it has held to the present time (Robertson, 1955, p. 289).

This expansion was fueled in part by an influx of immigrants—ten million entered the country between 1865 and 1890. (Johnson, 1998, p. 513). By 1890 New York City contained "half as many Italians as Naples, as many Germans as Hamburg, twice as many Irish as Dublin, and two and a half times as many Jews as Warsaw" (Davidson, 1951, 2:407). Some immigrants came of their own accord, but many more were invited, even begged, to come. American coal mines, factories, and railroads desperately needed labor, which was in short supply after the devastation of the Civil War. Company representatives traveled to Europe offering cash bonuses to laborers who would come to work in America. The state of Wisconsin had an agent in Basel, Switzerland, who was charged with coaxing the friends of Germans who had already emigrated to join their fellow countrymen in America (Furnas, 1969, p. 695).

The federal government made its first foray into vocational education in 1862, during the Civil War, when it passed the Morrill Act to require states to create agricultural and technical colleges. But the graduates from these colleges weren't nearly enough to satisfy American capitalism's nearly insatiable appetite for skilled labor. In 1906, business leaders joined together to form the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education (NSPIE) to pressure Congress to take a leadership role in promoting vocational education in the public schools.

Due to the efforts of NSPIE, Congress formed the Commission of National Aid to Vocational Education in 1914 to look into the issue. Acting upon the recommendations of the commission, Congress passed the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, which provided $7.2 million annually to states "for the promotion of vocational education in agriculture, trade and industrial education, and home economics" (Mobley, 1964, p. 167). The funding was dispersed in three separate categories: agricultural education, trade and industrial and home-economics education, and teacher training. In order to get the federal money, states were required to set up boards of vocational education, produce an annual report on how the federal funds were spent, and provide federal money to qualified programs "only in publicly supervised or controlled schools" (Mobley, 1964, p. 167).

In 1936, the George-Deen Act increased the annual appropriations for vocational education to $12 million, and the George-Barden Act of 1946 raised the number again to $29 million. A number of vocational education bills were also passed by Congress in the 1950s and 60s, which targeted particular populations like nursing students, those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and highly skilled technicians who could help ensure America's military preparedness during the Cold War. The Vocational Education Act of 1963, signed into law by new president Lyndon Johnson in December of that year, enhanced and improved federal policies on vocational education to include easier access to job retraining.

Current special education law is based on the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998, which was reauthorized by Congress in 2006 to extend through 2012 and extended again through 2013. The Perkins Act continues to evolve as reform proposals are brought forth in response to budgetary considerations and the changing nature of the US labor force (Klein, 2012). The reauthorized Perkins Act refers to vocational education as career and technical education, a change supported by the lobbying group Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE). As of 2017, the Perkins Act had yet to be reauthorized; though the House had passed a bill, it had yet to be approved in the Senate.

Vocational Education in the 21st Century. In contrast to traditional forms of public and private education, vocational education historically aimed to transmit specific types of knowledge that would be of most use to a student as he or she graduated from high school and entered the workforce. In this view, the poetry of Emily Dickinson is of far less practical use than, for boys, learning a trade such as carpentry or, for girls, learning how to cook and sew.

Contemporary vocational education, however, is a far cry from the "shop" or home economics classes in which high school students of previous generations took part. Not only did these previous programs reinforce gender roles, but they were also suited to an industrial-based economy. At the end of the twentieth century, as the United States and most Western countries shifted from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge-based economy, vocational education evolved as well. Though vocational education does not neglect the traditional trades, its objectives have broadened:

With the advent of the twenty-first century, vocational education in the United States is in transition. Historically, the purpose of vocational education has been to prepare students for entry-level jobs in occupations requiring less than a baccalaureate degree. However, this purpose has shifted toward broader preparation that develops the academic, vocational, and technical skills of students in vocational education programs. This preparation involves integrating academic and vocational education, emphasizing all aspects of an industry, and implementing academic performance measures, among other reform efforts. Vocational education policy now also encourages high school students to continue their studies at the postsecondary level, and 2-year postsecondary students to pursue 4-year credentials through various articulation or "tech-prep" arrangements. The traditional focus of vocational education is giving way to a broader purpose-one that includes greater emphasis on academic preparation and provides a wider range of career choices (Levesque et al., 2000, p. 3).

Looking even more closely at the macro level, Jeannie Oakes and Marisa Saunders from UCLA recently published a paper in which they argued for revamped high schools based on "multiple pathways":

…Multiple Pathways offers students and their families choices among a variety of high school programs that provide both the academic and the career foundations students need for advanced learning, training, and responsible public participation. These choices are based on students' interests and on the unique strengths and opportunities in their communities. The various high school "pathways" would differ in their size, in their curricular emphasis, in how they organize courses, in the extent to which students spend time on- and off-campus, in their relationship with colleges, and in their partnerships with business and industry. However, every pathway would prepare all students for both college and careers, and each pathway would place civic responsibility at the core of its programs (Oakes & Saunders, 2006, p. 1).

Given these developments in the philosophy of vocational education, it seems clear that the traditional lines between vocational and traditional forms of education are becoming blurred. As the twenty-first century begins, vocational education has reached a point of pedagogical maturity and is beginning to become an attractive source of ideas for educators, students, and business leaders looking to refashion K–12 education into a tool that meets the challenges of a new world.

Further Insights

What Can Vocational Programs Teach American Educators?. The traditional image of the vocational student as a wayward youth with no interest in school has been challenged by recent research which seems to indicate that vocational students get more out of education than their peers in traditional academic programs (Gentry et al., 2005).

Gentry and her colleagues compared high school students at a rural vocational educational center with peers in traditional urban academic high schools. When they found that students at the vocational school reported greater satisfaction in their studies than their peers, the researchers looked for an explanation. They found eight important indicators:

• The vocational educational students "experienced content from a relevant (to them) career, and real-world perspective"
• They were treated with respect. "Adults gave students responsibility and treated them with respect and care. Students responded in kind"
• "Resources, speakers, and experiences outside of the classroom were common and viewed by all participants as integral to the programs of study"
• Theory and practice were balanced, and connections were made between class material and "interesting career possibilities"
• The teachers played the role of a caring mentor, so "[t]here was a distinct absence of a traditional teacher as person with power"
• Both teachers and students used technology. "Both faculty and students appreciated the facility, the technology, and equipment that the facility offered to support learning."
• The teachers were better trained than teachers in traditional high school programs. "All but one teacher at the center had attained a master's degree, whereas nationally, only 42% of teachers have attained a master's degree (NCES, 2003)."
• Concentrated effort was also important. "Finally, students spent large blocks of time in their programs—at least 2.5 hours per day for 2 years. Programs consisted of classroom, lab, and field experiences" (Gentry et al., 2005, p. 77-78).

Other researchers note that vocational education "contribute[s] to increased school attendance, reduced high school dropout rates, higher grades, and increased entry into postsecondary education" (Brand, 2003, as cited in Chadd & Drage, 2006, p. 81). All of these effects are objectives of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Supporting research also shows that the teaching methods employed in vocational education - especially hands-on learning - can be profitably applied to non-vocational classroom environments, from elementary through high schools, thus helping schools improve test scores and demonstrate accountability under NCLB (Chadd & Drage, 2006, p. 83).

Given the benefits derived from vocational education—both for the students taking the classes and for schools who can mine it for pedagogical ideas—the programs receive comparatively little federal funding.

In fiscal year 2005, federal revenues received by local education agencies (LEAs) for "vocational education" totaled $627 million, about 1 percent of all federal revenues received by LEAs for public elementary and secondary education. Funds for "vocational education" compared with $11.1 billion for Title I, $9.1 billion for special education, $8.5 billion for child nutrition, and $1.2 billion for impact aid. LEAS also receive federal funds for math and science, drug-free schools, and other programs (Zhou & Gaviola, 2007).

Viewpoints

The Impact of No Child Left Behind. Some research suggests that the NCLB had an adverse effect on vocational education. Critics argue that because NCLB placed a heavy emphasis on developing student competencies in core subjects such as math and reading (Chadd & Drage, 2006, p. 79), and tied federal funding to the demonstration of these competencies, schools were focusing their energies on those subjects, leaving less instructional time for those skills that would benefit students who opt to enter the workforce either immediately after high school or after completing studies at a community college (Levesque et al., 2000). The unintended consequence of NCLB, critics argue, was the neglect of vocational education:

There is a unified concern among CTE constituents that based on the fact that no area of CTE (agriculture; business, marketing, and computer; family and consumer sciences; health occupations; or technology—trade and industry education) was mentioned in the legislation, schools could utilize funding normally set aside for CTE programs to improve students' performance in areas directly mentioned in the legislation in order to meet accountability requirements (Chadd & Drage, 2006, p. 80). Though the NCLB was largely replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015, many of its provisions were retained while the new law aimed to give states greater power over education.

Other researchers note, however, that the data seemed to suggest a drop-off in vocational (or CTE) education even before the passage of NCLB:

Roey and his colleagues (2001) illustrated how high school students are sorted into curriculum patterns. Imposing a template over transcript data, they found that the percentage of high school graduates from both public and nonpublic institutions that were CTE concentrators had decreased from 23.2% in 1982 to 4.4% in 1998, while academic concentrators increased from 42.5% in 1982 to 71% in 1998. Based on the US Department of Education's High School Transcript Study and the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS 88), Tuma (1996) reported that in 1982, 33.7% of public high school graduates were CTE concentrators, and 24.4% in 1992. Plank (2001), also using the NELS 88 data, calculated that 18.9% of 1992 graduates were CTE concentrators and 36.3% were academic concentrators (Stone & Aliaga, 2005, p. 128).

These numbers seem to indicate that many high school students have accepted the prevailing educational theory that they should pursue an academic course of study at a four-year college as their best chance for a good career.

The US Department of Education and other researchers are reporting a blending of academic and vocational curricula. The traditional categories of college prep and non-college prep students are being broken down, and the differences between students entering college now center on how much of their high school education was related to developing skills relevant to the needs of the job market. After many decades in which it has been derided by some politicians and pop culture outlets as the weakest link in the American educational system, vocational education has gained newfound respect.

Terms & Concepts

Apprenticeship: A traditional form of education in which an expert in a particular skill, such as carpentry or masonry, works with a younger person to teach him or her that skill in a real-world environment.

Career and Technical Education: An alternative way of referring to vocational education. It is the name of choice for lobby groups such as the Association for Career and Technical Education.

Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act: A federal law initially passed in 1988 and renewed in 2006, that lays down the requirements for federal aid to state vocational education programs.

George-Barden Act: A 1946 law that emphasized agricultural, industrial, and home economics training for high school students and doubled the amount of federal aid to vocational education.

George-Deen Act: A 1936 federal law increased the annual appropriations for vocational education to $12 million.

Morrill Act: An 1862 federal law that established agricultural and technical colleges.

No Child Left Behind Act: A 2001 law that established strict educational benchmarks for all public school students and tied federal education funding to school performance.

Public Education: A form of education involving a government-funded network of schools open to all K-12 students. Alternatives are private education and homeschooling.

Smith-Hughes Act: The first federal legislation, signed into law in 1917, that set up a system for federal aid to states with vocational education programs.

Vocational Education: According to the Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act, a series of "organized educational activities" that provide "coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards," "technical skill proficiency," and "may include prerequisite courses (other than a remedial course)."

Vocational Education Act: A 1963 federal law that refined funding schemes for vocational education and emphasized the role of vocational education in job retraining.

Bibliography

Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–270). (n.d.) Retrieved October 5, 2007 from the Government Printing Office http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ270.109.pdf.

Chadd, J. & Drage, K. (2006). No Child Left Behind: Implications for career and technical education. Career and Technical Education Research, 31 , 79–99.

Davidson, M.B. (1951). Life in America. (Vol. 2). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Draper, F., Oltean-Dumbrava, C., Kara-Zaitri, C., & Newbury, B. (2014). Individual learning on environmental vocational education and training courses does not always lead to the workplace application of knowledge and skills. Journal Of Education & Work, 27, 651–677. Retrieved November 12, 2014 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=98775169

Fast facts: Career and technical education. (2013). National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=43

Fitzgerald, K., & Singmaster, H. (2017). Learning from the world: Best practices in CTE and lessons for the United States. Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers, 92(3), 30–35. Retrieved January 4, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=121618071&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Friedel, J. (2011). Where has vocational education gone?. American Educational History Journal, 38(1/2), 37–53. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=64872912&site=ehost-live

Furnas, J.C. (1969). The Americans: A social history of the United States, 1587–1914. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Gentry, M., Rizza, M. G., Peters, S. & Hu, S. (2005). Professionalism, sense of community and reason to learn: Lessons from an exemplary career and technical education center. Career and Technical Education Research, 30 , 47–85.

Glocker, D., & Storck, J. (2014). Risks and returns to educational fields—A financial asset approach to vocational and academic education. Economics Of Education Review, 42, 109–129. Retrieved November 12, 2014 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=98577225

Green, K. (2011). The community must work for CTE. Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers, 86, 20–23. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=66610266&site=ehost-live

Johnson, P. (1998). A history of the American people. New York: HarperColins.

Klein, A. (2012). Overhaul proposed for career, tech. ed. program. Education Week, 31, 25. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=74729039&site=ehost-live

Levesque, K., Lauen, D., Teitelbaum, P., Alt, M., & Librera, S. (2000). Vocational education in the United States: Toward the year 2000. National Center for Education Statistics. U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Retrieved October 5, 2007, from the U.S. Department of Education http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000029.

Mobley, M. D. (1964). A review of federal vocational-education legislation 1862-1963. Theory into Practice, 3 , 167–170.

Oakes, J., & Saunders, M. (2006). Multiple pathways: High school reform that promises to prepare all students for college, career, and civic responsibility. Retrieved October 5, 2007, from ACTE Online http://www.acteonline.org/resource_center/rch/academic.cfm.

Planty, M., Provasnik, S., Hussar, W., Snyder, T., Kena, G.,. Gillian Hampden-Thompson, G.., Dinkes, R., & Choy, S. (2007). The condition of education 2007. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved October 7, 2007 from the National Center for Education Statistics http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007064.

Robertson, R.W. (1955). History of the American economy. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.

Ryken, A.E. (2006). "Goin' somewhere": How career technical education programs support and constrain urban youths' career decision-making. Career and Technical Education Research, 31 , 49–71.

Stone, J.R. & Aliaga, O.A. (2005). Career & technical education and school-to-work at the end of the 20th century: Participation and outcomes. Career and Technical Education Research, 30 , 125–144.

Zhou, L., & Gaviola, N. (2007). Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2004-05 (Fiscal Year 2005) (NCES 2007–355). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved October 7, 2007, from NCES: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/2007355.pdf.

Suggested Reading

Brown, E. (2013). Lawmakers hear proposals to strengthen Perkins Act. Education Daily, 46, 1–3. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=92605511&site=ehost-live

Camp, W., & Heath-Camp, B. (2007). The Status of CTE Teacher Education Today. Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers, 82 , 16-19. Retrieved October 7, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=26609124&site=ehost-live

The Clark County Skills Center. (2007). Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers, 82 , 57. Retrieved October 7, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=26609139&site=ehost-live

McCage, R. (2017). The rise and fall of ttate-level research and development in CTE. Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers, 92(2), 22–27. Retrieved January 4, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=120961690&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Meer, J. (2007). Evidence on the returns to secondary vocational education. Economics of Education Review, 26 , 559–573. Retrieved October 7, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=26343819&site=ehost-live

Polidano, C., & Tabasso, D. (2014). Making it real: The benefits of workplace learning in upper-secondary vocational education and training courses. Economics Of Education Review,42, 130–146. Retrieved November 12, 2014 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=98577222

Teachers learn to coach students for success in the professional world. (2007). Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers, 82 , 58. Retrieved October 7, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=26609143&site=ehost-live

Venezia, A., Kirst, M. K., & Antonio, A. L. (2003). Betraying the college dream: How disconnected K–12 and postsecondary education systems undermine student aspirations. Bridge Project, Stanford University. Retrieved October 7, 2007 from Stanford University http://www.stanford.edu/group/ncpi/documents/pdfs/betrayingthecollegedream.pdf.