Introduction
The program of Career Technical Education (CTE) is a crucial model for success. Its structure contains fifty clusters of career in the California Region Occupational Programs. In addition, it has ninety-six pathways of career. The students in CTE program have many benefits.
First, it enables the students to choose from a wide range of careers. This wide range of careers enables the student to understand their interests in the right way. Consequently, they choose appropriate paths that lead them to academic prosperity in learning institutions.
The program enables the learners to acquire crucial academic skills and technical knowledge. It, also, nurtures a strong foundation in academics. CTE offers experience in the respective career fields. This prepares students to become competitive professionals in their operations.
Competence is a factor that raises their demand in the job market. It provides internships which help them to acquire working experience.
The working experience provides prerequisite knowledge on professional code of conduct and employer’s expectations. CTE program, therefore, generates innovative and high performing students. In this case, it produces equipped professionals who can work under stress, good team players and innovators.
Problem Statement
There are various challenges that face California educational system. The challenges are financial, organizational and structural. One of the most critical challenges is the inability to satisfy the needs of the entire student in public schools.
TradeMartes has written an article suggesting that California is reluctant. The article suggests that California lacks diligence in determining the tools needed for education in the advanced levels (Trademartes.com, 2013). The aim of CTE program is to provide theoretical knowledge alongside practical implementation of theory.
It seeks to help the student in applying the skills they learn during classes. Insufficient resources lead to lack of practical skills that discourage students to continue with their education.
California educational department shows discontinuation of eighteen percent of the learners who began their high school education in the year 2006.
In 2012, some of the students took the K-12 curriculum together with their classes. The dropouts portray an academic gap between age mates and the students from Hispania, Africa and England.
Research question
The evaluation of the problem statement raises a crucial concern. In this case, we have the issue relating to dropping out and insufficient resources. We, therefore, seek to understand the effect of Career and Technical Education at various levels of learning.
This research will address the question “What would be the effect on learners in the 11th and 12th grades in case Career and Technical Education on the high school campuses and region occupational centers were moved to the community colleges in the state of California?”
Hypothesis
Education has crucial initiatives to regulate the learning processes. The initiatives include effectiveness of teachers, eliminating gap of achievement, nurturing literacy, incorporating business partners, practical implementation, development of professions and encouraging evaluation.
Career and Technical Education has connections with the educational initiatives at high school and college levels. In high school and college, an effective CTE program depends on the roles of unions, industrial contribution and business partners.
They, also, ensure that the program is flexible and efficient. The movement of CTE program to the colleges would inculcate better working experiences and practices during learning process.
Sample population
Our target population comprises of the high school dropouts. They have a population size that is large. As a result, we cannot collect information from the whole population. Therefore, we will consider a sample population.
Also, we will consider the information collected from the sample population as a true reflection of the whole population. In this case, the sample will be collected using the random purposive method. The random purposive selection will ensure that the sample population is not in favor of any desired result.
It, therefore, eliminates biasness and provides reliable results. In the sample population, we shall consider three data sets. These include the students who have already dropped out, the continuing ones, and the educators. In this case, the dropouts will give their past experience in high school.
On the other side, the continuing students will give the present experience on the challenges and strength of CTE program in high school. This will enhance diversification of views that provide reliable conclusion. The population will incorporate student below and above the age of fifteen.
Since variation in age is crucial, students below the age of fifteen will possibly have a different view from those above the age of fifteen. This variation will, therefore, ensure that the results are reliable. In addition, we will collect data from the CTE educators.
The educators will help in providing the effects of the program on output rather than perspective. They will provide information that does not only rely on opinions, but also the real performance of students in the system.
This diversification in terms of age, status of learning, and position in the system will provide credible results.
Literature Review
The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth that was collected, in 1997, forms the basis of Plank’s article. The Plank’s article utilizes the survey to determine the correlation between high school curriculum and student dropouts. Specifically, it seeks to understand the influence of combining CTE and academic courses.
In particular, the article aims at determining the likelihood of a student dropping out from school when they are exposed to this combination. The model of hazards shows a significant curvilinear correlation between the CTE course taking and dropping out.
They observed this for the youths with the age of at most fourteen years. This implies that the combination of academic curriculum and CTE strengthen the middle-aged students in education. On the same light, the correlation did not exist for students that were aged at least fifteen years.
There was a high risk of the students dropping out of school when they were exposed to that combination. In the school setup, the students above the age of fifteen were old for the grade. As a result, they had less attachment to the system (Plank, DeLuca & Estacion, 2008).
This article provides various solutions for the problem in academics. Math, writing and literacy are the primary components of academic integration.
It suggests that there are various ways in which the CTE instructors could combine the three skills. One of the most effective ways is the natural combination of the three basic academic skills (MacQuarrie, 2008).
In vocational and technical education, Abiddin (2012) suggests that coaching is a crucial factor in educational training. In addition, Abiddin suggested that training is a crucial tool in developing peoples’ professions.
The researcher, further, suggests that coaching have a connection to professional progress, personal development, and developing career of the coached person. In this case, both the coach and the person being coached must play their roles completely.
However, they should carry out their duties within the limits of the organizations’ program of training. This article provides a summary of the existing information which guides the two players to train in the best way. The summary, thus, provide guidelines that lead to effective training.
The guidelines include coaching model, coach’s role, and the relationship between the coach and the person being coached (Abiddin & Ismail, 2012).
Methods
This research adopted the research synthesis strategy. The strategy supported examination of original or basic primary schooling. The examination was carried out on various factors of CTE program. It examines the program in a bid to integrate, explain, and synthesize the information of scholarship.
The review of the existing literature aims at determining and providing an analysis of the present issues and trends in the publications of research.
The size of the existing literature about this research is large. As a result, keeping the updates of the recent studies is challenging. Therefore, the research uses systematic reviews. Systematic reviews aim at pooling the finding of various researches together.
Although the reviews are becoming common, many nurses are ignorant about them. They, also, do not have sufficient knowledge of conducting them.
On this light, this overview focuses on providing a hint on how to conduct a qualitative review. It, thus, discusses on how to start a synthesis, the steps involved in synthesis, and how to report the findings.
Conclusion
We appreciate the strengths of Career and Technical Education that are portrayed in this essay. However, we recognize that the stage of introducing the program is crucial. This research will, therefore, help in determining impact that the program will have on the students at different levels of learning.
It attempts to answer this question through an interaction with the various players that are found in its setup. Although it considers a few numbers of people within the target population, the selection is random. This will enable us to obtain reliable and credible results.
The methodology we use in analysis is desirable. It seeks to analyze a large volume of existing literature through reviews. This will help to pool the results in one analysis. As a result, we describe the research as satisfactory.
Implications
There are various implications that we make from the research. First, we imply that teaching theory alongside practice is one of the best practices in education. It offers the required competence to the student leading to high demand in the job market.
As a result, we describe CTE as one of the most crucial program that we can adopt. However, the time of applying the program should be considered. Application of CTE to students at the age of at most fourteen is fruitful in a significant manner.
Above the age of fifteen, we lose students from the system as a result of combining the CTE program with the academic curriculum. This implies that the combination should be applied to students at the age of at most fourteen years.
We, also, imply that the success depends on the overall input of the coach and the person being coached. The relationship they maintain should be within the limits of the organization. On the same light, they should play their individual roles to obtain the desired results.
References
Abiddin, N., & Ismail, A. (2012). Building Excellent Workforce through Effective Coaching for Coachees’ Development. International Journal of Education, 4(2), 101-111.
MacQuarrie, D. L. (2008). Academics in CTE Programs: Fully Preparing Students for Their Next Step. Techniques: Connecting Education and Careers, 83(8), 30-33.
Plank, S. B., DeLuca, S., & Estacion, A. (2008). High School Dropout and the Role of Career And Technical Education: A Survival Analysis of Surviving High School. Sociology of Education, 81(4), 345-370.
TradeMartes (2013). The current problem in education in California. Web.