2016 Issue is now available

Three articles are featured in the 2016 issue of the Journal of Career and Technical Education (JCTE). The underlying research used linear modeling and qualitative research approaches to address important issues related to student participation and outcomes in the context of transitions from high school to community colleges.

In the first article, The Postsecondary Outcomes of High School Career and Technical Education Students who Matriculate to Community Colleges, Dietrich, Lichtenberger, and Kamalludeen explored community college outcomes for a cohort of students initially enrolling at community colleges after high school graduation. Using a hierarchical generalized linear model (HGLM), the authors found that community college students from high school CTE programs were either just as likely or more than likely to attain all of the outcomes measured in the study when compared to students from general curriculum programs. 

In turn, Schmidtke reported the results of a study entitled, The Relationship Between Academic Student Services and the Retention of American Indian Students at a Sub-Baccalaureate Technical College. The goal of the study was to characterize the perceptions of graduating American Indian students at a mainstream sub-baccalaureate technical college. Specifically, Schmidtke sought to explore how support from academic student services had helped them learn and persist in their studies. In the findings, Schmidtke reported that American Indian students would like to see student services staff to focus more on advocacy to help them navigate university bureaucracy and ensure successful participation in their college programs.

Finally, the third article features the results of the study, Optimizing Technical Education Pathways: Does Dual-Credit Course Completion Predict Students’ College and Labor Market Success? In this study, Phelps and Chan, used longitudinal student record data to examine the relationship between college and career success and the completion of dual credit courses in high school. Based on the analysis of hierarchical linear models, the authors found that dual credit learners had significantly better outcomes than non-dual credit learners using college course completion rates, second year retention, three-year graduation rate, as well as earnings in 2012-13 as a reference. The authors also reported program and student factors that appear to contribute to students’ college and labor market success.

The results of the two studies seeking to document postsecondary outcomes contribute to growing evidence of the role and value of participation in career and technical education (CTE) programs in terms of college and career readiness. The results of these two studies underscore the positive relationship between participation in high school CTE programs and college and labor market outcomes. These studies also highlight the importance of rigorous analyses to document related trends and the implications for practice. In turn, the qualitative study serves as reminder of the importance of documenting student perspectives to develop organic understandings of college participation experiences to ensure a successful transition from high school. This need is even more relevant when it comes to students have been historically underrepresented in college as reported in the second article.

Once again, we appreciate the work of researchers in the field and the selection of our journal for publication consideration. In this regard, the review process plays a key role in the production of a journal issue and we would like to extend our gratitude for the continued support of the reviewers who made the selection of articles featured in this issue possible.

We also want to acknowledge the support of Gail McMillan at Virginia Tech, who took over as our de facto Managing Editor. Ms. McMillan is a Digital Publishing Specialist at the Virginia Tech University Libraries and her support was instrumental in producing this issue.

Reading/Downloading Full Articles

The full version of this article may be accessed as part of Volume 31, Issue 1 (2016) of the Journal of Career and Technical Education, available at https://ejournals.lib.vt.edu/JCTE/index

Submitting Manuscripts for Publication

To submit manuscripts and preparation guidelines, please visit the JCTE's page at https://ejournals.lib.vt.edu/JCTE/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions

Does High School CTE Participation Make a Difference in Predicting Community College Outcomes?

Authors, from left to right: Drs. Cecile Dietrich,
Eric Lichtenberger, and Rosemaliza Kamalludeen

Researchers at Radford University, the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the International Islamic University of Malaysia have published the results of a study entitled “Predicting Community College Outcomes: Does High School CTE Participation Have a Significant Effect?” in the Journal of Career and Technical Education. The authors, Cecile Dietrich, Eric Lichtenberger, and Rosemaliza Mohd Kamalludeen explored the relative importance of participation in high school career and technical education (CTE) programs in predicting community college outcomes using a hierarchical generalized linear model (HGLM).

Results show that even after controlling for various pre-college and environmental factors, community college students who had participated in a high school CTE program were either just as likely or more than likely to attain all of the outcomes measured in the study when compared to students from general curriculum programs. Although high school CTE students who matriculated to community colleges were significantly less likely to transfer to a four-year college with or without a credential as compared with college prep students, they had significantly greater odds of earning an associate’s degree or a certificate.

Dietrich and Lichtenberger, the study’s lead authors, noted that “high school CTE participation may help facilitate goals related to the completion agenda which call for increasing the number of individuals with quality postsecondary credentials.”

Reading/Downloading Full Articles
The full version of this article may be accessed as part of Volume 31, Issue 1 (Winter 2016) of the Journal of Career and Technical Education, available at https://ejournals.lib.vt.edu/JCTE/article/view/1506

Submitting Manuscripts for Publication
To submit manuscripts and preparation guidelines, please visit the JCTE's page at https://ejournals.lib.vt.edu/JCTE/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions

Dual Credit-Course Completion Leads to Success in College

Authors, Dr. L. Allen Phelps and Dr. Hsun-Yu Chan

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have published the results of a study entitled “Optimizing Technical Education Pathways: Does Dual-Credit Course Completion Predict Students’ College and Labor Market Success?” in the 2016 Issue of the Journal of Career and Technical Education (JCTE).

Authors L. Allen Phelps and Hsun-Yu Chan (now at the Texas A&M University-Commerce) explored a variety of student and school level factors associated with student success in CTE program paths featuring dual credit courses.  Looking at the experiences of more than 2,000 students across five years, Phelps noted that, “This is one of the first longitudinal studies of dual credit course taking that has included the labor market effects, as well as important program factors such as the location of the courses and instructor affiliations.”

Based on the results, the authors concluded that after controlling for several high school-level and individual-level factors, hierarchical linear models revealed that dual credit learners attending a technical college, compared to non-dual credit learner attending the same college from the same high schools, had several significantly better outcomes including: college course completion rates, second year retention, three-year graduation rate, as well as earnings in 2012-13.

According to Phelps, “While our findings are limited to an upper Midwest community, they extend and highlight the positive relationship between high school dual credit completion and later college and labor market outcomes. Compared to dual credit courses completed on the college campus, courses offered at the high school and taught by high school career and technical instructors consistently predicted greater levels of college student success and better labor market outcomes.”  Several implications and suggestions for CTE practice, policy and research related to dual credit instruction are offered.

Reading/Downloading Full Articles
The full version of this article may be accessed as part of Volume 31, Issue 1 (2016) of the Journal of Career and Technical Education, available at https://ejournals.lib.vt.edu/JCTE/article/view/1496

Submitting Manuscripts for Publication
To submit manuscripts and preparation guidelines, please visit the JCTE's page at https://ejournals.lib.vt.edu/JCTE/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions