What Does It Mean to Be College-Ready for Career Technical Education?

Objective/Research Question: Surprisingly, little research explores the literacy practices specific to career technical education (CTE) courses at the postsecondary level, yet the number of students coming to college needing literacy support continues to increase. There is a need for focused research on what constitutes college-readiness. The study described in this article addresses this overarching issue by exploring the text expectations, including text types, tasks, and goals in both CTE courses and developmental reading (DR) courses to determine whether, how, and to what extent text expectations align across the DR and CTE courses. Methods: This multisite research project involved three community colleges in one Midwestern state. Data sources included surveys, focus groups, and textbooks for all courses. Data collection procedures were comparable for each type of data, across all study sites, focal tracks, and constituency groups. Results: This study’s findings suggest a lack of alignment between the DR courses and the introductory-level CTE courses, on a number of levels. Conclusions/Contributions: This study’s findings suggest a need to continue investigating what constitutes college-ready for reading, across multiple disciplinary and career technical areas.

Essential Elements for Effective Safety and Health Education in Postsecondary Construction Career Technical Education

Because Career Technical Education (CTE) programs at the community/technical college level are among the few places new construction workers receive training or preparation, they are an important vehicle for educating new and young workers about occupational health and safety (OSH). We developed recommendations for (1) OSH “core competencies” that all postsecondary construction students should achieve and (2) “essential elements” for OSH education in construction training programs. Based on a review of the literature, subject matter expert focus groups, and iterative engagement with an expert advisory group, we identified fourteen core competencies and a list of essential supporting elements at the school, program, and instructor levels. Knowledge and recognition of the importance of effective safety and health management systems served as the foundation for elements and competencies. Findings provide an important starting point for systematically improving the preparation of construction CTE students that can help keep them safe on the job.