History and Growth
of CTE
Source: Gordon, H. R. D. (2003).
Think About This
• Historically, who did vocational education
serve?
• What historical events promoted vocational
education?
• Why is vocational education separate from
academic education? How did this
develop?
Purpose of CTE
• Practical and applied instruction
• Match students with work positions
European Influence
• During 1800s schools divided by social
class
• Manual training ~ lower classes
• Germany encouraged apprenticeships
Apprenticeship in
America
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Oldest type of CTE in U.S.
Main form of industrial training
For poor, only educational opportunity
Not part of curriculum
Apprenticeship Process
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Formal agreement
Covers definite period of time
Binds employer to provide training
Gains work of apprentice
Apprenticeship Decline
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Industrial revolution
Training for specific task
Industries became centralized
Trades became overcrowded
Wages kept low
Free public elementary schools
Apprenticeship Today
• Government credential system
– Developing and recognizing specific skills,
competencies, and accomplishments
• Registration is documented
• Progress is recorded
– Approved, written training outline describes
functions to be learned, how long, and where
• Earn a certificate of completion
Apprenticeships Today
• Usually high school graduates
• About 2/3 in construction and
manufacturing
• Minimum term is one year
• Training with skilled craft worker
• Wages are half of full trained workers
• Different groups must coordinate programs
Industrial Revolution
• Applied technology to manufacturing
– Increased accidents
– Poor working conditions
– Layoffs
– Blacklisting protestors
– Economic chaos
• Charitable groups and societies of
mechanics initiated efforts to establish
schools to replace apprenticeships – lack
of money to continue
Manual Labor School
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Hampton Institute (1868)
Work for school to earn tuition
Theory classes with lab production work
Project based learning
Increase availability to all
– In favor, stressed general skills and
relationship to academics
– Opposed, vocationally oriented, limit to
separate schools
CTE Today
• Prepare students for work and further
education
• Combine preparation for both college and
careers
• Integrate academic and vocational
programs
CTE Leaders
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Booker T. Washington, educator
David Snedden, administrator
Charles Prosser, lawyer
John Dewey, philosopher
Booker T. Washington
• Learning is more than memorization
• Defined educated person as one
possessing:
– cognitive and problem-solving skills
– self-discipline
– moral standards
– a sense of service
• Emphasized learning by doing
Snedden & Prosser
• Prosser was Snedden’s student
• Schools should prepare students for
occupations at which they excel
• Successful CTE required two elements:
– Practice & thinking about the practice
– Doing & thinking about the doing
• Practice and theory must go hand in hand
• Be like actual workplace
John Dewey
• Occupations central to education activity
• Vocational education could induce change
to improve education
• Best prepare students to:
– Understand science of tools & processes used
to work
– Develop appreciation for evolution of industry
– Instill favorable group dynamics of shared
discovery and communal problem solving
– Plan and reflect on entire process
Factors Influencing
Development
• War
– Training of inexperienced masses
• Study Panels
– Appointed by presidents
• American Vocational Association (ACTE)
– Mission – provide educational leadership in
developing a competitive workforce
Legislation
• Smith-Hughes Act (1917)
– Contributed to isolation
– Required state vocational board
– Promoted segregated curriculum
• George-Reed Act (1929)
– Expanded vocational education in agriculture
and home economics
Legislation (cont.)
• George-Ellzey Act (1934)
– Increased funding for agriculture, home
economics, trade, and industrial education
– Replaced temporary George-Reed Act
• George-Deen Act (1936)
– Increased funding for agriculture, home
economics, trade, and industrial education
– Recognized marketing education
– Authorized money for teacher education
Legislation (cont.)
• George-Barden Act (1946)
– Increased funding
– Provided for veterans of WWII
• George-Barden Amendments (1956)
– Added practical nursing
– Added fishery occupations
Legislation (cont.)
• National Defense Education Act (1958)
– Funded technical occupations necessary to
national defense
– Response to Sputnik I
• Manpower Development Training Act
(1962)
– Eased dislocated workers
– Assisted economically disadvantaged
Legislation (cont.)
• Vocational Education Act (1963)
– Maintain, extend, and improve programs
– Provide part-time employment for youth who
needed earnings to continue school
– Funds for particular types and ages of persons
• Vocational Education Amendments (1968)
– Emphasized post-secondary schools
Legislation (cont.)
• Comprehensive Employment Training Act
(1973)
– Replaced Manpower Development Training
Act
– Transferred decision making from DC to local
and state governments
• Vocational Education Amendments (1976)
– Improve planning by involving agencies
– Overcome sex discrimination and stereotyping
Legislation (cont.)
• Job Training Partnership Act (1982)
– Establish programs to prepare youth and
unskilled adults for entry into labor force
– Afford job training to economically
disadvantaged facing critical barriers to
employment
Legislation (cont.)
• Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act
(1984)
– Economic goal – improve skills of labor force
and prepare adults for job opportunities
– Social goal – provide equal opportunities for
adults in vocational education
– Switched from expanding programs to
improving programs and addressing at-risk
populations
Educational Reform
• Two waves of reform since 1980
– Academic Reform
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Increased effort from current education system
More academic course requirements for graduation
More stringent college entrance requirements
Longer school days and years
Emphasis on standards and testing for students
and teachers
Educational Reform
– Restructuring
• First reform was not thorough enough to improve
education for all students
• Impetus was A Nation at Risk
– Reported U.S. was losing ground in international
economic competition
– Attributed decline to low standards and poor performance
of educational system
Educational Reform
• America’s Choice: High Skills or Low Wages,
Workforce 2000, SCANS
– Shifted debate away from narrowly defined set of
academic or general competencies, technical and specific
job skills, interpersonal abilities and behavioral traits
– Lifted vocational education from relative obscurity to a
place of prominence
Legislation (yes, more)
• Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied
Technology Education Act (1990)
– Emphasizes:
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Integration of academic and vocational education
Articulation between segments of education
Closer linkages between school and work
Requires states to develop systems of performance
measures and standards
Legislation (still more)
• School-to-Work Opportunities Act (1994)
– Addressed national skills shortage
– Emphasized preparing students with
knowledge, skills, abilities and information
about occupations and labor market to help
make transition from school to employment
– Elements include: collaborative partnerships,
integrated curriculum, technological advances,
adaptable workers, career guidance, workbased learning
Legislation
• Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical
Education Act (1998)
– Strengthen academic, vocational and technical
skills
– Provide students with strong experience in
and understanding all aspects of an industry
– Develop, expand, or improve use of
technology
– New accountability measures - performance
Legislation (last)
• Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical
Education Improvement Act (2006)
– Uses CTE rather than vocational education
– Programs of study that link academic and
technical content
– Strengthened local accountability provisions
– Must have valid and reliable measures
Source
Gordon, H. R. D. (2003). The history and
growth of vocational education in America.
Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.