Many high schools for years have maintained two separate tracks for students: the college-bound path for students who took traditional academic classes and the “vo-tech” path for kids who spent at least part of their day training for a career—in a field like culinary arts, cosmetology, or manufacturing—that they could transition to soon after graduation.
But things are changing. These days, many schools strive to blur the line between college preparatory coursework and the type of workforce-based, job-connected learning that’s typically been the hallmark of career and technical education.
But how widespread is this relatively new practice?
Just over 1 in 6 educators with some connection to CTE—17%—report that CTE and college-prep are so seamlessly combined that it’s hard to tell which gets more attention and resources in their districts, according to an EdWeek Research Center survey conducted this fall.
And a little more than a third of CTE-connected educators—36%—say their schools devote about equal resources and focus to CTE and college prep, according to the survey.
Still, roughly the same percentage—35%—say that college prep receives more resources and emphasis than CTE, the survey found. Meanwhile, 12% report that CTE gets more focus and resources than college prep.
Amy Loyd, the chief executive officer of All4Ed, a nonprofit focused on educational equity and preparing students for life after high school, said it’s important for people not to think of CTE and college prep as separate tracks.
“CTE is college preparation,” Loyd said. “CTE is some of the best pedagogy for student learning, not just acquisition of knowledge, but application of knowledge and practice. It leads to stronger outcomes in high school and persistence and completion in post-secondary coursework.”
And she said that these courses shouldn’t be seen as easy A’s, either.
“There’s a core of rigorous academics” in CTE, Loyd added.
Some educators who took the survey confirmed that CTE is put on equal footing with college prep in their districts.
“Our career and technical education center is excellent,” said one survey participant in response to a question asking for additional insights. “Students are encouraged to consider CTE as a viable alternative to college.”
Others wished for stronger connections with postsecondary institutions so that students could get college credit for their CTE coursework.
“Our CTE is very valuable to all of our students,” another survey participant wrote. “I believe local colleges and outside colleges should work together and accept students from CTE programs without adding more courses in order to be accepted into their college or university.”
College-prep focus is stronger in suburbia
Educators working in rural districts are more likely to say their districts steer more resources and put greater focus on CTE, compared to their urban and suburban counterparts.
Fifteen percent of educators working in rural districts said that CTE gets more focus and resources, compared with 10% of urban educators and 7% of suburban educators.
On the flip side, more than half of suburban educators surveyed—57%—say college prep gets a bigger spotlight and more resource than CTE. That’s compared with nearly a quarter of rural educators and more than a third of urban educators.
Loyd said she doesn’t believe rural students are necessarily less interested in college than suburban and urban kids, but their communities might lack nearby access to colleges and universities.
Jaycie Homer, a middle school CTE teacher in a rural New Mexico district, said she tries to talk to her students about a range of careers, including some that require postsecondary training.
“They kind of have tunnel vision,” Homer said. Many of the students’ parents do physical labor in the oil and gas industries and “they think that’s the only industry that there is, and it’s not. I want them to see you don’t have to go out and work on a rig. You could sit in an office and do [work on] AI or technology, instead of having to do hard, physical manual labor.”
The EdWeek Research Center survey of 472 school and district leaders and teachers whose jobs include at least some work in CTE was conducted from Sept. 18 through Oct. 27.
