Between 2014 and 2016, California policymakers invested a half-billion dollars in the California Career Pathways Trust (CCPT). The initiative funded regional and local partnerships to establish career pathways designed to lead secondary school students to postsecondary degrees or certifications aligned with regional workforce needs. This brief…

This report from the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Research Network Lead team provides final results from an evaluability assessment of CTE programs that feasibly could be evaluated using a rigorous experimental design. Evaluability assessments (also called feasibility studies) are used in education and other fields, such as international…

Evidence today shows that there is a skills gap among employable young adults. This study was based on a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program evaluation that was conducted in a rural school district in northwest North Carolina. The study examined the perceptions of the program by CTE high school teachers, CTE community college instructors,…

The 2022 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Handbook is a tool to advance the cultural transformation of the largest system of public higher education and one of the largest employers in California. The updated handbook is the cumulative effort of decades of courageous and intentional leadership to ensure equitable student educational opportunity…

The need to address teacher pipeline challenges has never been more urgent--and doing so will require bold, systemic changes to how teachers are recruited, prepared, compensated, supported, and respected. Teacher Preparation Partnerships are one promising strategy to help address the state's significant teacher pipeline challenges through…

This study investigated the percentage of Round Rock Independent School District (ISD) graduates from 2012/13 through 2017/18 who completed one or more career and technical education (CTE) programs of study and attained outcomes after high school graduation including college enrollment, degree or certificate attainment, and employment. The study…

The College and Career Readiness Expansion project was a five-year, federally funded effort to implement early college strategies in comprehensive high schools. This report presents the results from a quasi-experimental impact study of the project and a mixed methods examination of its implementation. Results showed that the program increased the…

This brief is intended for policymakers, education system leaders, and dual enrollment advocates who are considering what it will take to build long-term strategies that significantly expand the supply of instructors qualified to teach college in high school. The author's recommendations are rooted in Jobs for the Future's (JFF's) recent…

Over the past three years, Jobs for the Future (JFF) has engaged deeply with California Career Pathways Trust (CCPT) consortia through both statewide research and technical assistance in order to understand leaders' approaches to implementing and developing sustainable programs. JFF's recent research found that the CCPT funds did advance…

Family, school, and community contexts each link to secondary school enrollment, yet these factors have been comparatively examined only in limited ways. A holistic examination of contextual factors will be particularly important for engineering where college enrollment patterns vary by demographics. To begin explaining patterns of engineering…

The California Community Colleges serve more than 2.1 million students and is the largest system of higher education in the nation. The state's 114 colleges offer certificates and degrees to job seekers in the 21st century, provide basic skills education, and prepare students for transfer to four-year universities. This 2016-17 report highlights…

The California Community Colleges serve more than 2.1 million students and is the largest system of higher education in the nation. The state's 113 colleges offer certificates and degrees to job seekers in the 21st century, provide basic skills courses in English and math and prepare students for transfer to four-year universities. This 2015-16…

This study examined the unique partnership between Midwest Community College and Urban Public Schools' Urban Career Technical High School. The Urban Technical High School (UTHS) is designed to provide students interested in Tech Prep education a clear pathway from high school to college. Through collaboration, services were provided to assist high…

Young women with disabilities face multiple barriers in making the transition from high school to meaningful careers. This study used focus groups and individual interviews with high school girls with disabilities, college women with disabilities, high school special education teachers, school administrators and employers to examine career…

A midwestern urban school district received a Teacher Quality Enhancement (TQE) grant from the U.S. Office of Education to deliver specialized middle-level urban teacher preparation. Five colleges and universities and the school district participated in the 5-year project. This article describes the first course in the TQE "urban strand." The…