As part of the broader policy debate on how to reform K-12 education, particularly high schools, basic questions about career and technical education are on the table. "Remaking Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century" begins with a summary of what researchers know--and do not know--about the value of high school career-focused education, which includes career and technical education (CTE) as traditionally conceived and also more recent innovations, including school-to-work, work-based learning, career academies, High Schools That Work, and other models of schools, programs, and instructional practices that put careers and occupation-oriented knowledge at the center of school life. Seven short essays that follow the research review look forward to where CTE will go rather than back to what past research has found. Taken together, the authors outline a reform agenda for CTE consistent with that of high school reform nationally: rigor, relevance, and relationships--with academic rigor as the primary goal and accountability, choices, and teacher quality as key levers for improvement. These essays are: (1) Change or Die: The Challenge Facing Career and Technical Education Today (Elliott A. Medrich); (2) What a 21st Century Career and Technical Education System Could Look Like (Betsy Brand); (3) A Governor's Approach to Improving Secondary Career Education (Mark Warner); (4) How the Federal Government Could Promote Academically Rigorous Career and Technical Education (Ross Wiener); (5) The SREB Model: Academic Rigor, Technical Relevance, and a Head Start on a Career (Gene Bottoms); (6) Reform in Maryland: Achievement Matters Most (Katharine M. Oliver); and (7) Toward Better Outcomes: Lessons from New York and National Research (Katherine L. Hughes). ["Remaking Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century" is part of Jobs for the Future's "Double the Numbers" initiative.]