Research and Best Practices

The largest in-depth study of school leadership to date, this report gathers and analyzes quantitative data confirming that education leadership has a strong impact on student achievement, as measured by student test scores. The study shows that leadership makes its mark largely by strengthening a school’s “professional community” – an environment where teachers work together to improve classroom instruction. It also finds that rapid turnover of principals reduces student achievement. In addition, the study shows that although the.....

CTE Resources

CTE's Role in Adolescent Literacy
This ACTE Brief explores the key role that CTE programs can play in increasing adolescent literacy engagement. High-quality CTE programs expose students to rigorous and relevant information-rich content that motivates them to develop their literacy skills. CTE teachers integrate content-area reading and writing strategies to aid students' learning, and courses provide numerous enrichment activities to help students apply higher-level literacy skills to their interests and future goals.
Reinventing the American High School (Association for Career and Tech Ed)
In this paper, the Association for Career and Technical Education review the challenges and current efforts in high school redesign, and offer a number of recommendations about what elements should be included in our mutual efforts to reinvent the American high school for the 21st century.
Internet Explorers: Virtual Field Trips Are More Than Just Money Savers
Technology is catching up to virtual field trips' possibilities. A new generation of trips is merging highly interactive Web sites with engaging storytelling, vibrant art, and curricula tied to national standards, creating a compelling way to explore the natural world without leaving campus. This link takes you to The George Lucas Foundation's top four virtual field trip picks -- and you can't beat the admission price: free. Go North! is one of the virtual field trips. It is an exhilarating combination of high tech wizardry and true.....
CTE and Possible Links to Dropping Out (National Research Center for Career and Tech Ed)
If participation in career and technical education has some relationship to dropping out of high school, we need to understand the nature of this relationship better. Research in this area can have implications for our conceptual understanding of what helps students find attachment to high school. Additionally, research in this area could have policy or practical implications for secondary education, as decisions are made about where dollars should be invested and how curriculum should be organized. After considering simple descriptive.....
NRCCTE Report on the Efficacy of Dual Enrollment
Dual enrollment programs enable high school students to enroll in college courses and earn college credit. Once limited to high-achieving students, such programs are increasingly seen as a means to support the postsecondary preparation of average-achieving students. Moreover, though dual enrollment programs typically have been reserved for academically-focused stu­dents, increasing numbers of career and technical education (CTE) programs are providing such opportunities to their students. Despite the popularity and growth of dual.....
The Math-in-CTE model (National Research Center for CTE)
The Math-in-CTE model is a curriculum integration model designed to enhance mathematics that is embedded in career and technical education (CTE) content. It is a process that provides the opportunity for math and CTE teacher teams to work together in communities of practice and to identify where math intersects with CTE concepts and applications. This process leads to the creation of math-enhanced CTE lessons that follow a seven-element pedagogic framework. Premised on five core principles, the research-based Math-in-CTE model has been shown.....
"The Idea Center" for CTE
The National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE) and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) are searching for ideas and practices that are positively impacting student achievement in career and technical education classrooms, buildings and districts. The Idea Center is collecting this information and making it easy for teachers, administrators, guidance counselors and others to share, comment on and experiment to make career and technical education an even better education for our nation's students,.....
Systematic Reviews of Research: Postsecondary Transitions - Identifying Effective Models and Practices
This systematic review of the literature on transition programs for youth to postsecondary education sought to identify models or programs of transition, establish a definition of successful transition, discover how models or programs are evaluated, and examine the impact of such transition programs, specifically those that aim to facilitate transition from an educational system to another educational system, to program completion, or to specific career-related employment for disadvantaged youth.
Web-Based Resources for Science, Technology, and Engineering: Tools and Activities for Teaching and Learning
The entries compiled here are grouped by type (general or subject-specific), and include information about the appropriate grade level(s) for the online activities and sample lessons. Following these entries is an annotated bibliography of online articles and books. Both the links and the resources presented here were selected by CAST in fall 2005 according to two criteria: 1) they shed light on the kinds of effective research, classroom practices, and policies that support standards-based learning, and 2) they can be accessed free of.....
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE)
The NRCCTE works to improve the engagement, achievement, and transition of high school and postsecondary CTE students through technical assistance to states, professional development for CTE practitioners, and dissemination of knowledge derived from scientifically based research.