Secondary vs Postsecondary Career and Technical Education

From 2009 archived blog
by Jerry Wircenski
Before this most recent economic downturn, the U.S. was facing a shortage of skilled workers. In many of these jobs, workers will need to have advanced skills in order to seek and hold these positions.

While there has always been a strong demand for low wage, low skill service sector jobs, the most financially rewarding jobs of the future will require knowledge and skills only provided through postsecondary education.

According to the Monday Labor Review, 24 of the 30 fastest growing careers will require education and training provided by postsecondary education.

Meeting the job demands of this 21st century should be no problem since over 90% of middle school students indicate that they will probably attend college (National Association of Secondary School Principals, 2007). Unfortunately, this is statement is NOT correct. In reality, only about 65% of high school students do in fact begin some form of postsecondary education, and approximately 25% graduate!

So the crux of our problem is…we cannot rely only on Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs at the postsecondary level! Only 1 in 4 students graduate from postsecondary degree programs. What can CTE do for the 75% who do not graduate from post secondary education?
The answer to this question is obvious; secondary CTE programs must provide strong academically challenging opportunities so that high school graduates can secure and retain good entry level positions in the world of work.

These strong secondary CTE programs must be built on a foundation of career awareness at K-5, career exploration in grades 6-10, and career preparation in grades 11 and 12. If CTE programs have a strong link to the core academic subjects and have academic rigor then high school graduates will be well positioned to enter the labor force of the 21st century and be in a better position to seek the advanced knowledge and skills at the post secondary level.