Current CTE Issues: A Literature Review
Despite the fact that career and technical education (CTE) has expanded and overcome many barriers in the past several decades, there are still many critical issues facing CTE today. Through research of various journal articles and periodicals, I was able to view an abundance of data and studies pinpointing many of the critical issues that exist in CTE today. This research, along with legislation, educational policies, and my personal experience helped me identify the chosen issues for this report. Although the literature read for this analysis encompasses a wide variety of the many issues, this review will focus on three of the most critical. These three are: the widening skills gap, the shortage of qualified career and technical education teachers, and the continued integration of academic standards into career and technical education.
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ASTD, and the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for a Competitive Workforce suggest that a gap exists between the skills employees possess and the skills employers need (2012). In fact, “72% of educational institutions believe recent graduates are ready for work, only 42% of employers agree” (Yang, 2013). It seems that there are far too few high school graduates and adults who are prepared for the jobs of the 21st century. Increasingly, the jobs of today require some type of post-secondary training or certification. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook, projects employment opportunities in a broad range of industries and occupations as a “result from demand for skills needed within specific industries” (2014). With the amount of research and opinions available on the topic of skills shortage in America today, the question presents itself, why are we experiencing such a large skills