Career-Technical Education Research News

This research study, led by NOCTI (Drs. John Foster, Sandy Pritz, and Pat Kelley, pictured left to right) focuses on the development of interventions that combine the professional development of teachers and administrators in schools with how they can use the data and information obtained from administering technical assessments in the secondary-level CTE classroom to make decisions about how to improve student achievement. John, Sandy, and Pat, co-Principal Investigators of this project, along with Dr. Carol Hodes (pictured far right), Senior Consultant at NOCTI, joined Catherine Imperatore of ACTE to talk about the project.

In 2009, the NOCTI team conducted a descriptive survey that investigated how secondary CTE educators, both administrators and teachers, use technical assessment data to improve program curriculum and identify individual and group instructional needs. In order to gain additional perspectives on schools' adoption of data use for program improvement, the team also conducted case studies in six sites. Overall, educators indicated that their opinion of testing had improved as a result of professional development on the use of assessment data, and several commented that the main reason for the change was a better understanding of tests and the use of assessment data.

Here's an excerpt from their conversation:

John Foster: You know, Catherine, in the last few years education in general has really taken center stage in the media. A lot of the focus generally has been, why don't our kids appear to be achieving as fast as those in other countries. And people have commented on lots of different sides of this issue, but the discussion has really put a spotlight on teacher quality and really how we measure our programs. Teachers of quality career and technical education programs, because of their background and their focus on a particular industry sector, are quite used to having their "output," let's say, assessed. But are they used to looking at the data over a longer period of time, and do they use information to make instructional or programmatic decisions? This study is actually in its second year and it looks at how to take good programs and make them great. And really, what could be more important?

Download the transcript [PDF document] or read more about the Professional Development for Teachers and Administrators on the Use of Assessment Data study at the NRCCTE website.

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