High-quality CTE: Prepared and Effective Program Staff
Click the + sign next to each category below to explore resources that align with the Prepared and Effective Program Staff element of the ACTE Quality CTE Program of Study FrameworkTM.
Research and Reports
- We Need to Know More About CTE Teachers – Anglum, Diemer, Ecton & Nguyen, Kappan, February 2023
This report aims to advance the availability of research on secondary CTE teachers, specifically the quantification of teacher shortages in specific CTE content areas to properly inform effective recruitment and retention policies.
- Prioritizing Strategies to Racially Diversify the K–12 Teacher Workforce – Steiner, Greer, Berdie, Schwartz, Woo, Lawrence, Wolfe & Gittens, RAND Corporation, March 2023
This report presents selected findings from the 2022 State of the American Teacher survey related to increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of the teacher workforce. The authors surveyed and interviewed teachers and convened a panel of education policymakers to gain deeper insight into the policies and practices that could be most effective for recruiting, hiring, and retaining teachers of color.
- Teacher Apprenticeships Are Booming in Wake of Shortages. Here’s What You Need to Know – Will, Education Week, March 2023
This report explains the status quo of the landscape of teacher apprenticeships across the country, as well as why they are booming, how they benefit the learner and how localities and cities across the nation can take advantage of these programs.
- We need to know more about CTE teachers – Anglum, Diemer, Ecton & Tuan, Kappan, February 2023
This journal article examines the CTE teacher vacancy in the U.S, specifically how the lack of data and research is affecting the recruitment and retention of CTE teachers across the country.
- Teacher academies that make a difference NOW– Audrain & Menedez, Kappan, February 2023
This case study describes an Arizona high school that redesigned its teacher academy to have value for students and schools, no matter what career path students ultimately choose.
- Creativity From Necessity: A Practical Toolkit for Leaders to Address Teacher Shortages – Allen, Appleman, Jackson & Vivalo Rouse, Bellwether, January 2023
Based on interviews with more than 40 experts and practitioners in a wide range of roles and landscapes, this toolkit curates ideas and resources school leaders can put to use right away to improve teacher recruitment, hiring, and retention — even in challenging circumstances.
- Study of the High School Career and Technical Education Teacher Pathway Initiative Grant – U.S Department of Education, 2022
This report summarizes the approaches that five education agencies or institutions took to increase the number of CTE teachers by recruiting and supporting new teachers in their locales. The findings indicate that establishing broader regional or statewide professional or mentoring networks through which new CTE teachers can access support from peers and more experienced CTE teachers is particularly important.
- Career and Technical Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Profession and Willingness to Encourage Students to Enter a CTE Teaching Career – Kosloski, Reed, Loya & Abdelhamid, Journal of Research in Technical Careers, December 2022
This study examined how Virginia CTE teachers perceive their profession and found that teachers recommending the profession to their students in recent years has decreased considerably, largely owing to salary/benefits and school variables not in teachers’ control.
- The Alternative Teacher Certification Sector Outside Higher Education – King & Yin, The Center for American Progress, June 2022
This report analyzes alternative teacher certification programs not operated by postsecondary institutions, including estimated number of programs, enrollment, student demographics and the types of operating organizations.
- Meeting Workforce Demand Won’t Happen with Teacher and Faculty Shortages – Boren & Anderson, Southern Regional Education Board, February 2022
This article includes data on postsecondary faculty shortages in CTE fields of study.
- Enhancing Teacher Preparation Through Clinical Experience – Education Commission of the States, August 2021
This brief outlines common types of clinical experience in both traditional and alternative teacher preparation programs. It also points to research that highlights the role that clinical experience plays in retaining teachers and diversifying the workforce.
- Postsecondary Teacher Quality and Student Achievement in Florida’s Career Certificate Programs Using a Causal-Comparative Study ($) – Martino, Career and Technical Education Research, May 2021
This research examines the relationship between the level of pedagogical knowledge and educational degree attainment of postsecondary CTE teachers and students’ passing an industry certification test.
- Perkins V Supports Teacher Recruitment and Retention – Advance CTE, April 2021
This resource shares promising practices and strategies for state CTE leaders to leverage when implementing their state plans regarding recruiting and retaining high-quality instructors, as well as diversifying the CTE instructor workforce.
- A Case Study of CTE Teacher Retention: Transitioning from Mid-Career to Veteran Teacher Status – Graves & Hasselquist, Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences Education, Spring 2021
This study identified developmental experiences associated with teacher retention based on focus group interviews with mid-career (7-15 years) and veteran (20+ years) CTE teachers representing the fields of agriculture and family and consumer sciences.
In February 2020, ACTE held a national convening with 100 leaders from across multiple sectors to discuss CTE teacher recruitment, preparation and retention issues. This document provides a synopsis of the Summit and a set of recommendations derived from the event.
- CTE Teacher Retention: Lessons Learned from Mid-Career Teachers ($) – Hasselquist & Graves, Career and Technical Education Research, May 2020
This research identified four themes related to the retention of mid-career CTE teachers: setting boundaries, shifting priorities/focus, building a professional support network and innovating in the classroom.
- CTE Leadership Series: Landscape of CTE Leaders – ACTE, 2020
This brief describes the number of CTE administrators in each state and CTE administrator requirements by state.
- A Longitudinal Study of Alternatively Licensed Career and Technical Teachers ($) – Zirkle, Jeffery & Shrewe, Career and Technical Education Research, July 2019
This study analyzed demographic data and outcomes for CTE teachers who completed a summer workshop as part of alternative licensure.
- Region III CTE Teacher Shortage Project: Executive Summary – University of Wisconsin–Stout & ACTE, May 2019
In 2018, Region III was the recipient of funding through the ACTE Opportunity Fund to conduct research on teacher supply and demand. This document is a summary of the findings from one year of research and data collection.
- Increasing the Supply of Qualified Teachers for Dual Enrollment Programs: An Overview of State and Regional Accreditor Policies – Midwestern Higher Education Compact & Education Commission of the States, June 2018
This report presents results from a content analysis of state policies for dual enrollment instructor qualifications, compares the faculty qualification policies of regional accreditation organizations, and describes strategies to bolster graduate education programs and encourage teachers to complete relevant graduate coursework.
- Diversifying the Teaching Profession: How to Recruit and Retain Teachers of Color – Carver-Thomas, Learning Policy Institute, April 2018
This report draws on recent nationally representative data as well as a body of research on recruiting and retaining teachers of color to summarize the primary barriers to recruitment and retention of teachers of color all along the teacher pipeline.
- Educators in Industry: An Exploratory Study to Determine how Teacher Externships Influence K-12 Classroom Practices – Bowen & Shume, Journal of STEM Education, March 2018
This exploratory study found that teachers who participated in an industry-based externship demonstrated an increased understanding of teaching problem solving, collaboration and communication skills.
- CTE Teacher and Faculty Shortages – Advance CTE, 2018
This brief shares data about CTE teacher and faculty shortages.
- CTE on the Frontier: Strengthening the Rural CTE Teacher Pipeline – Advance CTE, Council of Chief State School Officers, Education Strategy Group & New Skills for Youth, March 2018
This brief describes promising programs and strategies for strengthening the rural CTE teacher pipeline, with examples from states around the nation.
- Solving the Dual Enrollment Staffing Puzzle: Strategies from the Early College Expansion Partnership – Jobs for the Future & Educate Texas, November 2017
This brief describes the work of the Early College Expansion Project, a five-year initiative funded by an Investing in Innovation (i3) grant from the U.S. Department of Education, which aimed to address dual enrollment staffing challenges.
- Career and Technical Education Administration: Requirements, Certification/Licensure, and Preparation ($) – Zirkle & Jeffery, Career and Technical Education Research, May 2017
This article describes CTE administrator requirements in all 50 states and implications of these findings.
- The Status of Career and Technical Education Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in the United States ($) – Fletcher & Gordon, Peabody Journal of Education, March 2017
This study examined CTE teacher education programs, including undergraduate and graduate student enrollments, course delivery modes and curricular trends.
- The State of CTE: Increasing Access to Industry Experts in High Schools – Advance CTE & Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, December 2016
Industry experts are in short supply in secondary classrooms. This publication recommends ways to increase access to industry experts, including alternative certification and allowing experts to teach part-time or co-teach with a fully certified teacher of record.
- Preparing Teachers for a Project-Based World – Getting Smart & Buck Institute for Education, November 2016
The brief describes a vision for teacher preparation and beginning teacher professional development—a vision that embraces the opportunity of personalized project-based learning for all students.
- A 2015 Status Study of Career and Technical Education Programs in the United States ($) – Fletcher, Gordon, Asunda & Zirkle, Career and Technical Education Research, December 2015
This descriptive study examined the status of CTE teacher education programs, both undergraduate and graduate, across the nation.
- Redesign of Indiana Workplace Specialist I Teacher Training: Lessons Learned – Feldhaus, Lazaros, Cotton & Smallwood, The CTE Journal, 2015
The paper describes the processes used and lessons learned by those who researched, developed, and completed a redesign of the Indiana Workplace Specialist I teacher training program.
- A Look at Leadership: An Examination of Career and Technical Administrator Preparation in the United States ($) – Clark & Cole, Career and Technical Education Research, April 2015
The study examined the perceptions of state directors of CTE about the state of administrator preparation programs and the needs for training administrators in CTE.
- Credit Quandaries: How Career and Technical Education Teachers Can Teach Courses that Include Academic Credit – Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, October 2014
The brief describes various strategies states are exploring to ensure that CTE teachers can award academic credit to students for their classes.
- 21st-century Educators: Developing and Supporting Great CTE Teachers – Jacques & Potemski, Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, February 2014
This brief offers insight into three human capital management policies that are critical for CTE teachers: certification, performance evaluation and professional development.
- The Voices of Career and Technical Education Teachers: A Report of the American Federation of Teachers 2014 Survey – American Federation of Teachers, 2014
This survey asked career and technical educators who are also AFT members from across the country about their experiences and challenges.
- Engaging Faculty for Innovative STEM Bridge Programs ($) – Goldfien & Badway, Community College Journal of Research and Practice, December 2013
This study, conducted with support from the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education program, followed four community colleges for a year to understand local factors that facilitated or impeded faculty implementation of a bridge program in which basic skills were contextualized in biotechnology.
- CTE Teacher Licensure Requirements: 50 States and District of Columbia – Bonsu et. al, American Institutes for Research, June 2013
This document provides state-by-state information on licensure policies for CTE teachers.
- Improving the Quality of Career and Technical Alternative Teacher Preparation: An Induction Model of Professional Development and Support – Southern Regional Education Board & National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, January 2013
This report describes a field-tested induction model from the Southern Regional Education Board and the National Research Center for CTE that builds the capacity of beginning CTE teachers to offer instruction that is intellectually demanding and standards-focused and thus more likely to improve CTE students’ academic achievement.
- Instructional Strategy Use of Faculty in Career and Technical Education – Fletcher, Djajalaksana & Eison, Journal of CTE, December 2012
This study explored instructional strategies used by faculty teaching CTE teacher education programs.
- A Framework for the Preparation of Accomplished Career and Technical Education Teachers – Adams, Journal of CTE, May 2010
This qualitative study focused on a CTE preservice teacher education program structured around the Georgia Framework. Findings support use of the Georgia Framework for Accomplished Teaching in CTE teacher preparation.
- An Examination of Leadership Issues Facing Pennsylvania Career and Technical Administrators ($) – Clark, Farmer & Welch, Career and Technical Education Research, 2010
This article describes a three-round Delphi approach that identified leadership issues confronting career and technical administrators at the secondary and postsecondary levels.
Toolkits, Guides and Frameworks
- TE Leadership Self-efficacy Scale – Conrad, Parr, Watkins, Yost & Gordon, Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity, November 2020
This self-assessment can be used by CTE leaders to evaluate their technical, human and conceptual skills as leaders. It aligns with the ACTE Quality CTE Program of Study Framework.
- High-quality CTE: Planning for a COVID-19-impacted School Year – ACTE, June 2020
The guide was designed to help CTE leaders make difficult decisions as they offer remote, blended and socially distanced learning during COVID-19. It is organized around the ACTE Quality CTE Program of Study Framework, including guidance related to staffing and educator needs.
- Community College Faculty Externships: How Faculty Externships in the Gulf Coast/Houston Area are Preparing the Future Petrochemical Workforce – Educate Texas, 2017
This toolkit describes a community college faculty externship program and includes a sample schedule, evaluation and other tools.
- CTE Standards (Second Edition) – National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 2014
This second edition of CTE standards from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards describes what accomplished CTE teachers should know and be able to do. The standards are meant to reflect the current professional consensus about the essential aspects of accomplished practice. They were developed by the Board’s CTE Standards Committee.
- Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching (adapted for CTE teachers) – Pennsylvania Department of Education
This rubric demonstrates how the Danielson Framework for Teaching can be adapted for CTE teachers.
Books
- The New CTE Teacher’s Guide to Success ($) – Van Gulik & Defelice, 2021
This guide assists individuals entering the CTE teaching profession by describing the responsibilities of the teacher, student learning styles, lesson preparation, methods of instruction, classroom management and student success measurement.
- New CTE Administrative Leadership series: Your First Year in CTE Administration: 10 Things to Know, CTE Administrative Leadership: 10 MORE Things to Know and Beyond Your First Years in CTE Administrative Leadership: 10 Additional Things to Know ($) – Bouquillion, Foster, Hornberger & Watkins, 2018-2021
This book series breaks down the key responsibilities involved in administering high-quality CTE programs and personnel, with practical advice and tips on how to get the job done.
- CTE Administrator Handbook ($) – Watkins & Conrad, 2019
The workbook includes activities for administrators to use for their own professional growth and with their staff. Each chapter explores one of the five topics that CTE administrators are responsible as overseers of high-quality CTE programs. The CTE Administrator Handbook can be used with ACTE’s free online course, CTE Administrator, or as a stand-alone resource.
- New CTE Teacher Series: Your First Year: 10 Things to Know, Your First Year: 10 More Things to Know and Beyond Your First Year: 10 Additional Things to Know($) – Foster, Foster, Hornberger & McNally, 2014-2017
Although there are many books focused on teaching strategies and tips for new teachers, there are few resources specifically for new CTE teachers. This book series fills that gap, particularly for individuals coming to the field from alternative teacher preparation programs.
On-demand Webinars
- Building the Pipeline of Diverse Educators – Advance CTE, February 2022
This webinar highlights the benefits of educator diversity to learners and reviews recruitment strategies that attract diverse CTE instructors, administrators and leaders who reflect the learners they teach.
- Leading Through Crisis in CTE – ACTE, October 2021
CTE leaders who thrive in the face of adversity are a different breed from those who flourish when resources are unlimited. This webinar discusses mindsets for turning adversity into advantage.
- High-quality CTE Programs of Study — Prepared and Effective Program Staff – ACTE, September 2019
Join Tyra Pilgram, CTE director from Rutherford County Schools in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as she discusses how to have a CTE program with high-quality educators and staff, regardless of the size of the school district.
- Collaborating for Quality CTE Programs – ACTE, 2019
This virtual discussion addresses the importance of CTE teacher collaboration through the lens of a statewide professional development event in Iowa.
Online Courses
The first course in this series will help new teachers who are transitioning from their career fields into teaching gain a better understanding of CTE and their roles as educators. The second course provides five additional components that CTE teachers need to develop as professional educators.
- Managing the Class & Students series ($) – CTE Learn
This series of courses reviews classroom management strategies and how educators can cope with stressful classroom situations.
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) provide systems of growth that can advance your teams and students to the next level. This course will discuss the organization of PLCs and strategies for participating in and benefiting from them.
- Alternative Teacher Assessment ($) – CTE Learn
This course describes the purpose of instructional frameworks, explores current instructional and teacher assessment frameworks, and introduces a newly developed CTE-specific teacher assessment framework.
- Best Practices in Supervising and Coaching CTE Teachers ($) – CTE Learn
This course discusses best practices in CTE teacher supervision and the purpose and use of instructional coaching in developing the content knowledge and pedagogical skills of CTE teachers.
- Honing Supervisory Skills series ($) – CTE Learn
This course series aims to improve the management skills of CTE leadership staff specifically as it pertains to hiring staff, delegating responsibilities, retaining employees, providing professional development and assessing employee performance.
- Leading with Influence series ($) – CTE Learn
This course series covers how CTE leadership staff can effectively oversee their team with strong management, motivation and leadership skills.
- Leadership in Postsecondary Education series ($) – CTE Learn
This series of coursework enables postsecondary CTE leadership staff to explore how their leadership impacts their programs and offers helpful tools to be a more effective leader.
- Managing Workplace Challenges series ($) – CTE Learn
This series helps CTE leadership staff to effectively manage workplace crises when they arise by setting goals and effectively implementing career, time, stress, change and crisis management strategies.
Data Tools
- Public School Teachers of CTE (2008) – National Center for Education Statistics
Tables include data on secondary CTE teacher demographics, teaching assignments and experience, certification routes and other topics.