Stakeholder Perceptions of Factors That Limit Career and Technical Education Course Offerings

• Main Author: Cooper, Antonio
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: ScholarWorks 2017
• Subjects: Career and Technical Education; Education Stakeholders; Policy; Policy Recommendation; School Policy; Secondary Education; Education; Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration; Other Education; Secondary Education and Teaching
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3342; https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4445&context=dissertations

This study addressed the problem of the lack of Career and Technical Educational (CTE) courses offered at 3 high schools located in a rural Alabama county. Guided by Bourdieu's cultural capital theory, this study examined cultural capital in reference to the transference of knowledge that each high school in this study provides its students throughout their high school education. The research questions explored the stakeholders' perceptions of the factors that prevent the schools from offering more CTE programs and how CTE programs should be expanded in each school. A collective case study design was used for this study, with the data collected through transcribed interviews of 9 educators from the study schools and the examination of archival documents. The data were coded and categorized into a case study spreadsheet. According to the stakeholders, the major factors that prevented the schools from offering more CTE programs were lack of funding, proximity, and conflicts within the schedule. The stakeholders believed that the school system needed to create regional CTE centers that offered more courses with hands-on learning experiences that matched the students' interests. These findings led to a policy recommendation to the Board of Education to create a section under the current CTE policy which addresses program expansion. The policy recommendation and results from this study may effect positive social change by informing the creation and implementation of CTE courses that match students' interests, which may aid in those students being more college-and-career-ready upon graduation. The results from this study are also of interest to researchers examining problems in other school districts with similar deficits.