Download The History of CTE?

The History of CTE?
As I look at the history of Career and Technical Education there are a myriad of significant people,
legislations, and events. It would take much longer than this literature review to cover each and
every topic. Therefore, for the purpose of this literature review, I have decided to produce a
condensed version of CTE’s history, and focused on some of the several important attributes of
CTE: The Morrill act of 1862, The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, and The Carl Perkins Vocational and
Technical act of 2006.
The Morrill Act of 1862
Justin Smith Morrill introduced the Morrill Act, also referred to as the Land Grant College Act. The
Act served in two noteworthy ways: as an incentive to higher education in America by providing
vocational training regardless of class or social economic standing, and the Act established
educational guidelines in each state that was responsible for educating students in the fields of
agriculture, home economics, mechanical arts, and other professions that were germane at the time
(Gordon, 2008). Alaska was accepted as a location to have a land-grant institution in 1929, and
opened to students in 1922 in Fairbanks, Alaska. In a recent email sent from Jorgensen (2010), he
mentioned how the land-grant institution in Alaska have changed but not have kept up with the
times as far as teacher preparation and university connection state obligations.
According to Jorgensen (2010) in a letter addressed to Representative Paul Seaton, Land grant
universities were designed to do the research for proven educational practices and send teachers
into the field with the tools (curriculum knowledge and teaching practices) to teach the students they
are to serve. Our university is disconnected from this constitutional state obligation and delivers less
than one third of the teachers and leaders needed and most do not have the tools or we would get
the results. Pink outlines the value of team, motivation, autonomy, mastery and purpose. Our
Department, University and Schools working together as a team with the collegial practice described
in the Flat World, with Kohn and Ravitch can deliver for our children. It will take more than a single
bullet, but a fully loaded system identified by the research we have done and can do. (Jorgensen,
2010, p.1)
The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917
The Smith-Hughes Act made $1.7 million available for secondary-level educational programs
(Gordon, 2008). States that participated in the plan appointed state directors, matched federal
monies, and elected boards of vocational education, and defined local guidelines for use of the
funds (Gasbarre, 2006). The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 shed significant light on the need for
legislation to take a proactive stance on vocational and technical education. According to Gordon
(2008),
The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 was the first vocational education act, and it contained specific
elements that contributed to the isolation of vocational education from other parts of the
comprehensive high school program. In order to receive federal funds under Smith-Hughes, each
state was required to establish a state board for vocational education...the Smith-Hughes Act was
influenced by a variety of social, economic, and political forces; its primary objective was to offer
youth an alternative to the general curriculum that existed at that particular period of time. (p. 88)
The Smith-Hughes Act was part of a larger plan of national preparedness and America found
vocational education unprepared. The critical military and industrial shortage of trained workers
became an emergency for the newly created Federal Board for Vocational Education (Gordon, 2008).
The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 2006
On January 23, 2001, President George W. Bush presented his plan for educational reform to
Congress, The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB outlined four major principles in an
education reform plan: stronger accountability for results, expanded flexibility and local control,
expanded options for parents, and an emphasis on teaching methods that had been proven to work
(U.S. Department of Education, 2007). A part of NCLB is the Carl D. Perkins Act. “The President
[George W. Bush] signed The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 2006 into
law on August 12, 2006. The new Act provided an increased focus on the academic achievement of
career and technical education students, strengthen the connections between secondary and
postsecondary education, and improve state and local accountability” (U.S. Department of
Education, 2007, p. 1). The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 2006 gave
students options for planning for their future, guided schools on what the student should accomplish
before leaving high school, how funds would be adequately used in schools, and other avenues for
CTE to improve the current environment.
Career and technical education as we know it today has its roots in the founding of the United
States. From the start, a strong knowledge base and skill set for citizens were considered important.
The following four articles from the old AVA Journal in 1976 show how career and technical
education has adapted over time to stay at the forefront of American society.
The Awakening, 1776-1826
The right to a free public education for children was stressed early in the United States as
there was a need to educate future leaders. Apprenticeships were giving way to formal
schooling in certain trades. During the first 50 years of the United States, public education
was largely limited to boys, although in the early-1800s, girls began to enter schools to
prepare for teaching.
Independent Action, 1826-1876
In the early 19th century, the workforce and the public education system started to work
together to create a continuous stream of workers for different jobs. Schools specializing in
training students to enter a certain area of the workforce started to open their doors, creating
the basic framework for career and technical education. The idea started to spread to
women’s colleges in the 1840s. The beginning of public high schools is explored to continue
to educate citizens.
The Vocational Education Age Emerges, 1876-1926
The first manual training school, established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1879, set the foundation
for modern career and technical education. The school combined hands-on learning with
classroom learning. The article describes the first trade school, which opened in New York in
1881. Near the turn of the 20th century, agricultural education started to thrive with agriculture
schools starting to open their doors. Bills passed to support career and technical education
are explored.
Coming of Age, 1926-1976
The first mass acceptance of career and technical education came after World War I and the
movement spread in the years that followed. Career and technical education expanded to
include adult education and retraining citizens to re-enter the workforce. World War II caused
a surge in career and technical education, as technical skills were needed for defense
purposes.
Reference:http://www.examiner.com/article/a-brief-history-of-career-and-technical-education and https://www.
acteonline.org/general.aspx?id=810#.VUO9Y2RViko