A majority of educators say their districts’ career and technical education offerings are increasing, driven in large part by growing student demand.
That’s according to an EdWeek Research Center survey of teachers, principals, and district leaders who are connected to CTE. Six in 10 educators report that their districts’ CTE offerings have grown in the past five years, compared with fewer than 1 in 10 who say their districts’ offerings have decreased.
However, schools face challenges in growing their CTE programs, even when demand is high, due to staffing shortages and a lack of facilities and equipment.
The most cited reasons for growth in their CTE offerings were rising student demand, increased support from district leadership, and growing interest from existing industry partners and employers, according to the survey.
More than two-thirds of educators in the EdWeek Research Center survey said that students’ interest in CTE has increased either a little or a lot in the past 5 years.
Why are more students pursuing CTE coursework? The most common reasons, according to the survey, are students’ genuine interest in a particular career path; they find CTE coursework engaging and interesting; and they’re encouraged by parents, families, friends, and teachers to take CTE classes.
Many students are drawn to CTE because it offers a more affordable career trajectory than a traditional four-year degree and has more hands-on learning experiences, said Diane Waite, a business and marketing educator in Mounds View Public Schools in Minnesota.
“We are seeing a much larger shift of students to career and technical education because of the practicality of the content and the correlation to direct careers,” as well as increasing demand from industry, she said.
In particular, CTE offerings in digital technology, IT, AI, and cybersecurity have grown, with 28 percent of survey respondents saying in the EdWeek Research Center survey that their district or school has started offering courses in those fields in the past five years. Another 31% expect their school or district to introduce offerings in those fields in the next five years.
When asked what—if anything—would lead to major improvements in their CTE programs, the most cited responses were additional funding to add courses/pathways (56%), additional resources for facilities/equipment (49%), and additional CTE teachers (46%). About a third of respondents said that making it easier to hire industry professionals as instructors—even if they are not certified to teach in K-12—would benefit their programs.
CTE teacher shortages are a big challenge in many districts
The survey found that 8 percent of educators said their school’s or district’s CTE offerings had decreased over the past five years. Among those who noted a decrease, 39 percent said the top reason was difficultly recruiting qualified instructors. That was followed by declining student enrollment (36%), insufficient student demand (32%), and declines in overall education funding (32%).
“Without proper funding, we do not have the ability to update space and equipment,” a deputy superintendent in New York shared in the EdWeek Research Center survey. “We do this as we can. Increased funding for CTE would be helpful.”
“I believe our programs are doing the best they can with what they have, but reduced funding from the state has forced us to increase CTE class sizes beyond what we would like in order to meet staffing allocations,” said a district-level administrator in career and technical education who is based in Florida. “This makes it more difficult for the teachers to focus on hands-on learning as this is made more difficult with 30+ students in each class.”
Said a CTE administrator from Pennsylvania: “We are limited on space, and once a class is full, a waiting list has to occur due to the space constraints. Some students who are wait-listed may not have an opportunity to attend.”