Abstract

This article examines possible reasons for enrollment disparities between students with and without disabilities in Career and Technical Education (CTE). The article contains with a literature review of the influence sources involved in the decision of a student to attend CTE programs. Identifying these sources of influence is critical in order to identify what differences exist in the counseling of student with disabilities given that the frequency of students with disabilities choosing to attend CTE in Pennsylvania is nearly double that of students without disabilities.

This article addresses the question “Why are so many students with disabilities, who are the beneficiaries of federally mandated personalized career and placement advice, making CTE their choice of study?” This article explores the critical components of the enrollment disparities including Pennsylvania enrollment statistics, factors that influence students to enroll in CTE, and pertinent legislation. The article concludes with recommendations for further research.

Introduction

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984 (PL. 98-524 Perkins) emphasized making Career and Technical Education (CTE) accessible to students with disabilities, specifically by providing funding set-asides to encourage their enrollment. The result of this legislation was an increase in the enrollment of this population. In recent years, the percentage of students with disabilities participating in secondary CTE has significantly surpassed the percentage of students with disabilities in the general school population. Many CTE professionals are asking why are so many students with disabilities choosing CTE, and is the system of placement serving them well?

CTE Enrollment Disparity

The major emphasis of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-17 IDEA) is to provide students with disabilities the most appropriate education, delivered in the least restrictive environment. An increasingly popular way to meet these requirements is in the CTE classroom. The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) (2002a, p. 2) reported that of Pennsylvania’s 2,142,718 primary and secondary school students, 11.2% were classified as students with a disability in the school year 2001-2002 (PDE, 2002a, p. C-1, 2002b, p. 2). However, also according to PDE, 19.5% of students enrolled in CTE programs had a disability (2003, p. 8). This percentage of enrollment resulted in 28.4% of the students aged 15-21 with a disability enrolled in Pennsylvania CTE programs in that same year (PDE 2002b, p. 2, 2003, p. 8), a frequency nearly double the rate for the secondary school population in general. This compared with 16.3% of the overall Pennsylvania secondary school population who attended a CTE program, a frequency 42% greater. (PDE, 2002a, p. C-1, 2003, p. 4).

Individual Education Programs (IEPs), a requirement under IDEA, are developed individually, independent of each other, and are developed to assist students with disabilities in pursuing their educational programs of their choice. Transition planning, a key component required at age 14, or sooner if appropriate (§ 34 CFR 300.29) plots the student’s school year toward measurable goals in post-secondary education, work independent living and leisure and recreation. Considering the extra attention that is given developing these plans and the mandate that they reflect individual interests and preferences, logically one could assume that placement in programs, such as CTE would be representative of the general school population, so the fact that so many more students with IEPs are choosing vocational education in Pennsylvania as their individual, independent preference is puzzling.

The National Assessment of Vocational Education Final Report to Congress (NAVE) (2004) briefly addressed this enrollment disparity, recalling that in the 1970’s and 1980’s legislation was targeted to provide extra support for these students. The report examined questions if these legislative efforts directly resulted in an over-representation of the disabled population and whether or not they are being well served. According to the NAVE Final Report to Congress: Volume I Summary and Recommendations (1994), comprehensive high schools that have access to area vocational schools (AVS) tend to send a disproportionate amount of students with disabilities to them. The report suggests that keeping enrollment numbers high, moving difficult-to-educate students out of the school are familiar practices (pp. 14-15). Many educators felt that this over representation of students with disabilities led to the perception that CTE programs were becoming the academic tracks for the disabled and otherwise less desirable students. The 2004 NAVE report, however, concludes the CTE programs are not becoming a dumping ground for students with disabilities, but that the students were served well by the programs preparing them for careers that pay well, and that are in demand. NAVE’s conclusion is that students with disabilities are not being counseled into CTE as a group, but are the fortunate recipients of a system that is preparing them well for the future world of work.

The Role of Special Education in CTE

Few people would argue the value of CTE as an option for students with disabilities (Grey & Herr, 1995, Harvey, 2003, Kraska, 1997). The writers of IDEA assert that “to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, in special classes, or separate schooling” (§ 34 CFR 300.550(b)). This practice, often referred to as inclusion means that students with special educational needs will receive the special education-related accommodations they need to be successful in the context of regular education classes whenever possible.

Considering the enrollment disparities that exist in the state of Pennsylvania, it is clear that CTE is a favored area of inclusion. The outcomes for student with disabilities are shown to be better for employment, earning and overall economic success if their secondary education includes CTE (Harvey, 2001). The question still remains, however, why are so many more students with disabilities choosing CTE as their choice of educational program?

Purposes and Objectives

The purpose of this study was to explore the sources of influence that are at least partly responsible for aiding students with their decisions to attend CTE. The overall goal was to determine if any of these influence sources could be identified as a more frequent source of encouragement for students with disabilities to attend CTE. An increased awareness of the counseling of students who enroll in CTE programs is essential in order to make sure that the counseling efforts made to all students are equitable. Research that can identify anomalies that occur in the broad spectrum of influence can assist in future legislation and educator and counselor training.

School Choice Decision Influence Sources

Considering that students are part of a community of people, including friends, family, school personnel and others, a valid discussion of the potential sources of career-decision related influence should be examined as well. A review of the literature indicated that there can be up to 12 categories of influence sources including people, experiences, and media/information sources.

Influential People

When making decisions about school and career transitions, many students rely on the opinions and information offered by their school counselors. Herr and Cramer (1996) stated that school career guidance can be conceived in three emphases-stimulating career development, providing treatment, and aiding placement (p. 411). They also listed the core competencies for school counselor guidance as identified by the American School Counselors Association including providing occupational and career information, linking community resources with guidance, encouraging educational training, goal setting, and decision-making related to a tentative career path, integrating academic and career skills in a school curriculum and reviewing and evaluating student action plans (p. 42).

Rossetti (1991) conducted a research study for the Ohio State University to determine why students were choosing not to enroll in a vocational program. Rossetti’s study found that several factors, including the influence that a significant other (such as a boyfriend or girlfriend) has over this process are significant in a person’s choice of educational and career paths.

Peers have a great effect on the choice of occupational paths, primarily because of the scope of their influence. Looking for peer acceptance and taking on the peer group’s values and perception of observations, the individual begins to construct similar views of new experiences and information. Holland (1997) also concluded that members of the same vocation have similar personalities, further illustrating the potential influence of friends and peers on career-related decisions and vocational choice (p. 10).

Several researchers (Roe, 1966; Young, 1994; Young, Friedson, & Dillabough, 1991) have reported on the importance and potential influence of the parent’s role in career-related decisions. Gray and Herr (1995) concur that the parents exert a great deal of influence when it comes to career-related decisions (p. 23). Young (1985) concluded that since parents are largely responsible for the socialization process that leads to eventual vocational choices…they wield the most influence (p. 5).

When considering educational and training decision making, counselors and educators should be the most equipped to deal with the dissemination of information. Otto (1987) stated that even with significant investments in career-related educational resources, teachers and counselors attempting to address the individual career counseling needs of their students are not effective. Herr stated, “while recruitment is alien to their goal, comprehensive career guidance programs do have a significant role to play in attracting or selecting students for vocational education programs” (p. 32). Principals and school administrators are important components in this enrollment disparity for the fact that a school administrator is required to be present and participate in IEP meetings.

Other adults should be considered to capture influences outside the previously defined variables. Rossetti (1991) included coaches, siblings, and other family members in her study. Wenstrom (1981) included the category “other adults” with specified relatives and acquaintances. Other possibilities are club leaders, religious leaders, or “step” family members.

Media and Information Sources

Electronic mass media includes television, radio, and internet exposure to information that might make a student decide to pursue a career or attend a vocational school. Maxwell, Cooper, and Biggs, (2000) found electronic mass media to have very little effect on the decision to attend CTE training programs, but the degree to which television and radio are present in modern culture their potential as an influence factor is difficult to ignore. Since reading is a skill learned by most students, it must be considered as a potential influence source. Reading is also a source of influence that does not communicate prejudicially, and should be relatively unaffected by disability status.

Although Haase, Reed, Bodden, and Winer’s (1979) research failed to show that occupational information makes the career choice process more effective it does help simplify it. Occupational information includes recruitment videos, and pamphlets from industrial, trade or government sources that offer employment and training information in that context.

Experiences

Maxwell et al. (2000) found in their study that previous work experience had the greatest influence on the decision to enter CTE training. Work experience can include formal and informal settings, from full-time employment to job shadowing and volunteer work. Maxwell et al. (2000) found in their study that local CTE training facilities reported that their recruitment efforts were effective and a mainstay of their enrollment efforts (p. 73).

Leisure experiences should also be considered because many students receive their first look at occupations through clubs, volunteering and projects associated with these activities.

Given that these decisions influence sources are available to every student, there should be some consistency in the rate at which each student is exposed to their counsel. To see if there are consistencies in the application of career counseling, this paper will examine each of these as individual variables to determine if students with disabilities are being counseled at a greater rate that students without disabilities to attend career and technical education.

Research Questions

The research questions for this study include:

  1. What are the influence sources that assist students with their decisions to attend CTE?
  2. Is there a relationship between CTE enrollment decision-related contacts with individual influence sources and disability status?
  3. Is there a relationship between CTE enrollment decision-related encouragement from individual influence sources and disability status?

Methodology

This research study is a descriptive, associative case study examining the differences in the counseling received by students with disabilities as compared to students without disabilities. The data collection tool was developed to measure a number of career and technology education (CTE) enrollment-related characteristics. The analyses of these data measured differences between two categories of CTE students: students with disabilities, and students without disabilities.

Target Population

The target population selected to study these questions was first-year CTE students enrolled in four Central Pennsylvania CTE schools in the spring of 2002 (N = 897). The rationale for the decision to use only first-year students was that they more recently experienced their school choice decision process than did students in the upper grades. This made the experiences more easily recalled and less subjected to several years of CTE-based career decision information.

The four schools selected to participate in this study represent diverse communities in the state of Pennsylvania. Schools were selected based upon several factors including geographical, economic and population to land mass ratios. Analyses of these factors rendered distinction between schools that allowed classifications as rural (SCHOOL 1), suburban (SCHOOL 2), urban (SCHOOL 3), and exurban (SCHOOL 4).

U.S. Census Bureau defines urban as densely settled areas containing at least 50,000 people; rural as all territory, population, and housing units located outside of urbanized areas and urban clusters. The areas surrounding the urban districts areas are further classified into regions referred to as subrurban and exurban. Suburban refers to those areas outside an urban area, from which a significant proportion of the population commutes. The suburban areas often have higher eductional levels, and higher incomes. Exurban refers to areas that are demographic anomolies displaying significant differences from their surrounding areas including differences in economic levels, educational levels and labor markets. Examples of exurban areas include small towns with colleges, military bases and other entities providing external revenue to the area. These community classifications were constructed using a variety of definitions (Clark, 1985; Davis, Nelson, & Drueker, 1994; Pennsylvania State Data Center, 2000, 2001; United States Bureau of the Census, 2000) and included several census, demographic, and geographic information resources.

Survey Instrument

A survey instrument was constructed by combining pertinent sections of three existing surveys. SRI International’s (August 2000) National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NTLS2) Parent Interview-Wave 1 was used to construct the general information section that includes demographic and future plan inquiries (p. 54). The High Schools That Work Student Survey (1998) developed by the Educational Testing Service was used to develop the trade area section of the instrument (pp. 8-9). The survey provided a base from which a comprehensive list of broad vocational trade areas was constructed. Rossetti’s (1991) survey instrument developed for The Ohio State University’s Department of Agricultural Education was the basis for the development of the section on career-related decision contact, encouragement and discouragement (pp. 108-110). Rossetti’s content validity was established through expert panel, and reliability was established through test-retest procedures and field-testing (pp. 23-24). Establishing validity and reliability of the instrument used for this study was accomplished through expert panel review and multiple pilot tests.

Survey Administration and Data Collection

Individual subjects for this study were identified from lists obtained from the registrar’s office of each of the four CTE schools for all first-year students. The survey administration was conducted during school hours in classrooms comprised of 15–35 students. Considering that approximately 17% of Pennsylvania CTE students have an IEP (Harvey, 2001), the researcher and a school-approved supervisor were prepared to provide any appropriate accommodations needed to complete the survey that were prescribed by the student’s IEP.

Identical introductions and instructions were presented before all survey administration periods (Dillman, 2000, p. 255). Instructions included an overhead projection example, explanation of key terms, measurement scales and their relative significance, and instructions for asking for help. The group interview method of survey administration is preferred for cost savings and low non-response error (Dillman, 2000, p. 253; Fowler, 1993, p. 66).

Variables

The dependent variables for this study are career decision-related influence source contact and career decision-related influence source encouragement. Career decision-related influence source contacts are those sources that the students reported having talked to or listened to about their decision to attend CTE. The students in the study indicated if they had contact with the individual sources. Career decision-related influence source encouragement was the reported perception of students who reported contact with influence sources regarding their decisions to attend CTE. Responses indicated if individual influence sources encouraged them in their decisions to attend CTE.

The major independent variable, the characteristic that might have an effect on the dependent variables, in this study is disability status.

Several control variables were selected and included school/community type, sex, current grade level, and age, and were analyzed in research objectives two and three.

Data Analysis

The purpose of this research was to conduct a descriptive comparative study of the populations of four Pennsylvania CTE schools. The data were first calculated odds ratios, commonly referred to as probability. Probability is the chance of one characteristic being present compared to another, referred to as the reference category. These probabilities were analyzed within the context of the control variables, other factors shown to have an effect on the dependent variable. These variables add to or subtract from the weight of the relationship so the regression-adjusted relationship can be examined with consideration of these other factors. Relationships were identified as being significant if the p values were equal to or less than .05. At this level, the null hypothesis is rejected.

Sample Validation

The study consisted of a random sample (n = 211) of first-year CTE students from four CTE schools in Central Pennsylvania (N = 897). The study was restricted to first-year students because their decision to attend a CTE program was more recent than students senior to them.

The sample proved representative of the population. A comparison of the percentages between known and reported factors yielded little variation. For example, participants in this study were 67% male and 33% female, compared with the population’s percentages of 66% male, and 34% female. Disability percentages for the sample were 26% disabled and 74% non-disabled, while the population had 28% disabled and 72% non-disabled.

Results

Influence Source Contact

Disability status was shown to be a reliable predictor of CTE decision-related contact with certain individual influence sources. The findings shown on Table 1 indicate that disabled students attending the schools in this study were more likely than their non-disabled peers to have had CTE decision-related contact with their significant others (23%), school teachers (24%), school principal/administrators (11%), previous work experience (15%), and electronic mass media (9%). There were no relationships between disability status and contact with the other influence sources identified including friends and peers, and parents/guardians, school counselors, other adults, literature and general reading, occupationally-related literature, recruitment/career fairs/guest speakers, and leisure experiences.

Three of the control variables mentioned in the variable section also had an effect on CTE enrollment decision-related contact. School/ community type was a relevant factor in significant other contact and school teacher contact. Students from the suburban school (SCHOOL 2) were more likely, and students from the urban school (SCHOOL 3) were less likely to report contact with a significant other than students from the other schools in this study. Students from the exurban school (SCHOOL 4) reported a higher probability of teacher contact than the other schools.

Influence Source Encouragement

There was a significant difference between disabled and non-disabled CTE students who reported CTE enrollment decision-related encouragement from several sources of career-related influence. As Table 2 shows, encouragement from significant others (21%) and school teachers (18%). Other adults, however, were reported to encourage non-disabled students to attend CTE course at a greater rate (21%). There were no relationships between disability status and encouragement from friends and peers, parents/guardians, school counselors, school principal/ administrators, literature and general reading, electronic mass media, occupationally-related literature, previous work experience, recruitment/career fairs/guest speakers, and leisure experiences.

Examination of the control variables found school/community type to be related to encouragement from significant others and school teachers. Students attending urban and suburban schools were found to be less likely to have been encouraged by a significant other to attend a CTE program than the other schools in this study. Students from rural school were more likely than students from the other schools in this study to report having been encouraged by a significant other to attend a CTE school. Students attending exurban school were found to be less likely to have received from school teachers enrollment-related encouragement to attend a CTE program than students from other schools in this study.

Discussion and Implications

There are relationships between disability status and CTE enrollment. The most general and obvious of these relationships is evident in Harvey’s (2001, 2003) examination of the enrollment disparity that exists in the comparison of disability rates of all Pennsylvania school children (10.7%) with disability rates within the CTE school system (17.5-17.8%). This study sought to discover what the factors are that contribute to this disparity. Results of the review of related literature, review of federal policy, and the analysis of the data collected in this study indicate that the common contributors to this enrollment phenomenon in the four schools included in this study are the students, the school systems, the IEP development process and the CTE schools.

Career maturity is crucial at the time of making decisions about educational plans. Gray (1999) remarked that students should have identified one or more career interests by the 10th grade. This identification should come after an objective evaluation of preferences, aptitudes and labor market projections. This identification leads to the student developing a focus and a direction, which are the most important traits associated with academic success (pp. 6-7). Therefore, the student’s role in this process is to reflect on preferences and abilities, and apply these traits to the existing and predictable future labor market.

To be sure, there are students who are able to do this, who are focused and ready to make commitments to academic paths toward academic and career-related success, but there are other students who are not so sure of the path they will take. Many of these students have not given their post-secondary school future much thought. It is the school system’s responsibility to develop the transition plan in cooperation with the student, parents and other groups or individuals providing services.

This study shows that school teachers and school administrators involved with the four schools participating in this study were significantly more likely to have CTE enrollment decision-related contact with disabled students than non-disabled students. This is a logical conclusion given the requirement that the student’s teachers and school principal/administrator attend the meeting at which the IEP is discussed and signed, but it also the point at which the school placement decisions are made. Furthermore, this study also shows that school teachers were significantly more likely to encourage students with disabilities to attend a CTE program than their disabled peers.

School-related personnel have an inherent interest maintaining CTE program decision related-contact with disabled students. As members of the IEP team, they will need to make recommendations and eventually participate in developing the IEP including the transition plan that essentially defines the educational placement for the next school year in accordance with the plan. On the surface, it may seem reasonable that school teachers believe that students with disabilities are better served in CTE programs. It is logical that if the disabled student is experiencing difficulty in the academic classroom, perhaps CTE is what the student needs.

Given the findings of this study that students with disabilities are significantly more likely to be encourages to attend CTE than students without disabilities, the assumption is that students with disabilities are better served in CTE as a group. Although many disabled students do well in CTE, the IEP process should ensure that students have equal access to any educational program available. Many IEP accommodations call for highly structured classrooms, access to quiet areas on demand, and other accommodations otherwise designed for traditional classroom settings. Many of the difficulties reported by Salend and Garrick-Duhaney (1999) to be common among teachers in inclusive academic classes (lack of training, staffing or materials) are intensified in a CTE classroom.

A logical question to be asked is where and when is the reported CTE enrollment decision-related contact and encouragement happening? Another finding of this study indicates that students with disabilities enrolled at the four schools in this study had a significantly higher probability of deciding to attend CTE after the age of 14. This was the point at which the IEP requires a transition plan to be written, including the selection of courses of study. This was also the point at which teachers and principal/administrators are required to provide transition planning decision-related contact and encouragement.

Recommendations

With so much riding on the decisions made during the development of transition plans, and school/academic track choice, it is imperative that students with disabilities be made aware of all the academic choices available. Practitioners should make certain that a student with a disability is educated on all of the possible educational opportunities available to them, including CTE options. Counseling should be free from bias and assistance given to help the student choose a career and/or educational path based upon their individual interests, aptitude and the occupational opportunities available in the area of interest. Career counseling activities can be integrated in to all courses of study, allowing students to use their knowledge, skills and attitudes in authentic instructional activities and assessments.

Counselors and other educators should ensure that the IEP transition planning process engages the student in activities and classes that activate the career maturity they need to make informed decisions. Super developed the idea that a person needed to develop and integrate an acceptable concept of oneself and apply that concept to the world of work. It is through the evaluation of this concept against the reality of world that the reality of self is realized (Herr & Cramer, 1996, p. 6). This is the basis of transition planning. Starting from the point of a clear vision statement, transition goals in the four major areas including post-secondary education, work, leisure and independent living should provide ample opportunities to allow the student to apply self-understanding to the real world. The more of these activities that a student experiences, the better formed their understanding of the world, and the world of work is likely to be.

Lastly, the influence by the individual influence sources needs to be examined more closely. In considering educational and training decision making, counselors and educators should be the most equipped to deal with the dissemination of information. Otto (1987) stated that even with significant investments in career-related educational resources, teachers and counselors attempting to address the individual career counseling needs of their students are not effective. Much of the blame might rest on the estimated 300:1 ratio of students to counselors, resulting in “one hour per-student per-year of career counseling” (p. 37). Given inadequate staffing allotment for counselors, there is a need for other influence sources to become the primary career information sources. Teachers, administrators and parents should take it upon themselves to become better informed about the career options available, and make sure that their educational activities are reflective of the real world.

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