Rapid changes in the workplace, including progress in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, make the contribution of career and technical education more significant than ever. In the fifth edition of his foundational text, Dr. Gordon is joined by new coauthor Deanna Schultz. Continued focus on the history, philosophy, structure, and evolution of career and technical education highlights in-depth coverage on emerging trends relevant to all areas of the field. The pedagogical structure of the text presents abundant information in an accessible format. The authors’ introduction to the origins of and early leadership in CTE lays the groundwork for later discussions of representation of women and underrepresented minorities in the discipline, as well as the implications of a multigenerational workforce and global community on the way educational programs are designed for career readiness. In addition to comprehensive updates, this edition features a section exploring work-based learning, information on current legislation, and a new chapter on community and technical colleges.

Definitive Readings in the History, Philosophy, Theories and Practice of Career and Technical Education brings together definitive writings on CTE by leading figures and by contemporary thinkers in the history, philosophy, practice and theories of the field. Filling a much needed void in existing literature, this book equips scholars and practitioners with knowledge, skills, and attitudes to succeed in the field of CTE.

Severe economic depression and the difficulty to acquire employment with adequate income have significant impact on a nation’s social welfare. The need to provide ample educational opportunities is more imperative than ever, particularly in emerging economies. Technical Education and Vocational Training in Developing Nations is a comprehensive reference source for the latest literature on optimizing the implementation of curriculum development and instructional design strategies for technical and vocational education. Featuring innovative coverage across a range of relevant topics, such as curriculum deficiency, teacher competencies, and accessible learning, this book is ideally designed for policy makers, academicians, researchers, advanced-level students, technology developers, and educators interested in the improvement of professional learning programs.

Selected by the American School Board Journal as a “Must Read” book when it was first published and named one of 60 “Books of the Century” by the University of South Carolina Museum of Education for its influence on American education, this provocative, carefully documented work shows how tracking—the system of grouping students for instruction on the basis of ability—reflects the class and racial inequalities of American society and helps to perpetuate them. For this new edition, Jeannie Oakes has added a new Preface and a new final chapter in which she discusses the “tracking wars” of the last twenty years, wars in which Keeping Track has played a central role. From reviews of the first edition:“Should be read by anyone who wishes to improve schools.”—M. Donald Thomas, American School Board Journal“[This] engaging [book] . . . has had an influence on educational thought and policy that few works of social science ever achieve.”—Tom Loveless in The Tracking Wars“Should be read by teachers, administrators, school board members, and parents.”—Georgia Lewis, Childhood Education“Valuable. . . . No one interested in the topic can afford not to attend to it.”—Kenneth A. Strike, Teachers College Record

From Katherine Newman, award-winning author of No Shame in My Game, and sociologist Hella Winston, a sharp and irrefutable call to reenergize this nation's long-neglected system of vocational training After decades of off-shoring and downsizing that have left blue collar workers obsolete and stranded, the United States is now on the verge of an industrial renaissance. But we don't have a skilled enough labor pool to fill the positions that will be created, which are in many cases technically demanding and require specialized skills. A decades-long series of idealistic educational policies with the expressed goal of getting every student to go to college has left a generation of potential workers out of the system. Touted as a progressive, egalitarian institution providing opportunity even to those with the greatest need, the American secondary school system has in fact deepened existing inequalities. We can do better, argue acclaimed sociologists Katherine Newman and Hella Winston. Taking a page from the successful experience of countries like Germany and Austria, where youth unemployment is a mere 7%, they call for a radical reevaluation of the idea of vocational training, long discredited as an instrument of tracking. The United States can prepare a new, high-performance labor force if we revamp our school system to value industry apprenticeship and rigorous technical education. By doing so, we will not only be able to meet the growing demand for skilled employees in dozens of sectors where employers decry the absence of well trained workers -- we will make the American Dream accessible to all.

Skilled technical occupationsâ€"defined as occupations that require a high level of knowledge in a technical domain but do not require a bachelor's degree for entryâ€"are a key component of the U.S. economy. In response to globalization and advances in science and technology, American firms are demanding workers with greater proficiency in literacy and numeracy, as well as strong interpersonal, technical, and problem-solving skills. However, employer surveys and industry and government reports have raised concerns that the nation may not have an adequate supply of skilled technical workers to achieve its competitiveness and economic growth objectives. In response to the broader need for policy information and advice, Building America's Skilled Technical Workforce examines the coverage, effectiveness, flexibility, and coordination of the policies and various programs that prepare Americans for skilled technical jobs. This report provides action-oriented recommendations for improving the American system of technical education, training, and certification.

This book examines how industry-desired employability skills—or “soft skills”—are taught and learned in high school career and technical education (CTE) engineering and engineering technology programs. Identifying, recruiting, and keeping workers with strong personal and interpersonal skills is a constant challenge for STEM employers who need to hire young workers to replace an aging technical workforce. To answer the call, teachers interviewed explained that they maintain regimented daily classroom routines that include individual and small group hands-on activities and projects. In turn, their students explain learning personal responsibility, work ethic, teamwork, leadership, conflict management, and social skills in the classroom. Narratives from the workforce and classroom interweave to put employability skills frameworks into action.

This book examines the concept of the fourth industrial revolution and its potential impact on vocational education and training. Broadly located in a framework rooted in critical/radical theory, the book argues that the affordance of technologies surrounding the fourth industrial revolution are constrained by their location within a neoliberal, if not capitalist, logic. Thus, the impact of this revolution will be experienced differently across European regions as well as low and middle income economies. In order to break this impasse, this book calls for a politics based on non-reformist reforms, premised on an aspiration towards a socially just society that transcends capitalism.

Partitioning schools : federal vocational policy, tracking, and the rise of twentieth-century dogmas / Michael Thier, Joshua Fitzgerald, and Paul Beach -- Fitted to serve their community : race and power at penn school and the transition to vocational education / Mary-Lou Breitborde -- A school of their own : movements to provide industrial education in Columbus, Georgia for marginalized students on both sides of the color line / Lauren Yarnell Bradshaw -- Disentangling the triumph of vocationalism from the institutionalization of vocational education : a reexamination of the Douglas Commission report, social efficiency, and the Cooley controversy / Stephen Provasnik -- More than mere "book-learning" : democracy and vocational -- Education in the territory of Hawai'i, 1900-1959 / Michelle M.K. Morgan -- The give and take of vocationalism at the local level : administrative and student perspectives on Milwaukee's interwar high schools / Kyle P. Steele -- Striving for a unity of opposites : the general education movement, vocationalism, and secondary education / Kevin S. Zayed -- Trending toward "new vocationalism" in college and career readiness definitions / Matthew J. Benus and Catherine L. Livesay -- Cutting-edge (and dull) paths forward : accountability and career and technical education under the Every Student Succeeds Act / Paul Beach, Michael Thier, Joshua Fitzgerald, and Christine M.T. Pitts