Title: Secondary, Post-Secondary, and Labor Market Effects of Career and Technical Education in Baltimore City Public Schools
Date and Time: Friday, Dec. 15, noon-1 p.m. Eastern
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RSVP: Jamese Dixon-Bobbitt via email: jamese.dixon-bobbitt@maryland.gov
Presentation Abstract: There is a growing body of empirical research into the efficacy of career and technical education (CTE) participation in high school in the United States. However, little of that work can be identified as truly causal, nor has much of this prior work empirically explored the theoretical mechanisms of change linked with CTE participation. This research used a unique selection process into CTE centers within Baltimore City Public Schools. Students who were offered enrollment in a selective admissions CTE center were compared to students who were offered enrollment in non-selective high schools. The methodological approach — a fuzzy regression discontinuity design — is used because students close to either side of the admissions cutoff are likely similar except for the offer of admissions. This is due to CTE programs in these schools being oversubscribed, and therefore, many students who were eligible according to published cut-scores did not receive an admissions offer. Therefore, the results offer causal evidence on the benefits and mechanisms of CTE participation on secondary education, post-secondary enrollment/persistence, and labor market outcomes.
Presenters: Drs. Marc Stein, Rachel Durham, Jay Plasman, and Zyrashae Smith-Onyewu
About the Presenters
Marc L. Stein, PhD, is the executive director of The CoLab at Improving Education. The CoLab is an applied research and development collaboratory working on the creation of practical tools and methods to assist organizations in conducting educational continuous quality improvement projects. Prior to co-founding The CoLab, Stein was the managing director of the Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC) and was an associate professor of education policy at Johns Hopkins University. His research has been funded by organizations such as the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Abell Foundation, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation and has appeared in journals such as Educational Researcher, American Education Research Journal, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, American Journal of Education, and Urban Education. He holds a PhD in education leadership and policy studies from Vanderbilt University.
Rachel E. Durham, PhD, is an associate professor in the School of Education at Notre Dame of Maryland University and a senior fellow with the Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC). With a background in sociology of education, education policy, and demography, her research focuses on graduates’ transition to adulthood, career and college readiness, community schools, and research-practice partnerships. She holds a PhD in sociology and demography from Pennsylvania State University.
Jay Plasman, PhD, is an assistant professor in the workforce development and education program housed in the College of Education and Human Ecology’s Department of Educational Studies at Ohio State University. Plasman serves as an associate editor for the International Journal of Training and Development. His research focuses broadly on education policy as it relates to promoting college and career readiness through career and technical education. His work in CTE examines both traditional outcomes such as high school completion, post-secondary education participation, and labor market benefits as well as nontraditional benefits of career and technical education, including 21st-century skill development, engagement, and criminal behavior. Plasman’s work has appeared in well-respected journals such as Educational Researcher, American Educational Research Journal, and Teachers College Record. He holds a PhD in education policy, leadership, and methodology from the University of California Santa Barbara.
Zyrashae Smith-Onyewu, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Florida College of Education. Her research focuses on examining college access for minoritized and low-income students. She holds a PhD and MEd from the Johns Hopkins University School of Education and a BS in psychology from Morgan State University.