What We Know About the Impact of Career and Technical Education - A Systematic Review of the Research

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by pop out

A systematic review evaluates the causal impact of career and technical education (CTE) on student outcomes across multiple CTE program types. The report synthesizes evidence collected over roughly the past 20 years, addressing the research questions guiding the review, defining outcome domains, and summarizing key findings and evidence gaps. It also examines factors that may explain heterogeneity in effects, using study inclusion aligned with WWC standards and presenting effect size estimates for student outcomes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages35

Reading Time1 h 28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

What Is CTE?

Research Questions Driving This Review

Outcome Domains

Findings

Types of CTE Programs Represented in the Studies

Impacts of CTE on Student Outcomes

Evidence Gaps

Identifying Factors That May Affect the Heterogeneity of Effects

Conclusion

References

Appendix. Methods for the Systematic Evidence Review

What We Know About the Impact of Career and Technical Education: A Systematic Review of the Research APRIL 2024 Jim Lindsay | Katherine Hughes | Shaun M. Dougherty | Kelly Reese | Megha Joshi April 2024 (revised) Authors: Jim Lindsay, Katherine Hughes, Kelly Reese, and Megan Joshi, American Institutes for Research; and Shaun M. Dougherty, Boston College The work of the CTE Research Network Lead is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education with funds provided under the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act through Grant R305N180005 to the American Institutes for Research (AIR) . The content of this publication and the opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. This report is in the public domain. While permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, it should be cited as: Lindsay, J. , Hughes, K. , Dougherty, S. M. , Reese, K. , & Joshi, M. (2024) . What we know about the impact of career and technical education: A systematic review of the research. American Institutes for Research, Career and Technical Education Research Network. This report was updated from the original that was released March 2024. Minor corrections were made to the impact estimates presented in Table 1; the overall findings were not dramatically changed. This report is available on the CTE Research Network website at [https://cteresearchnetwork.org/resources/2024-](https://cteresearchnetwork.org/resources/2024-)[systematic-review](systematic-review.)[.](systematic-review.) Acknowledgments We would like to thank our AIR colleagues who served as screeners and WWC reviewers and participated in identifying relevant studies that meet WWC standards: Brenda Arellano, Jill Battal, Bharati Belwalkar, Sana Fatima, Oshin Khachikan, Colleen McLelland, Corey Savage, and Yuan Zhang. We also express our appreciation for the reviewers whose comments improved this report: Roddy Theobald and Ryan Williams of AIR, along with the members of the Career and Technical Education Research Network study teams and advisory board who provided feedback on this project. Finally, we appreciate the support and guidance of our IES program officer, Corinne Alfeld, and of Braden Goetz at OCTAE. Contents Page Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 What Is CTE? .............................................................................................................................2 Research Questions Driving This Review...................................................................................4 Outcome Domains ......................................................................................................................6 Findings ......................................................................................................................................7 Types of CTE Programs Represented in the Studies .............................................................7 Impacts of CTE on Student Outcomes ....................................................................................8 Evidence Gaps...................................................................................................................... 10 Identifying Factors That May Affect the Heterogeneity of Effects.......................................... 11 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 12 References ............................................................................................................................... 13 Appendix. Methods for the Systematic Evidenc

FAQs

What is the purpose of this systematic review of CTE research?

The review synthesizes causal evidence on the impact of career and technical education on student outcomes and organizes findings, outcome domains, and evidence gaps to inform policy and practice.

How does the report address research questions and outcome domains?

It identifies the research questions driving the review and maps evidence to defined outcome domains, then summarizes results and effect size estimates across included studies.

What does the report say about evidence gaps and heterogeneity of effects?

The report highlights gaps in evidence regarding CTE effects and identifies factors that may help explain why impacts vary across studies and program contexts.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by pop out