How can educators build and sustain high quality career and technical programs in an economically struggling rural setting?

Abstract

As student populations continue to decline in many rural schools, the threat of down sizing and reducing programs is evident. The goal of this project is to assist Career and Technical Educators (CTE) in building and sustaining high quality programs in a small school setting (student populations less than 800). Under the No Child Left Behind Act, options for parents to choose other public schools for their children if the current school is in need of improvement or personal preference. My research will also explain the connection between school choice options and course electives. The law also assists in funding some services for children in private schools or charter schools (No Child Left Behind, Choosing a School For Your Child 2009). Schools, with student populations less than 800, across the state of Wisconsin are under threat of losing their footing to stay financially sustainable and continue to offer a variety of CTE courses. Many vocational teachers struggle to keep their courses looking attractive enough to remain in the educational system. The purposes of this project will then assist CTE instructors on marketing and sustaining their programs. Through this project we surveyed 10 students from the small school setting to determine the importance of CTE programs for preparing them for life after high school. Their results have weighed towards the importance of CTE programs remaining in the small school atmosphere. This project used surveys with questions specific to 3 core groups: Students, administrators, and CTE teachers. Each group is in association with a school of less than 800 students K-12. Surveys were given out on a random basis and collected along with informed consent forms that stated voluntary involvement and signatures from all participants and parents when the participant was less than 18 years of age.