The National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of
Education Sciences has released the report “New Indicators of
Career/Technical Education Coursetaking: Class of 2005.”

This Statistics in Brief uses data from the 2005 High School Transcript
Study (HSTS) to examine the career/technical education (CTE)
coursetaking of
public high school graduates using new indicators of participation.
These
indicators examine the extent to which students participate in CTE and
in
specific occupational areas (such as agriculture and business) broadly
(many
students earning credits) versus deeply (many credits earned by
participating students).

First, the brief looks at student participation across the three main
CTE
curriculum areas (family and consumer sciences education, general labor
market preparation, and occupational education). Second, the brief looks
at
coursetaking within occupational areas, including occupational
concentration. Finally, the brief examines coursetaking across
occupational
areas, including the areas that students tend to combine.

Findings indicate that high school graduates’ use of the CTE curriculum
is
generally broad rather than narrow in the sense that most (70 percent)
earn
credits in both occupational education and either general labor market
preparation or family and consumer sciences education, and most (58
percent)
earn credits in more than one occupational area. Five occupational areas
had
the broadest participation (i.e., had the greatest number of graduates
earning credits in the area): business; communications and design;
manufacturing, repair, and transportation; consumer and culinary
services;
and computer and information sciences). The occupational areas with the
deepest levels of participation were manufacturing, repair, and
transportation; agriculture and natural resources; health sciences; and
construction and architecture. Finally, some occupational areas were
more
likely than others to be taken together. For example, marketing
coursetakers
were more likely than other occupational !
coursetakers to earn credits in business.

To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009038

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