A new research brief makes the case that improving data collection on Career and Technical Education pathways (CTE) can help standardize goals and metrics, maximize employment, and minimize inequities for learners and workers who too often get left behind.
The brief titled, “Equity at the Center: How Federal Policymakers Can Support Diverse Student Populations in CTE Pathways Through High-Quality Data,” was produced by Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and Southeast Asia Resource Center (SEARAC).
The research brief points out that CTE pathways’ current data systems face several challenges, limiting their effectiveness for students, educators, policymakers, and employers. The research notes that data collection is disjointed, siloed across agencies, lacks system-wide standards, and often excludes underserved ethnic subpopulations. The authors of the brief argue that high-quality data would help identify overlooked communities of color, such as Afro Latinos, Southeast Asian Americans, and undocumented or newcomer immigrants.
Dr. Kayla C. Elliott
“High-quality data is key to building a cohesive federal CTE pathways system. These data must be accurate, complete, comprehensive, disaggregated, and timely,” said Dr. Kayla C. Elliott, director of Workforce Policy at the Joint Center and issue brief co-author. “Quality data can allow stakeholders and policymakers to see which programs are equitably serving, supporting, and retaining students, and which programs aren't. Improving how data is collected will assist in identifying communities of color who are lost or inaccessible in the current data collection climate, especially Afro Latino, Southeast Asian American, and immigrant students.”
Elliott said that policymakers must address these inequities by requesting more granular data collection.
“Students of color, including Southeast Asian American (SEAA) students, must have equitable access to the full spectrum of education options,” said Natalie Truong, associate director of Education Policy at SEARAC and issue brief co-author. “But to add to the unjust history of school systems tracking students of color into programs that prevent them from obtaining higher wage jobs, emerging research from SEARAC shows that high-quality CTE pathways are inaccessible to SEAA communities, denying our students important opportunities for specialized training and life-changing careers.”
Truong said that marginalized communities must be seen in the data.
