National Evaluation of Career and Technical Education under Perkins V (NECTEP)
The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) reauthorized the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, which funds state agencies that in turn provide grants to school districts and postsecondary institutions to implement career and technical education (CTE). The new law included some changes designed to improve the delivery and effectiveness of CTE.
What is the NECTEP?
One of the requirements of Perkins V is for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education to carry out the National Evaluation of CTE under Perkins V (NECTEP), a series of independently-conducted evaluation and research activities to assess CTE programs under Perkins V. The NECTEP will address five main research questions:
- To what extent and how does current CTE implementation reflect the priorities and goals of Perkins V?
- What challenges do state agencies and local grantees face in administering and delivering CTE services, particularly the newly introduced provisions in Perkins V?
- In what important ways has CTE implementation evolved since Perkins IV?
- How are CTE participation and outcomes evolving?
- How effective are particular strategies and practices allowable under Perkins V in improving student outcomes?
The Evaluation
AIR and its partners will design and execute the NECTEP, working with IES to collect and analyze data from a variety of sources to evaluate CTE under the new law. To produce a comprehensive assessment of CTE, the NECTEP includes the following key evaluation components:
- An analysis of Perkins V state implementation plans
- Surveys of state secondary and postsecondary CTE directors
- A nationally-representative survey of local education agencies
- Analyses of extant data including from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the High School Transcript Study, Perkins financial and performance data, and labor market data
- Evidence reviews of existing experimental studies of CTE strategies and IES practice guides
