Preparing the Workforce of Tomorrow: A Conceptual Framework for Career and Technical Education

This paper examines issues related to the development of a conceptual framework for public career and technical education (CTE) in the United States of America (USA). A viable framework would reflect the collective principles of the CTE profession and be continually refined and improved. The paper begins with a clarification of the parameters of a conceptual framework. A brief review of historical traditions and views towards vocational education and the impact of the educational reform efforts of the 1980s and 1990s on vocational education, sets the context for the following discussion. The author then uses the development of a conceptual framework as a means to convey critical issues, both current and future, that affect secondary and postsecondary CTE alike. These issues are associated with curriculum, instructional delivery options, student assessment, career and technical education clientele, and program evaluation. A tentative conceptual framework is proposed, based on available information, and the implications of this framework for CTE teacher preparation programs is discussed.