Vocational Teacher Pipeline: How Academically Well-Prepared is the Next Generation of Vocational Teachers. National Assessment of Vocational Education

摘要

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998, known as Perkins III, attempted to guide secondary vocational programs in new directions by strengthening the emphasis on academics in vocational education and incorporating the attainment of state academic standards as a performance measure for vocational programs. The policy objectives of Perkins III potentially require new roles and skills for vocational teachers, both those seeking entry into the profession and those already employed. The purpose of this paper is to examine how well-prepared vocational educators are to teach courses and programs that reflect the emphasis on academic skills in the Perkins III legislation. The paper examines the academic skills and pedagogical knowledge of elementary, secondary and secondary vocational candidates to assess how well-prepared vocational candidates are to support and reinforce students' acquisition of academic skills. The study includes an analysis of (1) the demographic and academic characteristics of teacher candidates; and (2) the academic skills and professional knowledge of teacher candidates as measured by reading, writing, mathematics and pedagogical knowledge test scores on the Praxis assessments.