Walt Ecton shares his expertise on Career Technical Education programs with Education Week
Lack of facilities, funding, and teachers pose challenges for districts, yet Ecton says strong CTE programs can be a terrific motivation for students who are struggling.
In a feature in Education Week on the successful Career Technical Education (CTE) program run by the Intermediate School District in Tomball, Texas, Assistant Professor Walt Ecton weighed in with emergent research in this developing area of education.
With the rare opportunity to purchase property from a bankrupt oil field-services company, Superintendent Dr. Martha Salazar-Zamora has brought to life a vision for what CTE can offer the Tomball ISD, reports Education Week. The remarkable transformation of space has allowed the district to offer 28 career pathways in its CTE program.
Although he is not personally familiar with the program in Tomball, Ecton provides insight into the common challenges districts face when hoping to implement CTE programs: lack of space, funding, and teachers. Remarkably, the Tomball ISD program has managed to overcome these road blocks.
Successful CTE programs offer pathways that have clear connections to careers after high school, Ecton tells Education Week. He also says that high-quality programs have strong relationships with local industry and employers, and evolve to stay aligned with workforce needs as the economy changes.
“Students do better when they know what outcome they’re working toward,” says Ecton. “I think especially for students who are struggling to figure out where they see themselves in the future, CTE can be really useful.”