Factors Impacting the Career and Technical Education Teacher Pipeline in Midwest States

Abstract

There is a gap in the supply and demand for career and technical educators. This results in reduced opportunities for participation in CTE courses. Examining CTE teacher supply and demand across the nation is a challenge because of this lack of comprehensive data. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the systems and structures that exist for data collection related to CTE teacher education in Midwest states, as well as considering the ways in which data sources and systems are used to address the issue of teacher supply and demand. In this qualitative study, the researcher interviewed individuals related to CTE in Illinois and Wisconsin to investigate the data systems and structures they interact with to recruit students to teacher preparation programs, retain teacher candidates in preparation programs and follow individuals throughout their career. This study found that there are formal and informal data systems in place which impact the CTE teacher pipeline, and components of these systems are effective in informing CTE teacher supply and demand. Barriers to accessing or using data also exist within the systems, preventing individuals from using them to inform teacher supply and demand. There are stages in a teacher’s career where targeted interventions or supports could retain teachers in the pipeline, but without available comprehensive supply and demand data there is reduced capacity to do this. This study calls for further research to identify organizations who have the capacity to collect and compile data that individuals in this study indicated they desired.