CTER v32n1 - Editor's Note

Editor’s Note

James P. Greenan
Purdue University

The Association for Career and Technical Education Research ( ACTER ) was founded in 1966 under the original name, the American Vocational Education Research Association ( AVERA ). The Association began publishing its Journal, Career and Technical Education Research ( CTER ) in 1976 under the name, the Journal of Vocational Education Research ( JVER ). Since the genesis of the Association and its Journal, the field has experienced tremendous growth and expansion of its research and conceptual knowledge base. Further, the field has been led (and continues to be led) by numerous dedicated professionals who are committed to the conduct, promotion, and dissemination of research in Career and Technical Education (CTE). It is not possible to name all of these individuals within the current space limitations. However, early in my career, I was fortunate to have worked with and been mentored by some of the founders and pioneers of the ACTER , namely George H. Copa, Jerome Moss, Brandon B. Smith, and Gordon I. Swanson. They were outstanding teachers, researchers, and role models. They also conveyed the importance of professionalism, commitment, dedication, and excellence. Accordingly, when colleagues asked me to consider accepting the nomination as Editor of CTER , I felt a responsibility to serve and contribute to the tradition of excellence that is characteristic of the ACTER and CTER . Similarly, I call on our colleagues to serve and contribute to excellence in the Association and Journal in a variety of capacities.

I am honored to serve as Editor of CTER for Volumes 32 and 33. I am also pleased to introduce Lisa A. Neuenschwander as Assistant to Editor from Purdue University. James M. Brown at the University of Minnesota will serve as Associate Editor, and Curtis R. Friedel from Louisiana State University, will serve as Managing Editor. Additionally, I will be working with an Editorial Board and field reviewers that represent colleagues with excellent dedication and talents. I wish to thank Steven R. Aragon (former CTER Editor) and David Ortner (former Assistant to Editor) for helping to ensure a smooth and successful transition between Editors and institutions. On behalf of the Editorial staff and Editorial Board, I welcome you to Volume 32, Issue 1.

Jack Elliot’s 2006 ACTER Presidential Address builds a strong argument that CTE is the premier educational delivery system in the world. He makes several historical, sociological, economic, political, and legislative points to make his case. Elliot stresses the impact CTE can and does make in teaching academics using integrative methodologies and, thereby, enhancing learner achievement. Elliot’s argument resonates well with contemporary curricular and instructional issues confronting CTE.

Sang Hoon Bae, Kenneth Gray, and Georgia Yeager focus on a study that compares CTE participants and non-CTE participants on state-mandated math and reading proficiency tests. Specifically, the questions posited include: (a) Is there a statistically significant difference between CTE students’ performance on state-mandated 11 ^th -grade math and reading proficiency tests and a comparison group of non-CTE students with similar math proficiency scores in the 8 ^th -grade, and (b) Is student performance on an 11 ^th -grade state-mandated proficiency test associated with math course-taking patterns prior to enrollment in CTE? A strong conceptual framework that is well supported by theory and previous research guided the study.

Bradley Greiman, Robert Torres, Scott Burris, and Tracy Kitchel compared two different formal mentoring relationships based on the perceptions of beginning teachers regarding their dyadic interactions. The study was predicated on a theoretical framework of Kram’s mentor role theory and Byrne’s similarity-attraction paradigm. The problem focused on the interaction that two cohorts of beginning teachers had either with formal mentors located in their school, or teachers who served as formal mentors and were located in neighboring schools. The study contributes to the knowledge base regarding the success and retention of beginning CTE teachers.

Travis Park and Ed Osborne examined effective classroom strategies to improve reading comprehension skills. The major research question for the study was, “How can career and technical education teachers use their instruction to improve students’ comprehension of subject matter and motivation to read, in order to contribute to students’ overall academic achievement?” The conceptual framework was based on a sound sociocultural theory of reading. The study has strong implications for reading achievement and improvement in CTE.

Finally, in Volume 31, Issue 3, the lead article was entitled, “Inside the Black Box: Exploring the Value Added by Career and Technical Student Organizations to Students’ High School Experience.” Please note that the following references were omitted from the article:

Hansen, D. M., & Larson, R. (2002). The Youth Experience Survey (YES) 1.0: Instrument development and testing. Unpublished Manuscript, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Perry, N. E., Turner, J. C., & Meyer, D. K. (2006). Classrooms as contexts for motivating learning. In P. A. Alexander, & P. H. Winne (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (pp. 327-348). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

JPG