Using Return on Investment (ROI) and Other Related Tools: Guidelines for Measuring Career and Technical Education (CTE) Internal Efficiency and External Effectiveness

National Research Center for Career and Technical Education. University of Louisville, College of Education and Human Development, Louisville, KY 40292. Tel: 877-372-2283; Tel: 502-852-4727; Fax: 502-852-3308; e-mail: [email protected] Web site: http://www.nrccte.org

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Office of Vocational and Adult Education (ED)

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Career Education; Technical Education; Vocational Education; Cost Effectiveness; Program Effectiveness; Labor Force Development; Educational Legislation; Federal Legislation; Accountability; Program Evaluation; Barriers; Evaluation Methods; Resource Allocation; Secondary Education; Postsecondary Education

Alabama; Alaska; California; Connecticut; Florida; Georgia; Idaho; Indiana; Kansas; Kentucky; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; New Mexico; New York; Oklahoma; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; Utah; Virginia; Washington; Wisconsin

Career and technical education (CTE) is increasingly seen as a major potential contributor to the recovery of the U.S. economy. However, the effectiveness and impact of the current Carl D. Perkins Act (otherwise known as Perkins IV) that governs CTE are unclear. Is the federal investment in CTE paying off? To answer this, we need to establish the internal efficiency of CTE by comparing the costs and benefits of implementing CTE using Perkins funds at different enterprise levels. A second question is whether CTE has a measurable impact beyond the enterprise level at which it is being implemented. This question focuses on external effectiveness. Answering these questions may put to rest the frequently held notion that CTE--and by association Perkins IV--has been largely ineffective in affecting U.S. education and workforce development (Duncan, 2011). As shorthand, this report will refer to the measurement of the internal efficiency and external effectiveness of Perkins IV and CTE as the return on investment (ROI) for CTE; the report will also describe other related tools that generally fall under the broader rubric of program evaluation (Priest, 2001). The following are appended: (1) Examples of ROI Studies; (2) Program of Study Design Framework and Components; and (3) Connecting the 10 POS Components.

As Provided

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2017

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