TDNet Discover

The purpose of this capstone is to investigate the need for career and technical education programs for students at Newport High School. For the utility of this study, the need for more career and technical education pathways is generally defined as combining academic core studies to courses that are designed for a specific career field to gain hands-on and real-world experience in that field. The theory guiding this study is Watson’s behaviorism theory as human behavior and experiences in career and technical education programs were reviewed to see how it related to later behavior outcomes in the lives of high school students. In the Newport School District, a significant problem is students either leave high school before graduating or complete high school without enrolling in postsecondary education or career and technical training. This leads to an increase in unemployment in the rural areas in Arkansas. The question to be raised is how does career-and-technical coursework in high school really impact students in their postsecondary education pursuits or career training decisions? This issue directly shapes the futures of the students served each day, while educators work diligently to prepare them to become productive citizens and contributors to the economy. The problem is students continue to either drop out of high school or they graduate high school with no plan for what is next in their lives. The high school graduation rate in the district is currently 77.6%, which has continued to decline since the COVID-19 pandemic.The purpose of this capstone is to investigate the need for career and technical education programs for students at Newport High School. For the utility of this study, the need for more career and technical education pathways is generally defined as combining academic core studies to courses that are designed for a specific career field to gain hands-on and real-world experience in that field. The theory guiding this study is Watson’s behaviorism theory as human behavior and experiences in career and technical education programs were reviewed to see how it related to later behavior outcomes in the lives of high school students. In the Newport School District, a significant problem is students either leave high school before graduating or complete high school without enrolling in postsecondary education or career and technical training. This leads to an increase in unemployment in the rural areas in Arkansas. The question to be raised is how does career-and-technical coursework in high school really impact students in their postsecondary education pursuits or career training decisions? This issue directly shapes the futures of the students served each day, while educators work diligently to prepare them to become productive citizens and contributors to the economy. The problem is students continue to either drop out of high school or they graduate high school with no plan for what is next in their lives. The high school graduation rate in the district is currently 77.6%, which has continued to decline since the COVID-19 pandemic.