Michigan Department of Education's Office of Career and Technical Education (OCTE)
YPL continues its strong collaboration with OCTE by facilitating workshops, partnering on projects to analyze and visualize data aimed at addressing opportunity gaps and improving outcomes in CTE programs across Michigan, and providing research that has informed state-level policy and funding decisions.
In early 2025, YPL led an Opportunity Gap workshop for 100+ CTE administrators to explore overrepresentation and underrepresentation of key student groups, focusing on root causes and evidence-based practices to address these gaps, and resulting in the development of action plans. YPL also developed CTE Engagement Dashboards for the state, visualizing CTE program participation and concentration rates by school district and showing gaps between actual and predicted rates. YPL is pleased to report the impact of our work; our research was cited by the State Board of Education in its resolution for increased CTE funding, and by Governor Whitmer in her proposed budget, which included a record $125M increase for CTE.
Ongoing projects with OCTE include analyzing industry-recognized credential attainment across programs, and describing patterns of participation in CTE Early Middle College and Dual Enrollment.
Washtenaw Intermediate School District
YPL's research played a critical role in supporting Washtenaw Intermediate School District's (WISD) efforts to expand access and increase participation in CTE. In December 2024, WISD CTE Director Dr. Ryan Rowe presented to the Michigan State Board of Education about efforts to expand access to CTE and close equity gaps in Washtenaw County, describing the findings of YPL's 2024 WISD report. In March, WISD held a summit with over 200 leaders from local school districts, postsecondary institutions, businesses, nonprofit organizations, politicians, and current and former CTE students to highlight the value of CTE in the county. And more recently, in June 2025, WISD released a new report and announced that the WISD Board of Education unanimously adopted a resolution to place a CTE millage proposal on the November 2025 ballot, which could generate over $20M annually for CTE in Washtenaw schools.