Brian A. Jacob

Detroit Public Schools Community District, the Detroit Mayor’s Office, and the Youth Policy Lab have partnered to evaluate the impact of career technical education (CTE) and other career-focused education programs in Detroit on student outcomes. This evaluation seeks to understand which Detroit students participate in which are making a difference for participants, and how to best support continuous improvement in these...

Kalamazoo County passed a Career and Technical Education (CTE) millage in 2019 and wanted to use this new source of funding to restructure CTE delivery within the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency (KRESA).   In addition to expanding career awareness and exploration opportunities among younger students, millage revenues were designated to build a new countywide technical center. KRESA approached YPL to ask for assistance identifying CTE programs the center should offer.  This project sought to answer the following research questions:Which occupations are projected to exhibit the...

After the publication of YPL’s statewide analyses of racial and socioeconomic inequities in access to Career and Technical Education (CTE), Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) partnered with YPL to better understand CTE access in Washtenaw County. The research revealed that stark differences in CTE availability across districts led to many Washtenaw students having limited access to CTE, with especially unequal access to programs aligned with high-wage, high-demand occupations. Low-income, Black, and Hispanic students in Washtenaw County are less likely to attend schools that offer...

Once seen as an alternative to college, modern Career and Technical Education (CTE) is designed to be a pathway into postsecondary education and prosperous careers for all students. However, there is a lack of rigorous empirical research on the efficacy of high school CTE for preparing students for postsecondary education and the workforce.  Moreover, we do not know what factors may mediate these outcomes or whether CTE may benefit some students more than others. Through this project, the research team analyzed Michigan data to examine (a) the characteristics of CTE participants and...

NAF is an educational non-profit focused on preparing high school students for postsecondary education and/or the workforce through career exploration. It operates industry-themed learning academies within existing high school structures. These academies are comprised of courses with career-focused curricula and associated work-based learning opportunities. The Youth Policy Lab partnered with NAF to analyze the characteristics and outcomes of NAF students in Detroit to understand how students who enroll in NAF compare before, during, and after high school to students who do not...