Career and Technical Education

The Youth Policy Lab partnered with the Mayor’s Office, Connect Detroit, Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation (DESC), and other key stakeholders to evaluate the impact of the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent summer youth employment program on a variety of academic and non-academic outcomes.

In an effort to ensure all Michigan high school students are on paths to economic success, the Lab partnered with Michigan Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education and the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity to conduct research on the experiences and outcomes of young people that pursue career-focused educational pathways relative to peers who pursue other educational pathways. The team sought to understand the following questions: Who enrolls in secondary and post-secondary career pathway programs in Michigan?  What populations are not currently being...

The Youth Policy Lab has partnered with Detroit Future City (DFC) to conduct a research study examining Detroit’s career-connected K-12 education landscape and its alignment with current and future workforce needs. YPL is helping to shape the overall approach and direction of the study and leading the quantitative data analysis. This includes assessing the alignment between Career and Technical Education (CTE) availability and enrollment in Detroit and the current and future labor market demands in Southeast Michigan. DFC is holding several focus groups with K-12 education, business, and nonpr...

The Livingston Educational Service Agency (LESA) has partnered with Youth Policy Lab to better understand the college and career opportunities available to students in the county’s school districts and charter schools.  Through an analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data, YPL is looking at various programs, including Career and Technical Education (CTE), Advanced Placement (AP), Dual Enrollment (DE), and Early Middle College (EMC).  The research team’s work also includes collecting insights from school staff and administrators about the main challenges to expanding access and partici...