Date of Award
7-1-2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate of Education, Ed.D.
College
College of Education
Department
Education
First Advisor
Audrey Rabas, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Julia Britt, Ed.D.
Third Advisor
Gwen Dooley, Ed.D.
Abstract
The researcher investigated the benefits of enrolling in a career and technical medical career academy at the secondary school level. It was unknown if there is a significant difference in the student achievement of career and technical education medical career academy participants versus the student achievements of their non-academy participant peers. This study was guided by the following research questions: (a) Is there a significant difference in scores on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) test of students in a medical career academy when compared to their non-medical career academy peers? (b) Is there a significant difference in the attendance rates of the students in a medical career academy when compared to their non-medical academy peers? (c) Is there a significant difference in the progress to graduation of eleventh grade students in a medical career academy when compared to their non-medical academy peers? This quantitative, causal-comparative study used archival data from the 2016-2017 school year from one secondary school to compare the medical academy student records to the non-medical academy students’ records. The data analysis found that there is a significant difference in the progress toward graduation of the eleventh grade students in a medical career academy. There are no significant differences in the SBAC scores or attendance rates. The findings demonstrate that participating in career and technical education courses, and more specifically, a medical career academy, does not hinder a student’s academic achievement: it complements academic achievement.