Student Achievement and the Career and Technical Education Medical Career Academy: A Quantitative Study

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