Career and Technical Education has long been at the forefront of education and education restructuring. Federal and state legislation have provided guidance and reform to assist in the educating of students in preparation for higher learning and work opportunities. However, there is a lack of information regarding the relationship between preparation of students during high school and employment post-graduation. Particularly in Kentucky, accountability changes in secondary schools have placed greater emphasis on Career and Technical Education certificate attainment as a means to represent transition readiness for graduates. In this bivariate correlation analysis, industry certifications earned by graduating secondary students and the employment in their particular credentialed area post-graduation were studied over a five-year span and were found to show a lack of a relationship in the Cumberlands Local Workforce Area of Kentucky. Sample t-tests were run to determine the significance of certification and employment increases over the same time period. The certifications earned showed a significant increase while the employment rates of secondary graduates provided too little data to show a significant relationship. Certifications represent the readiness of graduates for employment in their area, yet employment of those graduates in their credentialed area was not being reported. While many factors exist, such as furthering of education prior to job seeking, there is concern that certified individuals are not gaining employment post-graduation in the Cumberlands Workforce Area of Kentucky.
","abstract_html":"<p>Career and Technical Education has long been at the forefront of education and education restructuring. Federal and state legislation have provided guidance and reform to assist in the educating of students in preparation for higher learning and work opportunities. However, there is a lack of information regarding the relationship between preparation of students during high school and employment post-graduation. Particularly in Kentucky, accountability changes in secondary schools have placed greater emphasis on Career and Technical Education certificate attainment as a means to represent transition readiness for graduates. In this bivariate correlation analysis, industry certifications earned by graduating secondary students and the employment in their particular credentialed area post-graduation were studied over a five-year span and were found to show a lack of a relationship in the Cumberlands Local Workforce Area of Kentucky. Sample t-tests were run to determine the significance of certification and employment increases over the same time period. The certifications earned showed a significant increase while the employment rates of secondary graduates provided too little data to show a significant relationship. Certifications represent the readiness of graduates for employment in their area, yet employment of those graduates in their credentialed area was not being reported. While many factors exist, such as furthering of education prior to job seeking, there is concern that certified individuals are not gaining employment post-graduation in the Cumberlands Workforce Area of Kentucky. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Cook, Kevin R"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Doctor of Education (EdD)","degree_level":"Doctoral's","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership and Policy Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:00Z","subjects":["Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Vocational Education"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2021 Kevin R Cook"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/701","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Cook, Kevin R"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership and Policy Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Vocational Education"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2021 Kevin R Cook"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/701"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Career and Technical Education has long been at the forefront of education and education restructuring. Federal and state legislation have provided guidance and reform to assist in the educating of students in preparation for higher learning and work opportunities. However, there is a lack of information regarding the relationship between preparation of students during high school and employment post-graduation. Particularly in Kentucky, accountability changes in secondary schools have placed greater emphasis on Career and Technical Education certificate attainment as a means to represent transition readiness for graduates. In this bivariate correlation analysis, industry certifications earned by graduating secondary students and the employment in their particular credentialed area post-graduation were studied over a five-year span and were found to show a lack of a relationship in the Cumberlands Local Workforce Area of Kentucky. Sample t-tests were run to determine the significance of certification and employment increases over the same time period. The certifications earned showed a significant increase while the employment rates of secondary graduates provided too little data to show a significant relationship. Certifications represent the readiness of graduates for employment in their area, yet employment of those graduates in their credentialed area was not being reported. While many factors exist, such as furthering of education prior to job seeking, there is concern that certified individuals are not gaining employment post-graduation in the Cumberlands Workforce Area of Kentucky.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Relationship Between Secondary Industry Certifications and Employment in the Particular Credentialed Area"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Cook, Kevin R"],"dc:description.abstract":["Career and Technical Education has long been at the forefront of education and education restructuring. Federal and state legislation have provided guidance and reform to assist in the educating of students in preparation for higher learning and work opportunities. However, there is a lack of information regarding the relationship between preparation of students during high school and employment post-graduation. Particularly in Kentucky, accountability changes in secondary schools have placed greater emphasis on Career and Technical Education certificate attainment as a means to represent transition readiness for graduates. In this bivariate correlation analysis, industry certifications earned by graduating secondary students and the employment in their particular credentialed area post-graduation were studied over a five-year span and were found to show a lack of a relationship in the Cumberlands Local Workforce Area of Kentucky. Sample t-tests were run to determine the significance of certification and employment increases over the same time period. The certifications earned showed a significant increase while the employment rates of secondary graduates provided too little data to show a significant relationship. Certifications represent the readiness of graduates for employment in their area, yet employment of those graduates in their credentialed area was not being reported. While many factors exist, such as furthering of education prior to job seeking, there is concern that certified individuals are not gaining employment post-graduation in the Cumberlands Workforce Area of Kentucky.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/701"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2021 Kevin R Cook"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Vocational Education"],"dc:title":["Relationship Between Secondary Industry Certifications and Employment in the Particular Credentialed Area"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership and Policy Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:00Z"}