The Sustainability of Career and Technical Education Teacher Preparation Programs in Florida

There is a historical trend of decline in available Career and Technical Education (CTE) Teacher Preparation programs and an increase in CTE course and program enrollments in Florida’s secondary school system. This contradiction in CTE teacher supply and demand raises an important question. What is going on? More specifically, what sustains the remaining programs in the face of this decline? The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore sustainability factors from past and present CTE teacher preparation program educators and administrators to gain a better understanding of this issue. The participant selection for this study was identified from four active and one recently phased-out undergraduate CTE teacher preparation programs in five Florida universities. There were ten participants who were interviewed either face-to-face or virtually with a semi-structured protocol. Memo-taking, member checking, and peer review were added to the data. Data analysis, guided by grounded theory and a constant comparative approach, discovered themes which contributed to the development of The CTE Teacher Preparation Program Sustainability Framework. The framework includes two domains: (a) Internal, and (b) External. The Internal Domain, Program Experience, includes: (a) Statewide Exposure; (b) Intracampus Alliance; (c) Innovative Changes; and (d) Program Ownership. The External Domain, Essential Conditions, includes: (a) Program Value; (b) Certification Alignment; and (c) Employment Policies. The implications of this study may extend the life cycle of current CTE teacher preparation programs