Have We Made Progress? Stakeholder Perceptions of Technology Education in Public Secondary Education in the United States

Akmal et al. (2002) and Sanders (2001) acknowledged the 100-year debate on the purpose[s] of technology education (TE) and its debatable ties to industrial arts. The debate has been further fueled by the fact most states classify TE as career and technical education. However, some of these states allow Carl D. Perkins federal funding to support TE while others do not. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to determine the perceptions of selected stakeholders with respect to the role and purpose of TE in public secondary education in the United States. Based on this purpose, the following research questions were developed to guide the study: (1) What are the perceptions of various education personnel regarding the purpose of TE in public secondary education?; (2) How is TE classified by state departments of education?; (3) To what extent are Carl D. Perkins federal funds used to support TE?; and (4) What are the perceptions of various education personnel regarding whether TE programs and personnel are treated comparably to other school programs and personnel? (Contains 11 tables.)