The Impact of Youth Apprenticeship and Employability Skills Programs on Career & Technical Education Concentrator-Completer Post Graduation Outcomes

Work-based learning is a key component of career and technical education programs. A variety of certificated and non-certificated work-based learning programs exist for high schools to implement. Wisconsin's Youth Apprenticeship program is a widely used model of work-based learning in high school Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs across the state, yet there is limited research on the impact of these programs related to student outcomes. This paper describes the findings from a study in which educational and employment outcomes of secondary CTE concentrator-completers participating in a Youth Apprenticeship and/or Employability Skills program were analyzed. Findings indicate that participating in a Youth Apprenticeship program while concentrating in a secondary CTE program of study may lead to a higher rate of continuing into one's area of concentration after high school than students earning Wisconsin's Employability Skills Certificate.