Vocational/Technical Education and Kansas Economic Development

Abstract

Federal law mandates that each state conduct a biennial evaluation of its vocational education delivery system in order to receive funds under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). In response to this mandate and to other interests of Kansas policymakers, the 1986 Kansas Legislature requested the Kansas Council on Vocational Education to produce an evaluation of the state's system of vocational/technical education, with special emphasis on the system's linkage to Kansas economic development priorities. The analysis and recommendations that follow, which were prepared by the Institute for Public Policy and Business Research at the University of Kansas, constitute the research component of the Council's evaluation.

The research task defined by the Council included the following objectives: 1) to assess the extent to which vocational education currently contributes to economic development in Kansas and to identify factors that limit the role of vocational education in this area; 2) to assess the coordination between the Job Training Partnership Act and the Department of Education's Vocational Education Programs with respect to the 8 percent set-aside funds, including an identification of the extent to which coordination currently exists and the extent to which barriers to present and future coordination exist; and 3) to develop recommendations to the Kansas Council on Vocational Education for vocational education concerning ways to a) strengthen coordination with JTPA on the 8 percent funds and b) strengthen vocational education's contributions to Kansas economic development.