Date
4-29-2026
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Lisa Hall Foster
Keywords
Career and Technical Education, CTE, Career and Technical Education Literacy, CTE Literacy, Disciplinary Literacy, Literacy, Professional Development, Teacher Efficacy, Secondary Education, Vocational, Vocational Education, Vocational Literacy
Disciplines
Reading and Language | Vocational Education
Recommended Citation
Higley, Susan Gwin, "Career and Technical Education Teacher Efficacy in Embedding Disciplinary Literacy: A Predictive Correlational Study" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8324.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8324
Abstract
The purpose of this predictive correlational nonexperimental study was to determine the relationship between high school career and technical education (CTE) teachers’ years of experience, teachers’ highest level of education, and teachers’ participation in disciplinary literacy professional development, and their relationship to teachers’ efficacy in embedding disciplinary literacy instruction into their content area teaching. The reading requirements for CTE students are very different from the curriculum taught in English Language Arts classes. Also, texts in specific disciplines of CTE vary greatly. As such, CTE teachers must embed disciplinary literacy in their daily teaching to ensure that their students develop the literacy skills necessary for post-secondary success. This study surveyed 73 CTE teachers from multiple high schools within districts located in multiple eastern states in the United States to ensure a cross-section of disciplines and demographics. The Literacy in the Disciplines 6-12 Survey was used. Three bivariate linear regression statistical analyses were used to analyze the data. The predictor variables of teachers’ years of experience and teachers’ highest level of education revealed that the statistical correlation was not significant. However, for the third predictor variable of teachers’ participation in disciplinary literacy professional development, there was a statistically significant predictive correlation between this predictor variable and the criterion variable of teachers’ efficacy in embedding disciplinary literacy within their CTE programs of study. Based on these results, it is recommended that districts develop in-depth evidence based best practice disciplinary literacy professional development. Future studies should include mixed methods research to narrow down teacher needs and disciplinary literacy knowledge.
