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

Technology education (TE) professionals have debated the role and
purpose of technology education and its predecessors in public education for more than a half century (Akmal, Oaks, & Barker, 2002; Erekson & Shumway, 2006; Sanders, 2001), or perhaps, since its inception. In addition, these professionals have struggled with the “image” and perceptionthat key stakeholders have of the field (Wicklein & Hill, 1996; Benson, 1993; Daugherty & Wicklein, 1993). Many developments have occurred during the past two decades to help clarify these issues such asthe name change from the American Industrial Arts Association to the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) (Streichler, 1985), the Conceptual Framework for the Study of Technology (Savage & Sterry, 1990), the establishment of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Technology and Science (CATTS) in 1998 as the professional development arm of the International Technology Education Association (ITEA, 2008), the Rationale and Structure for the Study of Technology (1996), the Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology (ITEA, 2000), Technically Speaking (Pearson & Young, 2002), and related Standards Addendums (ITEA, 2002)].