Dissemination With Impact: What Research Suggests for Practice in Career and Technical Education

The purpose of this review is to examine what we know about dissemination, based on both the literature that refers specifically to Career and Technical Education (CTE), and that which is drawn from education and related fields. Ricketts’ (1982) literature review indicated that research on the dissemination of vocational education products was “slightly negative to strongly negative,” and that “The understanding of dissemination’s role in the process of innovation and change is much too weak” (3). After reviewing the published literature in the field, it appears that his assessment of nearly two decades ago cannot be easily challenged. Thus, our purpose is to introduce dilemmas that may advance the CTE dissemination field rather than to validate current “best practice.”