Jay Plasman

Jay Plasman is an assistant professor in the Workforce Development and Education in the College of Education and Human Ecology at the Ohio State University. Prior to joining The Ohio State University, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Institute of Education Policy at Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses broadly on education policy and explores the pipeline of career and technical education between high school and college along with the role this type of education has on high school dropout rates and college considerations. He formerly worked as a teacher at each of the elementary, middle and high school levels. Plasman also served as the Director of Education at a vocational training school for several years prior to pursuing his PhD.

Plasman is also a member of the International Study of City Youth collaborative group. This group focuses on students in 16 cities around the world to explore how growing up and receiving education in different education systems may impact the promotion of certain 21st Century skills, engagement and academic dispositions. He received his PhD from the University of California Santa Barbara.

• PhD, Education, University of California Santa Barbara, 2019
• MA, Education Research Methods, University of California Santa Barbara, 2016
• MA, International Service, Roehampton University, 2009
• BA, American Studies, Carleton College, 2003
• Teaching certification in broad field social studies 5-12

• Education Policy
  • Carl Perkins Act
  • Every Student Succeeds Act
  • Federal college and career readiness policies
• Educational Statistics and Research Methods
  • Casual Inferential Design
  • Hierarchical linear modeling
  • Multivariate analysis
  • Structural Equation Modeling
• International and Comparative Education
• Vocational Education
  • Applied STEM (engineering technology and information technology)
  • Secondary career and technical education
  • Transitions from education to career
• Workforce Development and Education

Plasman’s recent research has looked to unpack career and technical education as an overarching field and explore how specific aspects and specialization areas of CTE may impact students differently. In particular, he examines how applied STEM CTE (engineering technology and information technology) may be of particular benefit to traditionally disadvantaged students: students with learning disabilities, low-income students, and female students in male dominated fields. His work on CTE fits broadly into an examination of education policy focused at promoting college and career readiness. To this end, he has done some work on examining how education/career plans benefit students and indicators of inequity related to high school completion. He has also worked to understand how social contexts impact student outcomes in STEM related areas.

Plasman has a many ongoing projects to his overall research goals in college and career readiness. One major branch of his current research explores non-academic outcomes related to CTE participation, both within the United States and on an international scale.

• Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M., & Hutt, E. (in press). Then and Now: Depicting a Changing National Profile of STEM Career and Technical Education Coursetakers. Teachers College Record.
• Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M., & Sublett, C. (2019). Is there a career and technical education coursetaking pipeline between high school and college? Teachers College Record, 121(3), 1-32.
• Gottfried, M. A. & Plasman, J. S. (2018). From secondary to postsecondary: Charting an engineering career and technical education pipeline. Journal of Engineering Education, 107(4), 531-555. DOI: 10.1002/jee.20236.
• Gottfried, M. A. & Plasman, J. S. (2018). Linking the timing of career and technical education coursetaking on high school dropout and college-going behavior. American Educational Research Journal, 55(1), 325-361.DOI: 10.3102/0002831217734805.
• Plasman, J. S. (2018). Career/education plans and student engagement in secondary school. American Journal of Education, 124(2), 217-246.DOI: 10.1086/695608.
• Plasman, J. S. & Gottfried, M. A. (2018). Applied STEM coursework, high school dropout rates, and students with learning disabilities. Journal of Educational Policy. DOI: 10.1177/0895904816673738.
• Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M., & Sublett, C. (2017). Are there academic CTE cluster pipelines? Linking high school CTE coursetaking and postsecondary credentials. Career and Technical Education Research, 42(3), 219-242.
• Sublett, C. & Plasman, J. S. (2017). How does applied STEM coursework relate to mathematics and science self-efficacy among high school students? Evidence from a national sample. Journal of Career and Technical Education, 32(1), 29-50. DOI: 10.21061/jcte.v32i1.1589.

Other Publications

• Theobald, R., Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M., Gratz, T., Holden, K., & Goldhaber, D. (2019). Sometimes less, sometimes more: Trends in career and technical education participation for students with disabilities. CALDER Working Paper No. 220-0189.
• Rumberger, R. & Plasman, J. S. (2019). Developing equity indicators for on-time graduation. Washington, D.C.: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
• Bjorklund-Young, A. & Plasman, J. S. (2019). Reducing the achievement gap: An empirical analysis of middle school math performance in six states and Washington, D.C. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy.

• Plasman, J. S. (2019). Occupational concentrators in the labor market: How do non-college goers fare? Poster presentation at ACTER 2019, Anaheim, CA.
• Plasman, J. S. (2019). Labor market returns of occupation concentration for non-college goers. Paper presentation at APPAM 2019, Denver, CO.
• Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M. A., & Klasik, D. (2019). A recent history of CTE coursetaking: Changes in low-income student STEM-CTE participation over time. Paper presentation at HES 2019, Columbus, OH.
• Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M. A., & Klasik, D. (2019). Are more low-income students taking STEM-focused career and technical education courses? Cross-cohort evidence from the United States. Paper presentation at ATINER 2019, Athens, GR.
• Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M. A., & Walker, B. (2019). Opening New Doors to Accelerating Success: Evaluating a postsecondary STEM persistence student support program. Roundtable presentation at AERA 2019, Toronto, CA.
• Plasman, J. S. & Gottfried. M. A. (2019). Do students taking STEM career and technical education courses attend school more often? Roundtable presentation at AERA 2019, Toronto, CA.
• Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M. A., & Klasik, D. (2019). Trending up: A cross-cohort exploration of STEM career and technical education participation by low-income students. Paper presentation at AEFP 2019, Kansas City, MO.
• Plasman, J. S. (2019). Emergingcausal evidence on career and technical education program impacts and measuring the factors that support their effectiveness. Chair of session at SREE 2019, Washington, D.C.
• Plasman, J. S. & Gottfried, M. A. (2018). Parent employment and student STEM success: An empirical exploration. Poster presentation at ECER 2018, Bolzano, IT.
• Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M. A., & Hutt, E. (2018). Then and now: Depicting a changing national profile of STEM career and technical education coursetakers. Paper presentation at APPAM 2018, Mexico City, MX.
• Gottfried, M. A. & Plasman, J. S. (2018) Charting an engineering “career and technical education” pipeline. Paper presentation at AERA 2018, New York, NY.
• Gottfried, M. A., & Plasman, J. S. (2018) Are students with disabilities in full-day kindergarten programs more likely to attend school? Paper presentation at AERA 2018, New York, NY.
• Plasman, J. S. (2018) Can Professional Development Improve Minority Students’ Outcomes: Lessons from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Division H Graduate Student In-Progress Research presentation at AERA 2018, New York, NY.
• Plasman, J. S. (2017). Career and education plans and student engagement in secondary school. Poster presentation at ECER 2017 – Emerging Researchers Conference, Copenhagen, DK.
• Plasman, J. S. & Gottfried, M. A. (2017). Parents’ employment and students’ persistence in STEM fields: A narrative synthesis. Poster presentation at ECER 2017, Copenhagen, DK.
• Gottfried, M. & Plasman, J. S. (2017). Full-day versus part-day kindergarten for students with disabilities in traditional schools: Effects on achievement. Paper presentation at ECER 2017, Copenhagen, DK.
• Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M. A., & Sublett, C. (2017). Linking CTE coursetaking in high school to CTE coursetaking in college. Paper presentation at AERA 2017, San Antonio, TX.
• Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M. A., & Sublett, C. (2017). Does career and technical education (CTE) coursetaking in high school link to CTE in college? Paper presentation at AERA 2017, San Antonio, TX.
• Plasman, J. S. (2017). Career/education plans and student engagement in secondary school. Paper presentation at AEFP 2017, Washington, D.C.
• Plasman, J. S., Gottfried, M. A., & Sublett, C. (2017). Is there a career and technical education coursetaking pipeline between high school and college? Poster presentation at AEFP 2017, Washington, D.C.