In 2000 and 2001, the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education conducted a series of projects on career and technical education (CTE) practices, trends and outcomes. Selected preliminary findings from a review of the reports on those projects are as follows: (1) integration of CTE and academic instruction in high schools remains slow; (2) in some schools undergoing reform, CTE has retained its outward, historic framework, continuing to emphasize industrial "shops" that focus on labor market needs, whereas in other sites, CTE has adopted new models or strategies for connecting young people to the business community and postsecondary options; (3) sites with a leader who is committed to technology and a strategic approach have more thorough and successful integration of distance learning and educational technology; (4) 59% of all CTE teachers had completed all teacher certification requirements before they began teaching, and 42% of states required a professional development program for alternatively certified teachers; (5) students reported less participation in school-to-work activities in 1999 than in 1997; (6) general and vocational concentrators reported lower grade-point averages at the end of their school career than did academic concentrators, but dual concentrators reported insignificant differences; and (7) among low academic performers, taking CTE courses significantly reduced the likelihood of their dropping out. (Contains 30 references.) (MN)