Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Kathleen Cunningham

Abstract

American manufacturing cannot find workers. By 2030, 2.1 million positions will go unfilled, at a projected cost of one trillion dollars. Secondary schools are not solving this problem. At Ypsilanti Community High School, only 23.7% of graduates pursue postsecondary education. The rest enter the workforce without credentials or technical skills. No manufacturing curriculum existed at YCHS. This Dissertation in Practice built one.

The study used improvement science methodology. Two Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles designed, tested, and refined a precision measurement curriculum aligned to NC3 industry certification standards. Thirty-three students participated across both cycles. Cycle 1 used a traditional theory-first sequence over ten days. First-attempt mastery reached 61%. Students with stronger NWEA mathematics scores and those without IEPs outperformed their peers. Academic background predicted who succeeded. Cycle 2 reversed the sequence. Students began with hands-on laboratory work before receiving formal instruction. The module ran five days. First-attempt mastery rose to 81%. All students earned certification within the timeframe. The correlation between NWEA scores and mastery dropped from 0.48 to 0.16. IEP status showed virtually no correlation with outcomes. Among students requiring the most support, first-attempt mastery improved from 44% to 80%. Instructional design determined who succeeded and who did not.

Improvement science works in CTE settings. Small, disciplined tests produced evidence that intuition would not. The lab-first sequence, peer support, and just-in-time conceptual instruction are now standard in the YCHS manufacturing program. This study contributes to a thin literature on secondary manufacturing education and offers a replicable model for curriculum development in technical skill acquisition.

Keywords: improvement science, PDSA cycles, manufacturing education, career and technical education, instructional sequencing, lab-first instruction, educational equity, NC3 certification, secondary education, workforce development

Rights

© 2026, John Chieyung Kim II

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