Archived Information
The Quality of Vocational Education, June 1998| Study | Data collection | Data analysis |
|---|---|---|
| Catterall & Stern, 1986 | High School and Beyond (HSB) surveyed a nationally representative sample of approximately 30,000 sophomores in public and private high schools in 1980. Approximately 15,000 of these students were surveyed in 1982 follow-up. Sample for this study comprised 2,739 students who as sophomores in 1980 resided in California and who completed the HSB follow-up survey in 1982. | Dropout rates by program. Vocational education activity was determined from courses reported in base survey by (a) participants vs. nonparticipants,and (b) concentrators vs. nonconcentrators. Drop-out rates determined from follow-up survey. |
| Coombs & Cooley, 1968 | Project Talent surveyed 440,000 students attending public & private high schools. Students tested as 9th graders in 1960 and again in a 1964 follow-up. Sample for this study was all known drop-outs in the 9th-grade sample, plus a random subsample of 25 percent of the male and 20 percent of the female graduates who did not enter a 2-year or 4-year college. | Dropout rates by program. Classification of curricular program based on student answers to questions on 1960 base-year survey (intended curricular programs) and on 1964 follow-up survey. |
| Grasso & Shea, 1979 | National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience (NLS-LME) surveyed two national samples of young people aged 14 to 24: 5,000 young men in 1966 and 5,000 young women in 1968. This study used interview data (through 1972 for women and 1973 for men)those who were in high school in the base year of the survey. | Regression analysis. Curricular program determined from follow-up survey. Other predictor variables were aptitude, socioeconomic back ground, and residence. Dependent variable was completion of 12 or more from years of school. |
| Mertens, Seitz, & Cox, 1982; Sepa-Bishop, 1988 | Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Force Behavior (NLS-Youth), a survey of a nationally representative sample of approximately 13,000 young people who were 14 to 21 years old in 1978. Sample used in this study were those with an above-average likelihood of dropout. Their 1979 and 1980 interviews, supplemented by high school transcripts, provided the data. | Regression analysis. Separate regression analyses conducted to determine whether taking vocational courses in Grades 9, 10, and 11 affected the likelihood of completing the next grade level. Analyses controlled for individual, family, contextual, and school variables. |
| Peng & Takai, 1983 | Like Catterall and Stern (1986), this study used HSB data. The program full data set was used in these analyses. | Dropout rates by curricular. Curricular program was determined from student self-report in the base-year survey. |
| Perlmutter, 1982 | Data from a city-wide study (Project Catch) carried out New York City schools. Data collected from 2,700 students who had applied in the last year of intermediate or junior high in June 1976 to a NYC high school for either 9th or 10th grade. School records were examined and yielded matched groups of students: Targets (denied admission to a vocational high school), Vocational Controls (admitted), and Academic Controls (did not apply to vocational high). Three-year follow-up survey and school records provided additional data. | Quasi-experimental design in compared dropout rates of (a) students admitted to vocational high schools, (b) matched students who were not admitted, and (c) matched students who did not apply. Matching was on basis of area of residence and academic aptitude. |
| Wagner, 1991 | National Longitudinal Transition Study of Special Education Students (NLTS), a nationally representative sample of more than 8,000 students who were 13 to21 and in special education in the 1985-86 school year. Data collected in 1987 from telephone interviews with parents, school records, and a survey of educators in the schools attended by the students. | Regression analysis. Vocational participation was determined by enrollment in occupationally oriented vocational education during the most recent school year. Other predictors in regression equations reflected individual, household, and school factors. Dependent variable dropout during follow-up period. |
| Weber, 1988 | Like Catterall and Stern's (1986) study, this study used HSB data. | Dropout rates by track. Curricular program determined from student self-report in the follow-up survey. |
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