A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Tech-Prep Data Collection And Analysis

Evaluation capabilities at the local level will determine the feasibility of implementing federal performance measures. Establishing consistent performance measures will require that consortia be able to identify which students are in Tech-Prep, and track and report on the students' progress. To date, slightly more than one-third of the consortia are able to identify Tech-Prep participants, and there is some indication that, as other consortia develop further, they, too will be able to identify participants. However, the extent to which these and other consortia can collect data on student participation and outcomes will ultimately influence how likely performance measures are to be adopted and routinely reported.

The national survey included questions on consortium plans to conduct evaluations and to collect data. We asked about the existence and status of computer systems to record information on individual Tech-Prep students, and about the specific types of data contained in the systems. We also asked about methods of data collection and analysis that had been used in the year preceding the survey.

Most consortia at least have a plan for evaluating Tech-Prep

The proportion of states' consortia that reported evaluation plans varied substantially. In nine states, between 80 and 100 percent of the consortia reported having such plans. In ten states, half or fewer than half of the consortia reported evaluation plans. One might expect that these differences partly reflect the priorities that states place on submission of evaluation results by local consortia. However, among both states with high rates of evaluation plans and those with low rates of evaluation plans, a similar proportion of states required that consortia include results of local program evaluation in their progress reports to state agencies.

The likelihood that a consortium is planning for evaluation does not appear to be sensitive to the extent of implementation. Older and newer consortia (as measured by the year in which they first received a Title IIIE grant) were equally likely to have plans. Among consortia that were able to identify and report on Tech-Prep participants, the number of years they had been enrolling students had no affect on the proportion with evaluation plans.

Most consortia are planning to develop or are implementing a Tech-Prep student database

Although most consortia are planning to develop Tech-Prep student databases, relatively few actually had done so by fall 1993 (Figure X.1). Older grantees were more likely to have either partially or fully implemented computer files with Tech-Prep data than were more recent grantees (19 percent versus 7 percent, respectively).² In both groups of grantees, however, significantly more consortia were still in the planning stage (58 percent overall). Sixty-three percent of the consortia that had at least partially implemented a database also had begun to identify and report on Tech-Prep participation.

Most database designs focus primarily on documenting transcript information

Work-related information is not currently standard in Tech-Prep databases. About one-third of the consortia that are testing or implementing databases record information about Tech-Prep workplace experiences, job placements, or wages.

TABLE X.1
Elements Included in Tech-Prep Student Databases

	Percentage of Consortia Collecting or Planning to Include Data
Data Element	For Secondary Students	For Postsecondary Students
Academic Courses Taken/Completed	80	52
Vocational/Occupational Courses Taken/Completed	84	52
Technical Skills/Competencies Attained	46	28
Grades	77	50
Career Counseling Services Recieved/Used	33	21
Level of Remediation Required	31	37
Program Enrollment by Career Cluster or Occupational Specialty	74	46
Diploma/Degree/Certificate Attainment	54	46
Workpalce Experiences as a Part of Tech-Prep	31	19
Job Placement Data(e.g., Placement in Occupations Related to the Course of Study)	26	28
Wage/Salary Data	11	16
Employer Satisfaction Information	15	14

SOURCE: Inventory of Local Tech-Prep Planning and Implementation, Fall 1993.

^aTable entries are percentages of those consortia that reported currently testing or implementing a database to monitor outcomes of Tech-Prep students. Overall, these consortia represent 20 percent of all consortia responding to the survey.

Program data collection has focused mostly on informal discussion with staff

To support their evaluation efforts, most of these consortia have relied on information collected through informal discussions with staff, rather than collecting data on students. Seventy-two percent of the consortia reported holding small group discussions with consortium staff or governing board members, or with teachers and counselors. In contrast, about one-third held small group discussions with Tech-Prep students, and about one-fourth conduct surveys or abstract records to gather aggregate data on outcomes of Tech-Prep students in consortium districts.

Furthermore, some consortia that claimed to be testing or implementing databases containing student-level information did not report actually collecting student data. Less than 50 percent of consortia near implementation of a database reported collecting data on individual Tech-Prep students.

² "Partially" implemented was defined as having a system from which data were available for some Tech-Prep students or some consortium members.
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[X. Local Evaluation Of Tech-Prep Implementation]

[Coordinators' Observations On The Progress Of Tech-Prep]