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

The Emergence of Tech-Prep at the State and Local Levels - 1995

Purpose And Basis For The Survey Report

The two fall 1993 surveys address the evaluation's first objective--to document the development of Tech-Prep programs. Data from the surveys provide a baseline picture of both state and local consortium planning and implementation that will be developed further with data from the later rounds of the surveys. This first survey report addresses four key analytic issues (Figure I.1): 
                               FIGURE I.1    Analysis Issues And Research Questions Addressed By Survey Report        EVALUATION OBJECTIVE: Document Development of Tech-Prep Programs  --------------------  ANALYSIS ISSUE: What are the Characteristics of Tech-Prep Consortia?  KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS:  *  Program Model (grades affected) *  Core Program Features *  Definition of a Tech-Prep Student *  Form and Degree of Articulation *  Occupational Focus of Tech-Prep *  Academic and Vocational Curriculum *  Workplace Experiences Available *  The Role of Career Awareness Guidance --------------------  ANALYSIS ISSUE: What Organizational Resources and Methods Promote Tech-Prep                 Development?  KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS:  *  State Funding Practices *  State Monitoring and Assistance *  Governance Structure of Local Programs *  Roles of Employers, Industry, and Labor *  Sources and Uses of Funding *  Approaches to Promoting Student and Parent Interest *  Role of Staff Development ----------------------  ANALYSIS ISSUE: Who is Served in Tech-Prep?  KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS:  *  The Target Population *  Scale of Student Participation *  Composition of Participant Population *  Facilitating Access for Special Populations *  Choices of Career Direction: Patterns and Process ----------------------  ANALYSIS ISSUE: How Does Tech-Prep Affect Student Outcomes?  KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS:  *  High School Graduation *  Postsecondary Progam Enrollment and Completion *  Employment Patterns -----------------------

This report draws on three major data sources. Data on state and local Tech-Prep implementation came from the survey questionnaires administered by MPR in fall 1993--The Inventory of State-level Tech-Prep Activities and The Inventory of Local Tech-Prep Planning and Implementation. Data on secondary district enrollments were obtained from the ED-INFO database, which contains information compiled by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). Each of these data sources is discussed below. In addition to these three major sources, the fall 1993 visits to the ten in-depth study sites provided useful insights for interpretation of survey data.

Inventory of State-level Tech-Prep Activities

The Inventory of State-level Tech-Prep Activities--a mail survey questionnaire--was administered in fall 1993 to all 50 state Tech-Prep coordinators and to the designated area-wide coordinators for the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.2 All coordinators except one (from the Virgin Islands) responded to the survey (98 percent response rate).

The state-level survey collected data on:

Inventory of Local Tech-Prep Planning and Implementation

The Inventory of Local Tech-Prep Planning and Implementation was mailed in fall 1993 to the coordinators of all Tech-Prep consortia that had received Title IIIE funding for FY 1993.3 These coordinators were identified by their state Tech-Prep coordinators in summer 1993.

The survey of local consortium coordinators collected data on nine broad topics:

The response to the fall 1993 survey of local coordinators was high. A total of 812 consortia funded for FY 1993 were identified and sent questionnaires; 702 consortium coordinators completed and returned their questionnaires. The overall response rate was 86 percent.4 Response rates by state are presented in Appendix A.

ED-INFO

ED-INFO is a national statistical database containing information on all public elementary and secondary schools and districts in the United States. It is compiled each year from data collected by NCES and the U.S. Bureau of the Census. At the time of the fall 1993 survey, the database contained five years of data--from school year 1987-1988 through school year 1991-1992.

ED-INFO school-level data were used to reduce the response burden on local coordinators. The local survey asked coordinators to report the NCES ID number for each secondary district in their consortium. Using the district identifiers, we were able to aggregate school enrollments by high school grade and by racial/ethnic groups for districts in each consortium.5

2 The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands each recieved allotments from Perkins Title IIIE, as did the 50 states. These territories are referred to in the remainder of the report as "states" and their coordinators are hereafter grouped wit the other 50 as "state coordinators."

3 Some consortia recived a grant in FY 1992 that funded Tech-Prep for multiple years.

4 A total of 823 consortia were actually funded for FY 1993. However, during that year, 11 of these consrtia either merged or consolidated with other consortia in their state. Consequently, only 812 consortia were functioning when the local survey was conducted in fall 1993(the start of FY 1994). Our response rate is based on the 812 figure.

5 There are two limitations of the ED-INFO data. The most recent available NCES data were for school year 1991-1992, but the fall 1993 survey focused on school year or fiscal year 1992-1993. Comparisons involving both data sets thus have some imprecision. Second, six states did not report to the U.S. Department of Education on their school enrollments by racial/ethnic group. Consequently, comparisons of the racial/ethnic distribution of Tech-Prep districts exclude those states.


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[ I. Introduction] [Table of Contents] [Summary Of Major Findings]