Interest in Tech-Prep students' achievement of such outcomes is growing. With Tech-Prep programs already completing their third year of federal funding under Title IIIE of the Perkins Act, the U.S. Department of Education is sponsoring several efforts to document Tech-Prep student achievements. Measuring student outcomes is one objective of the national survey of Tech-Prep consortium coordinators.
Aggregate survey data on groups of students can document only certain types of outcomes. A program survey cannot effectively collect information on skills levels, competencies, or grades, because they are measured, computed, and interpreted differently across localities. However, well-defined milestones, such as high school graduation, entry into and completion of postsecondary education and training, and the incidence of employment, are clearly understood terms that can be "counted" relatively easily. These are the primary outcome indicators collected and analyzed as part of the national survey.
Many consortia are still in the early stages of program planning and implementation, and cannot yet report on student outcomes. About 37 percent (260 consortia) have not defined a core program and about 30 percent lack definitions for identifying which students are in Tech-Prep. Fewer than half could report counts of Tech-Prep participants in fiscal year (FY) 1993. Clearly, consortia that could not identify and count participants in the Tech-Prep program would be unable to document the number of students achieving key outcomes. Moreover, because many of the consortia that could report participation had only recently begun to identify students as in Tech-Prep--some starting with a first group of students in the 9th grade, data on the longer-term outcomes of interest in the national survey are not yet available. Fewer consortia reported outcome data than reported participation.1
The survey data should be interpreted carefully, because consortia are at different stages of development and are implementing Tech-Prep at different rates. In most consortia, reported outcomes will reflect participation in a program that is evolving. Students who are considered Tech-Prep high school graduates in spring 1993 may have participated in courses and activities that do not yet fully reflect the local program design. The experiences of these students may differ from those of later participants. As consortia refine their definitions of Tech-Prep participation during the next several years, outcome measures may refer to somewhat different concepts--for example, a more cohesive program of study. As a result, the reported number of participants and specific outcomes might actually decline. Alternatively, some consortia could broaden their definitions or expand to include additional districts and schools, resulting in sharp increases in reported participation and outcomes.
Figure IX.1 summarizes the number of consortia reporting and the number of Tech-Prep students achieving each outcome in school year (SY) 1992-1993. The declining numbers as one reads down the chart reflect not only the different stages of consortium development, but also difficulties in tracking and reporting student outcomes. Consortia generally were able to report on participation in more of their member districts than they could on outcomes, such as postsecondary entry. For example, a particular consortium may have Tech-Prep students from five districts that could report high school graduates, but may be able to report the number of college entries for only two districts. Simple computations of outcome rates--such as the percentage of high school graduates who enter college--must therefore be avoided or used very cautiously. Clearly, consortia have a long way to go in reporting both participation and outcomes, and state and federal help in developing the capacity to track these important measures may be useful.
The remainder of this chapter presents more detailed analysis of outcomes for Tech-Prep students. The three sections describe, in order, graduation from high school; entry into and completion of postsecondary education and training; and employment, both directly after high school and after attainment of a postsecondary degree or certificate.
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[High School Graduation]
