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

Student Outcomes

The survey of local consortium coordinators makes it possible to document the most basic Tech-Prep student outcomes and consortium capacity to report on them--high school graduation, entry into and completion of postsecondary education and training, and employment. However, 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 school year 1992-93. 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 from them. Figure 1 summarizes the rates at which consortia could report on outcomes, and the number of students they reported as achieving these key outcomes. 

                                 FIGURE 1           SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESPONSES FOR KEY OUTCOMES IN 1993                    ------------------------------------                   | Overall Questionnaire Completion |                    |          702 Consortia           |                   ------------------------------------                                    |                                    |                   ------------------------------------                   |      Tech Prep Participation     |                   |           250 Consortia          |                   |         (172,882 Students)       |                   ------------------------------------                                    |                                    |                   ------------------------------------                   | Tech-Prep High School Graduates  |                   |            94 Consortia          |                   |          (12,265 Students)       |                   ------------------------------------                      |                             |                      |                             |   ------------------------                      -----------------------   |   Employment After   |                      | Postsecondary Entry |   |     High School      |                      |     62 Consortia    |   |     33 Consortia     |                      |   (3,645 Students)  |   |    (892 Students)    |                      -----------------------   ------------------------                         |                                                    |                                     --------------------------------------                                     | Entry to Postsecondary Articulated |                                     |      Occupational Speciality       |                                     |            46 Consortia            |                                     |          (1,678 Students)          |                                     --------------------------------------                                                     |                                                     |                                    ---------------------------------------                                    | Completion of Postsecondary Program |                                    |              8 Consortia            |                                    |             (274 Students)          |                                    ---------------------------------------                                                     |                                                     |                                     -----------------------------------                                     |  Employment After Postsecondary |                                     |            Completion           |                                     |            5 Consortia          |                                     |           (107 Students)        |                                     -----------------------------------

More than 12,000 Tech-Prep students in 94 consortia were reported as graduating from high school in spring 1993. The number of Tech-Prep high school graduates varied widely across states. Consortia in 11 states had more than 500 reported Tech-Prep graduates, whereas those in 19 states reported no Tech-Prep graduates in spring 1993. Small numbers of graduates were reported in other states, usually by a single consortium in that state. Reported graduation statistics reflect the gradual implementation of Tech-Prep; among the consortia that reported, graduating students came from only about half of member districts.

Estimating the rate at which Tech-Prep students graduate remains problematic because many consortia said they were unable to report on graduation. The 12,265 spring 1993 graduates represent 64 percent of the Tech-Prep high school seniors reported in the 94 consortia for school year 1992-1993. This computed percentage is a lower-bound estimate, however, because coordinators could report counts of Tech-Prep high school graduates for only 364 of the 417 districts for which they could report counts of Tech-Prep participants. A better estimate of the proportion of Tech-Prep seniors who graduated from high school would include some estimate of the number of graduates in districts that could report the number of seniors but not the number of graduates. If the 53 non-reporting districts had the same rate of graduation, on average, as the 364 reporting districts, we would estimate that 74 percent of Tech-Prep seniors in school year 1992-93 graduated in spring 1993.

Tech-Prep high school graduates have had diverse program experiences because of the very diverse definitions for participation and for their core programs. Twenty-three of the 94 consortia that report having graduates (about 25 percent) did not have a consortium-wide definition of participation. Of the other 71 consortia, 39 include completion of vocational and applied academic course work in their definition. Just 17 of these use a definition of participation that is similar to the Hull and Parnell model, in which a student chooses to be in Tech-Prep, develops a four- or six-year educational plan, and takes both applied academic and vocational courses.

Tracking postsecondary education is a substantial challenge in some consortia. Of the 94 consortia (13 percent) that had by the fall of 1993 reached the stage where they could report on Tech-Prep students' high school graduation, 79 stated that some Tech-Prep students had entered postsecondary education or training. However, it is often difficult for consortium coordinators to determine whether and how many Tech-Prep students have entered or completed postsecondary education or training. Eleven of the 94 consortia with Tech-Prep high school graduates did not know whether any high school graduates were entering college or other postsecondary activities. Even some consortia in which Tech-Prep students are reportedly entering postsecondary programs do not maintain records that would enable coordinators to report on their numbers. Seventeen of the 79 consortia that reported students entering postsecondary programs either did not know how many districts track postsecondary entry or knew that none of the districts had this capability and therefore were unable to report actual numbers of students. Sixty-two of the 79 consortia said they had the capability to report on postsecondary entry.

Consortium size may affect the feasibility of reporting postsecondary enrollment. Small consortia may have closer relationships among members, which facilitate the tracking and collection of data on students. Small consortia also generally have fewer Tech-Prep students whose progress they must track. Among the consortia that had Tech-Prep high school graduates, smaller consortia could report on postsecondary entry in a higher proportion of member districts than could larger consortia. This finding may also reflect the fact that larger consortia are more likely to be concentrating implementation in a few districts, and to have member districts in varying stages of development; a smaller proportion of districts in these large consortia would thus be able to report Tech-Prep participation and outcomes such as postsecondary entry.

Tech-Prep students are entering postsecondary education, mostly at community colleges. The 62 consortia that could track postsecondary entry of spring 1993 graduates reported a total of 3,551 Tech-Prep students entering postsecondary education institutions or programs--slightly less than half of the Tech-Prep students who graduated from high school in those consortia in spring 1993. Of these students, about 68 percent entered two-year institutions, and about 70 percent of them were reported to have enrolled in articulated programs. About 21 percent enrolled in four-year colleges. The numbers of students entering proprietary schools, registered apprenticeship programs, or the armed forces were much smaller.

Tech-Prep students in just a few consortia have completed postsecondary degrees. Given that Tech-Prep initiatives are relatively new, we expected that only a few consortia would have had students completing the postsecondary component of the Tech-Prep program in spring 1993. Only eight consortia reported that Tech-Prep students had completed articulated postsecondary programs in spring 1993. They reported a total of 203 students receiving postsecondary degrees or certificates from articulated occupational programs.

Capacity to track employment of Tech-Prep students is for now very limited. Only half of the 94 consortia that reported spring 1993 graduates were able to obtain information on jobs that these high school graduates took. Furthermore, the 47 consortia that claimed to be able to track this information could do so in only 60 percent of their member districts overall, and in about 87 percent of the districts in which they could report Tech-Prep high school graduates. Only 33 of the 47 consortia actually reported the number of high school graduates who were employed--a total of 892 students. Only five consortia were able to report on the number of students employed after postsecondary degree attainment--a total of 107 students.

Consortia generally obtain information about student jobs in an ad hoc manner--mostly through ongoing contact with individual students. Fewer than half of the 33 consortia that reported on employment outcomes after high school graduation conducted some type of survey after students' graduation, and about one-third reported surveying students about their plans just before graduation.
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