Research on Causes and Improvement Strategies for Perkins III Core
Indicators:

Example Models and Research Results

*Second Draft*

Prepared for Strategies for Improving Program Quality

Atlanta, Georgia

August 8-9, 2002

[Introduction]{.smallcaps}

The Program Quality Initiative (PQI) uses a generic five-step
improvement process that is based on practical yet rigorous methods and
tools to guide state and local improvement efforts. This process is
presented and explained in a guide entitled *Improving Performance: A
Five-Step Process*. The 5-step process promotes the use of research
evidence in developing and evaluating theories and cause-effect models
to identify root causes of performance problems (Step 2) and choose and
evaluate solutions including improvement strategies and model practices
(Steps 3 and 4).

The following tables and references are designed to illustrate how
research can be used to develop and evaluate root causes and solutions.
They also are designed to structure participant conversations and
exchanges and identify additional causes and solutions at PQI
institutes. [These tables and references were developed for the Program
Quality Initiative (PQI) as examples and illustrations only. They are
based on the first stage of a literature search. These tables and
references will be updated and revised based on input from institute
participants and further reviews of the literature]{.underline}.

[Table Explanations]{.smallcaps}

This report provides three tables for each Perkins III Core Indicator.

[Root and Indirect Causes]{.underline}. This table presents the root
causes and indirect causes along with brief descriptions and
explanations of each cause and related research evidence. In some cases,
there is no research evidence to support theories of cause-effect
relationships.

# [Causes Outside Control.]{.underline} This table presents other causes that are assumed to be outside the control of states agencies, schools, and colleges and should be considered constraints or factors for developing and evaluating improvement strategies and model practices. This table also presents related research evidence. Again, in some cases, there is no research evidence available.

[Improvement Strategies]{.underline}. This table presents potential
improvement strategies for one or more of the root causes. This table
describes the theory and evidence for the improvement strategy and one
or more models and the evidence that supports the strategy, if
available.

These three tables are supported by a list of references from the
research literature.

# Root and Indirect Causes for Secondary Academic Attainment (1S1)

+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Root    | **What the Literature Says**                             |
| (Direct)  |                                                          |
| Causes**  |                                                          |
+===========+==========================================================+
| **Student | [Theory]{.underline}: Students with strong commitment to |
| m         | and involvement in learning and strong motivation to     |
| otivation | demonstrate achievement will take more challenging       |
| and       | courses, get higher grades, and perform better on        |
| eng       | national and state academic assessments. Student         |
| agement** | motivation can be either intrinsic (for its own sake) or |
|           | extrinsic (to achieve or accomplish something else of    |
|           | value).                                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research has shown consistent    |
|           | effects of student motivation and engagement (e.g., lack |
|           | of student interest in learning) on academic achievement |
|           | across multiple school contexts and student populations  |
|           | (Walberg, 1992; Gollub et al., 2000).                    |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Student motivation and    |
|           | engagement is related to the following indirect causes:  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Goal Clarity and Relevance]{.underline}. Students   |
|           |     who develop goals and plans for high school and      |
|           |     beyond and see the relevance of academics to their   |
|           |     career and educational goals will be more motivated  |
|           |     to learn and demonstrate achievement. Research       |
|           |     suggests that the more time that vocational students |
|           |     are involved with teachers and counselors to develop |
|           |     and discuss their plans the higher their academic    |
|           |     performance (Kaufman et. al., 2000). Students are    |
|           |     more motivated to learn and will persist in the face |
|           |     of difficulty when they find learning personally     |
|           |     interesting and meaningful or directly relevant to   |
|           |     something that they value (Gollub et al., 2000).     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Career and Further Education                        |
|           |     Incentives]{.underline}. Students who receive        |
|           |     improved career prospects for demonstrated           |
|           |     achievement and advanced placement in further        |
|           |     education or employment will be more motivated and   |
|           |     engaged in learning and have more incentives to      |
|           |     demonstrate achievement. Students will exert more    |
|           |     effort in school if they see a clear connection      |
|           |     between achievement in school and access to further  |
|           |     education or employment opportunities (Rosenbaum,    |
|           |     1999).                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Perceived Chances for Success]{.underline}.         |
|           |     Students who have strong internal control            |
|           |     orientations are more likely to assume that they     |
|           |     will achieve success by working hard and will        |
|           |     demonstrate higher levels of effort and engagement.  |
|           |     Student control orientation has been shown in some   |
|           |     research to be more important than student           |
|           |     self-esteem (Ross and Broh, 2000).                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Peer and School Culture]{.underline}. The norms and |
|           |     morale of peer groups within classrooms and schools  |
|           |     and outside schools that discourage or do not        |
|           |     promote effort and enthusiasm for learning have      |
|           |     major impacts on motivation and engagement (Walberg, |
|           |     1992; Bishop, 2002; Steinberg, Brown, and Dornbusch, |
|           |     1996).                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Rewards and Consequences for Passing External       |
|           |     Exams]{.underline}. Moderate to high stakes external |
|           |     examinations that have real consequences for         |
|           |     students and schools have been shown to have an      |
|           |     impact on academic achievement because they clarify  |
|           |     goals, raise expectations, and motivate both         |
|           |     students and teachers to meet academic standards     |
|           |     (Bishop, 2002).                                      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [School and Teacher Expectations.]{.underline}       |
|           |     Student motivation and engagement is increased and   |
|           |     student performs better when schools and teachers    |
|           |     provide clear expectations that students will meet   |
|           |     academic standards. Students respond by showing more |
|           |     engagement and effort and work harder to meet school |
|           |     and teacher expectations (Visher et al., 1999).      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [School and Class Size]{.underline}. Research has    |
|           |     shown that school and class size and the             |
|           |     implementation of smaller learning communities can   |
|           |     have an indirect affect on achievement (Visher et    |
|           |     al., 1999). It can have an effect on instructional   |
|           |     practices and student achieve especially in the      |
|           |     lower grades in schools with children from families  |
|           |     with lower socioeconomic status (Grissmer et al.,    |
|           |     2000). Lower school and class sizes provide the      |
|           |     context for stronger student-teacher relations and   |
|           |     more student-centered, personalized instructional    |
|           |     strategies associated with higher academic           |
|           |     achievement.                                         |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Participation in Extracurricular                    |
|           |     Activities]{.underline}. Students who are actively   |
|           |     engaged in extracurricular activities that support   |
|           |     or reinforce academic achievement have higher levels |
|           |     of academic achievement. Research has found          |
|           |     consistent effects of participating in sports on     |
|           |     academic achievement, but has not found effects from |
|           |     other activities including vocational clubs (Broh,   |
|           |     2002).                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Safety and Personal/Social Needs]{.underline}.      |
|           |     Students are more motivated to learn and demonstrate |
|           |     achievement when more primary needs are met for      |
|           |     safety and social integration within the school and  |
|           |     larger family and community environment. Schools     |
|           |     that provide a safe and secure environment with      |
|           |     strong personal relationships between students and   |
|           |     staff will provide the necessary foundation for      |
|           |     students to become engaged in learning.              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Parental Involvement]{.underline}. Although         |
|           |     parental involvement has the strongest effects on    |
|           |     student achievement at the primary and middle school |
|           |     levels, parental involvement in the form of parents  |
|           |     talking about college and attending college planning |
|           |     workshops is associated with higher student grades   |
|           |     and higher test scores (Simon, 2001). The most       |
|           |     important aspect of parental involvement is the      |
|           |     communication and reinforcement of educational       |
|           |     aspirations for their children. This aspect is       |
|           |     closely linked with student motivation and academic  |
|           |     achievement for students from all ethnic/racial      |
|           |     backgrounds (Fan, 2001).                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Risk Behaviors]{.underline}. Schools that           |
|           |     successfully address major risk behaviors of at-risk |
|           |     students (e.g., drugs, teenage pregnancy) can have a |
|           |     major effect on student engagement and achievement   |
|           |     (Valverde et al., 2001; Conchas, 2001). Students     |
|           |     with higher levels of drug use are less engaged in   |
|           |     their schoolwork and have lower levels of academic   |
|           |     achievement (Jeynes, 2002).                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Work and Family Commitments]{.underline}. Students  |
|           |     that work a large number of hours per week during    |
|           |     the school year and/or have major family work        |
|           |     commitments and related responsibilities are less    |
|           |     engaged in school and have lower levels of academic  |
|           |     achievement (Holloway, 2001; Singh, 1998; Oetinger,  |
|           |     1999; Hannah and Baum, 2002).                        |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #### Tim  | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who spend more time       |
| e on task | engaged in learning (e.g. more or longer courses and     |
|           | class sessions, more learning time                       |
|           |                                                          |
|           | within existing classes, homework) will have higher      |
|           | levels of academic achievement.                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} A considerable body of research  |
|           | has shown that time on task has large and consistent     |
|           | effects on academic                                      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | achievement (Walberg, 1992). In general, students who    |
|           | are engaged in more coursework in core subject areas     |
|           | such as language                                         |
|           |                                                          |
|           | arts, mathematics, and science have higher levels of     |
|           | academic achievement (Kaufman et al., 2000). Students    |
|           | who participate in                                       |
|           |                                                          |
|           | more instructional time, have higher levels of           |
|           | attendance, and have higher levels of engagement and     |
|           | effort in learning as a                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | percentage of scheduled class time have higher levels of |
|           | achievement. Research has shown that high performing     |
|           | schools use                                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | more of scheduled class time for actual learning than    |
|           | low performing schools (Bishop, 2002).                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Time on task is affected  |
|           | by the following indirect causes:                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Class Scheduling]{.underline}. Alternative class    |
|           |     scheduling such as block scheduling has the          |
|           |     potential to increase academic achievement by        |
|           |     providing students with more concentrated time on    |
|           |     task for specific subjects. However, research has    |
|           |     failed to find any significant effects of block      |
|           |     scheduling on academic achievement (Pliska et al.,   |
|           |     2001).                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Attendance]{.underline}. Attendance has a major     |
|           |     impact on time on task and student academic          |
|           |     achievement (Walberg, 1992).                         |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Homework.]{.underline} Schools can extend time on   |
|           |     task by requiring students to do homework. One major |
|           |     effect of parental involvement on academic           |
|           |     achievement is direct involvement in and enforcement |
|           |     of homework (Simon, 2001).                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Tutoring and Support Services]{.underline}. School  |
|           |     can increase time on task for students by providing  |
|           |     additional tutoring and support services.            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Classroom Management]{.underline}. Research has     |
|           |     shown that high performing schools have more         |
|           |     concentrated learning per unit of time than lower    |
|           |     performing schools. (Bishop, 2002).                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | ```{=html}                                               |
|           | <!-- -->                                                 |
|           | ```                                                      |
|           | -   [Work and Family Commitments]{.underline}. Students  |
|           |     that work a large number of hours per week during    |
|           |     the school year and/or have major family work        |
|           |     commitments and related responsibilities are less    |
|           |     engaged and spend less time during school work,      |
|           |     attend school less, and have lower levels of         |
|           |     academic achievement (Holloway, 2001; Singh, 1998;   |
|           |     Oetinger, 1999; Hannah and Baum, 2002).              |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Inst    | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who receive high quality  |
| ructional | instruction will be more motivated and engaged in their  |
| pr        | own learning and will                                    |
| actices** |                                                          |
|           | receive the type of instruction and overall support      |
|           | necessary for them to take more rigorous classes,        |
|           | achieve higher grades, and                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | perform better on state academic assessments.            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research consistently shows that |
|           | the instructional practices of teachers in classrooms as |
|           | measured by indirect                                     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | quality indicators (e.g., experience, qualifications,    |
|           | ability) have large and consistent effects on academic   |
|           | achievement                                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | (Whitehurst, 2002). However, the research on specific    |
|           | instructional practices has shown inconsistent and       |
|           | ambiguous results. The                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | research evidence supports the general principle of      |
|           | personalized or student-centered instruction with        |
|           | different instructional                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | strategies and practices used depending on the learning  |
|           | objective, classroom context, and student learning       |
|           | styles and needs.                                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | However, researchers have identified some general        |
|           | instructional practices that are supported by research   |
|           | evidence for a wide                                      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | variety of objectives, contexts, and student populations |
|           | (Gollub et al., 2002; Walberg, 1993). In addition,       |
|           | research has                                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | suggested some general classroom characteristics and     |
|           | practices (Cotton, 1995).                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Effective instructional   |
|           | practices are related to the following:                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Teacher Academic Ability and Subject                |
|           |     Knowledge.]{.underline} The general academic ability |
|           |     of teachers, especially verbal ability, as measured  |
|           |     by ACT and SAT scores and the subject knowledge of   |
|           |     teachers as measured by direct assessments or        |
|           |     whether teachers are teaching subjects they have     |
|           |     been trained to teach (i.e., "in field" teaching)    |
|           |     are the most consistent factors influencing the      |
|           |     quality of instructional practices and student       |
|           |     learning especially at the secondary level (Bishop,  |
|           |     2002; Ehrenberg and Brewer, 1994; Monk, 1994). There |
|           |     is no research evidence to support the widely held   |
|           |     belief that teachers with master's or other advanced |
|           |     degrees in education or higher salaries will produce |
|           |     higher student achievement (Whitehurst, 2002;        |
|           |     Grissmer et al., 2001).                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Focused Professional Development]{.underline}.      |
|           |     Although there is a large and growing body of        |
|           |     research on professional development, there is very  |
|           |     little evidence that professional development in     |
|           |     general has a major impact on instructional          |
|           |     practices and student achievement. However, some     |
|           |     research has shown that highly focused and intensive |
|           |     professional development tied specifically to the    |
|           |     standards, content and curriculum of a specific      |
|           |     subject area such as math or science improve teacher |
|           |     and student performance (Wiley and Yoon, 1995).      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [School and Class Size]{.underline}. Research has    |
|           |     shown that school and class size can have an effect  |
|           |     on instructional practices and student achieve       |
|           |     especially in the lower grades in schools with       |
|           |     children from families with lower socioeconomic      |
|           |     status (Grissmer et al., 2000). Lower school and     |
|           |     class sizes provide a smaller learning community     |
|           |     context for stronger student-teacher relations and   |
|           |     more student-centered, personalized instructional    |
|           |     strategies associated with higher academic           |
|           |     achievement (Visher et al., 1999).                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Teacher Resources]{.underline}. Schools with        |
|           |     teachers who report that they have the necessary     |
|           |     resources and time to provide quality instruction    |
|           |     have higher levels of student academic achievement   |
|           |     (Grissmer et al., 2000).                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Teacher Planning and Cooperation]{.underline}.      |
|           |     Schools that have high levels of joint teacher       |
|           |     planning and cooperation to support student          |
|           |     achievement have higher levels of student            |
|           |     achievement. Vocational students who perceive that   |
|           |     their academic and vocational teachers are working   |
|           |     together to support student academic achievement     |
|           |     have higher levels of academic achievement (Kaufman  |
|           |     et al., 2000).                                       |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **C       | [Theory]{.underline}: Schools that directly align their  |
| urriculum | internal assessment and grading systems and curriculum   |
| al        | to state standards will have                             |
| ignment** |                                                          |
|           | higher levels of student academic achievement (Tienken,  |
|           | 2001). The degree of curriculum alignment varies by      |
|           | school and                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | subject area. Differences in school curriculum alignment |
|           | may explain differences between low and high performing  |
|           | schools with                                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | similar characteristics (Whitehurst, 2002).              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: No consistent research evidence  |
|           | was found linking curriculum alignment to academic       |
|           | achievement. However, some                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | research suggests that assessment and curriculum         |
|           | alignment may result in higher levels of achievement on  |
|           | state assessments                                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | (Baenen and Dulaney, 2000).                              |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Prior   | [Theory]{.underline}: Students learn by connecting       |
| l         | learning to prior learning (Gollub et al., 2002).        |
| earning** | Students with higher levels of academic                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | achievement have the skills and confidence to build on   |
|           | their previous academic success.                         |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Prior learning and academic      |
|           | achievement is a consistent predictor of future academic |
|           | achievement in the form of test                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | scores and grades (Walberg, 1992; Grissmer et al.,       |
|           | 2001).                                                   |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| *         | [Theory:]{.underline} Students who face learning         |
| *Barriers | disabilities and language problems (e.g., ESL) will have |
| to        | more difficulty in learning than students without        |
| l         | learning barriers.                                       |
| earning** |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research has found consistent    |
|           | effects of learning disabilities and language problems   |
|           | on student academic                                      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | achievement. Learning disabilities and language barriers |
|           | are a major factor considered in research when           |
|           | predicting achievement.                                  |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+

# 

# 

# Causes Outside Control for Secondary Academic Achievement (1S1)

+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Causes | **What the Literature Says**                              |
| Outside  |                                                           |
| C        |                                                           |
| ontrol** |                                                           |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Family | [Theory]{.underline}: Family demographic characteristics  |
| dem      | determine the amount of human (parental education),       |
| ographic | financial (household income),                             |
| c        |                                                           |
| haracter | and social (family structure and relationships) capital   |
| istics** | that can support higher academic achievement. In          |
|          | particular, parents with                                  |
|          |                                                           |
|          | higher education levels and higher incomes are more       |
|          | likely to promote the value and importance of academic    |
|          | achievement and be                                        |
|          |                                                           |
|          | able to provide direct assistance to students in          |
|          | learning. Differences in academic achievement between     |
|          | minority and non-minority                                 |
|          |                                                           |
|          | populations are explained in research to a large extent   |
|          | by socioeconomic differences.                             |
|          |                                                           |
|          | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research has consistently         |
|          | demonstrated that parents' education levels have the      |
|          | largest and most consistent effect on                     |
|          |                                                           |
|          | student academic attainment. Students with one or two     |
|          | college-educated parents have higher levels of academic   |
|          | achievement than                                          |
|          |                                                           |
|          | other students (Grissmer et al., 1999; Grissmer et al.,   |
|          | 2000). Research shows significant but lower levels of     |
|          | impact of family income                                   |
|          |                                                           |
|          | with students from middle and upper income families       |
|          | performing better than students from poor families.       |
|          | Although family size                                      |
|          |                                                           |
|          | and mother's age at birth have moderate effects on        |
|          | student achievement, single-parent status of students did |
|          | not have a significant                                    |
|          |                                                           |
|          | effect on academic attainment (Grissmer et al., 2000).    |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **School | [Theory]{.underline}: Schools with higher state and local |
| expen    | expenditures per pupil will have more resources available |
| diture** | to directly support learning                              |
|          |                                                           |
| **       | and will have higher levels of academic achievement.      |
| levels** |                                                           |
|          | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research shows small to moderate  |
|          | effects of per pupil expenditures on student academic     |
|          | attainment (Grissmer et al.,                              |
|          |                                                           |
|          | 2001).                                                    |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+

# Improvement Strategies for Secondary Academic Achievement (1S1)

### 

+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| **Improvement   | **Root    | **What the Literature Says**          |
| Strategy**      | Causes**  |                                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | **Ad      |                                       |
|                 | dressed** |                                       |
+=================+===========+=======================================+
| Academic        | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| integration     |   Student | Schools can increase the percent of   |
|                 |     m     | vocational concentrators who          |
|                 | otivation |                                       |
|                 |     and   | take a rigorous core academic         |
|                 |     e     | curriculum in high school and         |
|                 | ngagement | increase the degree that              |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | -   Time  | academic and vocational instructors   |
|                 |     on    | integrate academic and vocational     |
|                 |     task  | curricula.                            |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | -   Inst  | [Evidence]{.underline}: Although      |
|                 | ructional | research shows that students taking   |
|                 |           | more rigorous academic courses have   |
|                 | practices | higher levels of academic             |
|                 |           | achievement, the research on applied  |
|                 |           | academics is mixed (Field, 1999;      |
|                 |           | Visher et al., 1999). No research was |
|                 |           | found to support the effects of       |
|                 |           | academic-vocational curriculum        |
|                 |           | integration. However, research        |
|                 |           | suggests that vocational students who |
|                 |           | perceive that their academic and      |
|                 |           | vocational teachers are working       |
|                 |           | together to support student academic  |
|                 |           | achievement have higher levels of     |
|                 |           | academic achievement (Kaufman et al., |
|                 |           | 2000).                                |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| **Career        | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| incentives and  |   Student | Schools can increase academic         |
| articu          |     m     | achievement by providing students     |
| lation/advanced | otivation | with career incentives (e.g.,         |
| placement**     |     and   | work-based learning opportunities,    |
|                 |     e     | job placement) and advanced placement |
|                 | ngagement | opportunities that reduce the         |
|                 |           | necessary coursework to achieve a     |
|                 |           | postsecondary certificate or degree.  |
|                 |           | There are many different models       |
|                 |           | including Advanced Placement and Tech |
|                 |           | Prep.                                 |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: There is no   |
|                 |           | evidence that career and further      |
|                 |           | education incentives increase         |
|                 |           | academic achievement.                 |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| #               | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| ###### Career/a |   Student | Students who have clear career and    |
| cademic guidanc |     m     | educational goals and see the         |
| e and mentoring | otivation |                                       |
|                 |     and   | relevance of academics to these goals |
|                 |     e     | are more likely to be motivated and   |
|                 | ngagement | engaged to learn                      |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | and demonstrate achievement. In       |
|                 |           | addition, students who have close and |
|                 |           | direct contact with                   |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | teachers and adult career and         |
|                 |           | educational mentors who reinforce the |
|                 |           | importance of                         |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | academics will be more motivated and  |
|                 |           | engaged. There are many models of     |
|                 |           | integrated                            |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | career and academic counseling and    |
|                 |           | adult mentoring. The focus on career  |
|                 |           | and academic                          |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | guidance and counseling is a major    |
|                 |           | principle in High Schools That Work   |
|                 |           | (Kaufman et al.,                      |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | 2001).                                |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: No research   |
|                 |           | was found that provided evidence on   |
|                 |           | the effects of career and             |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | academic counseling and mentoring.    |
|                 |           | However, research suggests that       |
|                 |           | students who report                   |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | that they have regular contact with   |
|                 |           | their teachers and others on career   |
|                 |           | and educational goals                 |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | have higher levels of academic        |
|                 |           | achievement (Kaufman et al., 2000).   |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| **Participation | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| in student      |   Student | Students who are actively engaged in  |
| vocational      |     m     | extracurricular activities that       |
| organizations** | otivation | support or reinforce academic and     |
|                 |     and   | vocational and technical skill        |
|                 |     e     | achievement have higher levels of     |
|                 | ngagement | academic achievement. Vocational      |
|                 |           | student organizations reinforce       |
|                 | -   Time  | student motivation through stronger   |
|                 |     on    | teacher and industry interaction and  |
|                 |     task  | provide more time to learn and        |
|                 |           | practice skills in extracurricular    |
|                 |           | activities                            |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research has  |
|                 |           | found consistent effects of           |
|                 |           | participating in sports on academic   |
|                 |           | achievement, but has not found        |
|                 |           | effects from other activities         |
|                 |           | including vocational student          |
|                 |           | organizations (Broh, 2002).           |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| Intensive and   | -   Prior | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| early academic  |           | Students who receive intensive and    |
| intervention    |  learning | early academic tutoring and           |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | -         | extra class time to develop their     |
|                 |  Barriers | academic skills to grade level and    |
|                 |     to    | address learning barriers             |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |  learning | (e.g. ESL problems) before            |
|                 |           | concentrated participation in         |
|                 | -   Time  | vocational education will achieve     |
|                 |     on    |                                       |
|                 |     task  | higher levels of academic             |
|                 |           | achievement. There are some emerging  |
|                 |           | models of intensive                   |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | academic intervention in              |
|                 |           | career-focused programs including     |
|                 |           | models that emphasize applied         |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | academics in the context of a career  |
|                 |           | area such as freshman academies.      |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Although      |
|                 |           | research supports the general         |
|                 |           | strategy of intensive and early       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | remediation, no evidence was found on |
|                 |           | this strategy for vocational          |
|                 |           | education students.                   |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+

### 

###  

# Root and Indirect Causes for 

# Secondary Vocational and Technical Skill Attainment (1S2)

+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Root    | **What the Literature Says**                             |
| (Direct)  |                                                          |
| Causes**  |                                                          |
+===========+==========================================================+
| **Student | [Theory]{.underline}: Students with strong commitment to |
| m         | and involvement in learning and strong motivation to     |
| otivation | demonstrate achievement will take and complete more      |
| and       | vocational courses and will be more likely to pass       |
| eng       | school and external industry assessments. Student        |
| agement** | motivation can be either intrinsic (for its own sake) or |
|           | extrinsic (to achieve or accomplish something else of    |
|           | value).                                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research has demonstrated        |
|           | consistent effects of student motivation and engagement  |
|           | (e.g., lack of student interest in learning) on academic |
|           | achievement. However, no research was found to support   |
|           | the theory that student motivation and engagement and    |
|           | related indirect causes have an impact on vocational     |
|           | skill attainment.                                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Student motivation and    |
|           | engagement is related to the following indirect causes   |
|           | for secondary achievement and can be theorized to have   |
|           | similar effects on vocational and technical skill        |
|           | attainment:                                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Goal Clarity and Relevance]{.underline}. Students   |
|           |     who develop goals and plans for high school and      |
|           |     beyond and see the relevance of academics to their   |
|           |     career and educational goals will be more motivated  |
|           |     to learn and demonstrate achievement. Students are   |
|           |     more motivated to learn and will persist in the face |
|           |     of difficulty when they find learning personally     |
|           |     interesting and meaningful or directly relevant to   |
|           |     something that they value (Gollub et al., 2000).     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Career and Further Education                        |
|           |     Incentives]{.underline}. Students who receive        |
|           |     improved career prospects and advanced placement in  |
|           |     further education will be more motivated and engaged |
|           |     in learning and have more incentives to demonstrate  |
|           |     achievement. Students will exert more effort in      |
|           |     school if they see a clear connection between        |
|           |     achievement in school (e.g., attainment of           |
|           |     vocational and technical skills) and access to       |
|           |     further education or employment opportunities        |
|           |     including work-based learning opportunities arranged |
|           |     by schools and teachers (Rosenbaum, 1999).           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Perceived Chances for Success]{.underline}.         |
|           |     Students who have strong internal control            |
|           |     orientations are more likely to assume that they     |
|           |     will achieve success by working hard and will        |
|           |     demonstrate higher levels of effort and engagement.  |
|           |     Student control orientation has been shown in some   |
|           |     research to be more important than student           |
|           |     self-esteem (Ross and Broh, 2000). Student           |
|           |     expectations for career success is also considered a |
|           |     factor in motivating students (Lent et al., 1996).   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Peer and School Culture]{.underline}. The norms and |
|           |     morale of peer groups within classrooms and schools  |
|           |     and outside schools that discourage or do not        |
|           |     promote effort and enthusiasm for learning have      |
|           |     major impacts on motivation and engagement (Walberg, |
|           |     1992; Bishop, 2002; Steinberg, Brown, and Dornbusch, |
|           |     1996)                                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Rewards and Consequences for Passing External       |
|           |     Exams]{.underline}. Moderate to high stakes external |
|           |     examinations that have real consequences for         |
|           |     students and schools have been shown to have an      |
|           |     impact on academic achievement because they clarify  |
|           |     goals, raise expectations, and motivate both         |
|           |     students and teachers to meet academic standards     |
|           |     (Bishop, 2002).                                      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [School and Teacher Expectations.]{.underline}       |
|           |     Student motivation and engagement is increased and   |
|           |     student performs better when schools and teachers    |
|           |     provide clear expectations that students will meet   |
|           |     academic standards. Students respond by showing more |
|           |     engagement and effort and work harder to meet school |
|           |     and teacher expectations (Visher et al., 1999).      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [School and Class Size]{.underline}. Research has    |
|           |     shown that school and class size and the             |
|           |     implementation of smaller learning communities can   |
|           |     have an indirect affect on achievement (Visher et    |
|           |     al., 1999). Lower school and class sizes provide the |
|           |     context for stronger student-teacher relations and   |
|           |     more student-centered, personalized instructional    |
|           |     strategies associated with higher academic           |
|           |     achievement                                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Participation in Extracurricular                    |
|           |     Activities]{.underline}. Students who are actively   |
|           |     engaged in extracurricular activities that support   |
|           |     or reinforce academic achievement have higher levels |
|           |     of academic achievement. Research has found          |
|           |     consistent effects of participating in sports on     |
|           |     academic achievement, but has not found effects from |
|           |     other activities including vocational clubs (Broh,   |
|           |     2002).                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Safety and Personal/Social Needs]{.underline}.      |
|           |     Students are more motivated to learn and demonstrate |
|           |     achievement when more primary needs are met for      |
|           |     safety and social integration within the school and  |
|           |     larger family and community environment. Schools     |
|           |     that provide a safe and secure environment with      |
|           |     strong personal relationships between students and   |
|           |     staff will provide the necessary foundation for      |
|           |     students to become engaged in learning.              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Parental Involvement]{.underline}. Although         |
|           |     parental involvement has the strongest effects on    |
|           |     student achievement at the primary and middle school |
|           |     levels, parental involvement in the form of parents  |
|           |     talking about college and attending college planning |
|           |     workshops is associated with higher student grades   |
|           |     and higher test scores (Simon, 2001). The most       |
|           |     important aspect of parental involvement is the      |
|           |     communication and reinforcement of educational       |
|           |     aspirations for their children. This aspect is       |
|           |     closely linked with student motivation and academic  |
|           |     achievement for students from all ethnic/racial      |
|           |     backgrounds (Fan, 2001).                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Risk Behaviors]{.underline}. Schools that           |
|           |     successfully address major risk behaviors of at-risk |
|           |     students (e.g., drugs, teenage pregnancy) can have   |
|           |     major effect on student engagement and achievement   |
|           |     (Valverde et al., 2001; Conchas, 2001). Students     |
|           |     with higher levels of drug use are less engaged in   |
|           |     their schoolwork and have lower levels of academic   |
|           |     achievement (Jeynes, 2002).                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Work and Family Commitments]{.underline}. Students  |
|           |     that work a large number of hours per week during    |
|           |     the school year that are unrelated to career goals   |
|           |     and/or have major family work commitments and        |
|           |     related responsibilities are less engaged in school  |
|           |     and have lower levels of academic achievement        |
|           |     (Holloway, 2001; Singh, 1998; Oetinger, 1999; Hannah |
|           |     and Baum, 2002). However, student engaging in high   |
|           |     quality work-based learning can develop SCAN skills  |
|           |     related to their career and technical education      |
|           |     programs (Stone and Josian, 2000).                   |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #### Tim  | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who spend more time       |
| e on task | engaged in learning (e.g. more or longer courses and     |
|           | class sessions, more learning time                       |
|           |                                                          |
|           | within existing classes, homework, internships) will     |
|           | have higher levels of vocational and technical skill     |
|           | attainment.                                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} A considerable body of research  |
|           | has shown that time on task has large and consistent     |
|           | effects on academic                                      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | achievement (Walberg, 1992). In general, students who    |
|           | are engaged in more coursework in core subject areas     |
|           | such as language                                         |
|           |                                                          |
|           | arts, mathematics, and science have higher levels of     |
|           | academic achievement (Kaufman et al., 2000). Students    |
|           | who participate in                                       |
|           |                                                          |
|           | more instructional time, have high levels of attendance  |
|           | and have higher levels of engagement and effort in       |
|           | learning as a                                            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | percentage of scheduled class and work-based learning    |
|           | time have higher levels of achievement. Research has     |
|           | shown that high                                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | performing schools use more of scheduled class time for  |
|           | actual learning than low performing schools (Bishop,     |
|           | 2002). Research                                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | also has shown that high-quality work-based learning can |
|           | increase SCANS skills (Stone and Josian, 2000).          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Time on task may be       |
|           | affected by the following indirect causes identified in  |
|           | secondary and postsecondary research on academic         |
|           | achievement:                                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Class Scheduling]{.underline}. Alternative class    |
|           |     scheduling such as block scheduling has the          |
|           |     potential to increase academic achievement by        |
|           |     providing students with more concentrated time on    |
|           |     task for specific subjects. However, research has    |
|           |     failed to find any significant effects of block      |
|           |     scheduling on academic achievement (Pliska et al.,   |
|           |     2001).                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Attendance]{.underline}. Attendance has a major     |
|           |     impact on time on task and student academic          |
|           |     achievement (Walberg, 1992).                         |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Homework.]{.underline} Schools can extend time on   |
|           |     task by requiring students to do homework. One major |
|           |     effect of parental involvement on academic           |
|           |     achievement is direct involvement in and enforcement |
|           |     of homework (Simon, 2001).                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Tutoring and Support Services]{.underline}. School  |
|           |     can increase time on task for students by providing  |
|           |     additional tutoring and support services.            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Classroom Management]{.underline}. Research has     |
|           |     shown that high performing schools have more         |
|           |     concentrated learning per unit of time than lower    |
|           |     performing schools. (Bishop, 2002).                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Work-based Learning]{.underline}. Research has      |
|           |     shown that student in high quality work-based        |
|           |     learning can increase SCANS skills (Stone and        |
|           |     Josian, 2000).                                       |
|           |                                                          |
|           | ```{=html}                                               |
|           | <!-- -->                                                 |
|           | ```                                                      |
|           | -   [Other Work and Family Commitments]{.underline}.     |
|           |     Students that work a large number of hours per week  |
|           |     during the school year and/or have major family work |
|           |     commitments and related responsibilities are less    |
|           |     engaged and spend less time during school work,      |
|           |     attend school less, and have lower levels of         |
|           |     academic achievement (Holloway, 2001; Singh, 1998;   |
|           |     Oetinger, 1999; Hannah and Baum, 2002).              |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Inst    | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who receive high quality  |
| ructional | instruction will be more motivated and engaged in their  |
| pr        | own learning and will                                    |
| actices** |                                                          |
|           | receive the type of instruction and overall support      |
|           | necessary for them to take more rigorous classes,        |
|           | achieve higher grades, and                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | perform better on industry and professional              |
|           | examinations.                                            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research consistently shows that |
|           | the instructional practices of teachers in classrooms as |
|           | measured by indirect quality                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | indicators (e.g., experience, qualifications, ability)   |
|           | have large and consistent effects on academic            |
|           | achievement (Whitehurst,                                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | 2002). Research at the college level shows that          |
|           | instructional practices have large and consistent        |
|           | effects on postsecondary                                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | attainment. However, the research on specific            |
|           | instructional practices has shown inconsistent and       |
|           | ambiguous results. The research                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | evidence supports the general principle of personalized  |
|           | or student-centered instruction with different           |
|           | instructional strategies and                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | practices used depending on the learning objective,      |
|           | classroom context, and student learning styles and       |
|           | needs. However,                                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | researchers have identified some general instructional   |
|           | practices that are supported by research evidence for a  |
|           | wide variety of                                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | objectives, contexts, and student populations including  |
|           | (Gollub et al., 2002; Walberg, 1993). In addition,       |
|           | research has suggested                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | some general classroom characteristics and practices     |
|           | (Cotton, 1995).                                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Effective instructional   |
|           | practices may be affected by the following indirect      |
|           | causes found in research on secondary and postsecondary  |
|           | academic achievement:                                    |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Teacher Academic Ability and Subject                |
|           |     Knowledge.]{.underline} The general academic ability |
|           |     of teachers, especially verbal ability, as measured  |
|           |     by ACT and SAT scores and the subject knowledge of   |
|           |     teachers as measured by direct assessments or        |
|           |     whether teachers are teaching subjects they have     |
|           |     been trained to teach (i.e., "in field" teaching)    |
|           |     are the most consist factors influencing the quality |
|           |     of instructional practices and student learning      |
|           |     especially at the secondary level (Bishop, 2002;     |
|           |     Ehrenberg and Brewer, 1994; Monk, 1994). There is no |
|           |     research evidence to support the widely held belief  |
|           |     that teachers with master's or other advanced        |
|           |     degrees in education or higher salaries will produce |
|           |     higher student achievement (Whitehurst, 2002;        |
|           |     Grissmer et al., 2001).                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Focused Professional Development]{.underline}.      |
|           |     Although there is a large and growing body of        |
|           |     research on professional development, there is very  |
|           |     little evidence that professional development in     |
|           |     general has a major impact on instructional          |
|           |     practices and student achievement. However, some     |
|           |     research has shown the highly focused and intensive  |
|           |     professional development tied specifically to the    |
|           |     standards, content and curriculum of a specific      |
|           |     subject area such as math or science improve teacher |
|           |     and student performance (Wiley and Yoon, 1995).      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [School and Class Size]{.underline}. Research has    |
|           |     shown that school and class size can have an effect  |
|           |     on instructional practices and student achieve       |
|           |     especially in the lower grades in schools with       |
|           |     children from families with lower socioeconomic      |
|           |     status (Grissmer et al., 2000). Lower school and     |
|           |     class sizes provide the context for stronger         |
|           |     student-teacher relations and more student-centered, |
|           |     personalized instructional strategies associated     |
|           |     with higher academic achievement.                    |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Teacher Resources]{.underline}. Schools with        |
|           |     teachers who report that they have the necessary     |
|           |     resources and time to provide quality instruction    |
|           |     have higher levels of student academic achievement   |
|           |     (Grissmer et al., 2000).                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Teacher Planning and Cooperation]{.underline}.      |
|           |     Schools that have high levels of joint teacher       |
|           |     planning and cooperation to support student          |
|           |     achievement have higher levels of student            |
|           |     achievement. Vocational students that perceive that  |
|           |     their academic and vocational teachers are working   |
|           |     together to support student academic achievement     |
|           |     (Kaufman et al., 2000).                              |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **C       | [Theory]{.underline}: Schools that directly align their  |
| urriculum | internal assessment and grading systems and curriculum   |
| al        | to national, state, and local industry skill standards   |
| ignment** | (e.g., learning objectives, lesson plans, equipment and  |
|           | learning resources) and/or integrate and align course    |
|           | learning objectives will have higher levels of student   |
|           | vocational and technical skill attainment. Curriculum    |
|           | alignment has been proposed as a major factor in         |
|           | academic achievement (Tienken, 2001). The degree of      |
|           | curriculum alignment varies by school and subject area.  |
|           | Differences in school curriculum alignment may explain   |
|           | differences between low and high performing schools with |
|           | similar characteristics (Whitehurst, 2002). School and   |
|           | curriculum alignment to industry standards has been      |
|           | considered a major factor in promoting student           |
|           | attainment of vocational and technical skills in         |
|           | national industry certification initiatives (Lewis et    |
|           | al., 1996)                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: No consistent research evidence  |
|           | was found linking curriculum alignment to academic       |
|           | achievement or the attainment of vocational and          |
|           | technical skill attainment. However, some research       |
|           | suggests that assessment and curriculum alignment may    |
|           | result in higher levels of achievement on state          |
|           | assessments (Baenen and Dulaney, 2000). Some research    |
|           | also suggests that school and program alignment to       |
|           | national certification requirements (e.g., ASE program   |
|           | certification) will increase student achievement on      |
|           | vocational and technical skill assessments (Lewis et     |
|           | al., 1996).                                              |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Prior   | [Theory]{.underline}: Students learn by connecting       |
| l         | learning to prior learning (Gollub et al., 2002).        |
| earning** | Students with higher levels of academic                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | achievement and vocational and technical skill           |
|           | attainment have the skills and confidence to build on    |
|           | their previous success.                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Prior learning and academic      |
|           | achievement is a consistent predictor of future academic |
|           | achievement such as test                                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | scores and grades (Walberg, 1992; Grissmer et al.,       |
|           | 2001). However, no research was found on                 |
|           | vocational/technical skill                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | attainment.                                              |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| *         | [Theory:]{.underline} Students who face learning         |
| *Barriers | disabilities and language barriers (e.g., ESL) will have |
| to        | more difficulty in learning than                         |
| l         |                                                          |
| earning** | students without disabilities.                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research has found consistent    |
|           | effects of learning disabilities and language barriers   |
|           | (e.g., ESL) on student academic achievement. Learning    |
|           | disabilities are a major factor considered in research   |
|           | when predicting academic achievement. However, no        |
|           | research was found on the impact of learning barriers on |
|           | vocational and technical skill attainment.               |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+

# Causes Outside Control for 

# Secondary Vocational and Technical Skill Attainment (1S2)

+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Causes | **What the Literature Says**                              |
| Outside  |                                                           |
| C        |                                                           |
| ontrol** |                                                           |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Dem    | [Theory]{.underline}: Family demographic characteristics  |
| ographic | determine the amount of human (parental education),       |
| c        | financial (household income),                             |
| haracter |                                                           |
| istics** | and social (family structure and relationships) capital   |
|          | that can support higher academic and vocational and       |
|          | technical skill attainment.                               |
|          |                                                           |
|          | Differences in academic achievement between minority and  |
|          | non-minority populations are explained in research to a   |
|          | large extent by                                           |
|          |                                                           |
|          | socioeconomic differences.                                |
|          |                                                           |
|          | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research has consistently         |
|          | demonstrated that parents' education levels have the      |
|          | largest and most consistent effect on                     |
|          |                                                           |
|          | student academic attainment. Students with one or two     |
|          | college-educated parents have higher levels of academic   |
|          | achievement than                                          |
|          |                                                           |
|          | other students (Grissmer et al., 1999; Grissmer et al.,   |
|          | 2000). Research shows significant but lower levels of     |
|          | impact of family income                                   |
|          |                                                           |
|          | with students from middle and upper income families       |
|          | performing better than students from poor families.       |
|          | Although family size                                      |
|          |                                                           |
|          | and mother's age at birth have moderate effects on        |
|          | student achievement, single-parent status of students did |
|          | not have a significant effect on academic attainment      |
|          | (Grissmer et al., 2000). However, no research was found   |
|          | on the impact of demographic characteristics on           |
|          | vocational and technical skill attainment.                |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **School | [Theory]{.underline}: Schools with higher state and local |
| expen    | expenditures per pupil will have more resources available |
| diture** | to directly support learning                              |
|          |                                                           |
| **       | and will have higher levels of academic achievement and   |
| levels** | vocational and technical skill attainment.                |
|          |                                                           |
|          | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research shows small to moderate  |
|          | effects of per pupil expenditures on student academic     |
|          | attainment (Grissmer et al.,                              |
|          |                                                           |
|          | 2001). No research was found on the effects of per pupil  |
|          | expenditure on vocational and technical skill attainment. |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Career | [Theory]{.underline}: Students with better and more       |
| and      | diverse career and further education opportunities in     |
| further  | their communities will be more motivated to learn and     |
| e        | demonstrate attainment of vocational and technical        |
| ducation | skills.                                                   |
| opportu  |                                                           |
| nities** | [Evidence]{.underline}: No research was found on the      |
|          | impact of perceived or actual opportunities on skill      |
|          | attainment.                                               |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+

# Improvement Strategies for 

# Secondary Vocational and Technical Skill Attainment (1S2)

### 

+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| **Improvement   | **Root    | **What the Literature Says**          |
| Strategy**      | Causes**  |                                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | **Ad      |                                       |
|                 | dressed** |                                       |
+=================+===========+=======================================+
| Academic        | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| integration     |   Student | Schools can increase the percent of   |
|                 |     m     | vocational concentrators who          |
|                 | otivation |                                       |
|                 |     and   | take a rigorous core academic         |
|                 |     e     | curriculum in high school and         |
|                 | ngagement | increase the degree that              |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | -   Time  | academic and vocational instructors   |
|                 |     on    | integrate academic and vocational     |
|                 |     task  | curricula.                            |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | -   Inst  | [Evidence]{.underline}: Although      |
|                 | ructional | research shows that students taking   |
|                 |           | more rigorous academic courses have   |
|                 | practices | higher levels of academic             |
|                 |           | achievement, the research on applied  |
|                 |           | academics is mixed. No research was   |
|                 |           | found to support the effects of       |
|                 |           | academic-vocational curriculum        |
|                 |           | integration. However, research        |
|                 |           | suggests that vocational students who |
|                 |           | perceive that their academic and      |
|                 |           | vocational teachers are working       |
|                 |           | together to support student academic  |
|                 |           | achievement have higher levels of     |
|                 |           | academic achievement (Kaufman et al., |
|                 |           | 2000).                                |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| #               | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| ###### Career/a |   Student | Students who have clear career and    |
| cademic guidanc |     m     | educational goals and see the         |
| e and mentoring | otivation |                                       |
|                 |     and   | relevance of academic and vocational  |
|                 |     e     | and technical courses to these goals  |
|                 | ngagement | are more likely                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | to be motivated and engaged to learn  |
|                 |           | and demonstrate achievement. In       |
|                 |           | addition, students                    |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | who have close and direct contact     |
|                 |           | with teachers and adult career and    |
|                 |           | educational mentors                   |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | who reinforce the importance of       |
|                 |           | academics will be more motivated and  |
|                 |           | engaged. There are                    |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | many models of integrated career and  |
|                 |           | academic counseling and adult         |
|                 |           | mentoring. The focus                  |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | on career and academic guidance and   |
|                 |           | counseling is a major principle in    |
|                 |           | High Schools That                     |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | Work (Kaufman et al., 2001).          |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: No research   |
|                 |           | was found that provided evidence on   |
|                 |           | the effects of career and             |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | academic counseling and mentoring.    |
|                 |           | However, research suggests that       |
|                 |           | students who                          |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | report that they have regular contact |
|                 |           | with their teachers and others on     |
|                 |           | career and educational goals have     |
|                 |           | higher levels of academic achievement |
|                 |           | (Kaufman et al., 2000).               |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| **Career and    | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| further         |   Student | Schools can increase vocational and   |
| education       |     m     | technical skill attainment by         |
| incentives**    | otivation | providing students with career        |
|                 |     and   | incentives (e.g., work-based learning |
|                 |     e     | opportunities, job placement) and     |
|                 | ngagement | advanced placement opportunities that |
|                 |           | reduce the necessary coursework to    |
|                 |           | achieve a postsecondary certificate   |
|                 |           | or degree or industry certification.  |
|                 |           | There are many different models       |
|                 |           | including Tech Prep.                  |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: There is no   |
|                 |           | evidence that career and further      |
|                 |           | education incentives increase         |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | vocational and technical skill        |
|                 |           | attainment. However, there is some    |
|                 |           | evidence to suggest that              |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | student access to work-based learning |
|                 |           | and employment opportunities may have |
|                 |           | an effect on                          |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | student effort and achievement        |
|                 |           | (Rosenbaum, 1999).                    |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| **External      | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| indust          |   Student | Moderate to high stakes external      |
| ry/professional |     m     | examinations that have real           |
| assessments and | otivation | consequences for students and schools |
| c               |     and   | have been shown to have an impact on  |
| ertifications** |     e     | academic achievement because they     |
|                 | ngagement | clarify goals, raise expectations,    |
|                 |           | and motivate both students and        |
|                 | -   Inst  | teachers to meet academic standards   |
|                 | ructional | (Bishop, 2002). Similar effects       |
|                 |           | should be expected from external      |
|                 | practices | industry/professional assessments and |
|                 |           | certifications. Many states are using |
|                 | -   C     | these industry and professional       |
|                 | urriculum | certifications to improve the quality |
|                 |           | and effectiveness of career and       |
|                 | alignment | technical programs. These             |
|                 |           | certifications many times provide     |
|                 |           | program improvement and professional  |
|                 |           | development opportunities and         |
|                 |           | requirements (e.g., program approval  |
|                 |           | and teacher certification) that can   |
|                 |           | improve instructional practices and   |
|                 |           | curriculum alignment.                 |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: There is no   |
|                 |           | research evidence on the impact of    |
|                 |           | external industry/professional        |
|                 |           | assessments and certifications.       |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| Participation   | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| in vocational   |   Student | Students who are actively engaged in  |
| student         |     m     | extracurricular activities that       |
| organizations   | otivation | support or reinforce academic and     |
|                 |     and   | vocational and technical skill        |
|                 |     e     | achievement have higher levels of     |
|                 | ngagement | academic achievement. Vocational      |
|                 |           | student organizations reinforce       |
|                 | -   Time  | student motivation through stronger   |
|                 |     on    | teacher and industry interaction and  |
|                 |     task  | provide more time to learn and        |
|                 |           | practice skills in extracurricular    |
|                 |           | activities                            |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research has  |
|                 |           | found consistent effects of           |
|                 |           | participating in sports on academic   |
|                 |           | achievement, but has not found        |
|                 |           | effects from other activities         |
|                 |           | including vocational student          |
|                 |           | organizations (Broh, 2002).           |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| ####### Fo      | -   Inst  | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| cused professio | ructional | Research in academic achievement has  |
| nal development |           | shown that focused professional       |
|                 | practices | development on standards and          |
|                 |           | curriculum can have impacts on        |
|                 | -   C     | student achievement. Similar effects  |
|                 | urriculum | should be achieved by focused         |
|                 |           | professional development on           |
|                 | alignment | vocational and technical skill        |
|                 |           | attainment.                           |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence:]{.underline} There is no   |
|                 |           | research evidence that professional   |
|                 |           | development has an impact on          |
|                 |           | vocational and technical skill        |
|                 |           | attainment.                           |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+

### 

### 

### **References**

Baenen, N. and C. Dulaney (2000). Can School District Classroom-Based
Assessment Improve Performance on State Tests? ERIC ED445091.

Bishop, J. (2001). What Should Be the Federal Role in Supporting and
Shaping Development of State Accountability Systems for Secondary School
Achievement? Report prepared for the Office of Vocational and Adult
Education, U.S. Department of Education.

Broh, B. (2002). Linking Extracurricular Programming to Academic
Achievement: Who Benefits and Why? Sociology of Education 75, 1, 69-91.

Conchas, G. (2002). Structuring Failure and Success: Understanding the
Variability in Latino School Engagement. Harvard Educational Review 71,
3, 475-504.

Ehrenberg, R. and Brewer D. (1994). Do School and Teacher
Characteristics Matter? Evidence from High School and Beyond. Economics
of Education Review, 14, 1-23.

Fan, X. (2001). Parental Involvement and Students' Academic Achievement:
A Growth Modeling Analysis. The Journal of Experimental Education, 70,
1, 27-61.

Gollub, J. , M. Bertenthal, J.Labov, P. Curtis (2002). Learning and
Understanding: Improving Advanced Study of U.S. High Schools.
Washington,D.C.: National Research Council.

Grissmer, D., S. Kirby, M. Berends, S. Williamson (1999). Student
Achievement and the Changing American Family. Santa Monica, CA: Rand
Corporation.

Grissmer, D., A. Flanagan, J. Dawata, S. Williamson (2000). Improving
Student Achievement: What NAEP Test Scores Tell Us. Santa Monica, CA:
Rand Corporation.

Hannah, R. and C. Baum (2002), An Analysis of the Linkages Between High
School Allowance, High School Marketplace Work and academic Success in
Higher Education. The High School Journal, 85, 3, 1-12.

Holloway, J. (2001). Part-time Work and Student Achievement. Educational
Leadership, 58, 7, 83-84.

Jeynes, W. (2002). The Relationship Between the Consumption of Various
Drugs by Adolescents and Their Academic Achievement. American Journal of
Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 28, 1, 15-35.

Kaufman, P., D. Bradby, P. Teitelbaum (2000). High Schools That Work and
Whole School Reform: Raising Academic Achievement of Vocational
Completers Through the Reform of School Practice. National Center for
Research in Vocational Education, University of California at Berkeley.

Lent, R., G. Hackert, S. Brown (1996). A Social Cognitive Framework for
Studying Career Choice and Transition to Work. Journal of Vocational
Education Research, 21, 4: 3-19.

Lewis, M., L. Gill, P. Lundquist (1996), National Standards and Learning
in Automobile Technician Training Programs. Journal of Vocational
Education Research, 21, 3: 3-17.

Monk, D.H. (1994). Subject Area Preparation of Secondary Mathematics and
Science Teachers and Student Achievement. Economics of Education Review,
13, 125-145.

Oetinger, G. (1999). Does High School Employment Affect High School
Academic Performance? Industrial and Labor Relations Review. 53, 1,
136-151.

Pliska, A., M. Hackman, D. Source (2001). The Relationship Between
Secondary School Scheduling Models and ACT Assessment Scores. NASSP
Bulletin 42-55 85, 625, 42-55.

Quirk, K. (2001). Employment During High School and Student Achievement:
Longitudinal Analysis of National Data. Journal of Educational Research,
95, 4-10.

Rosenbaum, J., (1999). Preconditions for Effective School-Work Linkages
in the United States. In D. Stern and D. Wagner (ed.), International
Perspectives on the School-to-Work Transition, Cresskill, NJ: Hampton
Press, Inc.

Ross, C. and B. Broh (2000). The Roles of Self-Esteem and the Sense of
Personal Control in the Academic Achievement Process. Sociology of
Education. 27-284 73, 4, 270-284.

Singh, K. (1998). Part-time Employment in High School and Its Effect on
Academic Achievement. Journal of Educational Research, 91, 2, 67-74

Simon, B. (2001). Family Involvement in High School: Predictors and
Effects. NASSP Bulletin 85, no. 627, 8-13.

Stone, J. and B. Josian (2000). The Impact of School Supervision of Work
and Job Quality on Adolescent Work Attitudes and Job Behaviors. Journal
of Vocational Education Research, 25, 4, 532.

Tienken, C. (2001). State Standards, Assessments and Instruction. ERIC
Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, ED458215.

Valverde, L., A. Scribner, K Source (2001), Latino Students: Organizing
Schools for Greater Achievement. NASSP Bulletin 22-31 85, 624, 22-31.

Visher, M., D. Emanuel, P. Teitelbaum (1999). Key High School Reform
Strategies: An Overview of Research Findings. Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Department of Education.

Walberg, H. (1992). The Knowledge Base for Educational Productivity.
International Journal of Educational Reform. 1, 1, 1-10.

Whitehurst, G. (2002). Research on Teacher Preparation and Professional
Development. Whitehouse Conference on Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers
[www.ed.gov/inits/preparingteachersconference/whitehurst.html](http://www.ed.gov/inits/preparingteachersconference/whitehurst.html).

# Root and Indirect Causes for Postsecondary Attainment (1P1/1P2)

+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Root    | **What the Literature Says**                             |
| (Direct)  |                                                          |
| Causes**  |                                                          |
+===========+==========================================================+
| **Student | [Theory]{.underline}: Students with strong commitment to |
| m         | and involvement in learning and strong motivation to     |
| otivation | demonstrate achievement will have higher levels of       |
| and       | academic and vocational and technical skill attainment   |
| eng       | as measured by successful course completions, higher     |
| agement** | grade point averages, and higher certification passage   |
|           | rates. Student motivation can be either intrinsic (for   |
|           | its own sake) or extrinsic (to achieve or accomplish     |
|           | something else of value).                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: No consistent and direct         |
|           | research evidence was found for the expected impact of   |
|           | student motivation on academic and vocational and        |
|           | technical skill attainment. There is some evidence on a  |
|           | few indirect causes listed below.                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Student motivation and    |
|           | engagement may be affected by the following indirect     |
|           | causes based on research evidence from secondary schools |
|           | and research evidence at the college level. References   |
|           | below indicate evidence at the college level.            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Goal Clarity and Relevance]{.underline}. Students   |
|           |     who develop goals and plans for further education    |
|           |     and employment and see the relevance of their        |
|           |     courses to their career and educational goals (e.g., |
|           |     transfer credits, qualify for a good job) will be    |
|           |     more motivated to learn and demonstrate achievement. |
|           |     Students are more motivated to learn and will        |
|           |     persist in the face of difficulty when they find     |
|           |     learning personally interesting and meaningful or    |
|           |     directly relevant to something that they value.      |
|           |     Research has found some evidence that goal clarity   |
|           |     as measured by career plan certainty affects         |
|           |     academic achievement in college (Thombs, 1995;       |
|           |     Haislett and Hafer, 1990).                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Perceived Chances for Success and                   |
|           |     Self-Confidence]{.underline}. Students who have      |
|           |     strong internal control orientations are more likely |
|           |     to assume that they will achieve success by working  |
|           |     hard and will demonstrate higher levels of effort    |
|           |     and engagement. Students with strong academic        |
|           |     control are more successful in college than other    |
|           |     students (Perry et al., 2001). Students with higher  |
|           |     reported levels of confidence in their ability to    |
|           |     learn and succeed in college and a strong sense of   |
|           |     independence will perform at higher levels (Dutrow   |
|           |     and Houston, 1981). Self-confidence in learning and  |
|           |     preparation for college work is a predictor of       |
|           |     academic achievement for college student achievement |
|           |     (Goolsby, 1988; House, 1995) even for reentering     |
|           |     students (Thieman and Marsh-Williams, 1984).         |
|           |     Self-confidence in learning skills and expectations  |
|           |     for success were found to be major predictors of     |
|           |     achievement for Black community college students     |
|           |     (Trippi and Stewart, 1989).                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Peer and Campus Culture]{.underline}. The norms and |
|           |     morale of peer groups within classrooms and campuses |
|           |     that discourage or do not promote effort and         |
|           |     enthusiasm for learning and achievement have major   |
|           |     impacts on motivation and engagement.                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Rewards and Consequences for Passing External       |
|           |     Exams]{.underline}. Moderate to high stakes external |
|           |     examinations that have real consequences for         |
|           |     students and college programs (e.g., licensing and   |
|           |     certification exams) will increase student skill     |
|           |     attainment.                                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Social Integration]{.underline}. Students will be   |
|           |     more engaged in learning if they are socially        |
|           |     integrated into college life and interact with other |
|           |     students and instructors. Some research suggests     |
|           |     that students who interact informally with faculty   |
|           |     have higher levels of academic attainment (Thompson, |
|           |     2001). This indirect cause is used in community      |
|           |     college retention studies (Andreu, 2002).            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Work and Family Commitments]{.underline}. Students  |
|           |     that work a large number of hours per week during    |
|           |     the school year and/or have major family work        |
|           |     commitments and related responsibilities (e.g.       |
|           |     single parents) are less engaged in college courses  |
|           |     and programs. Research evidence is mixed. Students   |
|           |     with work hours over 20 hours per week were found to |
|           |     have lower achievement and completion rates in       |
|           |     nursing programs (Wilson, 2001). However, other      |
|           |     research at community colleges found no effects of   |
|           |     working on achievement or completion (Balunas,       |
|           |     1986).                                               |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #### Tim  | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who spend more time       |
| e on task | engaged in learning (e.g. more or longer courses and     |
|           | class sessions, more learning time                       |
|           |                                                          |
|           | within existing classes, homework, internships and       |
|           | work-based learning) will have higher levels of academic |
|           | achievement.                                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Time on task has been shown in   |
|           | research to affect student achievement as measured by    |
|           | attendance and study time.                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Time on task may be       |
|           | affected by the following indirect causes based on       |
|           | research evidence from secondary schools and research    |
|           | evidence at the college level. References below indicate |
|           | evidence at the college level.                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Time on task is affected by the following indirect       |
|           | causes:                                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Attendance]{.underline}. Attendance has a major     |
|           |     impact on time on task and student achievement       |
|           |     (Davenport, 1990; Jing and Mayer, 1995; Brown et     |
|           |     al., 1999).                                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Study Time.]{.underline} Colleges can extend time   |
|           |     on task by requiring students to do work outside of  |
|           |     class time. Some evidence suggests that students who |
|           |     spend more time studying outside of class have       |
|           |     higher levels of academic performance (Schuman et    |
|           |     al., 1985).                                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Tutoring and Support Services]{.underline}.         |
|           |     Colleges can increase time on task for students by   |
|           |     providing additional tutoring and support services.  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Work and Family Commitments]{.underline}. Students  |
|           |     that work a large number of hours per week during    |
|           |     the school year and/or have major family work        |
|           |     commitments and related responsibilities are less    |
|           |     engaged and spend less time concentrated on college  |
|           |     work unless the work is directly related to and      |
|           |     integrated with their program of study (e.g.         |
|           |     internships). Research evidence is mixed. Students   |
|           |     with work hours over 20 hours per week were found to |
|           |     have lower achievement and completion rates in       |
|           |     nursing programs (Wilson, 2001). However, other      |
|           |     research at community colleges found no effects of   |
|           |     working on achievement or completion (Balunas,       |
|           |     1986). Some research suggests that parents with      |
|           |     children, especially single parents, have lower      |
|           |     levels of attendance because of work and family      |
|           |     commitments, which results in lower levels of        |
|           |     achievement (Jing and Mayer, 1995).                  |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Inst    | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who receive high quality  |
| ructional | instruction will be more motivated and engaged in their  |
| pr        | own learning and will                                    |
| actices** |                                                          |
|           | receive the type of instruction and overall support      |
|           | necessary for them to achieve higher grades and perform  |
|           | better on industry and                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | professional certification examinations.                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research suggests that           |
|           | instructional practices have a direct impact on          |
|           | achievement, especially for students who are             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | not familiar with the content of courses (Schonwetter et |
|           | al., 2002). Some research has shown that instructional   |
|           | differences                                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | account for a significant share of differences in        |
|           | student attainment at colleges. This research suggests   |
|           | that instructor differences                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | may explain more variance than placement test scores and |
|           | demographic characteristics (Spahr, 1983). Research also |
|           | suggests                                                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | that instructional practices have a major impact on      |
|           | student achievement for students in remedial or          |
|           | developmental courses.                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Research has found that students who were taught using   |
|           | learner-centered instructional practices attain higher   |
|           | grades than other                                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | students (Miglietti and Strange, 1998).                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Effective instructional   |
|           | practices may be affected by the following indirect      |
|           | causes based on research evidence from secondary schools |
|           | and research evidence at the college level. References   |
|           | below indicate evidence at the college level.            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Instructor Ability and Subject                      |
|           |     Knowledge.]{.underline} The general academic ability |
|           |     of instructors, especially verbal ability, as        |
|           |     measured by aptitude tests and the subject knowledge |
|           |     of instructors as measured by direct assessments or  |
|           |     whether instructors are teaching subjects they have  |
|           |     been trained to teach (i.e., "in field" teaching)    |
|           |     will have a strong effect on the quality of          |
|           |     instruction.                                         |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Focused Professional Development]{.underline}.      |
|           |     Highly focused and intensive professional            |
|           |     development tied specifically to the standards,      |
|           |     content and curriculum of a specific subject area    |
|           |     such as math or automotive technology will improve   |
|           |     instructor and student performance.                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Instructor and Program Resources]{.underline}.      |
|           |     Instructors that have access to sufficient resources |
|           |     to meet core academic and vocational and technical   |
|           |     learning objectives (e.g., equipment, support        |
|           |     materials) will use more effective instructional     |
|           |     practices and promote higher levels of attainment.   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | ```{=html}                                               |
|           | <!-- -->                                                 |
|           | ```                                                      |
|           | -   [Accessibility to Students]{.underline}. Instructors |
|           |     who meet with students on a regular basis outside of |
|           |     class will promote higher levels of student          |
|           |     achievement. Some research suggests that students    |
|           |     who interact informally with faculty including       |
|           |     discussing levels of academic attainment (Thompson,  |
|           |     2001).                                               |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **C       | [Theory]{.underline}: Programs in colleges that directly |
| urriculum | align curriculum internally and to external industry and |
| al        | professional standards used                              |
| ignment** |                                                          |
|           | in external examinations and certifications will have    |
|           | higher rates of student attainment of academic and       |
|           | vocational and technical                                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | skills.                                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: No consistent research evidence  |
|           | was found linking curriculum alignment to academic and   |
|           | vocational and technical                                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | skill attainment. However, some research suggests that   |
|           | the lack of consistency in what is taught in courses     |
|           | will affect student                                      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | achievement. Students who were taught by a part-time     |
|           | teacher in their first course and in their second course |
|           | by a full-time                                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | instructor had lower grades than other students (Burgess |
|           | and Samuels, 1999).                                      |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Prior   | [Theory]{.underline}: Students with high levels of prior |
| l         | learning and who have developed strong general verbal    |
| earning** | and mathematical abilities                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | will have the necessary academic and technical           |
|           | foundations to be successful in attaining college-level  |
|           | academic and technical                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | skills. Also, students who have not developed effective  |
|           | learning strategies will have more difficulty in college |
|           | environments.                                            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Prior learning and academic      |
|           | achievement in high school as measured by high school    |
|           | grade point average and                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | standardized entrance exams and aptitude tests,          |
|           | especially in reading and math, are strong and           |
|           | consistent predictors of course                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | grades in college across a variety of academic and       |
|           | career areas and professional certification such as      |
|           | nursing as well as different                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | student populations including high-risk populations      |
|           | (Yess, 1979; Royer, 1990; Wilson, 2001; Emmeluth, 1979;  |
|           | Ozsogomonyan,                                            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | 1979; Rubin and Graham, 1986; Ewing, 1986; Goolsby,      |
|           | 1988; Belcher, 1989; Noble and Sawyer, 1989; Haislett    |
|           | and Hafer,                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | 1990).                                                   |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| *         | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who face learning         |
| *Barriers | disabilities and language barriers (e.g., ESL) will have |
| to        | more difficulty in attaining academic                    |
| l         |                                                          |
| earning** | and vocational and technical skills than other students. |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research has found consistent    |
|           | effects of learning disabilities and language problems   |
|           | on student academic and                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | vocational and technical skill attainment. Students with |
|           | limited English skills have lower achievement and        |
|           | completion levels in                                     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | nursing programs (Wilson, 2001).                         |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+

#  

# Causes Outside Control for Postsecondary Attainment (1P1/1P2)

+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Causes | **What the Literature Says**                              |
| Outside  |                                                           |
| C        |                                                           |
| ontrol** |                                                           |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Dem      | [Theory]{.underline}: Students from minority groups with  |
| ographic | historically less access and success in higher education  |
| charact  | and students from families                                |
| eristics |                                                           |
|          | with low-income that face financial constraints in        |
|          | entering and remaining in college will have lower levels  |
|          | of academic and                                           |
|          |                                                           |
|          | vocational and technical skill attainment.                |
|          |                                                           |
|          | [Evidence]{.underline}: Demographic characteristics such  |
|          | as race/ethnicity and income have been widely used in     |
|          | research to predict student                               |
|          |                                                           |
|          | achievement and attrition in college for both traditional |
|          | and nontraditional students (Bean and Metzner, 1985).     |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Career | [Theory]{.underline}: Students with better and more       |
| and      | diverse career and further education opportunities in     |
| further  | their communities will be more motivated to learn and     |
| e        | demonstrate attainment of academic and vocational and     |
| ducation | technical skills.                                         |
| opportu  |                                                           |
| nities** | [Evidence]{.underline}: No research was found on the      |
|          | impact of perceived or actual opportunities on skill      |
|          | attainment.                                               |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Student  | [Theory]{.underline}: Students with access to financial   |
| f        | aid and related support services will be able to devote   |
| inancial | more time and exert greater effort in academic and        |
| aid      | vocational courses because they will have not have to     |
| avai     | devote attention and time to making a living and          |
| lability | addressing related family needs (e.g., child care).       |
|          |                                                           |
|          | [Evidence]{.underline}: No research was found on the      |
|          | impact of financial aid on academic and vocational skill  |
|          | attainment and course completion.                         |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+

**Improvement Strategies for Postsecondary Attainment (1P1/1P2)**

### 

+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| **Improvement   | **Root    | **What the Literature Says**          |
| Strategy**      | Causes**  |                                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | **Ad      |                                       |
|                 | dressed** |                                       |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| Academic        | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| integration     |   Student | Colleges can increase the integration |
|                 |     m     | of academic and vocational            |
|                 | otivation |                                       |
|                 |     and   | courses including developmental and   |
|                 |     e     | regular academic courses. There are a |
|                 | ngagement | wide variety                          |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | -   Time  | of models and approaches used by      |
|                 |     on    | community colleges (Perin, 2001;      |
|                 |     task  | Prentice, 2001).                      |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | -   Inst  | [Evidence]{.underline}: Although      |
|                 | ructional | research shows that student goal      |
|                 |           | relevance and student-centered        |
|                 | practices | instructional strategies have impacts |
|                 |           | on success in college courses, there  |
|                 |           | is no direct evidence that academic   |
|                 |           | integration has an impact on the      |
|                 |           | attainment of academic and vocational |
|                 |           | and technical skills in college.      |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| #               | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| ###### Career/a |   Student | Students who have clear career and    |
| cademic guidanc |     m     | educational goals and see the         |
| e and mentoring | otivation |                                       |
|                 |     and   | relevance of academic and vocational  |
|                 |     e     | and technical courses to these goals  |
|                 | ngagement | are more likely                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | to be motivated and engaged to learn  |
|                 |           | and demonstrate achievement           |
|                 |           | (Diegelman and                        |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | Subich, 2001). In addition, students  |
|                 |           | who have close and direct contact     |
|                 |           | with instructors and                  |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | counselors and adult career and       |
|                 |           | educational mentors will be more      |
|                 |           | motivated and engaged.                |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | There are many models of integrated   |
|                 |           | career and academic counseling and    |
|                 |           | adult mentoring                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | (Wallace, 2001).                      |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: No research   |
|                 |           | was found that provided evidence on   |
|                 |           | the effects of career and             |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | academic counseling and mentoring.    |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| **Early         | -   Prior | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| academic and    |           | Students who receive intensive and    |
| learning        |  learning | early assessment and intervention in  |
| strategy        |           | academic skills and learning          |
| intervention**  |           | strategies (e.g., note taking) will   |
|                 |           | perform better in academic and        |
|                 |           | vocational and technical courses.     |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research      |
|                 |           | suggests that students with required  |
|                 |           | academic skills and demonstrated      |
|                 |           | study skills perform better in        |
|                 |           | college courses.                      |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| ##### Impro     | **Root    | **What the Literature Says**          |
| vement Strategy | Causes**  |                                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | #####     |                                       |
|                 | Addressed |                                       |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| Professional    | -   Inst  | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| development for | ructional | Colleges are using an increasing      |
| part-time       |           | number of part-time faculty who       |
| faculty         | practices |                                       |
|                 |           | have extensive industry and           |
|                 | -   C     | professional experience but have very |
|                 | urriculum | little training as                    |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | alignment | instructors and are not fully aware   |
|                 |           | of the content of the entire          |
|                 |           | curriculum for specific               |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | programs. There are many different    |
|                 |           | models and approaches to the          |
|                 |           | orientation and                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | professional development of college   |
|                 |           | instructors.                          |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Although      |
|                 |           | research has shown that students      |
|                 |           | perform at lower levels when          |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | taking sequences of courses that      |
|                 |           | start with part-time faculty, there   |
|                 |           | is no research that                   |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | supports specific models or           |
|                 |           | approaches to the professional        |
|                 |           | development of part-time              |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | faculty.                              |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+

### 

### 

### 

### **References**

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485-540.

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Students in Specific Programs of Study, ED 172900.

# Root and Indirect Causes for Secondary Completion (2S1)

+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Root    | **What the Literature Says**                             |
| (Direct)  |                                                          |
| Causes**  |                                                          |
+===========+==========================================================+
| **Level   | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who are not academically  |
| of        | and socially engaged in high school are less likely to   |
| student   | perform at high academic                                 |
| eng       |                                                          |
| agement** | levels and are less likely to complete high school.      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: A large proportion of students   |
|           | who dropout report that they "did not like school" and   |
|           | "could not get along with                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | teachers" as their reasons for leaving school (Berktold, |
|           | Geis, & Kaufman, 1998). It is likely that poor student   |
|           | engagement is                                            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | manifested in high-risk behaviors (such as truancy and   |
|           | delinquency) and poor academic performance---both of     |
|           | which are                                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | predictors of school dropout. Interestingly, some        |
|           | researchers have found that student engagement can       |
|           | predict dropping out even                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | after controlling for the effect of academic achievement |
|           | and other socio-demographic characteristics (Rumberger,  |
|           | 2001).                                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Students' lack of         |
|           | engagement in school is also related to the following:   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [School Organization]{.underline} - School size      |
|           |     appears to be inversely associated with student      |
|           |     engagement. Students in small schools and schools    |
|           |     that provide smaller learning environments are more  |
|           |     likely to report feeling academically engaged (Baker |
|           |     & Sansone, 1990; Lee & Burkam, 2001; Wehlage &       |
|           |     Rutter, 1986; Woods, 1995).                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Educational Expectations]{.underline} - Students    |
|           |     respond to the expectations placed upon them.        |
|           |     Specifically, students that feel unmotivated or      |
|           |     perceive their environment as being unchallenging    |
|           |     are more likely to disengage from their education    |
|           |     (Druian & Butler, 1987).                             |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| ####      | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who engage in high-risk   |
| High-risk | behaviors in high school are more likely to be           |
|  behavior | distracted from their educational                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | pursuits and are consequently more likely to drop out of |
|           | school. High-risk behaviors typically include but are    |
|           | not limited to:                                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | early pregnancy, crime, violence, delinquency, and drug  |
|           | abuse.                                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} A considerable body of research  |
|           | has shown that students who engage in high-risk          |
|           | activities are not only more likely                      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | to perform poorly academically, but are also more likely |
|           | to drop-out of school (Alexander, Entwisle, and Horsey,  |
|           | 1997; Druian                                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | and Butler, 1987; Rumberger & Larson, 1998; Rumberger,   |
|           | 2001; Woods, 1995). Researchers have recently begun to   |
|           | emphasize                                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | the need to also identify "protective factors" that      |
|           | counteract the deleterious effect of risk factors on     |
|           | high school completion                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | (Jessor, 1993; National Research Council, Panel on       |
|           | High-Risk Youth, 1993).                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Researchers point out     |
|           | that high-risk behaviors such as delinquency and drug    |
|           | abuse might not be direct                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | predictors of dropping out, but might be manifestations  |
|           | of other personal and social characteristics that cause  |
|           | students to engage                                       |
|           |                                                          |
|           | in these behaviors in the first place (Ellickson,        |
|           | Tucker, and Klein, 2001; Ellickson, Bell, and McGuigan,  |
|           | 1996).                                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | High-risk behaviors may be related to the following:     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Family background and environment]{.underline} -    |
|           |     Factors such as low family income, low parental      |
|           |     education, and single-parent homes are typically     |
|           |     associated with high-risk behavior in students       |
|           |     (Druian & Butler, 1987).                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Personal characteristics]{.underline} - Factors     |
|           |     such as negative self-perceptions, poor self-esteem, |
|           |     boredom, and social alienation are all associated    |
|           |     with high-risk behaviors (Druian & Butler, 1987).    |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| *         | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who perform poorly in     |
| *Academic | school are disengaged from the learning process and are  |
| pe        | ultimately more likely to                                |
| rformance |                                                          |
| in        | withdraw from school by dropping out.                    |
| school**  |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research suggests that poor      |
|           | academic performance is one of the most powerful         |
|           | predictors of dropping out (Finn,                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | 1989; Garnier, Stein, & Jacobs, 1997; Roderick, 1993;    |
|           | Swanson & Schneider, 1999). Studies have found that      |
|           | early academic                                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | achievement in elementary school can predict high school |
|           | completion (Goldschmidt & Wang, 1999; Rumberger, 1995;   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Rumberger & Larson, 1998). One study found that          |
|           | differences in the academic grades of high school        |
|           | completers vs. dropouts                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | emerge as early as fourth grade and the gap in grades    |
|           | continues to increase prior to leaving school (Roderick, |
|           | 1993).                                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Students' poor academic   |
|           | performance is also related to the following:            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Low student engagement]{.underline}: Students who   |
|           |     are socially and academically disengaged from school |
|           |     are more likely to perform poorly in school          |
|           |     (Rumberger, 2001).                                   |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **School  | [Theory]{.underline}: High school structure and          |
| org       | organization---as reflected in curriculum, school size,  |
| anization | and social relations---may influence                     |
| and       |                                                          |
| cur       | students\' decisions to complete their schooling.        |
| riculum** |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research indicates that one      |
|           | aspect of school structure that is consistently          |
|           | associated with high school completion is                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | school size: schools that have fewer students and a      |
|           | small student-teacher ratio are more likely to meet the  |
|           | educational needs of                                     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | students, leading to greater student engagement and      |
|           | motivation (Baker & Sansone, 1990; Lee & Burkam, 2001;   |
|           | Wehlage &                                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Rutter, 1986; Woods, 1995). It is also becoming          |
|           | increasingly clear that students at risk for dropping    |
|           | out are most likely to be                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | found in schools that provide little overall support to  |
|           | students, that have low expectations of students, and    |
|           | that have a poorly                                       |
|           |                                                          |
|           | focused curriculum (Druian & Butler, 1987).              |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **School  | [Theory]{.underline}: Students in schools that provide   |
| climate** | them with a safe, orderly, and supportive learning       |
|           | environment are more likely to                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | persist in school.                                       |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Students in schools that involve |
|           | teachers and parents in creating a cohesive and secure   |
|           | family-like atmospheres are                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | more likely to attend classes and complete their high    |
|           | school education (Ashe, 1993; Woods, 1995). Collegiality |
|           | and                                                      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | collaboration between teaching staff also plays a key    |
|           | role in providing a supportive learning environment for  |
|           | students at risk for                                     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | dropping out (Druian & Butler, 1987; Lee & Burkam,       |
|           | 2001).                                                   |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| ###       | [Theory:]{.underline} Students who are held back in a    |
| # Grade r | grade due to academic reasons are likely to face an      |
| etention  | irreversible disadvantage that is                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | reflected in poor completion rates.                      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Although past research has       |
|           | suggested that retention can have a positive effect of   |
|           | academic achievement, an                                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | increasing body of research is beginning to show that    |
|           | being held back is a key predictor of dropping out of    |
|           | high school                                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | (Goldschmidt & Wang, 1999; Heubert & Hauser, 1999;       |
|           | Jimerson, 1999; Kaufman & Bradby, 1992). One             |
|           | characteristic finding is                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | that students who were retained in grades 1 through 8    |
|           | had a much higher likelihood of dropping out even after  |
|           | controlling for                                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | socio-demographic and school characteristics (Rumberger, |
|           | 1995; US Department of Education, 1997).                 |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+

# 

# 

# 

# 

#  

# Causes Outside Control for Secondary Completion (2S1)

+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **       | **What the Literature Says**                              |
| External |                                                           |
| Condi    |                                                           |
| tions/** |                                                           |
|          |                                                           |
| **Const  |                                                           |
| raints** |                                                           |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Family | [Theory]{.underline}: Family demographic characteristics  |
| dem      | and support determine the amount of human (parental       |
| ographic | education), financial (household                          |
| charact  |                                                           |
| eristics | income), and social (family structure and relationships)  |
| and      | capital available to a student and, as a result, have a   |
| support  | bearing on his/her                                        |
| str      |                                                           |
| ucture** | educational experiences and outcomes.                     |
|          |                                                           |
|          | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research has consistently         |
|          | demonstrated that socio-demographic characteristics such  |
|          | as socioeconomic status, measured                         |
|          |                                                           |
|          | by parents' education and income, is strongly associated  |
|          | with the likelihood of completing high school (Coleman,   |
|          | 1988; McNeal,                                             |
|          |                                                           |
|          | 1999; Rumberger, 2001; Rumberger, 1995; Rumberger &       |
|          | Larson, 1998; Pong & Ju, 2000; Woods, 1995). Recent       |
|          | studies have also                                         |
|          |                                                           |
|          | pointed to the role of family structure in high school    |
|          | completion: students from single parent and stepfamilies  |
|          | are more likely to drop                                   |
|          |                                                           |
|          | out of school (Goldschmidt & Wang, 1999; McNeal, 1999).   |
|          | However, a more recent study suggests that the breakdown  |
|          | of a two-                                                 |
|          |                                                           |
|          | parent family does not have a direct effect on high       |
|          | school completion but rather has an indirect effect on it |
|          | through the loss of overall                               |
|          |                                                           |
|          | family income (Pong & Ju, 2000).                          |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| *        | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who change schools often   |
| *Student | are more likely to experience a significant disruption in |
| transfer | their schooling and are less                              |
| and      |                                                           |
| mo       | likely to complete school.                                |
| bility** |                                                           |
|          | [Evidence]{.underline}: Considerable research suggests    |
|          | that student mobility, whether it involves changing a     |
|          | residence or changing a school, is                        |
|          |                                                           |
|          | highly associated with the likelihood of dropping out     |
|          | (Astone and McLanahan, 1994; Haveman, Wolfe, and          |
|          | Spaulding, 1991;                                          |
|          |                                                           |
|          | Rumberger & Larson, 1998). One study found that most high |
|          | school dropouts changed high school at least once         |
|          | (Rumberger,                                               |
|          |                                                           |
|          | Larson, Palardy, Ream, & Schleicher, 1998). However, this |
|          | study focused on Latino adolescents in California and was |
|          | not                                                       |
|          |                                                           |
|          | representative of students across the country.            |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Labor  | [Theory]{.underline}: High school students who work while |
| force    | in school are more likely to spend time less time on      |
| partici  | academic activities at school and                         |
| pation** |                                                           |
|          | at home and are therefore also less likely to complete    |
|          | high school.                                              |
|          |                                                           |
|          | [Evidence]{.underline}: While researchers agree that      |
|          | students who work are more likely to drop out of school,  |
|          | there is debate about the threshold                       |
|          |                                                           |
|          | at which labor force participation affects high school    |
|          | completion. Some researchers have suggested that          |
|          | employment of 16 or more                                  |
|          |                                                           |
|          | hours per week is significantly associated with dropping  |
|          | out of high school (Mann, 1986; Woods, 1995); others      |
|          | suggest that working                                      |
|          |                                                           |
|          | half-time or more (20 hours or more) per week is          |
|          | associated with dropping out (Winters, 1986).             |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+

# Improvement Strategies for Secondary Completion (2S1)

### 

+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| **Improvement   | **Root    | **What the Literature Says**          |
| Strategy**      | Causes**  |                                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | **Ad      |                                       |
|                 | dressed** |                                       |
+=================+===========+=======================================+
| Effective       | -   Low   | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| drop-out        |           | While many different models of        |
| prevention      |   student | dropout prevention exist,             |
| programs:       |     e     |                                       |
|                 | ngagement | effective programs share the          |
| -   Early       |           | following features: (a) early         |
|                 | -         | identification of students at-risk    |
|  identification | High-risk |                                       |
|     of          |           | for dropping out, (b) early           |
|     potential   |  behavior | school-based intervention, (c) and,   |
|     drop-outs   |           | community-based                       |
|                 | -   Poor  |                                       |
| -   Early and   |           | intervention that involves the family |
|                 |  academic | and community.                        |
|  individualized |     pe    |                                       |
|                 | rformance | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research      |
|    intervention |           | suggests that because risk factors    |
|     that        |           | for dropping out can appear as        |
|     involves    |           |                                       |
|     the family  |           | early as elementary school, effective |
|     to the      |           | prevention strategies should begin    |
|     extent      |           | early in a child's                    |
|     possible    |           |                                       |
|                 |           | education trajectory (Woods, 1995).   |
| -               |           | In addition to identifying at-risk    |
| Community-based |           | students early and                    |
|     drop-out    |           |                                       |
|     prevention  |           | providing them with appropriate       |
|     programs    |           | educational interventions, effective  |
|     that engage |           | approaches to drop-                   |
|     family and  |           |                                       |
|     community   |           | out prevention recognize the need for |
|                 |           | providing students with social and    |
| -   Support     |           | health services                       |
|     programs    |           |                                       |
|     that help   |           | that address related problems like    |
|     students    |           | substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and  |
|     cope with   |           | suicide (Woods,                       |
|     high-risk   |           |                                       |
|     behaviors   |           | 1995). Finally, effective drop-out    |
|                 |           | prevention programs focus not only on |
|                 |           | school-level                          |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | changes, but also involve the family  |
|                 |           | and community in an attempt to        |
|                 |           | address the                           |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | environmental risk factors that often |
|                 |           | accompany dropping out (Rumberger,    |
|                 |           | 2001).                                |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+

+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| **Improvement   | **Root    | **What the Literature Says**          |
| Strategy**      | Causes**  |                                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | **Ad      |                                       |
|                 | dressed** |                                       |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| School          | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| structure and   |    School | Schools can promote a more positive   |
| climate:        |     org   | overall school climate by             |
|                 | anization |                                       |
| -   Strong      |     and   | adopting a variety of strategies that |
|                 |     c     | range from re-structuring learning    |
|  administrative | urriculum | environments in the                   |
|     leadership  |           |                                       |
|                 | -   Poor  | school to involving all stakeholders  |
| -   School      |           | in the educational and dropout        |
|     discipline  |    school | prevention process.                   |
|     that is     |           |                                       |
|     enforced in |   climate | [Evidence]{.underline}: Evaluations   |
|     a fair and  |           | of effective approaches to addressing |
|     consistent  |           | the dropout issue have                |
|     manner      |           |                                       |
|                 |           | pointed to the importance of an       |
| -   Careful     |           | overall positive climate in a school  |
|     monitoring  |           | (Dynarski & Gleason,                  |
|     of student  |           |                                       |
|     progress    |           | 1998). Schools can establish a        |
|                 |           | climate conducive to student learning |
| -   Improving   |           | and retention by                      |
|     school      |           |                                       |
|     climate by  |           | adopting the following features: (a)  |
|     involving   |           | a safe learning environment, (b)      |
|     staff,      |           | staff who are                         |
|     parents,    |           |                                       |
|     and         |           | committed to student success, (c) a   |
|     children in |           | school culture of professional        |
|     developing  |           | collegiality, and (d)                 |
|     programs    |           |                                       |
|     that        |           | small class sizes (Ashe, 1993;        |
|     improve the |           | Rumberger, 2001; Hamilton, 1986;      |
|     safety and  |           | Woods, 1995). Of these                |
|     security of |           |                                       |
|     the school  |           | factors, small school size has        |
|                 |           | received the most attention with      |
| -   Creating    |           | several studies suggesting            |
|     more        |           |                                       |
|                 |           | that smaller schools are more likely  |
|    personalized |           | to better engage both students and    |
|     learning    |           | staff in the learning                 |
|                 |           |                                       |
|    environments |           | process (Rumberger, 2001; Wehlage,    |
|     through     |           | Rutter, Smith, Lesko & Fernandez,     |
|     smaller     |           | 1989).                                |
|     class size  |           |                                       |
|     and         |           |                                       |
|     schools     |           |                                       |
| -within-schools |           |                                       |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| Curriculum and  | -   Low   | [Theory and Models]{.underline}:      |
| classroom-level |           | Curricula and classroom instruction   |
| changes:        |   student | that make learning more               |
|                 |     e     |                                       |
| -   Holding all | ngagement | relevant and intellectually           |
|     students to |           | challenging for students are          |
|     high        | -         | effective approaches to increasing    |
|     standards   | High-risk |                                       |
|     of learning |           | student engagement and reducing       |
|     and         |  behavior | dropout rates.                        |
|     academic    |           |                                       |
|     performance | -   Poor  | [Evidence]{.underline}: An            |
|                 |           | overwhelming body of research points  |
| -   Providing   |  academic | to two broad strategies for reducing  |
|     students at |     pe    |                                       |
|     risk for    | rformance | the dropout rate: making learning     |
|     dropping    |           | more relevant, and promoting high     |
|     out with    | -         | expectations of all                   |
|     the extra   |    School |                                       |
|     support     |     org   | students (Druian & Butler, 1987;      |
|     they need   | anization | Wehlage, 1983; Woods, 1995). Schools  |
|     to meet     |     and   | can adopt the                         |
|     high        |     c     |                                       |
|     academic    | urriculum | following types of strategies to      |
|     standards   |           | improve the relevance of curriculum:  |
|                 | -   Poor  | (a) integrating career-               |
| -   Engaging    |           |                                       |
|     students    |    school | related information with academic     |
|     through     |           | instruction, (b) collaborating with   |
|     classroom   |   climate | local businesses and                  |
|     instruction |           |                                       |
|     that is     |           | employers to provide students with    |
|                 |           | work-based learning experiences, and  |
| contextualized, |           | (c) improving                         |
|     relevant,   |           |                                       |
|     and tied to |           | ties with post-secondary institutions |
|     the world   |           | to motivate and better prepare        |
|     of work     |           | students for transition               |
|                 |           |                                       |
| -   Increasing  |           | from high school to college (Woods,   |
|     student     |           | 1995). Research not only points to    |
|     motivation  |           | the need to hold all                  |
|     and         |           |                                       |
|     engagement  |           | students---including those at-risk    |
|     by          |           | for dropping out---to high standards, |
|                 |           | but to also provide                   |
|   collaborating |           |                                       |
|     with local  |           | at-risk students with the extra       |
|     community   |           | support they need to meet high        |
|     and         |           | standards. This extra support         |
|     businesses  |           |                                       |
|                 |           | is crucial since adopting high        |
| -   Supporting  |           | standards and performance             |
|     transitions |           | expectations may actually             |
|     from high   |           |                                       |
|     school to   |           | increase dropout rates for students   |
|     college     |           | who are already performing poorly in  |
|     through     |           | school.                               |
|     improved    |           |                                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|   collaboration |           |                                       |
|     between     |           |                                       |
|     high school |           |                                       |
|     and         |           |                                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|  post-secondary |           |                                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|   institutional |           |                                       |
|     staff       |           |                                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
| -   Assisting   |           |                                       |
|     students    |           |                                       |
|     with        |           |                                       |
|     limited     |           |                                       |
|     English     |           |                                       |
|     proficiency |           |                                       |
|     to improve  |           |                                       |
|     their       |           |                                       |
|     knowledge   |           |                                       |
|     of English. |           |                                       |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+

### 

### 

### 

### 

### **References**

Alexander, K.K., Entwisle, D.R., & Horsey, C. (1997). From first grade
forward: Early foundations of high school dropout. Sociology of
Education, 70, 87-107.

Ashe, J. A. (1993). Finish for the future: America\'s communities
respond. Alexandria, VA: National Association of Partners in Education,
Inc.

Astone, N.M., & McLanahan, S.S. (1994). Family structure, residential
mobility, and school dropout: A research note. Demography, 31, 575-584.

Baker, J., & Sansone, J. (1990). Interventions with students at-risk for
dropping out of school: A high school responds. The Journal of
Educational Research, 83(4), 181-186.

Berktold, J., Geis, S., & Kaufman, P. (1998). Subsequent educational
attainment of high school dropouts. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of
Education.

Christenson, S., Sinclair, M., Thurlow, M., & Evelo, D. (1995). Tip the
balance: Policies and practices that influence school engagement for
youth at high-risk for dropping out. ABC Dropout Prevention and
Intervention Series. Washington, DC: US Department of Education, Office
of Special Education Programs.

Coleman, J.S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital.
American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95-S120.

Druian, G., & Butler, J. A. (1987). Effective schooling practices and
at-risk youth: What the research shows. NorthWest Regional Educational
Laboratory.

Dynrski, M., & Gleason, P. (1998). How can we help? What we have leaned
from federal dropout-prevention programs. Princeton, N. J.: Mathematica
Policy Research, Inc.

Ellickson, P. L., Bui, K., Bell, R., & McGuigan, K. (1996). Does early
drug use increase the risk of dropping out of high school? Journal of
Drug Issues, 28(2), 357-380.

Ellickson, P. L., Tucker, J. S., & Klein, D. J. (2001). High-risk
behaviors associated with early smoking: results from a 5-year
follow-up. Journal of Adolescent Health, 28(6), 465-473.

Finn, J. D. (1989). Withdrawing from school. Review of Educational
Research, 59, 117-142.

Garnier, H.E., Stein, J.A., & Jacobs, J.K. (1997). The process of
dropping out of high school: A 19-year perspective. American Educational
Research Journal, 34, 395-419.

Goldschmidt, P., & Wang. J. (1999). When can schools affect dropout
behavior? A longitudinal multilevel analysis. American Educational
Research Journal, 36(4), 715-738.

Haveman, R., Wolfe, B., & Spaulding, J. (1991). Childhood events and
circumstances influencing high school completion. Demography, 28,
133-157.

Heubert, J. P., & Hauser, R.M. (Eds.) (1999). High stakes: Testing for
tracking, promotion, and graduation. Washington, DC: National Academy
Press.

Jessor, R. (1993). Successful adolescent development among youth in
high-risk settings. American Psychologist, 48, 117-126.

Jimerson, S. R. (1999). On the failure of failure: Examining the
association between early grade retention and education and employment
outcomes during late adolescence. Journal of School Psychology, 37,
243-272.

Kaufman, P., & Bradby, D. (1992). Characteristics of at-risk students in
the NELS:88. Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office.

KLee, V. E., & Burkam, D. T. (2001). Dropping out of high school: The
role of school organization and structure. Paper presented the
conference, Dropouts in America: How severe is the problem? What do we
know about intervention and prevention? Harvard Graduate School of
Education, Cambridge, MA.

Mann, D. (1986). Can we help dropouts? Thinking about the undoable. In
G. Natriello (Ed.), School dropouts: Patterns and Policies. New York:
New York College Press.

McNeal, R. B. (1999). Parental involvement as social capital:
Differential effectiveness on science achievement, truancy, and dropping
out. Social Forces, 78, 117-144.

National Research Council, Panel on High-Risk Youth. (1993). Losing
generations: Adolescents in high-risk settings. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.

Pong, S. L., & Ju, D.B. (2000). The effects of change in family
structure and income on dropping out of middle and high school. Journal
of Family Issues, 21, 147-169.

Roderick, M. (1993). The path to dropping out. Westport, CN: Auburn
House.

Rumberger, R. W. (2001). Why students drop out and what can be done.
Paper presented for the conference, Dropouts in America: How severe is
the problem? What do we know about intervention and prevention? Harvard
Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.

Rumberger, R. W., & Thomas, S. L. (2000). The distribution of dropout
and turnover rates among urban and suburban high schools. Sociology of
Education, 73, 39-67.

Rumberger, R.W., & Larson, K.A. (1998). Student mobility and the
increased risk of high school drop out. American Journal of Education,
107, 1-35.

Rumberger, R.W., & Larson, K.A., Palardy, G.A., Ream, R.K., &
Schleicher, N.A. (1998). The hazards of changing schools for California
Latino adolescents. Berkeley, CA: Chicano/Latino Policy Project.

Rumberger, R.W. (1995). Dropping out of middle school: A multilevel
analysis of students and schools. American Educational Research Journal,
32, 583-625.

Sander, W., & Krautmann, A. C. (1995). Catholic schools, dropout rates
and educational attainment. Economic Inquiry, 33, 217-233.

Swanson, C. B., & Schneider, B. (1999). Students on the move.
Residential and educational mobility in America's schools. Sociology of
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(1997). Dropout rates in the United States: 1995, NCES 97--473, by
McMillen, M., Kaufman, P. and Klein, S. Washington, DC.

Wehlage, G.G., Rutter, R.A., Smith, G.A., Lesko, N., & Fernandez, R.R.
(1989). Reducing the risk: Schools as communities of support. New York:
Falmer Press.

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at-risk students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American
Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

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Educational Laboratory.

# Root and Indirect Causes for Postsecondary Completion (2P1) 

+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Root    | **What the Literature Says**                             |
| (Direct)  |                                                          |
| Causes**  |                                                          |
+===========+==========================================================+
| Academic  | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who begin their           |
| pr        | postsecondary education with a strong academic           |
| eparation | foundation are more likely to persist in college         |
| in high   |                                                          |
| school    | and complete their degree.                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Students who do well in high     |
|           | school, who earn high scores on college entrance exams,  |
|           | and who attend high schools with                         |
|           |                                                          |
|           | high academic standards are more likely to persist and   |
|           | attain a postsecondary degree (Astin, 1997; Marcus,      |
|           | 1989). A good deal of                                    |
|           |                                                          |
|           | research has also focused on high school curricula and   |
|           | its impact on postsecondary retention and completion;    |
|           | generally, students who                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | attend schools judged as having strong curricula are     |
|           | more likely to complete undergraduate degrees than       |
|           | students exposed to less                                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | challenging high school instruction (Adelman, 1999).     |
|           | Students taking higher levels of mathematics are also    |
|           | most likely to complete                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | college, as are those taking AP courses. While it stands |
|           | to reason that students who are well prepared will have  |
|           | greater likelihood of                                    |
|           |                                                          |
|           | collegiate success, it should be recognized that other   |
|           | individual, social, and economic characteristics can     |
|           | also affect completion,                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | meaning that secondary educators should not              |
|           | overemphasize academics at the expense of other areas    |
|           | (Kerkvliet & Nowell, 2000).                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Students' preparation in  |
|           | high school is related to the following:                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Family background]{.underline} - socio-demographic  |
|           |     characteristics such as family income, parents'      |
|           |     education, and race/ethnicity is associated with the |
|           |     level of high school curricula students complete     |
|           |     (Horn & Kojaku, 2001).                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Institutional demographics]{.underline} - the level |
|           |     of high school curricula students complete is often  |
|           |     a function of the economic standing of the high      |
|           |     school's student body, urbanicity, and size (Horn &  |
|           |     Kojaku, 2001; U. S. Department of Education, 2000).  |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| *         | [Theory:]{.underline} When students choose to enroll in  |
| *Patterns | a postsecondary institution and the intensity of this    |
| of        | enrollment can affect postsecondary                      |
| post      |                                                          |
| secondary | outcomes such as retention and completion.               |
| enr       |                                                          |
| ollment** | [Evidence]{.underline}: The timing of first              |
|           | postsecondary enrollment is a critical factor in         |
|           | postsecondary completion: a time lag of as little as one |
|           |                                                          |
|           | year between high school graduation and postsecondary    |
|           | enrollment is associated with lower rates of persistence |
|           | and attainment                                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | (Cuccaro-Alamin, 1997). Interestingly, graduating from   |
|           | high school late does not have a bearing on              |
|           | postsecondary completion,                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | provided that students enroll in a postsecondary         |
|           | institution soon after graduation. The intensity of      |
|           | enrollment, as measured by course                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | load, also has a bearing on the likelihood of            |
|           | completion: full-time enrollment is associated with      |
|           | higher rates of persistence and                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | attainment, meaning that students who stopout or attend  |
|           | classes on a part-time basis are less likely to complete |
|           | their degree (Cuccaro-                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Alamin, 1997). Scheduling conflicts and the availability |
|           | of course offerings that fit into students' schedules    |
|           | can also affect students' ability to obtain sufficient   |
|           | credits to graduate.                                     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: A student's pattern of    |
|           | postsecondary enrollment is related to the following     |
|           | indirect causes:                                         |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Labor force participation]{.underline} - Students   |
|           |     who are employed while attending college are likely  |
|           |     to carry less than a full-course load and are        |
|           |     therefore less likely to attain a degree (Adelman,   |
|           |     1999; Hanniford & Sagariaq, 1994).                   |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **T       | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who transfer among        |
| ransfer** | postsecondary institutions are less likely to complete   |
|           | their degree than students who persist in                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | their initial institution.                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research on the relationship     |
|           | between institutional transfer and postsecondary         |
|           | completion indicates that students who                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | experience a stable educational program are more likely  |
|           | to complete their degree (Cuccaro-Alamin, 1997). Among   |
|           | those who do                                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | change institutions, individuals transferring from a     |
|           | two- to a four-college are just as likely to attain a    |
|           | degree as compared with                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | students who began their postsecondary education at a    |
|           | four-year institution (Adelman, 1999; Cuccaro-Alamin,    |
|           | 1997). Generally,                                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | even in the absence of transfer, graduates of public     |
|           | four-year institutions take longer to complete their     |
|           | Bachelor's degree than                                   |
|           |                                                          |
|           | graduates of private, not-for-profit institutions        |
|           | (Cuccaro-Alamin, 1997).                                  |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| *         | [Theory:]{.underline} Students who require remedial      |
| *Remedial | coursework at the postsecondary level face an            |
| Cou       | educational disadvantage that is reflected in            |
| rsework** |                                                          |
|           | poor retention and completion rates.                     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} The effect of postsecondary      |
|           | remediation on completion is a subject of continuing     |
|           | debate; research findings on this                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | subject are also mixed. While a considerable body of     |
|           | research suggests that an increase in the number of      |
|           | remedial courses taken at                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | the postsecondary level is associated with lower odds of |
|           | completing a degree, exceptions have been noted (U. S.   |
|           | Department of                                            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Education, 2000). For example, students who took only    |
|           | one remedial course (with the exception of remedial      |
|           | mathematics or                                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | reading) completed degrees at the same rate as students  |
|           | who took no remedial courses. Furthermore, students      |
|           | whose only                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | remediation course was in mathematics were more likely   |
|           | to complete their degrees as compared with students who  |
|           | took required                                            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | remedial coursework in reading.                          |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **        | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who identify with, and    |
| Students' | are acclimated to the social and educational culture of  |
| academic  | their postsecondary institution are                      |
| and       |                                                          |
| social    | more likely to complete college.                         |
| inte      |                                                          |
| gration** | [Evidence:]{.underline} Researchers point to two         |
|           | important aspects of students' sense of integration with |
|           | their college: students' social                          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | identification with the institution and the match        |
|           | between students' academic goals and their academic      |
|           | program (Bean, 1980, 1983;                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Tinto, 1993; Wetzal, 1999). Generally, students who feel |
|           | at home in their institution and who hold strong         |
|           | self-concepts of ability are                             |
|           |                                                          |
|           | more likely to persist and complete (Gerardi, 1996).     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Indirect Causes]{.underline}: Students' sense of        |
|           | purpose in an institution can be affected by:            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [Teacher Quality]{.underline}---Instructors who are  |
|           |     can impart academic knowledge while maintaining      |
|           |     positive student-teacher relationships can increase  |
|           |     students' comfort levels (Dale & Zych, 1996).        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | -   [College Support Services]{.underline}---The         |
|           |     availability of academic support services can assist |
|           |     students in making a positive connection with their  |
|           |     institution (Johnes, 1997).                          |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+

#  

# Causes Outside Control for Postsecondary Completion (2P1)

+---------+------------------------------------------------------------+
| *       | **What the Literature Says**                               |
| *Causes |                                                            |
| Outside |                                                            |
| Co      |                                                            |
| ntrol** |                                                            |
+---------+------------------------------------------------------------+
| **      | [Theory]{.underline}: Students with certain demographic    |
| Student | and family characteristics are likely to enter a           |
| demo    | postsecondary institution with an academic                 |
| graphic |                                                            |
| cha     | disadvantage that is reflected in lower persistence and    |
| racteri | completion rates.                                          |
| stics** |                                                            |
|         | [Evidence]{.underline}: Most research on the role of       |
|         | demographic and family characteristics on postsecondary    |
|         | completion has focused on the affects                      |
|         |                                                            |
|         | of gender, race/ethnicity, parents' education level, and   |
|         | family income on student completion. A number of studies   |
|         | have suggested that                                        |
|         |                                                            |
|         | undergraduate attainment levels are higher for men than    |
|         | for women (Day & Curry, 1996), and that race also plays a  |
|         | role in the likelihood                                     |
|         |                                                            |
|         | of completing a postsecondary degree; specifically, Asian  |
|         | students are more likely to complete a Bachelor's degree   |
|         | than students of other                                     |
|         |                                                            |
|         | races (Cuccaro-Alamin, 1997; Day & Curry, 1996). Students  |
|         | whose parents have earned a high school education or       |
|         | dropped out of                                             |
|         |                                                            |
|         | school, are from families with low income, or who attended |
|         | a high school in which 25 percent or more of the students  |
|         | were eligible for                                          |
|         |                                                            |
|         | free or reduced-price lunches also have less likelihood of |
|         | completing a postsecondary degree (Gerardi, 1996; US       |
|         | Department of                                              |
|         |                                                            |
|         | Education, 2000a; U. S. Department of Education, 2000b).   |
+---------+------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Labor | [Theory]{.underline}: Students who are employed in the     |
| force   | workforce take longer to complete a degree, and are at     |
| partic  | greater risk of stopping out.                              |
| ipation |                                                            |
| and     | [Evidence]{.underline}: The research on labor force        |
| wages** | participation and postsecondary completion is unequivocal: |
|         | students who are employed,                                 |
|         |                                                            |
|         | particularly those who are employed full-time, are less    |
|         | likely to persist in college and less likely to attain a   |
|         | postsecondary degree                                       |
|         |                                                            |
|         | (Cuccaro-Alamin, 1997; Hanniford & Sagaria, 1994). While   |
|         | the reasons for this are open to conjecture, it is likely  |
|         | that students who                                          |
|         |                                                            |
|         | work have less time to devote to their studies and face    |
|         | other pressures, economic and social, that may interfere   |
|         | with their education.                                      |
|         |                                                            |
|         | Research indicates that the relationship between wages and |
|         | postsecondary completion is complex. Some researchers have |
|         | found                                                      |
|         |                                                            |
|         | interesting non-linear relationships between wages and     |
|         | postsecondary retention: an increase in wages is initially |
|         | associated with an                                         |
|         |                                                            |
|         | increase in the probability of retention; however, beyond  |
|         | a point, an increase in wages is associated with a decline |
|         | in student retention,                                      |
|         |                                                            |
|         | presumably because students decide they are better off     |
|         | working than in pursuing their degree (Mohanty & Finney,   |
|         | 1997).                                                     |
+---------+------------------------------------------------------------+
| **      | [Theory]{.underline}: The cost of an education and the     |
| Tuition | availability of financial aid can affect students'         |
| and     | decisions to persist in college, with obvious              |
| fi      |                                                            |
| nancial | consequences for completion.                               |
| aid**   |                                                            |
|         | [Evidence]{.underline}: Although some researchers have     |
|         | addressed the relationship between the affordability of    |
|         | tuition and postsecondary enrollment                       |
|         |                                                            |
|         | patterns, the findings are for the most part mixed         |
|         | (Kerkvliet & Nowell, 2000). For example, some researchers  |
|         | have found a direct (Bean                                  |
|         |                                                            |
|         | & Metzer, 1985) and others an indirect association between |
|         | tuition costs and enrollment (Wetzal, 1999) with higher    |
|         | tuition costs                                              |
|         |                                                            |
|         | predicting lower odds of degree completion. Others have    |
|         | found these associations to be ambiguous, suggesting that  |
|         | educators should be                                        |
|         |                                                            |
|         | aware of the potential affects of tuition increases on     |
|         | student persistence (Chressanthis, 1986). Interestingly,   |
|         | students who do not receive                                |
|         |                                                            |
|         | financial aid are just as likely to complete a Bachelor's  |
|         | degree as those who do receive aid, indicating that once   |
|         | enrolled, external funding                                 |
|         |                                                            |
|         | does not influence outcomes (Cuccaro-Alamin, 1997).        |
|         | However, students in sub-baccalaureate institutions who    |
|         | receive aid are more                                       |
|         |                                                            |
|         | likely to attain a degree or a certificate.                |
+---------+------------------------------------------------------------+

# Improvement Strategies for Postsecondary Completion (2P1)

+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| **Imp    | **Root    | ##### What the Literature Says               |
| rovement | Causes**  |                                              |
| St       |           |                                              |
| rategy** | **Ad      |                                              |
|          | dressed** |                                              |
+==========+===========+==============================================+
| In       | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}: Students    |
| creasing |  Academic | who are given a solid, secondary academic    |
| academic |     pr    | foundation are more likely                   |
| rigor at | eparation |                                              |
| the high |     in    | to enter college ready to learn.             |
| school   |     high  |                                              |
| level    |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Strategies for       |
|          |    school | improving students academic background       |
|          |           | include ensuring that all students are       |
|          | -   Re    |                                              |
|          | mediation | exposed to a core set of academic curricula  |
|          |     and   | (SREB 2000); holding schools and students    |
|          |           | accountable for                              |
|          |    degree |                                              |
|          |     c     | meeting core standards (US Department of     |
|          | ompletion | Education, 2002); reviewing school data to   |
|          |           | assess whether                               |
|          | -         |                                              |
|          |  Patterns | students are receiving the services they     |
|          |     of    | need (NWREL, 2000); and integrating academic |
|          |     post  | and career                                   |
|          | secondary |                                              |
|          |     e     | instruction to increase the academic         |
|          | nrollment | exposure of students in vocational           |
|          |           | coursework (Grubb, 1995; Bailey,             |
|          | >         |                                              |
|          | Students' | 1997; Brewer, 1999; Hoachlander, 1999).      |
|          | >         |                                              |
|          |  academic |                                              |
|          | > in      |                                              |
|          | tegration |                                              |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| **Target | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Focusing    |
| services |  Patterns | services on individuals who are known to be  |
| on       |     of    | at high risk of stopping                     |
| h        |     post  |                                              |
| igh-risk | secondary | out can ensure that students receive the     |
| popul    |     e     | extra assistance they may need to remain in  |
| ations** | nrollment | school.                                      |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -         | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research points to   |
|          |  Transfer | the need for early intervention for students |
|          |           | who are at-risk for dropping                 |
|          | -         |                                              |
|          |  Remedial | out of a post-secondary institution (Jones & |
|          |     c     | Watson, 1990). Timely intervention is        |
|          | oursework | especially critical to                       |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | the post-secondary success of                |
|          |           | first-generation, low-income minority        |
|          |           | students who have a lower likelihood         |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | of completing college in comparison to White |
|          |           | students (Wilds & Wilson, 1998). Federal     |
|          |           | interventions                                |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | such as the TRIO programs provide            |
|          |           | opportunities for at-risk students from the  |
|          |           | pre-college to the post-                     |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | secondary level. Features of these programs  |
|          |           | include the following: intensive college     |
|          |           | preparation through                          |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | advising, counseling, instruction and        |
|          |           | tutoring on college campuses in after-school |
|          |           | and summer programs;                         |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | participation in college admissions          |
|          |           | activities and workshops; a focus on         |
|          |           | computer technology, science and             |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | mathematics in preparation for college       |
|          |           | entrance and majors in these areas;          |
|          |           | admissions counseling,                       |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | financial aid and scholarships; and,         |
|          |           | providing tutoring, advising, developmental  |
|          |           | instruction and other                        |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | services to students who are currently       |
|          |           | attending college until they ear their       |
|          |           | baccalaureate degree (Martin,                |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | 1999; Muraskin, 1997).                       |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Providing   |
| *Provide |  Patterns | adequate financial assistance to students    |
| scho     |     of    | helps them meet the high cost of a           |
| larships |     post  | post-secondary education and significantly   |
| or       | secondary | increases the likelihood of completing a     |
| tuition  |     e     | college degree.                              |
| assi     | nrollment |                                              |
| stance** |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Even though some     |
|          | -   Labor | researchers have questioned the direct link  |
|          |     force | between financial assistance and degree      |
|          |     part  | completion, the research clearly indicates   |
|          | icipation | that financial support helps keep students   |
|          |     and   | in college                                   |
|          |     wages |                                              |
|          |           | which in turn leads to a better graduation   |
|          | -         | rate (Arnold, 1999; Perna, 1998). A          |
|          |  Remedial | financial aid package that                   |
|          |     c     |                                              |
|          | oursework | combines work-study with grant aid is a      |
|          |           | particularly effective strategy for keeping  |
|          |           | students in college                          |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | (Cabrera, Nora & Castaneda, 1992). Loans     |
|          |           | also increase students' likelihood of        |
|          |           | persistence by reducing                      |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | the need to work full time and allowing      |
|          |           | students to carry a full course load (NCES,  |
|          |           | 1998). Loan aid and                          |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | grant aid have varying outcomes for          |
|          |           | low-income students: the earlier low-income  |
|          |           | students receive grant                       |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | aid, the more likely they are to stay in     |
|          |           | college (GAO, 1995).                         |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Students    |
| *Provide |  Academic | who lack connections within school require   |
| student  |     in    | external assistance, in the form of guidance |
| support  | tegration | and support, to smooth their transition into |
| ne       |           | postsecondary education.                     |
| tworks** | -         |                                              |
|          |    Social | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research on          |
|          |     in    | colleges' efforts to increase academic       |
|          | tegration | integration has found that a number of       |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | services hare positively correlated with,    |
|          |           | including advising, counseling, mentoring;   |
|          |           | student-teacher                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | relationships; quality of teaching; and      |
|          |           | academic support services available to       |
|          |           | students (Campbell &                         |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | Campbell, 1997; Dale & Zych, 1996; Johnes,   |
|          |           | 1997). However, one study found that         |
|          |           | academic integration                         |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | efforts in the form of increased advising    |
|          |           | and mentoring were not effective in          |
|          |           | increasing retention in                      |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | postsecondary institutions regardless of the |
|          |           | type of institution (Kerkvliet & Nowell,     |
|          |           | 2000).                                       |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+

###  

### **References**

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U. S. Department of Education.

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Bean, J. A. (1983). The application of a model of turnover in work
organizations to the student attrition process. Review of Higher
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Department of Education.

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Day, J., and Curry, A. (1996). Educational attainment in the United
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student aid could reduce low-income student drop-out rate. Washington,
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university student retention: Theory and evidence. Working Paper,
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adults\' wages on their college attendance decisions. Applied Economics
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of five exemplary sites. Rockville, MD: Westat, Inc.

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financing strategies: How undergraduates combine work, borrowing, and
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**Root and Indirect Causes for Transition (3S1, 3P1, 3P2)**

+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #         | ##### What the Literature Says                           |
| ###### Ro |                                                          |
| ot (Direc |                                                          |
| t) Causes |                                                          |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Student | [Theory]{.underline}: The transition 'journey' begins    |
| awareness | before high school graduation (Haggstrom, Blaschke, and  |
| of        | Shavelson, 1991). Early decisions, and then              |
| oppo      | uncontrollable events that occur along the way, have a   |
| rtunities | cumulative effect on the range of placement options that |
| and the   | remains viable as the transition progresses (Plank and   |
| expected  | Jordan, 2001; Miller, 2001; Gruber, 2001; Rouse, 1994).  |
| con       | A time-series of cause-and-effect pairings reveals path  |
| sequences | dependence (Ryan, 1999). Some of today's options are     |
| of        | limited by what has gone before, and today's decisions   |
| de        | and events will define tomorrow's possibilities.         |
| cisions** | Unfortunately, no consensus has developed in support of  |
|           | a single theory of the transition process. This failure  |
|           | to converge on one theory can be traced to weak tests of |
|           | competing theories. The tests have been deficient        |
|           | because reliable data appropriate to conduct the tests   |
|           | have been scarce. Collection and maintenance of          |
|           | longitudinal data files is expensive. Respondent         |
|           | willingness to provide necessary information             |
|           | deteriorates. Administrative data sources often fall     |
|           | short of the quality threshold needed for statistical    |
|           | use.                                                     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Improvement of student *awareness of transition          |
|           | opportunities* and *consequences of decisions* is a      |
|           | preferred action strategy because it is evidence-based   |
|           | and does not attempt to 'engineer' the paths taken.      |
|           | Instead, the choice of path remains with the student,    |
|           | but s/he now has a more solid basis for mapping and      |
|           | setting out on a chosen route.                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Continued use of the traditional concept of a career     |
|           | *ladder* as a descriptor of how the transition journey   |
|           | will progress for most students is unfortunate (Stevens, |
|           | 2001). Few students know what they want to do. Some who  |
|           | know, or think they know, will not acquire the           |
|           | qualifications needed to succeed. Others will change     |
|           | their mind. The concept of a career *ladder* suggests to |
|           | students that we know how to 'engineer' their            |
|           | transition. But, in most cases, we do not know.          |
|           | Occupational skill requirements change, sometimes quite  |
|           | rapidly and repeatedly as new technologies become        |
|           | available and labor demand and supply imbalances         |
|           | oscillate.                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | A new approach to student counsel should be introduced.  |
|           | The rigid vertical career *ladder* should be downplayed  |
|           | as a likely transition path to be followed. The          |
|           | replacement concept should be a career *wall*. Each      |
|           | student's future opportunities can be visualized as a    |
|           | climbing wall, like the ones that are found in athletic  |
|           | facilities and other recreational venues. This will help |
|           | students to understand that there are often multiple     |
|           | paths to a chosen destination. Different routes can be   |
|           | taken depending upon many factors, some of which can be  |
|           | controlled while others cannot. Lateral, and even        |
|           | descending moves might be the best strategy in some      |
|           | cases; continued dogged ascent is not always wise.       |
|           |                                                          |
|           | The *wall* approach will allow students to understand    |
|           | that the hand- and foot-holds that are available to      |
|           | climb are moved around, or removed entirely, to modify   |
|           | the challenge faced; the transition path counterpart     |
|           | being new skill requirements and the appearance and      |
|           | disappearance of entire occupations. The *wall* can be   |
|           | used to engage students in consideration of the role of  |
|           | a safety net and time limit, as each might affect a      |
|           | climbing strategy. The rules for climbing can be opened  |
|           | for discussion. What should each attempt cost, and who   |
|           | should pay this amount? What should happen when a fast   |
|           | climber overtakes a slower climber; should some paths be |
|           | reserved for those who are more agile? If so, what are   |
|           | some of the consequences of the rules that are adopted?  |
|           | Are these 'fair' and acceptable? These, and other        |
|           | embellishments, encourage students to think              |
|           | strategically about their approach to the *wall*.        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | The return-on-investment in further education will not   |
|           | be uniform for all aspirants. Opportunities to continue  |
|           | to learn on-the-job will not be uniform across all       |
|           | entry-level openings. Can dead-end paths be identified,  |
|           | so delays in advancement can be avoided? When does delay |
|           | become a fatal mistake that cannot be corrected? What    |
|           | behaviors contribute to irreversible barriers to further |
|           | progress? Should anyone be denied access to the *wall*?  |
|           | If so, do we agree on the criteria for such denial?      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | A challenge faced in adopting this new approach to       |
|           | student counsel is that today we have meager descriptors |
|           | of the climbing *wall*. We know the career *ladder* is   |
|           | not helpful in an increasing number of applications, but |
|           | the descriptors needed to substitute a clear             |
|           | understanding of paths on the *wall* are not available.  |
|           | This is a basic reason why competing theories of         |
|           | transition persist.                                      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Warning---there is a possible risk when students become  |
|           | aware that multiple paths can be taken to reach a chosen |
|           | destination. Some may decide that today's decisions do   |
|           | not matter, or do not matter much. This conclusion can   |
|           | be discouraged through the presentation of valid and     |
|           | reliable indicators of fatal error (i.e., irreversible   |
|           | dead-ends), or costly error such as required enrollment  |
|           | in remedial coursework before acceptance for             |
|           | post-secondary credit courses.                           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | > [Evidence]{.underline}: We know something about        |
|           | > transition flows, but much less than we want and need  |
|           | > to know to describe the career *wall*. Concurrent      |
|           | > enrollment and employment, and the quality of this     |
|           | > employment, affect student goal setting, expectations  |
|           | > about future employment opportunities, and the         |
|           | > importance of continued education to gain access to    |
|           | > these opportunities. Differences among types of work   |
|           | > and workplaces continue to expand (National Academy of |
|           | > Sciences, 1999). This increases the difficulty of      |
|           | > improving student awareness of opportunities and       |
|           | > linking these opportunities to decisions made now.     |
|           | > "Through experiences in the three different            |
|           | > settings---high school, community college, and         |
|           | > laboratory workplaces---students learned that each     |
|           | > setting had different expectations" (Ryken, 2001).     |
|           | > This is a critical point---the resource constraints    |
|           | > and priorities for their use are fundamentally         |
|           | > different in schools than in the workplace. The        |
|           | > usefulness of 'off-the-shelf' information about skill  |
|           | > *requirements* continues to fade in many workplaces.   |
|           | > Each business enterprise operates with its own rules,  |
|           | > and these rules respond to changing opportunities and  |
|           | > threats that discourage unflinching commitment to      |
|           | > traditional ways of doing business (Baily, 2002).      |
|           |                                                          |
|           | "Women are deeply engaged in the educational process,    |
|           | while the boys are stuck where they were decades         |
|           | ago...Nobody really knows why this is the case, though   |
|           | theories abound" (Fletcher, 2002). "\[E\]ven today the   |
|           | fraction of male high school seniors who enter college   |
|           | immediately after graduation is not much higher than it  |
|           | was in 1968" (Card and Lemieux, 2001). "Young people are |
|           | too isolated from the adult world to see the connection  |
|           | between school and work" (Silberman, 1994). "The         |
|           | development of industry \[skill\] standards offers an    |
|           | opportunity for employers to become more involved with   |
|           | the education reform process. In turn, the support of    |
|           | employers could strengthen the political position of     |
|           | schools and provide incentives for students to work      |
|           | hard" (Bailey and Merritt, 1997).                        |
|           |                                                          |
|           | "\[T\]he sum total of progress in restructuring the      |
|           | transition is meager. In some areas, we have regressed   |
|           | rather than progressed. Thus, this is an odyssey of some |
|           | promising beginnings that did not, for the most part,    |
|           | continue" (Barton, 1994)(Law, Knuth and Bergman, 1992).  |
|           | "In contrast to this desired state of affairs for        |
|           | transition from school to work, the current state in the |
|           | United States can at best be described as an             |
|           | agglomeration of programs and individual experiences"    |
|           | (Pease and Copa, 1994). "Nationally, only about 8% of    |
|           | high school seniors get jobs through high school job     |
|           | assistance" (Rosenbaum *et al.*, 1999). "\[A\]n          |
|           | individual's first job has long-term effects on their    |
|           | occupational trajectory" (Arum and Hout, 1998).          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Students need valid and reliable information about the   |
|           | cause-and-effect relationship between the decisions they |
|           | make and the transition paths that will remain open and  |
|           | accessible. If we do not provide such information, why   |
|           | should students not conclude that we don't know what     |
|           | these chains of sequential cause-and-effect pairings     |
|           | are? And, worse yet, if students know from other sources |
|           | of information that what we say is inconsistent with the |
|           | facts, what response should we expect? Stay in school?   |
|           | My older brother enrolled in the local community         |
|           | college, but was told that he needed remedial coursework |
|           | that would take a year-and-a-half to complete before he  |
|           | could even begin to take credit classes. Spend the money |
|           | to get a certificate? My friend did that and couldn't    |
|           | find a job that used what she learned because of the     |
|           | recession and consolidation of local health care         |
|           | providers.                                               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Cause-and-effect; controllable and uncontrollable        |
|           | events. Students can be informed in many ways that life  |
|           | chances are based on probabilities. We can improve or    |
|           | reduce the probability of a successful journey, but we   |
|           | cannot ensure timely arrival at the chosen destination.  |
|           | Our pairing of theory and evidence is strong enough to   |
|           | advise students not to ignore what we know about         |
|           | probabilities of succeeding. At the same time, we must   |
|           | be candid that too little is known about what really     |
|           | matters.                                                 |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Student | [Theory]{.underline}: A complicated theory and           |
| op        | sophisticated evidence is not needed to convince even    |
| portunity | casual observers that secondary and post-secondary       |
| to        | offerings differ by location, other accessibility        |
| respond   | criteria such as cost and prerequisites, and quality.    |
| to an     | Students do not have an equal chance to pursue their     |
| improved  | dreams where they live, go to school, and obtain         |
| aw        | reliable documentation of academic knowledge and         |
| areness** | occupational skills attained. Given this fact, it is     |
|           | important to engage in triage decisions. What can be     |
|           | done with available resources (see 'causes outside       |
|           | control' below) to prepare students to take a next step  |
|           | toward their goal, elsewhere if necessary?               |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research evidence is available.  |
|           | Research citations will be added.                        |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| *         | [Theory]{.underline}: Employers want to minimize the     |
| *Employer | combined costs of recruitment and subsequent training of |
| awareness | new hires, so a premium is placed on access to low-cost  |
| of        | ways to know about the availability of highly qualified  |
| student   | candidates (Bassi and Ludwig, 2000). Employers           |
| ava       | discriminate among candidates---they screen and sort     |
| ilability | based on a limited number of criteria, some of which are |
| and       | subjective and unique to a particular business or        |
| superior  | decision-maker. Every employer and admissions officer    |
| qualifi   | stereotypes based on their own previous experience or    |
| cations** | what they believe based on other sources of information. |
|           | Each candidate is assigned a 'more favored' or 'less     |
|           | favored' ranking. Educators have some influence over     |
|           | this assignment. A series of basic questions should be   |
|           | answered: "Is what I am doing now making a positive      |
|           | contribution to increase the probability that my         |
|           | students will be given a favorable ranking by employers  |
|           | and those who make continuing education admissions       |
|           | decisions?" "If so, can I do more?" "And, if not, are    |
|           | there practical actions I can take to make this positive |
|           | contribution to improve the life chances of my           |
|           | students?" "If my students are not the best available    |
|           | candidates for the jobs or continuing education          |
|           | opportunities they seek, what can they, and I, expect to |
|           | be the outcome?"                                         |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Continuing expansion of          |
|           | diversity in academic knowledge, occupational skills and |
|           | demographics in many locales increases the difficulty    |
|           | employers encounter in screening possible candidates for |
|           | employment (National Academy of Sciences, 1999).         |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| *         | [Theory]{.underline}: Few employers remain insulated     |
| *Employer | from competitive forces for very long. Competition, or   |
| op        | the threat of competition, limits each employer's        |
| portunity | ability to 'pay what it takes' to hire a preferred       |
| to take   | candidate. Some employers respond to this realization by |
| advantage | adopting a conscious policy of investing little in       |
| of an     | employee recruitment and training, knowing that this     |
| improved  | will result in a high rate of employee turnover. These   |
| awareness | employers have a different way of doing business than    |
| of        | how some competitors behave. A competitor may pay less   |
| student   | at the outset, but invest more in on-the-job training,   |
| ava       | combined with selective promotions, raises and bonuses   |
| ilability | that are strategically designed to retain certain highly |
| and       | valued employees.                                        |
| qualifi   |                                                          |
| cations** | Students have a limited capacity to see beyond immediate |
|           | options---take this job or a different one, or continue  |
|           | in school? Entry-level wage rate can be a poor signal of |
|           | what different openings might contribute to a student's  |
|           | continued learning and competitive value in later years. |
|           | Low tuition or easy grading might be enticing, but can   |
|           | prove unfortunate later.                                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence]{.underline}: Employers in the same industry   |
|           | and location offer different compensation mixes. These   |
|           | employers experience different turnover patterns. They   |
|           | have different internal labor markets; that is, they     |
|           | have adopted different promotion paths and training      |
|           | opportunities. There is substantial heterogeneity in the |
|           | staffing configurations of businesses that many of us    |
|           | think of as being alike. This is just as true in         |
|           | information technology businesses as in health care      |
|           | facilities.                                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | The more students know about these differences when they |
|           | begin to make transition decisions, the more likely each |
|           | will be to avoid dead-end opportunities, while selecting |
|           | continued learning alternatives instead. Of course, each |
|           | student has to be the best available candidate to be     |
|           | chosen; and, once chosen, to be willing to accept the    |
|           | terms offered or perhaps negotiate within a very limited |
|           | range that will not jeopardize their ranking as the best |
|           | choice.                                                  |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+

# 

# 

# 

# Causes Outside Control for Transition (3S1, 3P1, 3P2)

+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **       | ##### What the Literature Says                            |
| External |                                                           |
| Condi    |                                                           |
| tions/** |                                                           |
|          |                                                           |
| **Const  |                                                           |
| raints** |                                                           |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Family   | [Theory]{.underline}: What students are told about        |
| and peer | transition opportunities and the cumulative consequences  |
| edu      | of decisions and uncontrollable events, path dependence,  |
| cational | is filtered through diverse or missing family, household, |
| at       | neighborhood and social network examples of a dependable  |
| tainment | path from educational attainment to future opportunity.   |
| and work | Counsel has to trump this reality. Do we know enough to   |
| ex       | advise with confidence that even though a student does    |
| perience | not see someone 'like' them having succeeded by following |
|          | a prescribed path that they should begin the journey      |
|          | anyway?                                                   |
|          |                                                           |
|          | The career *ladder* offers little influential help, but   |
|          | the career *wall* does. Students can more easily identify |
|          | climbers 'like' them on the *wall* than on many narrow    |
|          | vertical paths. And, in many cases they can see for       |
|          | themselves that you can start toward one goal, but then   |
|          | shift to another goal through a series of intermediate    |
|          | lateral, and perhaps backwards moves, before renewing the |
|          | ascent toward a new destination.                          |
|          |                                                           |
|          | [Evidence]{.underline}: "If the preponderance of negative |
|          | images and peer pressures undermines the educational      |
|          | performance of blacks and Hispanics, as the               |
|          | blocked-opportunities perspective suggests, why does it   |
|          | not similarly dampen aspirations? If the pressure Asian   |
|          | parents put on their children yields high educational     |
|          | attainments, are there adverse consequences on            |
|          | self-esteem and mental health among adults?" (Kao and     |
|          | Tienda, 1998). "The relatively slow growth in educational |
|          | attainment...may well have an 'echo effect' on these      |
|          | cohorts' children, slowing down the rate of growth of     |
|          | human capital in the U.S. economy for decades into the    |
|          | future" (Card and Lemieux, 2001). "The good news is that  |
|          | the relationship of ability to college entry was about    |
|          | twice as strong as was that for socioeconomic status      |
|          | (SES), although there was still a strong association of   |
|          | socioeconomic status with college entry at every ability  |
|          | level" (Nichols, 1994). Also (Munger, 2002).              |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Distance | [Theory]{.underline}: Engagement in work while in school  |
| to       | is related to the ease of access to employment            |
| em       | opportunities, which influences goal setting and          |
| ployment | expectations about future employment opportunity.         |
| oppor    | Availability of employment as a source of income while    |
| tunities | enrolled in post-secondary education influences whether   |
|          | and where students enroll and are able to persist to      |
|          | completion of the curriculum selected. This decision, in  |
|          | turn, influences the range of curricula that is available |
|          | when this decision is made. Finally, family and peer      |
|          | considerations influence where employment is sought after |
|          | leaving school.                                           |
|          |                                                           |
|          | [Evidence]{.underline}: Research evidence is available.   |
|          | Research citations will be added.                         |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Employer | [Theory]{.underline}: Controversy continues about the     |
| a        | importance of gender, race/ethnicity and other            |
| ttitudes | demographics in employer hiring, retention and promotion  |
| with     | decisions (Moss and Tilly, 2001), but few describe these  |
| respect  | as irrelevant.                                            |
| to       |                                                           |
| gender,  | [Evidence]{.underline}: "Beware of supposing that a       |
| race/e   | required credential constitutes a completely              |
| thnicity | insurmountable barrier" (Moss and Tilly, 2001). "Traits   |
| and      | that count in some jobs might not count in others.        |
| other    | Self-direction may contribute to the earnings of someone  |
| demo     | fairly high up in the chain of command, for instance,     |
| graphics | while penalizing someone at the bottom. Similarly, as we  |
|          | have seen, traits may count differently for men and       |
|          | women, or for different ethnic or language groups"        |
|          | (Bowles, Gintis and Osborne, 2001). "Although women were  |
|          | more likely to persist in higher education, and tended to |
|          | obtain higher grades than did men, their average earnings |
|          | and occupational status at age thirty-two fell            |
|          | considerably below those of their male counterparts"      |
|          | (Nichols, 1994). "The \[William T. Grant Foundation       |
|          | Commission on Work, Family, and Citizenship\]             |
|          | consistently underscored the importance of identifying    |
|          | differences among individuals and groups, the necessity   |
|          | of responding to them flexibly and creatively, and the    |
|          | potential of many kinds of variation as strengths to be   |
|          | exploited and celebrated" (Mellaville, 1994).             |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **School | [Theory]{.underline}: Again, there is no need to engage   |
| location | in theorizing about these four uncontrollable             |
| and      | determinants of student transition paths. Yes, some       |
| physical | students succeed who attend dilapidated schools located   |
| plant**  | in high-crime and otherwise dangerous neighborhoods and   |
|          | return to a home that offers no adult encouragement,      |
| **Ea     | books or access to the Internet. But, the explanations    |
| rmarking | for this success rarely identify easily replicated        |
| of funds | guidance for others to follow---internal drive, a teacher |
| by       | who cared, a principal who demanded more from everyone, a |
| outside  | mentoring employer, a philanthropist. Yes, appeals can be |
| p        | made to higher authorities to loosen the purse strings to |
| arties** | allow more discretionary use of funds to satisfy one's    |
|          | priorities. Yes, presentations can be made to employers   |
| **       | to give one's students an opportunity to show their       |
| Business | worth. And yes, an event like 9/11 can trigger a change   |
| hiring   | in enthusiasm about military enlistment with perhaps      |
| criteria | lifetime consequences for one's employment journey. But,  |
| and      | on balance, these are givens when one thinks about how to |
| capacity | define next steps to improve transition performance, as   |
| to       | it is defined in Perkins III.                             |
| absorb   |                                                           |
| gra      | [Evidence.]{.underline} Research evidence is available.   |
| duates** | Research citations will be added.                         |
|          |                                                           |
| **       |                                                           |
| Military |                                                           |
| en       |                                                           |
| listment |                                                           |
| criteria |                                                           |
| and      |                                                           |
| ab       |                                                           |
| sorption |                                                           |
| ca       |                                                           |
| pacity** |                                                           |
+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+

# Improvement Strategies for Transition (3S1, 3P1, 3P2)

### 

+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| ##### Impro     | ##### Ro  | ##### What the Literature Says        |
| vement Strategy | ot Causes |                                       |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 | #######   |                                       |
|                 | Addressed |                                       |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| Invest in       | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}: Many |
| widening and    |   Student | students have given little thought to |
| deepening       |           | a career choice when they graduate    |
| student         | awareness | from high school. Indeed, there is    |
| awareness of    |     of    | anecdotal evidence that a growing     |
| opportunities   |     oppo  | number of college students have only  |
| and the         | rtunities | a vague idea about what they want to  |
| consequences of |     and   | do after graduation. There can be     |
| decisions       |     con   | positive aspects to this ambiguity,   |
|                 | sequences | if these students acquire the tools   |
| #######         |     of    | that are needed to continue to learn  |
|                 |           | (Baily, 2002) and have not shut off   |
|                 | decisions | too many possible paths by their      |
|                 |           | failure to decide and prepare. But,   |
|                 |           | we fear that students are unlikely to |
|                 |           | make the effort to acquire these      |
|                 |           | option skills if they see no clear    |
|                 |           | connection between that investment    |
|                 |           | and an attractive payoff. If there is |
|                 |           | no carrot, perhaps there is a         |
|                 |           | stick---if you don't study now,       |
|                 |           | you'll be sorry later. But the        |
|                 |           | anticipated hurt has to be            |
|                 |           | believable. Much more can be done, by |
|                 |           | adding descriptive accuracy to the    |
|                 |           | career *wall*, to introduce students  |
|                 |           | to valid and reliable indicators of   |
|                 |           | where various sub-populations of      |
|                 |           | predecessors are in their climb. Who  |
|                 |           | has advanced and who has not? Who     |
|                 |           | does not even appear on the career    |
|                 |           | *wall*? Who repeatedly tries to       |
|                 |           | climb, but fails? Who has followed a  |
|                 |           | path that could have been predicted   |
|                 |           | by their stated goal at an earlier    |
|                 |           | time? Who has followed a meandering,  |
|                 |           | or seemingly haphazard route, but     |
|                 |           | appears to have made substantial      |
|                 |           | progress? What, by the way, defines   |
|                 |           | 'progress'? Is there a common         |
|                 |           | denominator of what students seek? Is |
|                 |           | it money, security, job satisfaction, |
|                 |           | power, fame, advancement opportunity, |
|                 |           | a chance to control one's own         |
|                 |           | destiny? If there is not a common     |
|                 |           | denominator, the difficulty of        |
|                 |           | modeling behavior is multiplied many  |
|                 |           | times over.                           |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | "A significant determinant of the     |
|                 |           | well-being of many older persons will |
|                 |           | be the risky decisions that they made |
|                 |           | as youths" (Gruber, 2001). "\[T\]ying |
|                 |           | academic performance to clear         |
|                 |           | consequences for students may help    |
|                 |           | support attainment based on factors   |
|                 |           | other than teachers' expectations or  |
|                 |           | students' family background"          |
|                 |           | (Schiller and Muller, 2000).          |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: "While        |
|                 |           | 'school-to-work' is an umbrella term, |
|                 |           | encompassing a variety of             |
|                 |           | initiatives, common components        |
|                 |           | include career-related academics,     |
|                 |           | comprehensive career development      |
|                 |           | activities, and paid or unpaid work   |
|                 |           | experience linked to                  |
|                 |           | school...\[O\]ver 100 studies on the  |
|                 |           | school-to-work initiative at the      |
|                 |           | national, state and district level    |
|                 |           | were reviewed for content, research   |
|                 |           | methodology, and evidence of impact.  |
|                 |           | ...We found that there is now a       |
|                 |           | growing body of research with         |
|                 |           | encouraging findings on               |
|                 |           | school-to-work. There is evidence     |
|                 |           | that school-to-work provides benefits |
|                 |           | for students, teachers and            |
|                 |           | participating employers" (Hughes,     |
|                 |           | Bailey, and Mechur, 2001). "\[I\]n    |
|                 |           | every state across the country,       |
|                 |           | communities are looking for and       |
|                 |           | finding innovative ways to better     |
|                 |           | prepare young people to meet the      |
|                 |           | demands of tomorrow" (Mellaville,     |
|                 |           | 1994). "Schools today are most        |
|                 |           | typically structured and outfitted to |
|                 |           | offer transition-to-work programs for |
|                 |           | some selected students" (Pease and    |
|                 |           | Copa, 1994). "The research findings   |
|                 |           | on the effects of part-time           |
|                 |           | employment are mixed" (Silberman,     |
|                 |           | 1994).                                |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+
| **Invest in     | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} The  |
| widening and    |  Employer | 'certification', 'screening' or       |
| deepening       |           | 'signaling' models hold that          |
| employer        | awareness | employers use available information   |
| awareness of    |     of    | based on their own experience, or     |
| student         |           | that of other trusted sources, to     |
| availability    |   student | sort candidates for employment into   |
| and             |     ava   | preferred and less preferred, or      |
| qualifications  | ilability | rejected groupings. This model        |
| for             |     and   | differs from the basic 'human         |
| employment**    |     quali | capital' model, which holds that      |
|                 | fications | individuals embody certain levels of  |
|                 |           | productive capacity that is           |
|                 |           | independent of the work setting.      |
|                 |           | Variations of the 'signaling' model   |
|                 |           | emphasize a sorting criterion based   |
|                 |           | on how a candidate is expected to     |
|                 |           | interact with other employees in an   |
|                 |           | interdependent team setting, and a    |
|                 |           | candidate's capacity for continued    |
|                 |           | learning (Sanchez and Santos Laanan,  |
|                 |           | 1998). Early decisions and            |
|                 |           | investments in education create an    |
|                 |           | unobserved 'option' value (Haveman    |
|                 |           | and Wolfe, 1984), but temporary or    |
|                 |           | permanent 'scarring' can occur (Ryan, |
|                 |           | 1999).                                |
|                 |           |                                       |
|                 |           | [Evidence]{.underline}: "In the long  |
|                 |           | run, significant improvements in the  |
|                 |           | skill levels of American workers,     |
|                 |           | especially workers not attending      |
|                 |           | college, are unlikely without         |
|                 |           | substantial change and improvement in |
|                 |           | primary and secondary education.      |
|                 |           | Mincer's evidence that learning       |
|                 |           | begets learning demonstrates the      |
|                 |           | value of early training in making     |
|                 |           | subsequent training effective. Much   |
|                 |           | of the recent discussion about        |
|                 |           | improving postsecondary education is  |
|                 |           | misplaced when the value of early     |
|                 |           | schooling is put in context"          |
|                 |           | (Heckman, 1996).                      |
+-----------------+-----------+---------------------------------------+

### 

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Rosenbaum, J.E., DeLuca, S., Miller, S.R., Roy, K. (1999). Pathways Into
Work: Short- and Long-Term Effects of Personal and Institutional Ties.
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four-year college enrollment decision. In R. Ehrenberg (Ed.),
Contemporary Policy Issues in Education. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.

Ryan, P. (1999). The school-to-work transition twenty years on: issues,
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**Root and Indirect Causes for Nontraditional Participation (4S1 &
4P1)**

+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Root    | **What the Literature Says**                             |
| (Direct)  |                                                          |
| Causes**  |                                                          |
+===========+==========================================================+
| #         | [Theory:]{.underline} Gender-biased career guidance      |
|           | practices can deter students from participating in       |
| # Car     | nontraditional training programs                         |
| eer guida |                                                          |
| nce mater | [Evidence:]{.underline} Interest inventories are often   |
| ials and  | used by guidance personnel to assist students in         |
| practices | selecting career related coursework or majors in         |
|           | college. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery  |
|           | contains sections based on exposure to subject instead   |
|           | of aptitude. For example, one section tests knowledge of |
|           | automotive components, systems, tools and repairs -- a   |
|           | subject to which women have had little exposure (GAO     |
|           | 1999). Career counseling and recruitment that relies on  |
|           | gender stereotypes is still pervasive in the career and  |
|           | technical education system (NWLC 2002)                   |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Access  | [Theory:]{.underline} Participation and success in math, |
| to and    | science and technology courses is a gateway for          |
| part      | participation in nontraditional careers for women.       |
| icipation |                                                          |
| in math,  | [Evidence:]{.underline} Female students do not have      |
| science   | higher levels of math anxiety than males until the late  |
| and       | junior high school/early high school period, at which    |
| tec       | time females begin exhibiting more math anxiety than     |
| hnology** | their male counterparts (Monclair State Univ. 1997,      |
|           | Reilly 1992). Parents of females are more likely to      |
|           | report that mathematics is less important than other     |
|           | subjects and more difficult for females. Girls do not    |
|           | come to the mathematics classroom with the same          |
|           | experiences as boys and teachers call on boys an average |
|           | of eight times more than they call on girls. A shrinking |
|           | gender gap exists in standardized test results in        |
|           | mathematics, women are underrepresented in physics and   |
|           | engineering fields, and there is a new gender gap in     |
|           | technology (Gavin 2000). Although the gender gap in      |
|           | advanced placement computer science test performance has |
|           | narrowed significantly from 1984-1996, the percentage of |
|           | women taking the examinations has been consistently low  |
|           | (Stumpf & Stanley 1997).                                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | In a recent study on the continuing female               |
|           | under-involvement in science, the following causes were  |
|           | found to be significant: teachers interact more often    |
|           | and in more detail with male students who tend to be     |
|           | more aggressive; female students have a more difficult   |
|           | transition through adolescence than male students;       |
|           | science as a discipline discourages females; society     |
|           | undervalues the role of women and sends mixed messages   |
|           | to females and there is an overall denial of gender      |
|           | biases in the educational system.(Graham 2001)           |
|           |                                                          |
|           | Lack of participation of girls in mathematics and        |
|           | science classes limits participation of girls in         |
|           | registered apprenticeship programs for high skill, high  |
|           | wage occupations (Univ. of Central FL 1998).             |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #         | [Theory:]{.underline} Teachers are generally unaware of  |
|           | subtle and not so subtle gender-biased instructional     |
| Inst      | strategies that influence student participation and      |
| ructional | success in school.                                       |
| s         |                                                          |
| trategies | [Evidence:]{.underline} Subtlety and complacency mask    |
|           | ongoing gender bias in today\'s classrooms (Sadker       |
|           | 1999). In a national survey in 1993 and 1994, the most   |
|           | time spent on gender equity in schools of education was  |
|           | two hours per semester. One-third of teacher education   |
|           | instructors surveyed spent one hour or less on the topic |
|           | (American Institutes for Research 1998)                  |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Nontr   | [Theory:]{.underline} Nontraditional role models are a   |
| aditional | significant factor in a student's choice to pursue a     |
| role      | nontraditional career.                                   |
| models**  |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Interviews with women employed   |
|           | in trades revealed four significant factors that         |
|           | influenced their career choice: a perceived innate       |
|           | ability, a strong sense of self, a desire for            |
|           | independence, and access to role models, especially      |
|           | family (Greene & Stitt-Gohdes 1997). Role models can     |
|           | come from family, community and the school. However, in  |
|           | a study with secondary school principals, nontraditional |
|           | teacher role models were perceived more favorably for    |
|           | women than for men limiting the potential for            |
|           | nontraditional male role models in schools (Rolling      |
|           | 1996).                                                   |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| ###       | [Theory:]{.underline} Exposure to nontraditional careers |
|           | needs to happen in elementary school to be effective.    |
| ###       |                                                          |
| **Early e | [Evidence:]{.underline} Recent research shows that early |
| xposure** | nontraditional experiences can have a lasting impact on  |
|           | women's career decisions (Kerka 2001). Gender            |
|           | stereotyping occurs early and schools have the potential |
|           | to impact those stereotypes. In a study comparing second |
|           | and sixth graders, second graders had significantly      |
|           | higher sex-stereotyping scores (Billings1992).           |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **C       | [Theory:]{.underline} Visual images of individuals in    |
| urriculum | nontraditional careers can positively impact student     |
| ma        | participation.                                           |
| terials** |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Visual representation of working |
|           | individuals in textbooks, displays, videos and           |
|           | curriculum influence students gender stereotypes about   |
|           | career options. The way nontraditional careers are       |
|           | advertised and perceived has a significant impact on who |
|           | pursues those opportunities (Kerka 2001).                |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Occ     | [Theory:]{.underline} Exposure of women to high          |
| upational | skill/high wage occupations has the potential to close   |
| choice**  | the gender gap in annual and lifetime earnings.          |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} The most important variable      |
|           | affecting earnings of both genders was not education but |
|           | occupation. The implication was that narrowing the       |
|           | gender gap further would require breaking down gender    |
|           | barriers in certain high-paying occupations. Noble       |
|           | (1992) points out that to the majority of women, the     |
|           | relevant issue was being stuck on the "sticky floor" of  |
|           | low wage occupations. High school and postsecondary      |
|           | vocational-technical education has the potential to free |
|           | women from the "sticky floor" by opening doors to high   |
|           | skill/high wage occupations (Gray 1993).                 |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| ###       | [Theory:]{.underline} The strength of a girl or woman's  |
|           | self-efficacy (i.e., expectations or beliefs that one    |
| ###       | can successfully perform a given behavior) is directly   |
|  **Self e | related to the pursuit and achievement of a career that  |
| fficacy** | is compatible with her abilities. A weak or strong       |
|           | self-efficacy will also determine how a woman copes with |
|           | and manages internal and external career-related         |
|           | barriers.                                                |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} In adult working women,          |
|           | high-ability women had a tendency to underestimate a     |
|           | number of their abilities including their ability to     |
|           | learn and their verbal and spatial skills and aptitude.  |
|           | (Betsworth 1997). Behavior and behavior change are       |
|           | mediated primarily by expectations of personal efficacy. |
|           | Low self-efficacy may prevent an individual from         |
|           | attempting to perform a task even if he or she is        |
|           | relatively certain that performance of the task would    |
|           | lead to desired outcomes (Hackett and Betz 1981)         |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| ###       | [Theory:]{.underline} Students who are surrounded by a   |
|           | school environment supportive of nontraditional choices  |
| ###       | and who are exposed to nontraditional career options are |
| **School  | more likely to select to participate in nontraditional   |
| climate** | career areas.                                            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} AAUW commissioned three reports  |
|           | on positive school climate for girls and the impact it   |
|           | can have on the achievement of girls. They recommend     |
|           | that the issues of gender equity be visible and integral |
|           | to the public debate which lends legitimacy to the issue |
|           | and contributes to the success of girls (Research for    |
|           | Action 1996)                                             |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| ###       | [Theory:]{.underline} Schools can impact student         |
|           | attitudes, biases and stereotyping regarding their       |
| ### **A   | potential career aspirations.                            |
| ttitude** |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} To change social attitudes       |
|           | regarding women's needs and abilities regarding          |
|           | technology, El Paso Community College established the    |
|           | Women in Technology (WIT) program. The WIT program       |
|           | engaged in community outreach efforts and more than      |
|           | doubled its female enrollment in technical fields after  |
|           | 10 years (DiBenedetto 1999).                             |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+

**Causes Outside Control for Nontraditional Participation (4S1 & 4P1)**

+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| *         | ##### What the Literature Says                           |
| *External |                                                          |
| Cond      |                                                          |
| itions/** |                                                          |
|           |                                                          |
| **Cons    |                                                          |
| traints** |                                                          |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Family  | [Theory:]{.underline} Family and personal demographic    |
| de        | characteristics determine the gender (male or female),   |
| mographic | financial (household income) and cultural (race,         |
| characte  | ethnicity) background and biases that impact career      |
| ristics** | choice.                                                  |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Traditional sex role             |
|           | stereotyping was manifested in students who participated |
|           | in a schools' free lunch program, most of whom were male |
|           | and Hispanic (Morgison 1995). Girls with low             |
|           | socio-economic status parents had higher                 |
|           | sex-stereotyping scores than girls with high             |
|           | socio-economic status parents, while boys with low       |
|           | socio-economic status parents had lower sex-stereotyping |
|           | scores than boys with high socio-economic status         |
|           | parents. Neither family structure nor level of parent    |
|           | education was significantly related (Billings 1992).     |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #         | [Theory:]{.underline} Peer influence is a significant    |
|           | factor in affecting a student's course selection and     |
| # Peer    | career choice.                                           |
| influence |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} For women, the influence of a    |
|           | significant other was a distinguishing factor between    |
|           | students who expected to enter a desired occupation and  |
|           | those who expected to enter occupations more traditional |
|           | than they desired (Davey & Stoppard 1993). In contrast   |
|           | enrollment in nontraditional courses tends to improve    |
|           | when students recruit their friends or participate in    |
|           | these courses in groups (Ingle 2000).                    |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #         | [Theory:]{.underline} Public image, media and            |
|           | advertising impacts student's consideration of or        |
| # Me      | participation in nontraditional careers.                 |
| dia repre |                                                          |
| sentation | [Evidence:]{.underline} The way nontraditional careers   |
|           | are advertised and perceived by the public has a         |
|           | significant impact on who pursues these opportunities    |
|           | (Kerka 2001).                                            |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #         | ## [Theory:]{.under                                      |
|           | line} Earnings potential has a positive influence on wom |
| # Wage    | en considering nontraditional careers and may be a negat |
| potential | ive influence on men considering nontraditional careers. |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} This holds true for most         |
|           | nontraditional occupations except nursing. Men choose    |
|           | nursing for many reasons including job security and      |
|           | salary (Boughn 1994). Salary was found to be one of the  |
|           | factors of satisfaction for women entering               |
|           | nontraditional occupations (Stenberg 1991).              |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #         | [Theory:]{.underline} Students develop biased attitudes  |
|           | about nontraditional careers from a variety of sources   |
| #         | outside the school.                                      |
| Attitudes |                                                          |
|           | ## [Evidence:]{.underline} In a survey of undergradu     |
|           | ate students, women expected deviation from occupational |
|           |  gender stereotypes to be personally costly, whereas men |
|           |  did not (Yoder 1996). Male students pursuing traditiona |
|           | l careers tended to endorse toughness, homophobic attitu |
|           | des, and restrictive emotionality compared to male stude |
|           | nts pursuing nontraditional careers (Jome & Tokar 1998). |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+

# Improvement Strategies for Nontraditional Participation (4S1 & 4P1)

+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| **Imp    | **Root    | **What the Literature Says**                 |
| rovement | Causes**  |                                              |
| St       |           |                                              |
| rategy** | **Ad      |                                              |
|          | dressed** |                                              |
+==========+===========+==============================================+
| **Review | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline}             |
| career   |    Career | Gender-biased career guidance expectations   |
| guidance |           | and practices are a major barrier to student |
| m        |  guidance | participation in non-traditional programs.   |
| aterials |           | Use checklists developed for reviewing       |
| and      | materials | career guidance practices (Wisconsin Model   |
| p        |     and   | for Sex Equity in Career and Vocational      |
| ractices |           | Education, Gender Equity Tip Sheets, Project |
| for      |  practice | SERVE, University of Missouri).              |
| gender   |           |                                              |
| bias and | -   Occ   | [Evidence:]{.underline} The use of this      |
| nontra   | upational | model with schools using a technical         |
| ditional |           | assistance model over 7 years was highly     |
| exposure |    choice | successful (Riley 1997).                     |
| and      |           |                                              |
| s        | -         |                                              |
| upport** |    Access |                                              |
|          |     to    |                                              |
|          |     and   |                                              |
|          |     part  |                                              |
|          | icipation |                                              |
|          |     in    |                                              |
|          |     math, |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |   science |                                              |
|          |     and   |                                              |
|          |     t     |                                              |
|          | echnology |                                              |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Parents are |
| *Invite, |    Access | the first introduction a child has to a      |
| involve  |     to    | career and they have a strong influence on   |
| and      |     and   | student course selection and career choice.  |
| educate  |     part  |                                              |
| p        | icipation | [Evidence:]{.underline} Recommendations for  |
| arents** |     in    | parents include: (1) create at-home          |
|          |     Math, | activities that involve hands-on problem     |
|          |           | solving, such as blocks and tinker toys; (2) |
|          |   Science | engage in daily math routines such as        |
|          |     and   | determining the appropriate tip to leave at  |
|          |     T     | a restaurant or determining unit prices for  |
|          | echnology | items at the grocery store; (3) visit        |
|          |           | museums of science and explore the           |
|          | -   Nontr | contributions mathematics has made to        |
|          | aditional | scientific discovery; (4) collaborate with   |
|          |     role  | teachers in flexible and creative ways to    |
|          |           | make sure students are challenged and        |
|          |    models | energized in mathematics; (5) encourage      |
|          |           | participation in math clubs and              |
|          | -   Early | competitions; (6) explore varied careers in  |
|          |           | mathematical fields; and (7) provide female  |
|          |  exposure | role models (Gavin 2000).                    |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -   Self  |                                              |
|          | -efficacy |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -         |                                              |
|          | Attitudes |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -   Occ   |                                              |
|          | upational |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |    choice |                                              |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Early       |
| *Conduct |    Career | exposure to nontraditional careers will      |
| middle   |           | increase the potential for a student to      |
| school   |  guidance | pursue a nontraditional career and decrease  |
| pr       |           | their own notions of sex bias and            |
| ograms** | materials | stereotyping.                                |
|          |     and   |                                              |
|          |           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Overwhelmingly the   |
|          |  practice | research indicates that early nontraditional |
|          |           | experiences and exposure to nontraditional   |
|          | -   Early | careers positively affects student potential |
|          |           | for pursuing a nontraditional career.        |
|          |  exposure | (Markert 1996, Education Development Center, |
|          |           | Inc. 1996, Kloosterman 1994, Van Buren 1993, |
|          | -   Self  | Kerka 2001).                                 |
|          | -efficacy |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -         |                                              |
|          | Attitudes |                                              |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -   Nontr | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Students    |
| *Provide | aditional | need to see others like themselves           |
| role     |     role  | participating in a career to believe they    |
| models   |           | can do it too.                               |
| and      |    models |                                              |
| m        |           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Nontraditional role  |
| entors** | -   Self  | models and mentors are overwhelmingly        |
|          | -efficacy | presented in the nontraditional training and |
|          |           | employment literature as a common and        |
|          |           | successful strategy for recruiting and       |
|          |           | retaining students in nontraditional         |
|          |           | careers. (Montclair State College 1991,      |
|          |           | Foster & Simonds 1995, Florida State Dept.   |
|          |           | of Education 1996, National School-to-Work   |
|          |           | Opportunities Office 1996, Markert 1996,     |
|          |           | Clark 2000, Gavin 2000).                     |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline}             |
| *Conduct |    Career | Nontraditional students must be recruited    |
| targeted |           | into nontraditional programs. Students do    |
| rec      |  guidance | not perceive they are welcome unless         |
| ruitment |           | specifically invited to explore and          |
| acti     | materials | supported to overcome their own gender bias  |
| vities** |     and   | and stereotyping.                            |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |  practice | [Evidence:]{.underline} Successful           |
|          |           | recruitment strategies include creating      |
|          | -         | career-technical programs to reach all       |
|          |    Access | students, presenting career clusters in a    |
|          |     to    | way that shows how career pathways can align |
|          |     and   | with interests, giving students multiple     |
|          |     part  | opportunities to explore both traditional    |
|          | icipation | and nontraditional careers, and helping      |
|          |     in    | students overcome stereotypes of appropriate |
|          |     math, | jobs for their gender (Clark 2000).          |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |   science |                                              |
|          |     and   |                                              |
|          |     t     |                                              |
|          | echnology |                                              |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline}             |
| *Conduct |    Career | Pre-technical training programs that         |
| pre-t    |           | introduce students to nontraditional         |
| echnical |  guidance | careers, give them hands on learning         |
| training |           | opportunities, relieve math anxiety, develop |
| p        | materials | support groups, and expose students to       |
| rogram** |     and   | nontraditional role models.                  |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |  practice | [Evidence:]{.underline} When compared to a   |
|          |           | control group, students attending a gender   |
|          | -         | equity program had significantly higher      |
|          |    Access | levels of career and life-style              |
|          |     to    | self-efficacy and indicated greater          |
|          |     and   | knowledge of nontraditional careers and      |
|          |     part  | training opportunities. Nontraditional       |
|          | icipation | students perceived greater encouragement to  |
|          |     in    | explore nontraditional classes and had       |
|          |     math, | significantly higher occupational            |
|          |           | attractiveness scores (Fox Valley Technical  |
|          |   science | College 1991, Mewhorter 1994, Read 1991).    |
|          |     and   | Students who participated in the gender      |
|          |     t     | equity program indicated a decrease in       |
|          | echnology | mathematics anxiety as measured by the       |
|          |           | MARS-e test for math anxiety (Montclair      |
|          | -   Nontr | State Univ. 1997).                           |
|          | aditional |                                              |
|          |     role  |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |    models |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -   Inst  |                                              |
|          | ructional |                                              |
|          |     s     |                                              |
|          | trategies |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -   Self  |                                              |
|          | -efficacy |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -         |                                              |
|          | Attitudes |                                              |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| **Col    | -   Nontr | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Many        |
| laborate | aditional | community-based organizations have           |
| with     |     role  | nontraditional career exposure programs for  |
| c        |           | young girls (Girls Inc, American Association |
| ommunity |    models | of University Women, YWCA, Girl Scouts, Take |
| based    |           | Our Daughters to Work).                      |
| organiz  | -   Inst  |                                              |
| ations** | ructional | [Evidence:]{.underline} Working with         |
|          |     s     | community-based organizations to expose      |
|          | trategies | students to nontraditional careers was       |
|          |           | identified as one of the successful          |
|          | -   C     | strategies in increasing enrollment of       |
|          | urriculum | students in nontraditional training programs |
|          |           | (University of Southwestern Louisiana 1993)  |
|          | materials |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -   Self  |                                              |
|          | -efficacy |                                              |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -   C     | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Increase    |
| *Conduct | urriculum | teacher awareness of gender bias and         |
| prof     |           | stereotyping in curriculum materials and     |
| essional | materials | classroom instruction that creates a         |
| dev      |           | negative effect on student course selection. |
| elopment | -         |                                              |
| with     |    Access | [Evidence:]{.underline} Teacher behavior     |
| teachers |     to    | that perpetuates gender bias can influence   |
| at all   |     and   | student participation in courses and         |
| levels** |     part  | selection of further study in a particular   |
|          | icipation | career area (Graham 2001) Recruitment        |
|          |     in    | strategies include working with teachers in  |
|          |     math, | feeder schools, programs and courses that    |
|          |           | lead to participation in nontraditional      |
|          |   science | career and technical education programs.     |
|          |     and   | (National School to Work Opportunities       |
|          |     t     | Office 1996, Graham 2001)                    |
|          | echnology |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -   Inst  |                                              |
|          | ructional |                                              |
|          |     s     |                                              |
|          | trategies |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -         |                                              |
|          | Attitudes |                                              |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| **I      | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Schools     |
| mplement |    School | that value nontraditional choices for their  |
| and      |           | students and model gender equity in their    |
| model    |   climate | institutional practices are more likely to   |
| gen      |           | have students participate in nontraditional  |
| der-fair | -         | programs.                                    |
| insti    | Attitudes |                                              |
| tutional |           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Institutional        |
| stra     |           | strategies include: nontraditional           |
| tegies** |           | representatives on advisory committees,      |
|          |           | hiring of nontraditional instructors,        |
|          |           | conducting workshops on nontraditional       |
|          |           | careers with students and staff, providing   |
|          |           | grant incentives in RFP's, purchasing        |
|          |           | materials portraying nontraditional          |
|          |           | students, collecting data that link          |
|          |           | occupations and gender. (National            |
|          |           | School-to-Work Opportunities Office 1996)    |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+

**Root and Indirect Causes for Nontraditional Completion (4S2 and 4P2)**

+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Root    | **What the Literature Says**                             |
| (Direct)  |                                                          |
| Causes**  |                                                          |
+===========+==========================================================+
| #         | [Theory:]{.underline} Students who experience gender     |
|           | stereotyping, intimidating behaviors or sexual           |
| #         | harassment while in nontraditional career and technical  |
|  Classroo | education programs are less likely to complete the       |
| m climate | program.                                                 |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Students who are of the          |
|           | underrepresented gender experience stereotypes and       |
|           | intimidating behaviors preventing full participation     |
|           | (Thurtle 1998). Even with increased awareness of gender  |
|           | equity issues the research suggests that boys and girls  |
|           | are treated differently in many classrooms (Younger,     |
|           | Warrington, Williams 1999). In a study examining the     |
|           | reasons why female students in an industrial technology  |
|           | class were not completing, female students attributed    |
|           | their lack of success to not finding the class relevant, |
|           | being treated unfairly; and adhering to gender           |
|           | stereotypes. When efforts to create a gender equitable   |
|           | classroom that engaged all students were implemented,    |
|           | the female completion and success rates improved (Ryan   |
|           | 1999). The job and training experiences of women         |
|           | employed in a skilled trade were surveyed. 48.8%         |
|           | believed that sexual harassment remains a significant    |
|           | problem and 80.5% had seen at least one woman receive    |
|           | unwanted sexual attention (Shaw 1998).                   |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| ###       | [Theory:]{.underline} Students enrolled in               |
| # Support | nontraditional career and technical education programs   |
|  services | that receive support services (i.e., tutoring,           |
|           | mentoring, support groups, child care, transportation)   |
|           | are more likely to succeed.                              |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} A majority of nontraditional     |
|           | employment programs have similar components and indicate |
|           | greater success rates with students who access support   |
|           | services than in programs where these services are not   |
|           | provided (Montclair State Univ. 1997).                   |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #         | [Theory:]{.underline} When underrepresented gender       |
|           | students participate in the same program they are more   |
| Student   | likely to succeed.                                       |
| isolation |                                                          |
| based on  | [Evidence:]{.underline} When nontraditional participants |
| gender    | enroll individually, they are less likely to integrate   |
|           | effectively into the social structure, more likely to    |
|           | suffer decreased performance, and more likely to drop    |
|           | out. Change is carried in cohorts, not in single         |
|           | individuals (Ingle 2000)                                 |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #### Ro   | [Theory:]{.underline} Providing access to nontraditional |
| le models | role models and mentors in a student's nontraditional    |
|           | career field increases retention and success.            |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Interviews with women employed   |
|           | in trades revealed four significant factors that         |
|           | influenced their career choice: a perceived innate       |
|           | ability, a strong sense of self, a desire for            |
|           | independence, and access to role models, especially      |
|           | family (Greene & Stitt-Gohdes 1997).                     |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| ###       | [Theory:]{.underline} Gender-biased instructional and    |
|           | support strategies is one of the major factors for       |
| ### *     | students dropping out of nontraditional career and       |
| *Instruct | technical education programs.                            |
| ional str |                                                          |
| ategies** | [Evidence:]{.underline} Female students are more         |
|           | successful in classrooms where cooperative learning is   |
|           | addressed and teachers recognize a variety of learning   |
|           | styles and capitalize on students' strengths.            |
|           | Alternative assessments including integrated performance |
|           | tasks, journals, portfolios, and pictorial explanations  |
|           | are valid ways of demonstrating understanding of and     |
|           | allow females to showcase their talent more effectively  |
|           | than they can on traditional tests (Gavin 2000).         |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #### Self | [Theory:]{.underline} Students with high self-efficacy   |
| -efficacy | are more likely to complete nontraditional programs.     |
|           |                                                          |
|           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Self-efficacy is negatively      |
|           | correlated to career choices, particularly               |
|           | nontraditional. The higher an individuals sense of self  |
|           | the more likely they are to choose a nontraditional      |
|           | career. (Montclair State Univ. 1997). A perceived innate |
|           | ability, strong sense of self and desire for             |
|           | independence are all factors that are influential in a   |
|           | student's choice of a nontraditional career (Greene &    |
|           | Stitt-Gohdes 1997).                                      |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+

**Causes Outside Control for Nontraditional Completion (4S2 and 4P2)**

+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| *         | **What the Literature Says**                             |
| *External |                                                          |
| Cond      |                                                          |
| itions/** |                                                          |
|           |                                                          |
| **Cons    |                                                          |
| traints** |                                                          |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| #         | [Theory:]{.underline} Women in nontraditional training   |
|           | programs are more likely to dropout if they do not have  |
| # Spousa  | the support of their spouse and/or significant other.    |
| l/signifi |                                                          |
| cant othe | [Evidence:]{.underline} Spousal or significant other     |
| r support | support was found to be a factor that differentiated the |
|           | women who remained in their nontraditional occupation    |
|           | for more than two years from the women who left within   |
|           | two years or who never entered. (Shanahan, Denner,       |
|           | Rhoads, Anderson 1999)                                   |
+-----------+----------------------------------------------------------+

# 

# Improvement Strategies for Nontraditional Completion (4S2 and 4P2)

+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| **Imp    | **Root    | **What the Literature Says**                 |
| rovement | Causes**  |                                              |
| St       |           |                                              |
| rategy** | **Ad      |                                              |
|          | dressed** |                                              |
+==========+===========+==============================================+
| **       | -         | [Theory and Models]{.underline}: School      |
| Evaluate | Classroom | publicity and curriculum materials often     |
| all      |           | carry gender-bias messages that impact       |
| school   |   climate | student career choices. Checklists and tips  |
| m        |           | have been developed to increase schools      |
| aterials | -   Inst  | awareness of these gendered practices        |
| for      | ructional | (Wisconsin Model for Sex Equity in Career    |
| gender   |     s     | and Vocational Education, Gender Equity Tip  |
| bias and | trategies | Sheets, Project SERVE, University of         |
| positive |           | Missouri).                                   |
| nontra   |           |                                              |
| ditional |           | [Evidence:]{.underline} In an evaluation of  |
| images** |           | equity programs in Louisiana programs that   |
|          |           | were successful at retaining students in     |
|          |           | nontraditional vocational education programs |
|          |           | evaluated materials for gender bias and      |
|          |           | stereotyping.                                |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| **       | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Teachers    |
| Increase | Classroom | need rigorous and ongoing professional       |
| teacher  |           | development to learn and improve             |
| and      |   climate | instructional strategies for working with    |
| admin    |           | nontraditional students. Generating          |
| istrator | -   Inst  | Expectations for Student Achievement (GESA)  |
| quality  | ructional | and The Equity Principal are research-based  |
| and      |     s     | professional development models that have    |
| equity-  | trategies | been effectively used to increase teachers'  |
| capacity |           | and administrators' knowledge of equitable   |
| through  |           | teaching practices and leadership skills     |
| prof     |           | (Grayson 1998)                               |
| essional |           |                                              |
| devel    |           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Through studies      |
| opment** |           | conducted in mathematics programs, teaching  |
|          |           | strategies that are effective in raising the |
|          |           | achievement of females have been identified. |
|          |           | These strategies include cooperative         |
|          |           | learning versus competitive learning and the |
|          |           | need for teachers to recognize a variety of  |
|          |           | learning styles and capitalize on students'  |
|          |           | strengths. Alternative assessments including |
|          |           | integrated performance tasks, journals,      |
|          |           | portfolios, and pictorial explanations are   |
|          |           | mentioned as valid ways of demonstrating     |
|          |           | understanding and allowing females to        |
|          |           | showcase their talents more effectively than |
|          |           | they can on traditional tests (Gavin 2000,   |
|          |           | Graham 2001, Ryan 1999).                     |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| Increase | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Students    |
| co       | Classroom | will not persist in an instructional         |
| mpetence |           | environment where their contributions are    |
| in       |   climate | not valued, they are being harassed or they  |
| d        |           | do not feel they are being treated fairly.   |
| iversity | -   Inst  |                                              |
| and      | ructional | [Evidence:]{.underline} Decreasing gender    |
| sexual   |     s     | bias is identified in the literature as a    |
| ha       | trategies | common strategy for retaining female         |
| rassment |           | students in math and science and             |
|          |           | nontraditional students in career and        |
| **prev   |           | technical education programs (Markert 1996,  |
| ention** |           | National School-to-Work Opportunities Office |
|          |           | 1996, Vocational Curriculum Resource Center  |
|          |           | of Maine 1993, University of Southwestern    |
|          |           | Louisiana 1993, Ryan 1999, Clark 2000,       |
|          |           | Graham 2001).                                |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Students    |
| *Conduct |   Support | are more likely to complete programs if they |
| nontra   |           | feel they are supported and are part of a    |
| ditional |  services | peer group. These strategies are also more   |
| student  |           | likely to improve a student's self-efficacy. |
| support  | -         |                                              |
| groups   |   Student | [Evidence:]{.underline} In a group of        |
| and peer |           | studies of effective programs, retention     |
| coun     | isolation | strategies identified included: access to    |
| seling** |     based | nontraditional student clubs and team        |
|          |     on    | support systems and participation in math    |
|          |           | clubs, competitions, and after school        |
|          |    gender | programs (Foster & Simonds 1995, Silverman   |
|          |           | 1999, Gavin 2000). Students who participated |
|          | -   Inst  | in nontraditional support programs increased |
|          | ructional | their self-esteem (Montclair State Univ.     |
|          |     s     | 1997).                                       |
|          | trategies |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -   Role  |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |    models |                                              |
|          |           |                                              |
|          | -   Self  |                                              |
|          | -efficacy |                                              |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -   Role  | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Ongoing     |
| *Provide |           | exposure to nontraditional role models and   |
| nontra   |    models | mentors and job exposure with an individual  |
| ditional |           | in a nontraditional career are effective     |
| role     | -   Self  | strategies for retaining students in         |
| models,  | -efficacy | nontraditional career and technical          |
| mentors, |           | education programs.                          |
| and job  |           |                                              |
| sha      |           | [Evidence:]{.underline} The research         |
| dowing** |           | consistently indicates that role models are  |
|          |           | an effective strategy for retention (Foster  |
|          |           | & Simonds 1995, Florida State Dept. of Ed.   |
|          |           | 1996, Markert 1996, National School-to-Work  |
|          |           | Opportunities Office 1996, Clark 2000, Gavin |
|          |           | 2000).                                       |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -   Role  | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Parents are |
| *Invite, |           | often one of the strongest influences on     |
| involve  |    models | students pursuing nontraditional careers.    |
| and      |           | Parents may allow a student to explore a     |
| educate  | -   Self  | nontraditional career but may not support a  |
| p        | -efficacy | student pursuing one as a permanent career   |
| arents** |           | choice. Involve parents who are employed in  |
|          |           | a nontraditional occupation as role models   |
|          |           | with their sons/daughters and with other     |
|          |           | students at the school.                      |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Lack of support by   |
|          |           | parents can be somewhat attributed to        |
|          |           | misinformation about a career as well as sex |
|          |           | bias and stereotyping that can be overcome   |
|          |           | through parent education and exposure to     |
|          |           | accurate career information. Role models,    |
|          |           | particularly family members, often           |
|          |           | contribute to an individual's decision to    |
|          |           | pursue a nontraditional career (Greene &     |
|          |           | Stitt-Gohdes 1997)                           |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -         | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Students    |
| *Provide |   Support | with additional barriers beyond gender need  |
| a        |           | additional support services to complete.     |
| c        |  services |                                              |
| ontinuum |           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Nontraditional       |
| of       |           | training programs that work with populations |
| support  |           | with multiple barriers and offer             |
| se       |           | comprehensive support services boast higher  |
| rvices** |           | success rates. These support services        |
|          |           | include tutoring, child care,                |
|          |           | transportation, and tuition assistance.      |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| *        | -   Role  | [Theory and Models:]{.underline} Businesses  |
| *Invite, |           | have a vested interest in wanting to help    |
| involve  |    models | students develop the skills required for     |
| and      |           | employment in their industry. Intel          |
| educate  | -   Inst  | Corporation, in cooperation with Boston's    |
| bu       | ructional | Museum of Science and the Massachusetts      |
| siness** |     s     | Institute of Technology Media Lab, has       |
|          | trategies | started an after-school program, Computer    |
|          |           | Clubhouse, for female and minority students  |
|          |           | with adult mentors to learn more about       |
|          |           | computer technology (Bruner 2000). Cisco     |
|          |           | Inc. has started a gender initiative for     |
|          |           | recruiting women in to the Cisco Networking  |
|          |           | Academies. (Cisco, Inc. 2001)                |
|          |           |                                              |
|          |           | [Evidence:]{.underline} Training programs    |
|          |           | that partner with corporations have dramatic |
|          |           | benefits for low-income women. For example,  |
|          |           | The Nontraditional Employment for Women      |
|          |           | (NEW) program, who uses this strategy,       |
|          |           | places students into occupations with an     |
|          |           | average starting wage of \$12/hour (NOW      |
|          |           | Legal Defense and Education Fund 2001)       |
+----------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+

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