Results Summary: Northwest Ohio
Five Year Graduate Study of the
Class of 2009
June, 2015
Nancy Pietras, Past Director
Kathy Siebenaler-Wilson, Ph.D., Director
James Jennings, Consultant
Dawn Thompson, Consultant
Meng Chen, Data Systems Analyst
John Thiels, Researcher
Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate
Study of the Class of 2009
1. Purpose of Study
a. Tech Prep Defined
i. “Combination of college preparatory academics and advanced career-technical
education with the objective of a seamless, non-duplicative transition from high
school to postsecondary education. All Ohio secondary career-technical education
programs are Tech Prep.” (Ohio Career-Technical Education Dictionary, June, 2014)
ii. In 2009, when this study began not all career-technical education programs were
Tech Prep, there has been a 5-year transition period of converting all existing
career-technical programs to the Tech Prep model. Appendix A contains a list of
the Tech Prep programs existing in 2009 and the career-technical programs not yet
transitioned to the Tech Prep model. Originally, the Tech Prep model was intended
for high-tech Career-Technical programs; such as engineering and information
technology programs and high-demand; such as health professions and teaching
professions. The intent was to focus on these occupations with technical content
at a post-secondary introductory level while incorporating college preparatory
academics providing the high school student with the academic skills necessary to
enter post-secondary education remediation free in math and language arts.
Secondary career-technical instructors of Tech Prep Model programs met with
related post-secondary instructors to discuss curriculum and make content and
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
sequencing of curriculum decisions so the high school student would have the
technical knowledge to “articulate” the credits of appropriate introductory courses
in the related post-secondary course(s). This allowed agreements between the
career-technical program and the related post-secondary program for students to
waive or receive credit for introductory post-secondary courses. The general
concept was: Why should a student who successfully completed a career-technical
program be required to take related post-secondary introductory courses
repeating the same content? The benefit to the student was earlier completion of
their post-secondary program of study and a possible savings in tuition expenses.
The post-secondary institution benefited by enrolling a student with introductory
knowledge within the technical content program of study, and college-ready
academic skills; in short a student who was more likely to be retained, and
complete the post-secondary program.
b. Research based assumptions
i. High School Career-Technical instructors have long had antidotal evidence of
former students who successfully continued their career pathway through postsecondary education and into the workforce. There has also been research based
evidence of career-technical student success at the post-secondary level for the
students who continue their studies with the same or related career pathway. See
appendix B for a brief list of research studies demonstrating high school careertechnical completer’s success within post-secondary education programs.
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
c. Research hypothesis
i. Do Tech Prep students pursue post-secondary education at a higher rate than other
direct from high school students in their graduation class?
ii. Do Tech Prep students have a higher retention rate in post-secondary education
than other direct from high school students in their graduation class?
iii. And finally, Do Tech Prep students have a higher completion rate in postsecondary education than other direct from high school students in their
graduation class:
a. with an Associate’s Degree?
b. with a Bachelor’s Degree?
2. Population of study
a. Participant selection process
i. Participating schools for this study voluntarily agreed to be involved in the
proposed study in the spring of 2009. Schools invited were members of the
Greater Northwest Ohio Tech Prep consortium, as it existed in the spring of 2009.
The schools were members of the Northwest Ohio High Schools That Work region,
as it existed in the spring of 2009. High schools indicated their willingness to
participate in the study by providing a list of their high school graduates for the
class of 2009. See Appendix C for a list of the high schools participating in the
study. Appendix C also shows the number of graduates from each school, Tech
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Prep and non-Tech Prep, which was submitted to the National Student
Clearinghouse, the ACT Code for the individual high schools –used as a school
identifier, and the CTPD classification.
b. High Schools That Work (HSTW) defined
i. “A state-wide school improvement frame-work based on key practices and
conditions for accelerating learning and raising academic standards for all
students; initiative started under the auspices of the Southern Regional Education
Board (SREB), based in Georgia; HSTW major goals related to raising academic and
technical achievement, integrating academics and career-technical studies and
influencing policy for school improvement and student achievement.” (Office of
Career-Technical Education and the Association for Career and Technical
Education, 2014)
c. General description of the schools in the study
i. There are essentially three types of high schools participating in this study;
1. Comprehensive High Schools. “One form of a Career-Technical Planning District
(CTPD), or legal entity through which career-technical programs are delivered. It
has 1,500 or more students and offers career-technical education in career
centers and/or at existing high schools in the district.” (Office of Career-Technical
Education and the Association for Career and Technical Education, 2014)
a. For the purpose of this study, the following high schools are labeled
Comprehensive: Clay High School, Bowsher High School, Libbey High School,
Rogers High School, Scott High School, Start High School, Toledo Technology
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Academy High School, Waite High School, Woodward High School and
Whitmer High School.
2. Joint Vocational School District (JVSD). “One form of a CTPD, or legal entity
through which career-technical programs are delivered. It is an area, which
serves two or more adjacent school districts and is governed by a joint vocational
school board consisting of representatives from the participating districts.”
(Office of Career-Technical Education and the Association for Career and
Technical Education, 2014)
a. For the purpose of this study there where two (JVSD) involved along with
several member/associate schools: Four County Career Center and the
following associate high schools: Hicksville High School and Patrick Henry
High School; Penta Career Center and the following associate high schools:
Lake High School, Springfield High School and Swanton High School.
3. Compact/Contract District. “One form of a CTPD, or legal entity through which
career-technical programs are delivered. It is an area in which a number of
school districts enter into a contract of operation to provide career-technical
education.” (Office of Career-Technical Education and the Association for Career
and Technical Education, 2014)
a. For the purpose of this study there are two Compact/Contract School
Districts involved in the study: Millstream Compact and the following
associate high schools: Arcadia High School, Findlay High School and Liberty
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Center High School; Sylvania City School District and the following associate
high schools: Northview High School and Southview High School.
Note: The schools listed above are identified by the type of Ohio Career-Technical
Planning District designations based on a document recently released by the Ohio
Department of Education, Office of Career-Technical Education in March, 2015.
3. Design of the project/data
a. Definition of High School Graduate vs Tech Prep Graduate
i. A High School Graduate is an individual completing the proscribed course of
study of a local school district to meet the qualifications for graduation and the
requirements of the State of Ohio. The number of credits and the specific
courses an individual student would complete would vary to some degree from
one local school district to another, as long as minimum State of Ohio graduation
guidelines were met.
ii. A Tech Prep Graduate is an individual completing all of the above, but has
included a specific course of study based on content standards for the particular
Career-Technical/Tech Prep program the student was enrolled. The Tech Prep
student should also have participated in an academic curriculum be generally
defined as “College Prep”.
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
b. Participating Schools
The participating high schools in the study provided the researchers with a list of
their 2009 graduates, along with the individual student birthdate; these were the
identifiers required by the National Student Clearinghouse to conduct the
“tracking” of the students. Each student was also identified with the six-digit
ACT Code which is assigned to all secondary institutions in the country. Students
within the high school graduating class who were completing the course of study
for a Tech Prep Program were also assigned “TP” to the ACT Code for their
school. By assigning an ACT Code and TP designation to the individual students
we were able to identify the student’s high school and if they were a Tech Prep
student when the data was returned by the National Student Clearinghouse. In
the end we had 22 high schools/JVSDs participate in the study representing 4890
high school graduates. See Appendix C for a list of schools and the number of
students were the cohort for this study.
c. Use of the National Student Clearinghouse
i. The National Student Clearinghouse “serves as a trusted agent to participating
institutions providing support . . . for analytical needs.” The Clearinghouse offers
many services, but we utilized what is referred to as their “tracking” service. By
providing the basic information described above to the Clearinghouse, we were
able to collect information on the post-secondary attendance patterns of the
students in our study.
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
ii. The student data file was assembled using the information outlined above and
submitted to the Clearinghouse once each year over a five year period. Each year
the Clearinghouse returned data to the researcher showing if each student
attended a post-secondary institution. The data also included a variety of other
information regarding the name of the institution, and what terms or sessions
the student attended. Appendix D has a document outlining the types of
information returned to the researcher.
d. Three Questions of the Study:
Essentially our study wanted to determine if there was a difference between, the
non-Tech Prep high school student graduate and the Tech Prep student graduate, by
answering three questions:
i. Do Tech Prep students pursue post-secondary education at a higher rate than
other direct from high school students in their graduation class?
ii. Do Tech Prep students have a higher retention rate in post-secondary education
than other direct from high school students in their graduation class?
iii. And finally, Do Tech Prep students have a higher completion rate in postsecondary education than other direct from high school students in their
graduation class:
1. with an Associate’s Degree, within three years of high school graduation?
2. with a Bachelor’s Degree, within five years of high school graduation?
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
4. Findings/Presentation of Results
The Class of 2009 Study used the graduation lists of 22 participating high school
graduation classes, with students who completed a Tech Prep program within the
graduation class, being identified with a TP to the high school’s ACT Code number. This
list was submitted to the National Student Clearinghouse which returned tracking data for
the students. The students who graduated from high school in 2009 were counted and
broken down by each high school as the cohort.
a. Research Question One:
Do Tech Prep students pursue post-secondary education at a higher rate than
other direct from high school students in their graduation class?
Initial Post-Secondary
Attendance Rates
76.6%
52.9%
NON_TP
TP
We found 76.6% of Tech Prep graduates (TP) in our sample enrolled in a postsecondary educational program based on NSC tracking immediately after high
school graduation. Only 52.9% of the remaining high school graduates (Non-TP)
in our sample enrolled in a post-secondary educational program based on NSC
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
tracking immediately after high school graduation. Based on this data it can be
determined Tech Prep High School graduates had a higher rate of initial college
enrollment than the other students graduating from the same graduation class.
Appendix E has a table showing the initial college enrollment rates for each of
the individual high schools participating in the study.
b. Research Question Two:
Do Tech Prep students have a higher retention rate in post-secondary education
than other direct from high school students in their graduation class?
Based on the cohort, the students who were enrolled in a post-secondary school in
the next Fall term (2010) were counted as the second years’ students number. The
1st and 2nd retention rate is the percentage of 2009 cohort who continues at the
school the next Fall. Using the same methodology, we can determine 1 st to 3rd, 4th
and 5th year retention rates. Those results for the entire cohort are presented
below:
i. Table below shows the year to year retention rate of the Total cohort
population, the Tech Prep Students only and the Non Tech Prep students.
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
Total
20.00%
TechPrep
10.00%
NonTechPrep
0.00%
1ST TO 2ND 1ST TO 3ND 1ST TO 4TH 1ST TO 5TH
RETENTION RETENTION RETENTION RETENTION
RATE
RATE
RATE
RATE
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
The data shows the percentages decrease from one year to the next through
year 5 of the study. The Tech Prep cohort consistently remains higher
throughout. As a result of this data it can be concluded Tech Prep students have
a greater retention rate of attending post-secondary institutions than the entire
graduation classes and of the non Tech Prep members of the graduation class.
Appendix F has a table showing the persistency rates for each of the individual
high schools participating in the study.
c. Research Question Three:
Do Tech Prep students have a higher completion rate in post-secondary education
than other direct from high school students in their graduation class?
1. with an Associate’s Degree, within three years of high school graduation?
a. By Year 3, 28 Tech Prep high school graduates had received an Associate’s
Degree; 49 non-Tech Prep high school graduates had received an Associate’s
Degree.
Number of Students Earning
an Associate Degree 3-Years
after High School Graduation
49
28
Non-Tech Prep
Tech Prep
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
The data shows that more non-Tech Prep students earned an associate degree
than the Tech Prep students. But when looking at the chart below the Associate
Degrees earned based on the percentage of students that were high school
graduates and the percentage of students that initially attended Post-Secondary,
the differences between Non-Tech Prep and Tech Prep graduate is smaller. And
in the case of all high school graduates, Tech Prep students earned Associate
Degrees at a high rate.
Percentage of students that
earned an Associate Degree
Non-Tech Prep
Tech Prep
2.9%
2.3%
1.5%
1.8%
Percentage based on High
School Graduates
Percentage based on number of
Students that Entered PS
2. with a Bachelor’s Degree, within five years of high school graduation?
a. By Year 5, 279 Tech Prep high school graduates had received a Bachelor
Degree; 509 non-Tech Prep high school graduates had received a Bachelor
Degree.
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Number of Students Earning a
Bachelor Degree 5-Years after
High School Graduation
Non-Tech Prep
Tech Prep
509
279
Non-Tech Prep
Tech Prep
The data shows that more non-Tech Prep students earned a Bachelor Degree
than the Tech Prep students. But when looking at the chart below the Bachelor
Degrees earned based on the percentage of students that were high school
graduates and the percentage of students that initially attended Post-Secondary,
the difference between Non-Tech Prep and Tech Prep graduates is smaller. And
in the case of all high school graduates, Tech Prep students earned Associate
Degrees at a high rate.
Percentage of Students that
Earned a Bachelor Degree
Non-Tech Prep
Tech Prep
30.3%
16.0%
18.0%
23.4%
Percentage based on High School Percentage based on number of
Graduates
Students that Entered PS
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Appendix A
Program_Name
Tech
Prep
Programs
in 2009
Accounting
Administrative and Professional Support
Agribusiness and Production Systems
Agricultural and Industrial Power
Aircraft Maintenance
Animal Science and Management
Auto Collision Repair
Auto Specialization
Auto Technology
Biomedical Science
Brick, Block and Cement Masonry
Business Management
Career Paths for the Law Professional
Carpentry
Construction--Management
Cosmetology
Criminal Justice
Criminal Science Technologies
Culinary and Food Service Operations
Custodial Services
Dental Assistant
Early Childhood Education
Electrical Trade
Electronics
Emergency Medical Technician-Secondary
Energy Science
Engineering Science
Engineering Technology
Environmental Control Technologies
Exercise Science/Sports and Recreation Healthcare
Financial Services
Horticulture
Information Support and Services
Non Tech
Prep
Programs
in 2009
x
x
x*
x
x
x*
x
x
x
x
x
x*
x
x*
x*
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x*
x*
x*
x
x
x
x*
x
x
x*
x
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Interactive Media
Manufacturing Design and Development
Marketing Management
Medical Management and Support
Natural Resource Management
Network Systems
Programming/Software Development
Public Safety Core
Supply Chain Management
Teaching Professions
Therapeutic Pathway
Visual Design and Imaging
Welding and Cutting
x
x
x*
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
* Individual high school programs participated in the Tech Prep Model, but not all Pathway programs
within the consortium.
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Appendix B
Below is a brief list of research studies that demonstrate high school career-technical completer’s
success within post-secondary education programs.
Bishop, J., & Mane, F. (2004). The Impacts of Career-Technical education on High School Labor Market
Success. Economics of Education Review, 23(4), 381-402.
Bragg, D., & Rudd, C. (2007). Career Pathways, Academic Performance, and Transition to College and
Careers: The Impact of Two Select Career and Technical Education (CTE) Transition Programs on
Student Outcomes. In Brief.
Bragg, D. D., Loeb, J. W., Gong, Y., Deng, C.-P., Yoo, J.-s., & Hill, J. L. (2002, November). Transition from
high school to college and work for tech prep participants in eight selected consortia. St. Paul,
MN: National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, University of Minnesota.
DeLuca, S., Plank, S., & Estacion, A. (2006, February). Does career and technical education affect college
enrollment? St. Paul, MN: National Research Center for Career and Technical Education,
University of Minnesota.
Hirschy, A., Bremer, C., & Castellano, M. (2011). Career and Technical Education (CTE) Student Success in
Community Colleges: A Conceptual Model. Community College Review, 39(3), 296-318.
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Appendix C
Appendix C shows the number of graduates from each school submitted to the National Student
Clearinghouse, the ACT Code for the high school –used as a school identifier, and the CTPD classification.
High School
ACT Code
Arcadia High School
360195
Clay High School
Findlay High School
(Millstream CTC)
Four CCC
Hicksville High School
365010
362135
# of
Non TP
TP
Type of CTPD District
Students
Students Students
Submitted
50
49
1
Millstream, associate
school
207
57
150
Comprehensive
242
187
55
Compact
360203
362565
473
78
333
76
140
2
Lake High School
Liberty Center High School
363440
362960
131
121
120
119
11
2
Patrick Henry High School
362495
78
76
2
Penta CC
Springfield High School
Swanton High School
Sylvania Northview High
School
Sylvania Southview High
School
TPS-Bowsher High School
TPS-Libbey High School
TPS-Rogers High School
TPS-Scott High School
TPS-Start High School
TPS-Toledo Technology
Academy
TPS-Waite High School
TPS-Woodward High School
Whitmer Senior High School
364089
362600
364923
364930
550
254
151
337
236
236
104
156
314
18
47
181
364931
319
229
90
365018
365015
365052
365025
365051
365064
282
110
228
180
315
32
202
71
174
126
296
1
80
39
54
54
19
31
JVSD
Four CCC, associate
school
Penta, associate school
Millstream, associate
school
Four CCC, associate
school
JVSD
Penta, associate school
Penta, associate school
Compact, Sylvania
Schools
Compact, Sylvania
Schools
Comprehensive
Comprehensive
Comprehensive
Comprehensive
Comprehensive
Comprehensive
365035
365070
365065
165
139
26
Comprehensive
104
86
18
Comprehensive
483
259
224
Comprehensive
Total Number of Students Submitted to NSC
4890*
3332*
1558*
* Note: The Total Number of Students Submitted to NSC is slightly higher than the number of
student used in the final data analysis due to the elimination of duplicated students in the
original data.
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Appendix D
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Appendix D (continued)
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Appendix D (continued)
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Appendix E
Appendix E shows the initial post-secondary enrollment rate for each of the high schools
participating in the study.
SCHOOL
Arcadia High School
Four County Career Center
Millstream Career Technical Center
Patrick Henry High School
Hicksville High School
Springfield High School
Liberty Center High School
Lake High School
Penta Career Center
Swanton High School
Sylvania Northview High School
Sylvania Southview High School
Clay High School
TPS-Libbey High School
TPS-Bowsher High School
TPS-Scott High School
TPS-Waite High School
TPS-Start High School
TPS-Rogers High School
TPS-Toledo Technology Academy
TPS-Woodward High School
Whitmer High School
Non Tech Tech
Prep
Prep
Student Students
69.39% 100.00%
32.13% 58.57%
44.92% 83.64%
71.05% 100.00%
62.67% 50.00%
65.25% 44.44%
72.27% 50.00%
77.50% 54.55%
49.57% 59.87%
4.81% 65.96%
80.13% 81.67%
86.34% 81.11%
71.43% 68.00%
63.38% 87.18%
74.75% 67.50%
73.02% 69.96%
70.50% 65.38%
77.03% 63.16%
74.14% 66.67%
100.00% 87.01%
74.42% 44.44%
65.25% 74.89%
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Results Summary: Northwest Ohio Five Year Graduate Study of the Class of 2009
Appendix F
Appendix F shows a table of the persistency rates for each of the individual high schools participating in
the study.
High School
Retention Rates Year to Year
1ST TO 2ND 1ST TO 3ND 1ST TO 4TH 1ST TO 5TH
Arcadia High School
42.86%
34.69%
28.57%
18.37%
Arcadia Tech Prep
100.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
Four County Career Center
8.11%
5.11%
3.60%
3.30%
Four CCC Tech Prep
32.86%
22.14%
17.86%
10.71%
Millstream Career Technical Center
18.72%
10.70%
6.95%
4.81%
Millstream Tech Prep
49.09%
34.55%
32.73%
23.64%
Patrick Henry High School
22.37%
21.05%
19.74%
14.47%
Patrick Henry Tech Prep
50.00% 100.00%
50.00%
0.00%
Hicksville High School
38.67%
29.33%
24.00%
14.67%
Hicksville Tech Prep
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
Springfield High School
43.22%
33.90%
30.93%
22.88%
Springfield Tech Prep
22.22%
16.67%
11.11%
5.56%
Liberty Center High School
51.26%
40.34%
36.97%
20.17%
Liberty Center Tech Prep
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
Lake High School
49.17%
40.00%
37.50%
22.50%
Lake Tech Prep
18.18%
9.09%
9.09%
18.18%
Penta Career Center
15.95%
9.91%
6.90%
3.45%
Penta Tech Prep
29.94%
22.29%
18.79%
13.69%
Swanton High School
0.96%
0.96%
0.96%
0.96%
Swanton Tech Prep
48.94%
42.55%
31.91%
29.79%
Sylvania Northview High School
66.67%
60.26%
57.05%
38.46%
Sylvania Northview Tech Prep
64.44%
63.33%
58.89%
31.11%
Sylvania Southview High School
72.25%
70.04%
64.32%
35.68%
Sylvania Southview Tech Prep
65.56%
58.89%
54.44%
31.11%
Clay High School
30.36%
30.36%
25.00%
14.29%
Clay Tech Prep
48.00%
38.00%
31.33%
21.33%
TPS-Libbey High School
22.54%
12.68%
14.08%
12.68%
TPS-Libbey Tech Prep
38.46%
23.08%
23.08%
12.82%
TPS-Bowsher High School
44.55%
38.12%
34.16%
21.78%
TPS-Bowsher Tech Prep
32.50%
31.25%
23.75%
20.00%
TPS-Scott High School
20.63%
15.87%
7.94%
5.56%
TPS-Scott Tech Prep
27.78%
22.22%
20.37%
12.96%
TPS-Waite High School
41.01%
30.22%
23.02%
11.51%
TPS-Waite Tech Prep
7.69%
11.54%
7.69%
11.54%
TPS-Start High School
39.86%
30.74%
25.00%
21.62%
TPS-Start Tech Prep
21.05%
15.79%
15.79%
15.79%
TPS-Rogers High School
37.36%
28.74%
22.41%
14.37%
TPS-Rogers Tech Prep
29.63%
20.37%
18.52%
7.41%
TPS-Toledo Technology Academy
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
TPS-TTA - Tech Prep
51.61%
48.39%
38.71%
38.71%
TPS-Woodward High School
30.23%
27.91%
18.60%
13.95%
TPS-Woodward Tech Prep
11.11%
16.67%
5.56%
0.00%
Whitmer High School
38.22%
31.66%
27.41%
19.31%
Whitmer Tech Prep
56.95%
45.74%
40.36%
25.11%
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