Massachusetts Tech Prep: Development of programs and outcomes for 1998 graduates

Many high school graduates are ill-equipped to succeed in the area where employment opportunities are greatest, the high-tech workplace (Hull, 2000). Some reports claim that fewer than half of United States high school graduates possess competencies necessary for obtaining entry-level jobs in this area (Packer, 1992). Because high-tech jobs require workers with more education and experience than high school graduates possess, the schools must develop programs that prepare students for high-tech careers, or take responsibility for graduating students who are loosing their edge in the domestic market. Educational initiatives must be periodically monitored, studied, and adapted to changing labor market conditions (Hull & Grevelle, 1998).;Tech Prep is a federally funded initiative that claims to prepare students for post-secondary education and high-tech careers. Massachusetts programs currently have over 12,500 secondary students and approximately 2,200 post-secondary students enrolled. Although the program has a good word-of-mouth reputation, it has not yet benefited from a study of the relationship between program components and graduates' outcomes.;The study focuses on Massachusetts Tech Prep programming and its relationship with graduates' outcomes. Using data provided by the Massachusetts Department of Education on the participation of 1997--98 Tech Prep students and 1998 high school Tech Prep graduates across the state, I compared data on the development of programs with graduates' outcomes: matriculating to post-secondary institutions and entering the workplace. This study yielded two important findings.;Correlational analysis revealed that the strongest relationship among consortia's processes and graduates' outcomes was between articulation agreements and post-secondary matriculation. In other words, consortia with higher numbers of articulation agreements showed higher numbers of graduates furthering their education. More than half of the Tech Prep graduates reported on matriculated to post-secondary institutions. Another strong relationship between processes and outcomes demonstrated that consortia with higher numbers of students participating in pathways without articulation agreements tend to have higher numbers of students entering the workplace. Additionally, consortia with higher numbers of business partnerships had higher numbers of graduates matriculate to post-secondary institutions.