The systemic impact of Ohio Tech Prep programs on postsecondary academic readiness rates at two-year institutions: A four consortia study

Tech Prep is an education reform that became nationally recognized with the passage of the 1990 Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act. One of Tech Prep's goals is to systemically link technical programs of study in secondary and postsecondary education; providing more students with the academic skills necessary to complete an associate degree and enter the technical workforce. Much of the existing research on Tech Prep has been either descriptive (i.e., number of students enrolled or number of schools participating), or has focused on implementation issues. In contrast, this study was conducted in a four consortia area within one state and focused on Tech Prep's impact on one student outcome---academic readiness for the two-year college. Specifically, this quantitative research utilized a post-test only, static groups design to compare Tech Prep high school graduates' COMPASS scores in math, reading, and writing to the scores of a group of graduates who had not experienced the Tech Prep curriculum in high school, but had enrolled in the same higher education institutions. The study included a sample pretest to estimate the degree that the Tech Prep and non-Tech Prep groups might have been academically non-equivalent prior to experiencing differing high school curricula. An additional research question examined the experience of the Tech Prep group only, and compared the influence of three different Tech Prep high school curriculum pathways on the students' academic readiness for the two-year college. Results showed that the Tech Prep group scored significantly higher than the non-Tech Prep group on the COMPASS reading and writing assessments, and on the numerical skills/prealgebra domain of the math assessment. However, the results also demonstrated evidence of academic differences between the Tech Prep and non-Tech Prep groups prior to experiencing differing curricular "treatments" in high school. Within the Tech Prep group, students experiencing the Engineering Technology curriculum in high school scored significantly higher than students in the Allied Health curriculum on the numerical skills/prealgebra domain and the intermediate algebra domain of the COMPASS math assessment. Future research was suggested, including repetition within the four consortia and expansion across the state.