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Date J UARY 6 1992 MS U i: an Afi’mnatiw Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 042771 LIQRARY Michigan state UnIversIty -p'm~——-M.—- PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. TO AVOID FINES return on or before dete'due. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE I u __¢ MSU Is An Affirmative ActiorVEquel Opportunity Inditution cmuM-o.‘ A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ELEVENTH- AND TWELFTH-GRADE STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL EDUCATION CLUSTERS, BASED ON MIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS By Steven Barnum A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Teacher Education 1991 ABSTRACT A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ELEVENTH- AND TWELFTH-GRADE STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL EDUCATION CLUSTERS, BASED ON MIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS By Steven Barnum The purpose in this study was to determine whether there is a match between the educational development plan (EDP) choices students make when they are eighth, ninth, or tenth graders and the areas of study they choose as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. SpecificalTy, do eighth-, ninth-, and tenth-grade students’ three favorite vocational clusters, as indicated on their EDP, high school course plan, Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) Career Planning Questionnaire summary, and/or Michigan Occupational Information System (MOIS) search, differ from the vocational-technical education (VTE) clusters they choose in eleventh and/or twelfth grade? Also, do the short- and long-term career goals recorded on students’ EDPs match their short- and long-term goals as seniors? The researcher developed a demographic profile form for use in collecting data on students’ EDPs, DAT Career Planning Questionnaire summaries, MOIS search results, high school course plans, and long- term career goals as eighth through tenth graders. These dependent Steven Barnum variables were matched against students’ actual course enrollments in VTE clusters as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. A survey containing students’ long-tern: career' goals as seniors was also compared with their EDP long-term career goals. The independent variable was length of time students spent in the EDP process. All four hypotheses were found not to be statistically significant at the .05 level, based on chi-square analyses. In general, there was very little match between actual VTE student enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades or the senior survey and the following: EDP cluster choices, DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search, short- and long-term career goals, and students’ high school course plan, based on the independent variable that duration of the EDP (less than nine weeks [micro] or equal to or greater than 9 weeks [macro]) had no significant effect on any of the dependent variables. An additional comparison was done using school districts as the independent variable and the dependent variables listed earlier. District A differed from the other districts on all the dependent variables. The findings in this last comparison were used to fulfill the purpose of the study. Dedicated to all of my teachers. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A doctoral degree at one time seemed a far-off goal. Early in this process, I had the good fortune to assemble a quality doctoral committee. I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. John Suehr, who never lost faith in my ability to finish this project; Dr. Frederick Ignatovich, who spent many hours in one-on-one review of my proposal and statistical overview (short course) and insight into how to make this dissertation better during the orals; Dr. Daniel Kruger from Labor and Industrial Relations for his focusing remarks; and Dr. George Ferns, who served as my instructor in undergraduate school and a professional colleague in VTE and shared his insights and comments regarding my proposal and dissertation organization. This degree would not have been possible without the able assistance of Elsie Kattunen with data entry and statistical number crunching. Special thanks to Zora Ziazi and Joshua Barakas for their countless hours of help in the development of Chapters IV and V. My sincere thanks to my very competent editor and typist, Sue Cooley. Finally, a special thanks and all my love to my understanding and supportive wife, Diane, and our three children, Jennifer, Mark, and Michael, who never once doubted Dad’s goal to earn his Ph.D. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ....................... ix Chapter I. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY .............. l Introduction ................... I Background and Components of Educational Devel- opment Plans in Michigan ............ 4 Statement of the Problem ............. 7 Purpose of the Study ............... l4 Objectives of the Study .............. l5 Research Questions ................ lS Hypotheses .................... l6 Research Methodology ............... l7 Assumptions .................... l8 Delimitations ................... 18 Limitations .................... l9 Definitions of Terms ............... l9 Summary and Overview ............... 23 11. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................ 25 Historical Review of Career Development and Career Decision Making ............. 25 Career Development ............... 25 Career Decision Making ............. 3l Educational Development Plans (EDPs) ....... 39 ’ Vocational Clusters and Career Education ..... 42 Summary ...................... 45 III. DESIGN OF THE STUDY ................. 48 Introduction ................... 48 Population and Sample ............... 48 Instrumentation .................. 50 Data Collection .................. 54 Research Questions ................ 56 Hypotheses .................... 57 Variables ..................... 57 vi Independent Variables .............. 58 Dependent Variables ............... 58 Data Analysis ................... 58 Summary ...................... 60 IV. PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE DATA ........ 61 Introduction ................... 6l Demographic Information on the Subjects ...... 62 Findings Pertaining to the Research Questions and Hypotheses ................. 68 Research Question I ............... 69 Research Question 2 ............... 72 Research Question 3 ............... 75 Research Question 4 ............... 78 Additional Findings ................ 82 Chi-Square Results for District A Versus Districts 8, C, D, and E ........... 85 Chi-Square Results for District 8 Versus Districts A, C, D, and E ........... 88 Chi-Square Results for District C Versus Districts A, B, D, and E ........... 9l Chi-Square Results for District D Versus Districts A, B, C, and E ........... 9l Chi-Square Results for District E Versus Districts A, B, C, and D ........... 92 Summary ...................... 92 V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 93 Summary ...................... 93 Population and Sample .............. 94 Instrumentation and Data Collection ....... 94 Data-Analysis Procedures ............ 95 Major Findings ................. 96 Conclusions .................... 99 Suggestions for Educational Practice ....... lOl Recommendations for Further Research ....... lO4 APPENDICES A. FOUR-YEAR EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN ....... l06 B. APPROVAL LETTER FROM THE UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS .......... 108 C. LETTER TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS SEEKING APPROVAL TO RETRIEVE AND RECORD DEMOGRAPHIC DATA AND SCHOOL PERMISSION FORM ............... 109 vii Page D. DEMOGRAPHIC DATA FORM ............... .° 111 E. SENIOR STUDENT SURVEY ................ 112 REFERENCES ......................... ll3 viii Table 4.l 4.10 4.11 LIST OF TABLES Numbers and Percentages of Subjects by School District ...................... Numbers and Percentages of Subjects by Grade of EDP Numbers and Percentages of Respondents by Gender and School District ................ Numbers and Percentages of Subjects by Educational Goal and Gender .................. Numbers and Percentages of Subjects by Year of EDP, Length of the EDP Process, and School District . . . Numbers and Percentages of Students Choosing Each Goal While in the Eighth Through Tenth Grades, by School District ................ Numbers and Percentages of Matches and Nonmatches Between Actual Student Enrollments in VTE Clusters and EDP Cluster Choices, by School District . . .. ................... Chi-Square Results for the Effect of Length of the EDP Process on the Match Between Actual VTE Cluster Enrollment and EDP Cluster Choices ..... Numbers and Percentages of Matches and Nonmatches Between Choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS Search and Actual VTE Cluster Enrollment, by School District ..... Chi-Square Results for the Effect of Length of the EDP Process on the Match Between Actual VTE Enrollment and Choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS Search .......... Numbers and Percentages of Matches and Nonmatches Between Students’ Selection of Long- and Short- Term Career Goals, by School District ....... ix Page 60 61 61 62 54 65 68 69 71 72 74 .12 .13 .14 .15 .16 .17 .18 .19 .20 Chi-Square Results for the Effect of Length of the EDP Process on the Match Between Career Goals Selected in the Eighth Through Tenth Grades and Goals Selected in the Eleventh and/or Twelfth Grades ....................... Numbers and Percentages of Matches and Nonmatches Between the Actual Student Enrollment in VTE Clusters and Choices in the High School Course Plan, by School District .............. Chi-Square Results for the Effect of Length of the EDP Process on the Match Between Students’ Actual VTE Cluster Enrollment and Choices in the High School Course Plan ................. Comparison of Students’ VTE Cluster Choices in Eighth Grade With Their VTE Enrollment in the: Eleventh and/or Twelfth Grades: District A Versus Districts 8, C, D, and E .......... Comparison of Students’ DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS Search With Their Enrollment in VTE Clusters in the Eleventh and/or Twelfth Grades: District A Versus Districts 8, C, D, and E .............. Comparison of Students’ Short- and Long-Term Career Goals in Eighth Grade With Their Short- and Long-Term Career Goals in the Eleventh and/ or Twelfth Grades: District A Versus Districts 8, C, D, and E ................... Comparison of Students’ High School Course Plan choices With Their Enrollment in VTE Clusters in the Eleventh and/or Twelfth Grades: District A Versus Districts 8, C, D, and E .......... Comparison of Students’ VTE Cluster Choices in Eighth Grade With Their VTE Enrollment in the Eleventh and/or Twelfth Grades: District 8 Versus Districts A, C, D, and E .......... Comparison of Students’ Short- and Long-Term Career Goals in Eighth Grade Versus Their Short- and Long-Term Career Goals in the Eleventh and/ or TWelfth Grades: District 8 Versus Districts A, C, D, and E ................... Page 75 77 78 85 86 87 88 89 90 Page 4.21 Comparison of Students’ High School Course Plan Choices and Their Enrollment in VTE as Eleventh and/or Twelfth Graders: District 8 Versus Districts A, C, D, and E .............. 91 4.22 Comparison of Students’ Short- and Long-Term Career Goals in Eighth Grade With Their Short- and Long-Term Career Goals as Eleventh and Twelfth Graders: District D Versus Districts A, B, C, and E ................... 92 xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY Introduction Educators in today’s secondary schools face a myriad of challenges. Chief among those challenges is students’ haphazard passage through secondary school. Tiedeman (T979) wrote, "If we are to prepare students with skills, and attitudes and understandings for a changed and continuously changing future, we must know something of the nature of the changes involved" (p. 8). Many counselors 'hi the 'field 'think. vocational planning is a 'lifetime process, not a one-time decision. Secondary school students typically see a counselor two or three times a year. Furthermore, the nature of these contacts is frequently governed by the immediate decision to be made ("What courses do I take this semester?") and the student’s current interest ("I’m interested in boys/girls/math."). These short meetings between counselor and student typically do not lead to quality decisions and are constrained by school resources and the counselors’ own limited knowledge. A system is needed that will provide students direct access to all relevant facts. without requiring the direct mediation of a counselor. To have such a system, counselors would need to expand their roles, and schools would have to change their curricula to provide instruction on decision making, career planning, information gathering, and opportunities to explore one’s interests. In an address to counselors, Earls (cited in Drier & Whitfield, T988) stated, Educators know better than I the need for early decisions by our students. If we provide more relevant information, in language they can understand, we can aid that early decision- making process. Although they may change their minds, they can avoid lost time by taking the basics, no matter how difficult or boring the basics may appear to be. (p. 82) In a similar vein, Gysbers (cited in Drier & Whitfield, I988) said, Career education coordinators, working with middle and junior high school teachers and counselors, should be providing pertinent information and experiences so that all students, working with their parents, can make realistic choices in acquiring the proper educational background to achieve their future career goals. (p. 85) According to a survey conducted by Project Outreach of the Michigan State Board of Education in 1989, counselors do not consider career/vocational counseling a high priority. In response to a question concerning priority demands of middle school and high school counselors, two-thirds of high school counselors said they spent only "some" time in career/vocational counseling. If this is true, how do schools justify mission statements indicating that all students should graduate from high school with job-entry skills and also be able to continue their education at a: postsecondary institution without any remediation, or that all students, upon graduation, should be able to live independently? Norman C. Gysbers (1987), an author and professor in the field of career development, claimed that many career/vocational counselors today operate with an antiquated counseling framework, e.g., with no planning process for students. Yet to skip the planning process means, in many cases, spending precious career- counseling minutes with students in seemingly fruitless planning endeavors. In recent years, a number of questions have been raised regarding students’ career decision making. Will educational development plans (EDPs) become the new focus in secondary education for the 19905? Will EDPs do everything promoters indicate they can do? Is there a relationship between the EDPs developed by eighth-, ninth-, or tenth-grade students and the vocational-technical education (VTE) cluster choices these students make as eleventh and/or twelfth graders? How do teenagers make decisions? Because many school districts have a ratio of more than 500 students to every counselor, are there alternatives to one-on-one career planning? What factors influence enrollment in VTE and technical- preparation programs in rural areas? Does the technique, duration of the career awareness, or process of formulating an EDP affect students’ later enrollment in VTE clusters? The term career development best describes the career guidance and counseling task today. Some terms used by professionals before 1980 were occupational development, vocational development, and vocational guidance and counseling. EDPs are a component of career develOpment. Background and Components of Educational Development Plans in Michiqan The impetus for educational development plans (EDPs) in Michigan, as well as a suggested process for establishing them, appeared in Core Components of the EDP, a document published by the Michigan State Board of Education in l981. The Michigan Department of Education’s recommended core components of an EDP in l98l were ‘_ _..,.-. Hwy-ow _.—- career awareness, basic academic skills, positive work habits, employability skills, life management skills,’ and salable occupational skills. The EDP is intended to help students plan how they will develop competencies in each of these components and within what time frame they will do so. Three different EDP models were included in this study: the Career Assessment and Planning model (CAPS), the Van Buren model, and the St. Joseph model. All three models have similar components, such as a high school course plan, short- and long-range career goals, a Michigan Occupation Information System (MOIS) search, and a career planning questionnaire. The definition and processes of EDPs have changed since the early l980s. Typically, today, EDPs reference several sources of information gathered by the student. The student’s EDP is usually delineated on a one— or two-page form supplied by the school (see Appendix A) or, in some cases, stored on computer disk. Some of the components of an EDP include the student’s choice of a vocational cluster as proposed by the Michigan Department of Education, and/or an occupational choice derived from the Michigan Occupational Information System in ‘the form of’ a Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), and/or an interest inventory, e.g., the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) Career Planning Questionnaire, and/or a high school course plan. One of the components of this study and of EDPs is vocational clusters. Vocational clusters, first proposed by Maley (T975) and later described in "Key Concepts of Vocational Education" (Ferns, 1977), are categories containing a number of secondary occupational areas. Maley defined the cluster concept according to Ferns as: a form of vocational education which prepares the individual to enter into gainful employment in a number of occupations which have sufficient commonalities in human requirements and kinds of work to permit a high degree of mobility within, as well as job entry into, the occupations associated with the cluster. (9- l) The clusters for vocational education identified by the Michigan Department of Education are Business Services and Technology; Child and Adult Care Services; Protective Services; Construction/Building Maintenance; Drafting and Design Technology; Electra-Mechanical Technology; Hospitality and Food Services; Personal and Protective Services; Graphic, Printing, and Visual Communications; Transportation Services and Technology; Health Occu- pations; Marketing and Distribution; Manufacturing TechnologY; and Agriculture and Natural Resources Education. For example, the Manufacturing Technology Cluster might include the following occupational areas: Electra-Mechanical, Welding, Plastics, Machine Tool, and Computer-Aided Design. Each of these occupational areas in the Manufacturing Technology cluster has common skills and competencies, e.g., knowledge of safety principles, measuring skills, understanding working drawings, and mathematical competen- cies. The Michigan Department of Education (1990) stated: The operational cluster concept is a competency-based vocational-technical program in which tasks, with occupational similarity in job titles, are grouped into a common core, and where the student, after mastering the core tasks, moves into progressively more specific and/or advanced areas of instruction. (p. 3) The vocational clusters developed by the Michigan Occupational Information System (MOIS)‘have a slightly different format, are closely allied with the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), and provide a cross-reference with the DAT. The clusters and subjects at the secondary level identified by MOIS were the reference base for this study. There are more than 98 subject areas and seven vocational clusters, with more than 428 MOISCRIPT titles. The seven MOIS vocational clusters are Agricultural, Business and Office, Marketing and Education, Health, Consumer and Home Economics, Home Economics Related, and Trade and Industrial Programs. The Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) Career Planning Questionnaire lists occupational clusters and is designed to determine whether the student respondent has the aptitude to achieve success in the occupations he/she selected on the questionnaire/ test. The DAT Career Planning Questionnaire report provides recommendations for the three highest-ranked clusters on the report. It also indicates whether the student has the aptitude to achieve success in the occupations he/she selected, as well as the types of courses the student should take to be successful in the chosen field. The printout also indicates the level of education required in the specific occupation and whether the student is capable of achieving that occupational goal, based on data from the aptitude component of the test. The clusters identified in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire are Math and Physical Science Research; Engineering and Applied Science; Medical, Biological, and Agricultural Sciences; Medically Related; Business-~Analytic; Business--Administration; Business-—Sales and Promotion; Visual and Performing Arts; Literary and Legal; Social Sciences; Education and Human Welfare; Technical, Crafts, and Trades; Farming and Conservation; Machine and Motor Vehicle Operators; Attendants, Helpers, Loaders, Clerical, Personal and Protective Services; Sales and Display; and Sports and Entertainment. Statement of the Problem In reviewing the literature, no published research was found that specifically addressed EDPs of rural eighth- through tenth- grade youths and their relationship to students’ VTE cluster choices as high school juniors and seniors. In addition, only limited research was located on the decision-making processes employed by rural eighth- through tenth-grade youths and the relationship of those processes to later vocational cluster choices. Individual researchers have championed various models of career decision making. Elliot (T989) conducted a study similar to the present one, but with different variables. He examined factors influencing rural public high school students’ decisions to participate in vocational education programs at aui area vocational center. Elliot focused on factors affecting enrollment but did not address the relationship of EDPs to course selection. In another' study, Ignatovich (1979-80) investigated several aspects of Godwin Heights’s Career Assessment and Planning Model in the Tate T9705 and early T9805. He found that: Program participants outperformed control group students at statistically and educationally significant levels in three areas: (l) knowledge of decision-making process, (2) knowledge of goal-setting strategies, (3) knowledge of effective study techniques. Program impact was determined by comparing gains of treatment vs. control groups with a t-test (p value = .009). (p. l) . Desy, Campbell, and Gardner (l984) wrote a synthesis and clarification of significant research findings on the effects of vocational education. These research questions provide an example of the many research topics available in VTE. Questions addressed in the report were: Can vocational education be a force for preventing high school dropout? Other than curriculum, what factors determine whether or not students complete high school? If specific influences can be identified, what intervention strategies do they suggest? What effect does high school work experience have on academic performance? On post-high school earnings? Does school supervision of jobs affect the nature of work experience and its educational and labor market outcomes? How large are the direct and total effects of vocational education earnings and unemployment? In the post-high school labor market, what accounts for the relatively small effect that vocational education seems to have on the earnings of male graduates? Does vocational education influence nonmonetary characteristics of jobs, such as fringe benefits and working conditions? How is participation in vocational education related to job satisfaction? What is the relationship of job satisfaction to hourly rate of Day? If vocational education increases job satisfaction, does that effect appear because vocational programs depress occupational aspirations, or are there other causes? (p. T) Desy, Mertens, and Gardner (1984) conducted a study in response to the controversy about the long-term effects of high school vocational education on students after they had been in the work force more than a year. Their findings showed the complexity and diversity in the field of vocational education. Locally, public secondary schools are experiencing declining enrollments in elective classes. As well, the dropout rate has increased appreciably in the past decade. As a result, employers are finding that prospective employees are poorly equipped to function in a globally competitive, technological societyx Kramer (T990) stated, "Public education is failing the middle class, despite its own middle-class orientation. Nearly 2.5 million students leave the formal education system of the United States each year without adequate preparation for a career" (p. 107). Kramer also said that, for two decades, vocational education has been the stepchild of secondary education, operating separately and parallel to the general education system. The qualities of both general education and vocational education need to be integrated into a system he called career education. It is time for teachers 10 and students to see the relationship between classroom activities and the world of work. Self-awareness, self-sufficiency, decision- making skills, social abilities, and coping skills need to be taught along with academic knowledge; these tools, too, must become part of the entire thrust of education. Kramer further indicated that the main purpose of career education is to eliminate the artificial separation between things academic and things vocational, preparing students for further education or for useful employment immediately after high school graduation. According to Kramer, during the T9505, T9605, and T9705, the work ethic prevailed over lack of education and skills. In today’s workplace, the work ethic is still essential, but to be upwardly mobile an employee must possess or acquire more sophisticated, highly technical skills. Research in educational demographics has dramatized the state of American workers and aspiring employees. Researchers have pointed out that new workers must have high—tech skills and sound basic educational competencies, i.e., reading, writing, and mathematical skills. Most career counseling, according to Kramer, is performed with many erroneous assumptions, including the notion that anyone seeking employment in a specific area generally accepts the belief system that is operative in that work setting. Kramer said that career counselors continue to emphasize personal counseling, as well as ensuring that students complete~ college applications. 'There is almost no movement to change the type of counseling that is done at the secondary level. 11 In a Michigan Department of Education Project Outreach survey completed in spring T989, public school counselors at all grade levels were asked how students make career decisions. The responses were as follows: A majority (52%) of counselors at all grade levels said that, when it comes to influencing students in making career decisions, parental pressure is the dominant factor. According to these counselors, other factors that influence students’ career decision making are peer pressure (28%) and what other adults say (12%). Only 9% of the counselors believed that what counselors said was the chief factor influencing students’ career decisions, and only 6% said teachers were the chief influence. Counselors also were asked, "What factors are used to advise students in career decision making?" The vast majority (70%) of counselors said that, of all the factors that are used to help a student select a curriculum to study, the students’ own aptitudes and interests were the most important, coupled with the students’ personal desires regarding their desired standard of living. One-third (35%) of all counselors interviewed stated that students’ test scores were very important, whereas the majority of counselors (53%) thought these scores were only somewhat important. Although parental pressure was seen as the dominant factor influencing students’ career decisions, the majority (52%) of counselors said that parental expectations were only somewhat important; 33% said parental expectations were very important. 12 When asked about their use of employability/career development plans, 43% of the counselors reported that their districts usually put together an employability or a career development plan for their students. No attempt was made to determine who or what influenced the students’ course choices the most. More high school counselors (52%) than middle school (38%) or elementary school (25%) counselors reported using EDPs. The Project Outreach survey demonstrated the many variables affecting students’ decisions about career choices. Parnell (T986) found that 25% of students pursue an academic track, 25% pursue a vocational track, and the remaining half of the student population follow no specific track. A curriculum study completed in Polk County, Florida, corroborated these findings. The challenge is that all students, regardless of track, should graduate from high school with job-entry skills and the ability to continue their education at a postsecondary institution without remediation. At present, the public perceives that students are being prepared inadequately in both areas. Florida’s Commissioner of Education, Betty Castor (T988), spelled out the state’s Blueprint for Career Education for the T9905. The main components of the blueprint are: A commitment to examine career education throughout the curriculum. A commitment to extend job-awareness experiences to the elementary grades. A commitment to counsel every student to ensure an early career plan. 13 A commitment to enhance vocational education to maximize dropout-prevention efforts. A commitment to a major expansion of postsecondary 'programs that clearly link business and education. A commitment to double the efforts to reach those nontraditional students who so sorely need the state’s public school and community college resources. The Florida Blueprint has been pilot tested, and every eighth grader in the pilot sites has a career goal and a matching curriculum for that goal. This high school course plan is developed with input from the student, parents, teachers, and counselors. The plan is evaluated at least once a year to ensure that it matches the student’s personal and academic development through high school. As evidenced in the various surveys, addresses, and articles discussed here, there appears to be support for the direction of the present research. The frustration of counselors and others concerning what constitutes the appropriate curriculum for each student is not the hopeless problem it seems to be. Careful decision making and career planning can alleviate students’ seemingly aimless passage through secondary school. The problem in this study was threefold: l. Counselors do not consider career counseling a high priority. 2. Fulfilling mission statements suggesting that graduates have both occupational skills and academic skills necessary to continue their education and get a job will require major restructuring of the secondary schools. 14 3. Eighth, ninth, and tenth graders have difficulty developing long-term plans of courses aligned with a career objective.. Purpose of the Study The researcher’s primary purpose in this study was to determine whether there is a match between the EDP choices students make when they are in the eighth through tenth grades and the areas of study they choose as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. Specifically, do eighth- through tenth-grade students’ three favorite vocational clusters, as indicated on the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or the Michigan Occupational Information System (MOIS) search, differ from the vocational-technical education clusters they choose in the eleventh and/or twelfth grade? The researcher sought to discover whether the EDP process used with eighth through tenth graders influenced the areas of study these students chose as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. That is, is it helpful to spend time on decision making and planning related to the EDP and students’ future VTE choices? Schools in the Jackson, Branch, Ionia, and St. Joseph 1505 use an EDP model. The students were given either a micro unit (less than nine weeks) or a macro unit (equal to or greater than nine weeks), depending on the local district. Last, through a survey of high school seniors, the researcher attempted to determine whether the long-range career goals on the EDP, which students established when they were in eighth through tenth grade, changed by their senior year. 15 Objectives of the Study Specific objectives of this study were as follows: T. To determine whether the time spent on the EDP process is a main factor in students’ selection of a specific VTE cluster. 2. To determine whether the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search, completed by eighth, ninth, IN" tenth graders, shows a relationship to the area of study students choose in the eleventh and/or twelfth grade. 3. To determine whether students’ Tong-range career goals remain the same over a period of time. 4. To determine whether the high school course plan developed as part of the EDP remains aligned with students’ cluster choices when they are eleventh and/or twelfth graders. Research Questions The following questions were posed to guide the collection of data for this study: T. Does the match between actual enrollment in VTE clusters in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades by students who have a bona fide EDP with documented instruction vary with the length of the EDP process? 2. Does the match between the recorded choices on the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire summary and/or the M015 search in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ actual enrollment in VTE clusters vary with the length of the EDP process? 16 3. Does the match between selection of an area of interest (long- and short-term career goals) in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ selection of short- and long-term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades vary with the length of the EDP process? 4. Does the match between the choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ actual enrollment in VTE clusters vary with the length of the EDP process? Hypotheses Research Hypothesis 1: The eighth- through tenth-grade stu- dents who completed the macro unit will have a higher percent- age of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ VTE cluster choices on their EDPs are compared to their VTE cluster enrollments as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. Research Hypothesis 2: The eighth- through tenth-grade stu- dents who completed the macro unit will have a higher percent- age of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS Search choices are compared to their VTE cluster enrollments as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. Research Hypothesis 3: The eighth- through tenth-grade stu- dents who completed the macro unit will have a higher percent- age of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ EDP long-range and short-range career goals are compared to their senior survey requesting a response as to their present long- and short-range career goals. Research Hypothesis 4: The eighth- through tenth-grade stu- dents who completed the macro unit will have a higher percent- age of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ high school course plan developed as part of the EDP are compared to the students’ actual enrollment in elective classes as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. 17 Research Methodoloqv Information on several variables was collected,_and two variables at a time were compared. The particular statistic used was based on nominal data. To test Hypotheses l through 4, the following statistical tests were used: Hypothesis test 1. Cross-tabulation (contingency table) was used to compare eighth- through tenth-grade students’ EDP choices with their actual choices as eleventh and/or twelfth graders with a 2 x 2 table and yes/no responses matching the respective treatment (macro or micro) EDP. The chi-square statistic was used. Hypothesis test 2. Cross-tabs and a frequency table were used to show the DAT or MOIS choices, respectively, and future eleventh and/or twelfth graders’ cluster enrollment using a 2 x 2 table based on the treatment (macro or micro) EDP. The chi-square statistic was used. Hypothesis test 3. Cross-tabs were used to compare eighth- through tenth-grade students’ original short- and long-range career goal choices and their choices as eleventh and/or twelfth graders, based on whether they had a macro or micro EDP treatment. A 2 x 2 table was used to calculate the chi-square statistic. Hypothesis test, 4. Based on the high school course plan exclusive of required classes, matches were recorded of actual classes enrolled in as juniors and seniors and compared to the original high school course plan. A contingency table was created, comparing whether there was a match based on an equal to or greater than 9 weeks (macro) or a less than 9 weeks (micro) treatment, the 18 student’s high school course plan, and actual course enrollments. A 2 x 2 table was used, and a chi-square statistic was calculated (Glass & Hopkins, T970). Assumptions 1. The researcher assumed that career-development plans and activities of youths are essential aspects in developing a life plan. 2. The researcher assumed that the information collected on the students on the demographic data form could be used in formulating accurate profiles. 3. The EDP process is recommended by the State of Michigan and did not require further validation. 4. The researcher assumed that the students, classrooms, and counties selected for study were representative of the total rural population in Michigan who have access to an area vocational center. 5. The researcher assumed that the selected sample of students and the comparison group were representative of the T987-88 eighth- grade rural population in Michigan. Delimitations The study was delimited to selected rural school districts in the Ionia, Jackson, Branch, and St. Joseph Intermediate School Districts whose administrators volunteered to become involved in the study. The study was further delimited to one class .as they progressed from middle school through high school and the cluster programs in which they enrolled. 19 Limitations The researcher did not have control over the year the EDP was initiated, e.g., eighth, ninth, or tenth grade. One of the schools selected for study did not complete an EDP. There was not the capability of reflecting back to the individual school districts because the researcher promised the districts anonymity before collecting the data. The researcher did not attempt to evaluate local, state, or national EDPs; instructors oir VTE programs; instructors of EDP units; or students in the schools. Neither did he attempt to validate EDPs as a measure of success in a VTE cluster. Definitions of Term; The following terms are defined in the context in which they are used in this dissertation: Applied courses. Courses developed through national consortia for the purpose of making academic concepts and principles relevant to the workplace. Such courses have been developed for mathematics, communications, and science. They are Applied Communications (English), Applied Mathematics (math), and Principles of Technology (science). Area center. The facility used to deliver centralized VTE programs. Basic apagemic skills. The ability to communicate orally and in writing, to compute, and to use higher-level thinking skills, such as problem solving, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, at 20 such a level as to allow adequate performance in an entry-level job and to allow one to take advantage of advanced training or education. Qreer awareness. The recognition of one’s own interests, aptitudes, and ambitions coupled with the awareness of a variety of careers and the preparation needed to pursue them; the ability to compare the two areas and to reach tentative career goals through effective decision making. Career development. A series of experiences, from kindergarten through adulthood, focusing on individual growth in choosing, entering, and progressing through the workplace. Cluster. A group of closely related vocational courses or occupations with a common core of skills. Core curriculum. A generic curriculum related to all programs of the same name or type, regardless of geographic location. Decision making. A structured process in which the scientific method is used to arrive at a decision. Educational development plan (EDP). A written plan that sets forth the student’s career goals, identifies ways of attaining those goals, and documents the education, skills, and experiences to be attained in line with those goals. Employability skills. The ability to prepare a résumé, conduct a job search, complete a job application, respond properly in an interview, and otherwise seek and retain employment. Inteqrated education. A program in secondary schools, in which departmentalization is eliminated and all staff members address core 21 skills within the content of their discipline and demonstrate the application of the lessons to actual occupational arenas. Intermediate school district. A legally established component of the K-l2 educational delivery system in Michigan, which facilitates the coordination of educational programs. Life management skills. The ability to live independently through knowledge of money management, housing, the legal system, contracts, unions, taxes, and so on. Life plan. A proposal that spells out goals and objectives for one’s personal life. Michigan Emplovability Skills Assessment. Measures the aca- demic teamwork and personal management skills of individuals and provides a skills profile that is used to describe one’s strengths and weaknesses and is the basis for planning a development program. Neglected majority. Students who make up the middle 50% (middle two quartiles) of the high school population; those who are prepared for nothing after graduation. Positive work habits. The ability to demonstrate dependabil- ity, punctuality, appropriate response to supervision, and coopera- tion with co-workers in a job setting. Retention rate. The percentage of ninth graders who graduate in four years, adjusting for students who move in and out of the district and to alternative programs. Rural population. Inhabitants of small towns of l0,000 or fewer residents or country residences. 22 Salable occupational skill. A specific job skill such as typing, drafting, computer use, and research. Self-awarenaaa. The knowledge of what one can do (skills) and what. one’s personal and psychological characteristics are (i.e., attitudes, interests, and values). Technology' education. A comprehensive, action-based educa- tional program concerned with technical means, including their evolution, use, and significance in industry; their organization, personnel, systems, techniques, resources, and products; and their social and cultural effect. Tech prep. The programs articulated between cooperating sec- ondary and postsecondary institutions (Parnell, T986). Two + two concept. Programs articulated between the student’s last two years of high school and the two years he/she is at a com- munity college (Parnell, T986). Tracking. A practice common in secondary institutions, in which students are categorized- according to their abilities or interests-~typically, college prep, vocational, or general. Vocational-technical education (VTE). Instruction designed to help people prepare for and obtain employment consistent with their interests and abilities and employers’ needs., VTE can begin in high school and continue through postsecondary institutions. VTE program. A course of study at the eleventh- and twelfth- grade levels specifically designed to prepare students for employment in a specific occupation or cluster of closely related 23 occupations or to prepare them for a career requiring further education. Workforce ready. Possessing the types of skills one needs as a prospective employee. Summary apd Overview For several years, the Michigan Department of Education has emphasized the importance of every high school student having an EDP, as part of sound educational practices. However, many schools are still continuing their traditional career guidance practices. As a result, most students, unless they are in college preparatory programs or special education, receive minimal career guidance or direction during their high school years. Thus, the writer’s purpose in this study was to investigate the various practices used in selected 1505 with regard to eighth- through tenth-grade students’ career decision making and interests expressed on their EDPs or on an interest survey. The researcher also attempted to determine whether there is a causal relationship between EDPs and students’ choice of cluster areas when they are in eleventh and/or twelfth grade. Chapter I contained an introduction to and background of the study, a statement of the problem, the writer’s purpose, objectives of the study, research questions and hypotheses, a brief description of the research methodology, assumptions, delimitations, and definitions of key terms. 24 Chapter 11 contains a review of literature on topics of interest in the present study. A historical review of career development and career decision making is presented first. Literature on EDPs is discussed next, followed by writings on vocational clusters and career education. The design and methodology of the study are explained in Chapter III. Selection of the districts for inclusion in the study is discussed, and the data-collection methods are described. The independent and dependent variables are discussed, and the data- analysis techniques are explained. Results of the data analyses are reported in Chapter IV. Chapter V contains a summary of the study, conclusions, and recommendations for further research. CHAPTER 11 REVIEW OF LITERATURE This chapter contains a review of literature on the following topics: a historical review of career development and career decision making, recent literature on educational development plans (EDPs), and issues of interest concerning vocational-technical education (VTE) and VTE clusters. Historica;:Review of Career Development app CareeraDacision Makinq Career Development LOng before career development became a topic of interest, in outlining the history of vocational guidance, Zytowski (T967) stated that Plato discussed plans for assessment and vocational choice. More recently, individuals have proposed a variety of techniques and strategies to identify vocational directions. Most of the early strategies centered on individual differences. The primary questions of this period appeared to be, "What shall I do?" and "How wise is this choice?" and such questions were placed before a variety of experts, including graphologists, palmists, phrenologists, and other diviners of predetermined forces. (Phillips & Pazienza, T988, p. 2) Three historical trends in the field of vocational psychology are evident: 25 26 T. The matching-men-and-jobs approach was developed by Parsons in T909; it became known as the trait and factor theory. Use of this approach continued into the T9405, ending with Super’s work. 2. Psychodynamics of vocational behavior were propounded by Mayo in T927. This approach, too, ended with Super’s work in T949. 3. Super’s influence in both arenas brought about a blending of the two views into today’s vocational psychology. Career development, as it is known today, originated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Pioneers like Parsons, Davis, Weaver, and Hill all had varying philosophies of what career development or occupational guidance entailed. In T909, Parsons set forth his guiding principles for vocational guidance: In a wise choice of a vocation, there are three broad factors: (T) a clear understanding of yourself, your aptitudes, abilities, interests, ambitions, resources, limitations, and their causes; (2) a knowledge of the requirements and conditions of success, advantages and disadvantages, compensation, opportunities, and prospects. M1 different lines of work; [and] (3) true reasoning on the relations of these two groups of facts. (p. 5) In the T9205, guidance theorists published and practiced in major cities like New York and Chicago. These practitioners surveyed clients, provided placement services, and offered career classes in the public institutions. During that time, a link between occupational guidance and vocationaleducation was forged. The T9205 saw the advent of personal counseling and psychological assessment. Various theories abounded as more practitioners entered the field. 27 Questions related to 'time, evolution, and change were considered in the early psychological and sociological literature; research in these areas eventually changed the concepts of vocational behavior. Brewer (l9l9) expanded on Parsons’s notion, arguing against choice as a point—in-time phenomenon and promoting an emphasis on vocational preparation, choice, entry, and adjustment. Kitson (T925, T938) concurred with Brewer, adding that choices do not just unfold from a preordained future, but rather are actively shaped by the decision maker. Kitson attempted to eliminate the stigma underlying one’s attempt to discover what he/she is "cut out for." He contended that individuals are suited to a number of occupations and can develop new interests and abilities as a result of their life experience. Many of the components of occupational guidance that were implemented in the T9205 continued to be used in the T9305. Parr (T937) warned against the widespread use of the "good fit" based on astrological predictions, using an empirical test to point out the shortcomings of this approach. Kitson (T929) stated that it was relevant to identify one’s talents, but not through pseudo sciences. Instead, he argued, thoughtful information gathering and analysis are necessary (Phillips & Pazienga, T988). Major guidance components were developed during the T9305, including personal counseling, testing, gathering information on occupations, providing placement activities, and conducting formal follow-up surveys. In the T9305, the question "How wise is this career choice?" was the focus of work by Binet, Otis, and Terman on the assessment 28 of intelligence. At the same time, Paterson and Darley (T936) developed assessment methods with which to gather data to be used in responding to the aforementioned question. By the T9405, occupational guidance was simply called guidance; vocational, personal, social, and educational subcategories emerged. The use of psychotherapy increased, and a new advocate, Carl Rogers (T942), began influencing the guidance scene through his vufitings and practice. A third influence on the thinking of the time was the work of Rogers (T942) and Aubrey (T947) on freedom and self-determination. Rogers’s classic work illustrated the trend away from structural analysis and predetermination and toward self-awareness, acceptance, and growth. During the early T9505, the United States Department of Education published eight documents on suggested competencies of career counselors and guidance-related materials. Vocational development became the model of that decade. Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelford, and Herman (T95l) observed that occupational choice actually appeared to involve a series of decisions. They sought to discover how individuals make decisions about their occupations. Super’s (T953) work in the l9505 was and still is recognized by practitioners in the field as the benchmark for career guidance. Super criticized Ginzberg et al. for their failure to build on previous literature or theories. Their model focused on preferences rather than actual choice, made an arbitrary distinction between 29 choice and adjustment, and failed to articulate the nature of the process of compromise between self and reality. Super formulated a renowned theory of a lifelong succession of stages. According to Super et al., choosing an occupation was clearly not a one-time phenomenon. Rather, it was a process, a whole sequence of choices that evolved over time. "Vocational development was seen to be an orderly, ongoing process that was marked by an evolving interchange between developmental tasks and individuals’ repertoires" (Super et al., T957, p. viii). Similarly, "occupational adjustment" was not that which occurred after choice, but rather was the set of consequences associated with problems of low development (p. viii). Key components of Super’s vocational development theory are the concepts of preference, choice, entry, and adjustment, “denoting the process of' growth and learning that underlies the sequence of vocational behavior" (Super et al., T957, p. vii). Drawing on the work of Beuhler (T933), Super (T953) proposed five vocational life stages: growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and decline. During the T9605, the focus of guidance changed from provision of occupational information and placement to an emphasis on assessment and personal guidance. Guidance for career development reemerged in the T9705. Career guidance once again became a part of a comprehensive guidance program. The focus was on personal and societal needs in relation to individuals’ personal goals. Prediger and Sawyer (T986) conducted a ten-year study of high school students’ career development. The study, which spanned the years 30 l973 through T983, included a sizable population. The researchers found that "the major trend was a 32% increase in the propertion of Tlth graders who reported receiving ’some’ or ’a lot’ of career planning help from their schools" (p. 45). In general, the ten-year trend indicated that, in T983, schools were having a greater influence on students’ career development than they had in T973. Holland’s (T973, T985) and Davis and Lafquist’s (l984) models complied with traditional approaches to determine an individual’s best occupational direction. Many practitioners adopted this emphasis on content and outcome of a decision--on the question of what to choose--rather than on the process by which the decision is made. Assessment efforts during this time were based on the nature of the decision maker and his/her alternatives, with the goal of achieving the most congruent match between person and occupation. This lack of attention to the process in working with a specific population was prevalent among middle school and high school counselors. The trend toward a developmental conceptualization of career behavior, derived from a variety of domains, suggested that individuals change over time, often in predictable ways. It was also discovered that visions of a preordained future could be challenged through the recognition that self-determination and participation in constructing one’s future were possible and, indeed, necessary. 31 Career Decision Making The preceding historical sketch on various researchers and practitioners and their respective guidance and career-development models provides the backdrop for the discussion in this section on theorists and practitioners in the field of career decision making. Whereas the initial efforts in the area of vocational decision making and choice primarily involved identifying individual and occupational differences, a movement away from the content of choice and toward the process of choosing emerged as early as l9l9. A review of literature on career development and assessment would not be complete without considering career decision-making theory and assessment. Aristotle’s rules of logic provide evidence of early efforts to delineate the decision-making process. More recent examples are Benjamin Franklin’s "moral algebra," Parsons’s "true reasoning," and Jepson and Dilley’s (T974) and Tiedman and O’Hara’s (T963) descriptions of the complete sequence of career decision making. In their research and the models they established during the T9605, Hilton, Vroom, Lewin, and Fletcher focused on the initial, planning, commitment, and implementation stages of decision making. Studies of life histories and their effect on career decision making were conducted by Terman (l925), Lazerfeld (T93l), Beuhler (T933), Davidson and Anderson (T937), Hollingshead (T949), Erickson (T950), Miller and Farm (l95l), and White (T954). These researchers 32 contributed insight into problems associated with different ages, developmental changes, and the process of making choices. Prescriptive models were devised in an attempt to portray how the ideal decision maker makes decisions. Gelatt (T962), Brass (T953), Katz (T963), and Kaldor and Zytowski (T969) used variations on the scientific method, statistical/mathematical probability of values for alternatives, and relationships between the world of work and the decision maker. According to Super (T953), the first two stages of decision making are (a) the growth stage (birth to approximately age T4), in which the central activity involves forming a picture of one’s self and an orientation to the world of work, and (b) the exploration stage (approximately ages T4 to 24), which is characterized by increasing examination of one’s self and of self in context. The life stages present predictable vocational developmental tasks. 'The tasks of' one stage» differ from the tasks of another, and different kinds of attitudes and behaviors are necessary to address the various developmental tasks. Thus, for example, the tasks associated with the exploration stage include crystallizing and specifying a vocational preference. In order to accomplish these tasks successfully, the individual must be aware of the need to crystallize and specify preferences, be able to use appropriate resources, and be aware of present-future relationships (Super, Starishevsky, Matlin, & Jordaan, T963). Drawing on the work of Havighurst (T953), Super et al. (1957) asserted that success in coping with the tasks encountered in a particular stage of life was essential for coping effectively with the tasks of the next life stage. They said that the degree of vocational adjustment one experiences at any given stage of life was determined by the adequacy of his/her previous task-related coping. 33 The Career Pattern Study and similar inventories designed by Super and Overstreet (T960) addressed planfulness, interpretable factors representing evidence of planning orientation, independence of work experience, and short-, intermediate-, and long-term perspectives. Longitudinal study findings gleaned from the Career Pattern Study identified four components of vocational maturity: career planning, career exploration, work information, and decision making. Later work resulted in another index: knowledge of preferred occupational group. The Career Pattern Study Development Inventory developed by Super, Thomson, Lindeman, Jordaan, and Meyers (T98l) evolved from these studies. Crites (l96l, T973, T978) believed the Career Pattern Study Development Inventory indices presented conflicting interpretations, so he designed the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI). The CMI contains indices (If competencies (including self-appraisal, occupational information, goal selection, planning, and problem solving) as well as attitudes (including decisiveness, involvement, independence, orientation, and compromise). Gribbons and Lohnes (T968, T982) conducted research pertaining to the readiness for vocational planning. In their longitudinal study, the researchers attempted to measure evidence of what they termed early vocational maturity. In their research on vocational maturity, Westbrook and his colleagues (T970, l97l) asserted that assessment of attitudinal maturity provided an incomplete view of an individual’s development. 34 Their work focused on the cognitive-competency domain. The researchers developed the Cognitive Vocational Maturity _Test to measure individuals’ acquisition and use of occupational knowledge. The test contained six indices, which were used to assess the field of work, job selection, work conditions, education required, attributes required, and duties. During the last 40 years, youths and young adults have received the most attention in research on vocational development. Researchers such as Crites (T969), Shepard (T97l), Super and Kidd (T979), and LoCascio (T964, T974) also have conducted research on adults’ vocational (career) development and how it affects their competence at particular stages. In T965, Crites developed the Vocational Development Inventory (VDI), which consisted of two parts: an aptitude scale and a competence test. With the V01 measures of aptitudes and competencies, he was able to "study, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, the dispositional response tendencies and cognitive variables which are involved in the vocational decision-making process" (Crites, T969, p. T2). Krumboltz et al. (T979) developed the Career Decision Simulation. They were interested in determining whether training in decision making could improve individuals’ competence in career decision making. Jepsen and Oilley (T974) noted that, whereas earlier theorists acknowledged individual differences, their focus was on defining a generic type of decision-making structure. Their study was in two parts. First, the authors focused on the manner in which decisions 35 are approached; then they examined sources and types of difficulties involved in decision making. Dinklage (T968), Jepsen (T974), and Johnson (T978) attempted to identify decision-making styles. Dinklage identified decision- making styles as agonizer decider, delaying, paralysis, impulsive decider, intuitive decision maker, fatalistic, and compliant. Jepsen identified two styles of decision making: active planning and singular fatalist. In describing issues and problems surrounding research in career counseling, Osipow (T982) suggested that: The absence of process emphasis in career counseling has made career counseling very different from other kinds of counseling modalities. It has caused career counselors to focus on outcomes and on methods rather than interactions between client and counselor. (p. 33) Numerous writers have described what is involved in the career counseling process, beginning with Parsons (T909) and Williamson (T939, T965) and continuing to the present (Brooks, T984; Crites, l98l; Kinnier & Krumboltz, T984; Reardon, T984; Super, T983, T984). Of the contemporary writers, Crites, Kinnier and Krumboltz, and Super, in particular, described the various phases of the career counseling process. Crites (T98l) characterized the process of career counseling as involving diagnosis, problem clarification, problem specification, and problem resolution. He suggested that making a career choice, acquiring decisional skills, and enhancing general adjustment are often seen as the goals of career counseling. He pointed out that, 36 to reach these goals, interview techniques, test interpretation, and occupational information are generally used as the career counseling process unfolds. Kinnier and Krumboltz (l984) focused on three basic phases-- assessment, intervention, and evaluation--in their model of career counseling. During the assessment phases the counselor and client work on relationship development, agreement about the structure of the counseling sessions, and agreement about the goals of counseling. Exploration and identification of problems are part of the assessment phase. Part of the counseling sessions involves identifying obstacles that clients need to overcome. The intervention phase consists of activities that counselors and clients think will help alleviate clients’ concerns or evaluate how well the interventions worked. (p. T4) In an article published in T983, Super pointed out that career assessment based on traditional methodology is useful but not sufficient to encourage, support, and help individuals become active career planners and decision makers. To counteract the insufficiencies found 'hi traditional models, Tue recommended considering a new model, which he called the developmental assessment model. Krumboltz, Mitchell, and Jones (T976) presented a developmental model that resembled the more general constructs of career development and human decision making. This model had implications for the best way to proceed in career decision making. By 1977, Krumboltz and Hamel had developed the DECIDES model, which advocated the use of a rational decision-making process composed of the following steps: defining the problem, establishing an action plan, clarifying values, identifying alternatives, discovering probable 37 outcomes, systematically eliminating alternatives, and starting action. Janis and Munn (T977) developed a conflict model, in which cognitive avoidance or distortion of information was viewed as the primary threat to quality decision making. Another topic of theory and research was the domain of problem solving detailed by D’Zurilla and Goldfried (l97l). 'They' postulated that the problem-solving process involved a progression through the scientific method. One of the most extensive research endeavors involving secondary students, parents, and staff, as well as college professors and administrators, was the Eight-Year Study, which was conducted in the Tate T9305 (Smith, T936). The original purpose of the study was to compare the level of success of college graduates whose high school curriculum and college entrance test had been designed for college-prep students with the success of students who had not been enrolled in college-prep courses in high school and had not taken the college entrance exam before beginning college. The study, whose results are reported in the ffive-volume Adventure in American Education, was designed to determine whether it is possible for secondary schools to provide an education that gives sound preparation for the demands of their pupils’ present and future lives, is flexible enough to fit their widely differing personal needs, and can do this without handicapping those who continue their study in college. 38 The study showed that the curriculum (H: the traditional college-prep student was not the key factor in college success. As a matter of fact, the comparison group, who took high school courses in which they were interested, fared better in college than did the college-prep comparison group, except in the area of foreign language. The key finding of this study was that the curriculum path students followed in high school did not affect their success in college. Or, as stated in the Maryard Teachers’ Record, "real education means a series of creditable achievements, not a series of achieved credits" (Smith, T936, p. 44). Differential psychology took on new meaning after the aforementioned work. Methods for assessing individual differences and assisting in career decision making took advantage of new theories and improved testing/measuring technologies in the field. Career decision making evolved into a strongly deterministic view of individuals and reliance on expert analysis to empirically identify individual differences and to determine the wisdom of particular career choices. Determining an individual’s best occupational direction has been the focus since the T9305. Historically, then, vocational decision making has been regarded as a discrete activity. Antecedents to the decision-making process and consequences of decisions relative to changes over time have received limited attention. 39 Educational Development Plans (EDPs) Counselors and teachers receive Tittle formal training in defining career directions and identifying the education and training students need in order to achieve their career* goals. Consequently, many people enter the work force with little understanding of career decision-making skills and simply react to job opportunities as they surface. This haphazard approach to career development, which worked well at a time when employees could reasonably expect a long-term career with one or two employers in the same field, is no longer viable. In its l987-88 Biennial Evaluation Report, the Michigan Council of Vocational Education recommended that EDPs be established for all high school students. Specifically, the Council advised that: The State Board of Education should recommend to the legis- lature that it include the development of an individualized student learning plan (EDP) as part of its High School Incen- tive Plan and increase the $28 Student State Aid supplement as an incentive. The plan would identify academic and vocational- technical competencies to be achieved to meet each student’s career and educational goals. (p. 20) The recommendation was not adopted in the format suggested with . incentive funding; however, Public Act 302 (T988) provided funding for an Employability Skills Test to be administered to high school students beginning in the l990-9T school year; ‘The Employability Skills Test, which is still not available at this time, was supposed to assess competencies in the following two areas directly related to EDPs: "(T) Think and act logically to solve problems; [and] (2) Identify personal job-related interests, strengths, Options, and opportunities." These were just two of several test areas to be 40 addressed. Because of the lack of measurable criteria, a portfolio is currently being proposed in lieu of a test. Formulafifor Your Future is a comprehensive guidance program used in Van Buren Intermediate School District in southwestern Michigan. ‘This exemplary program was recognized by the United States Office of Education in T986. The Van Buren Model is designed to teach all youth and adults the career development skills of information gathering, decision making, planning and placement. Students are taught to identify their interests and abilities. They investigate career options and educational requirements through a variety of experiences (reading, simulations, and internships). Working one-on-one with a counselor, they make tentative decisions about careers and training. With the counselor’s assistance, they develop Employability Development Plans (EDPs), in a narrative format that outlines classes and work experience they can get, to move them closer to their goals. The plans are reviewed each year by the student and counselor and finally converted to a resume as the goals are attained. The skills the students develop through this process can be recycled throughout their lives. (Abstract) According to a monograph entitled The Workplace of the Future in Michigan (T988), the state’s industrial community is undergoing the most dramatic upheaval since the Industrial Revolution. Business people are realizing that technology alone will not make their companies competitive; the individuals inn) manage the businesses will do so. The real assets of any business are its people; they' are an integral part of anyT manufacturing system. Thus, the key factor in a company’s or country’s success in the business world is a properly educated and trained work force. In September T981, the Michigan Employment Council published a series of recommendations known as the Policy for Youth Employment 41 and Training in the State of Nfichigan. This Youth Policy gained wide support from the Michigan Departments of Education, Labor, Social Services, and Management and Budget; in April T982 it was endorsed by the governor. In December T982, the Michigan State Board of Education adopted the policy, which also has been endorsed by the. Michigan Career Education Advisory Committee, the State Advisory Council for Vocational Education, and the Michigan Employment and Training Services Council. The central goal of the Policy for Youth Employment and Training in the State of Michigan is to improve the long-term employability of all youths. More specifically, the objective is to ensure that students are at least minimally competent in a number of areas related to employability by the time they leave high school. Youths who have these competencies will be prepared to find a job, to perform well in-an entry-level position, and to take advantage of additional education or training that will allow them to advance in their careers. The system for planning, developing, and documenting competencies to improve youths’ Tong-term employability is the educational development plan (EDP). The EDP is a written plan that sets forth the student’s career goals, identifies ways of attaining those goals, and documents the education, skills, and experiences to be attained in line with those goals. I When put to best use, the EDP is a powerful tool that enables students to use their high school years most productively to gain the needed competencies. First of all, a student uses the EDP in 42 identifying a potential career and in developing strategies to realize that career goal. Second, the EDP is used to document a student’s progress toward his/her career goals. Information collected on the EDP can be converted into a student profile or a résumé for use after high school. Perhaps most important, the EDP process helps the school and the larger community identify, coordinate, and mobilize those resources needed to enable students to develop the necessary competencies. Further support for EDPs is forthcoming from the United States Department of Education, which, through the National Association of State Career' Development/Guidance Supervisors, has proposed establishing model comprehensive career guidance and counseling programs across the United States. These programs would include a career development component, incorporating activities and services intended to help youths and adults develop and implement individual career plans (EDPs). Vocational Clusters and Camaam_Egppatipp In a T977 article included in Readings in Career EducaLion (l98l), Kaiser wrote: Although the term career education was not really coined until T970, career education has always permeated the public school curriculum. This permeation has not been visible in the manner of the current organized awareness, exploration, and orientational programs and popular school-wide efforts to infuse academic subject matter with career education concepts and information. It is common knowledge, however, that students in our schools, as in the culture at large, have traditionally been educated toward certain attitudes, predispositions, and stereotyped notions of the world of work and of the possibilities for them in it. (p. T89) 43 The thrust in the area of career education in the T9705 suggested that students had unanswered questions about work. Research related to various aspects of these unanswered questions was conducted by Ginzberg (1950), Powell and Bloom (1963), Doane (T970), Prediger (T973, T983), and Woal (T974). Ginzberg discussed some of the problems of vocational choice. Norris, Zeran, Hatch, and Engelkes (T972) suggested that students’ career awareness begins as early' as elementary school and continues through junior and senior high school. After working with 900 students in grades 10, 11, and 12, Powell and Bloom (1963) found that youths were frustrated in the intelligent selection of a vocation by lack of knowledge of vocational fields. The researchers also found that, despite the emphasis on guidance in school, adolescents received little vocational guidance and seldom was it effective. Doane (T970) investigated the procedures used in orienting secondary school students to occupations and in preparing them for those occupations. The research was conducted in grades 8 through 12 in 27 schools. Forty-nine percent of the students in Doane’s study said their parents were the most helpful persons in planning for their future jobs and occupations. In general, out-of-school people were judged most helpful, although the percentage of students indicating this decreased from 77% in eighth grade to 61% in twelfth grade. Fewer than one out of ten students said their counselor was the most helpful person. 44 In 1973, Prediger conducted a similar survey for the American College Testing Program with a sample of 32,000 students. His findings were almost identical to Doane’s. A comparison survey in 1983 showed that several areas had changed significantly since 1973 (Prediger & Sawyer, 1986). One of the major findings was the decrease from 78% of students in 1973 to 71% in 1983 who said they were concerned about or needed help with career planning. A striking change over the ten-year period was the 16% increase (from 50% to 66%) in the proportion of eleventh graders who reported receiving "some" or "a lot" of help with career planning from their schools. Overall, the data suggest that, in 1983, schools were having a substantially greater effect on students’ career development than they were in 1973. Woal (T974) surveyed 207 ninth-grade students to determine their familiarity with occupations in the world of work, who or what influenced their tentative choices of occupations, their post-high- school plans, and their questions and concerns about preparing for a job. Woal concluded that, ‘hi helping students prepare fbr employment, high schools must do the following: (1) occupational information must be presented to students; data is needed that will answer the basic questions raised by the students; (2) provision must be made in the school curricula for time slots to develop adequately these data by all available and innovative educational devices; (3) school staff, through staff development programs, must become more knowledgeable about industry requirements, emerging job areas, and school preparation required; (4) counseling activities, both individual and group, must be increased to convey to students the relevancy between school and the world of work in very definite terms; this should be specifically related to their occupational needs; and (5) some provision must be made to include parents in the career education process since they 45 are the major influencer of vocational choice at this time. (p. 201) Summary After reviewing the literature, it is evident that the subjects of career development and career decision making are complex and contain many variables. There is a dearth of research on the process of planning as it relates to students’ selection of secondary clusters. Just two authors were located, Gysbers and Woal, who addressed the topic of' planning processes related to career choices. Most other writers addressed topics closely associated with the planning process or components of that process, but with a focus on career or occupational planning. However, the components of the planning process (decision making, career development, occupational clusters, and EDPs) are critical to the overall direction a secondary student takes in choosing or preparing for a specific career. Research is also lacking that is specifically related to students’ course selection based on EDPs, as well as the link between middle school youths’ thought processes, influential adults, and the students’ Tater cluster choices as high school juniors and seniors. Most writers have focused on occupational choices made after graduation. Yet secondary areas of study have a definite effect on later occupational decisions, according to several scholars. Evidence submitted in the literature review provided the conceptual framework for ‘this study. Briefly, those conceptual 46 components were EDPs, decision making, career development, and vocational clusters. The operational framework for the study is delineated in Chapter III. Decision making by nfiddle school and high school students is influenced by many exogenous factors. In the review of literature, specific data on such factors were presented. Other exogenous factors affecting future choices that were not addressed are economic status of parents, educational level of parents (especially the mother), single-parent families, gender, race, environment, school and 'work, aspirations, interest, aptitude, academic performance, extracurricular activities, religious affiliation, dropout rate of the school, school funding levels, teachers, counselors, parents, peers, equity, and equality. Although this list is not all-inclusive, it shows many of the variables that were present in this study: It also shows the complexity of students’ education and their respective choices. Operationally, the researcher set aside most of the aforementioned factors and their relative influence on the rural students in the sample. Extensive research completed on most of these factors provided the backdrop for analyzing the specific factors considered in this study, which are of interest to this researcher and many colleagues in the field. The research questions delineate the main factors considered in this study. Selection of these factors was influenced by a desire to address the problem statement set forth in Chapter I. 47 Some writers have asserted that counselors and other professionals who help individuals with their career development will need to continue to expand their knowledge of the changing environments and structures in which career development unfolds. Parsons and the professionals who followed him stressed the importance of keeping up to date with such changes as the work environment becomes increasingly complex and diverse. CHAPTER III DESIGN OF THE STUDY Introduction The researcher’s basic objective in this study was to determine whether the EDP process used by eighth- through tenth-grade students influence the VTE cluster courses they select as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. In this chapter, the design of the study and the research procedures are explained. First, the study population and sample are described. The procedures and instruments used to gather the data for the study are discussed. The research questions and hypotheses are restated, the independent and dependent variables are presented, and the data-analysis techniques are explained. Population and Sample The population from which the sample of interest was drawn consisted of eighth- through tenth-grade students from rural school districts in Michigan. After considerable evaluation, the writer settled on the selected districts because of their comparability and similarity. The selected schools also represented the rural school population in Michigan that used an EDP in their respective schools in 1987 and 1988. In the statement of the problem, rural schools are one of the underlying factors. Rural schools can mean many things to different 48 49 people. The following criteria were considered 'h1 selecting the representative rural school districts. The schools selected from Branch, St. Joseph, Ionia, and Jackson ISDs all had students in attendance from the rural community. All of the districts were located in a small town or community, with populations ranging from 962 to 9,461 according to the 1990 census figures. Each district had access to an area center. It should be noted that the school in St. Joseph ISD was more than 45 minutes from the Branch Area Career Center, and the local district must pay tuition for all participants. The sample studied was 99% Caucasian, with Hispanics, blacks, and Asians making up the minority. The religious affiliation in the communities was predominantly Protestant and Catholic. The retention rate (same student as eighth grader still in attendance as a twelfth grader) ranged from a high of 95.81% to a low of 77.5%. This compares quite favorably with a statewide retention figure of 74% in 1990. In the sample districts, three of the schools were Class B, ranging in size from 780 to 1,020 students in grades 9 through 12. The other three schools were Class C and D, ranging in size from 240 to 420 students in grades 9 through 12.- The sample for this study comprised .selected eighth-grade students in 1987-88 from schools in St. Joseph, Branch, Jackson, and Ionia County ISDs who completed a DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or a MOIS search. Some students completed a macro EDP equal to or greater than nine weeks of instruction (independent variable), and some completed a micro EDP of less than nine weeks of 50 instruction (independent variable) in the 1987 or 1988 school year. These students made up the two study subgroups. Instrumentation The Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT), 1982 version, are currently the most. widely used measures of multiple abilities, according to Pennock-Roma’n (cited in Kapes & Mastie, 1988). The DAT, which was developed in 1947, has continually been updated and restandardized on large, nationally representative samples. Pennock-Roma’n stated that the DAT is technically very sound, with internal-consistency reliability coefficients in the low .905 for all grades, both lgenders, and all subtests. As Pennock-Roma’n cautioned, there is only scanty research on the DAT, which is very weak as to the predictability of future career paths of the test- taker with the Career Planning Questionnaire results. This is the component of the test this researcher considered, to determine whether there was a match between students’ test results and their VTE cluster choices as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. The best predictor in the test, based on research, is the verbal reasoning + numerical abilities score. This score is the best predictor of grades, even in areas such as science and industrial arts. The DAT is best considered as a measure of developed abilities. School 0 used the Career Ability Placement Survey (CAPS) instead of the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire because of the school’s inability to provide a testing area for a three-hour period. The CAPS test takes only 51 minutes, whereas the DAT and 51 the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire take three and one-half hours. The Career Planning Questionnaire component takes about one-half hour. A cross—reference between the Career Planning Questionnaire and CAPS was developed. 0. E. Super was instrumental in developing the DAT career plan- ning profile, of which the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire is a component. This three-part battery includes the DAT, the Career Planning Questionnaire, and a career planning report. "The primary purpose of [the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire] is to assess the level of congruence between educational development plans and career preferences and aptitudes and to encourage realistic educational/ career choices" (Taylor, 1988, p. 157). Taylor stated that the information on predictive and concurrent validity concerns only the DAT and not the Career Planning Questionnaire. This lack of reliability and validity information on the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire is disappointing at the least, and is potentially misleading. In a more positive light, Walsh and Betz (cited in Taylor, 1988) noted that the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire results could help students whose occupational choices are discrepant from their measured aptitudes make more realistic career decisions. A sample EDP profile form is provided in Appendix A to give the reader an idea of the content of the EDP. Typically, the EDP profile form would be completed by the student in eighth, ninth, or tenth grade and retained in the student’s files in a counselor’s office. 52 The EDP process varied in all six school districts, even though only three different models were studied. School District A used the St. Joseph model. The organizational and delivery structure starts with eighth graders viewing a videotape depicting opportunities at the area center, followed up with visits to the six cluster areas available to them as eleventh and twelfth graders. Also, in the fall, students are presented with career opportunities and shown the link between particular careers and course selections for the next four years. In February preceding their ninth-grade year, the eighth graders and their parents are invited to an informational meeting about the upcoming four years. Before the February meeting, all eighth graders are given the Metropolitan Reading Test and the Orleans Hannah Diagnostic Test for placement in math classes the following year. During March and April, the counselor sets up a one-on-one meting with each student and invites parents to sit in on the meeting to help establish an EDP and a high school course plan. During the ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades, the language arts teachers spend approximately two weeks on various aspects of the EDP/portfolio and course planning. The DAT Career Planning Questionnaire currently is administered during the fall of the ninth-grade year. Several years ago, District A changed from administering the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire in the eighth grade to correspond to other schools in the ISO. School staff thought that administering the questionnaire in ninth grade would 53 provide one more piece of evidence for the parent/counselor/student planning session. Beginning this year, however, the questionnaire will once again be administered in the eighth grade. Each year, in the spring, the counselor and student revisit the EDP and high school course plan, which have been on file in the counselor’s office and the language arts teachers’ rooms. These one-on-one visits are used to update the EDP and course plan, based on new insights or directions offered by the student on how the changes might more appropriately align with his/her career goals. School Districts 8 and C used the St. Joseph model. Their eighth-grade orientation to the area center was similar to that of District A. The transition from eighth grade to high school also was similar to that of District A, with the exception that the high school course plan was not developed until the ninth grade, making it a three-and-one-half—year plan. The delivery method was similar to that of District A in that classroom instruction was provided by teachers covering topics on careers and EDP components. The similarity of Districts 8 and C to District A ended there. Counselor revisitation/coordination activities with students and use of career-module teachers’ input or EDP files for future scheduling and EDP updates were sporadic or nonexistent in Districts 8 and C. School District 0 used the VanBuren model and did not implement the one-semester EDP/career class until tenth grade. The career planning questionnaire was not administered until the tenth grade; therefore, the high school course plan was just a two-year plan. 54 School District E used the CAPS model in the ninth grade. Thus, the high school course plan was just a three-year plan. Students enrolled in the CAPS class for a semester. An EDP/course plan was a minor component of the class. Counselor involvement with this class was cursory, at best, but counselors did revisit the plan with students .yearly. They ascertained whether there were any changes in the three-year plan, but did not necessarily relate those changes to an earlier career choice. School District F had the VanBuren model, but the original data were never filed. Therefore, no other comparisons were made. _ata Collection The researcher obtained approval from the Michigan State University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (UCRIHS) (see Appendix 8). Approval also was obtained from the respective school districts’ contact person or administrator before data collection was begun (see Appendix C). Using a demographic profile form (Appendix D), the researcher gathered the necessary information from students’ EDPs, actual class schedules, DAT Career Planning Questionnaire summary, MOIS search results, and a senior survey (Appendix E) asking students what their short- and long-range career goals were. Data collected on the demographic profile form from the individual students’ EDPs provided the information on the students’ three cluster choices. The VTE cluster courses they selected as juniors and seniors were obtained from the students’ course 55 transcripts. MOIS and/or DAT results were documented for each student on the EDP or actual DAT summary report and transferred to the demographic profile form and compared to the EDP high school course listings. The seniors selected for the study responded to the survey questionnaire, on which they were asked to identify their short- and long-range career goals. These survey responses also were recorded on the demographic form. An effort was made to provide the seniors with the same information that was available to them when they answered the» question on short- and long—range career» goals as eighth, ninth, and tenth graders in 1987. I To have comparable data, it was necessary not only to have comparable districts, but also to have a recognized crosswalk between VTE clusters, DAT occupational areas, CAPS, M015, and Dictionary' of’ Occupational Titles (DOT). The sources used to provide this crosswalk were the Vocational Preparation for Occupations (VPO, 1982) guide and the MOIS T991 microfiche/computer index. These documents contain all the DOT classifications linked with Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code, VTE programs by CIP linked to VTE clusters by CIP code, and DAT occupations linked to MOIScript title. The MOIScript title is linked to the DOT identifier; therefore, a valid crosswalk among all variables was possible. The CIP code denotes a system for classifying instructional programs. Therefore, it was possible to assign a DOT number and a CIP code to the EDP career cluster choice and the short- and long-range career goals on both the EDP and the 56 survey. 0n the demographic profile form, the student’s DAT choices of occupation were recorded. These data were cross-referenced with MOIS titles and the DOT. With all of the above-mentioned DOT, MOIS, and CIP code numbers assigned, it was possible to compare the data within a common framework. Research Questions The following questions were posed in Chapter I and are restated here as a guide to the collection of data for this study: 1. Does the match between actual enrollment in VTE clusters in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades by students who have a bona fide EDP with documented instruction vary with the length of the EDP process? 2. Does the match between the recorded choices on the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire summary and/or the MOIS search in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ actual enrollment in VTE clusters vary with the length of the EDP process? 3. Does the match between selection of an area of interest (long- and short-term career goals) in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ selection of short- and long—term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades vary with the length of the EDP process? '4. Does the match between the choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ actual enrollment in VTE clusters vary with the length of the EDP process? 57 Hypotheses Research Hypothesis 1: The eighth- through tenth-grade stu- dents who completed the macro unit will have a higher percent— age of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ VTE cluster choices on their EDPs are compared to their VTE cluster enrollments as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. Research Hypothesis 2: The eighth- through tenth-grade stu- dents who completed the macro unit will have a higher percent- age of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS Search choices are compared to their VTE cluster enrollments as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. Research Hypothesis 3: The eighth- through tenth-grade stu- dents who completed the macro unit will have a higher percent- age of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ EDP long-range and short-range career goals are compared to their senior survey requesting a response as to their present long- and short-range career goals. Research Hypothesis 4: The eighth- through tenth-grade stu- dents who completed the macro unit will have a higher percent- age of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ high school course plan developed as part of the EDP are compared to the students’ actual enrollment in elective classes as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. Variables The major dependent variables in this study included the eighth- through tenth-grade students’ VTE cluster areas recorded on their EDPs, areas of occupational interest on the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS cluster choices, and the same students’ course selections as junions or seniors. Factors over which respondents had little or no control, such as race/ ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, size of school, year of graduation, school district, and residential location, served as control variables for the study. 58 Independent Variables Independent variables were the macro and micro EDP treatment, gender, school district, and grade level of students when they completed the EDP. Dependent Variables The dependent variables were the VTE clusters enrolled in by students when they' were eleventh and/or twelfth graders, their high school course plan, the students’ DAT Career Planning Questionnaire results and/or their' MOIS search cluster choices, their eighth- through tenth-grade EDP, senior survey of short- and long-range career goals, and the EDP vocational cluster choices. Data Analysis Several types of statistical analyses were performed to determine whether EDPs influenced students’ future cluster choices. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS-X) and the Statistical Analysis System (SAS). The .05 alpha level was established as the criterion for statistical significance. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the study. The data that were collected were analyzed primarily using cross-tabulations in an attempt to draw inferences for the respective group or sample. Information was collected on the independent and dependent variables. Contingency tables were constructed to provide a 59 framework with which to calculate the statistical component of this study. The particular statistic used was based on nominal data. To test Hypotheses 1 through 4, respectively, the following statistics were used. Hypothesis test 1. Cross-tabulation (contingency table) was used to compare eighth-, ninth-, and tenth-grade students’ EDP choices with their actual choices as eleventh and/or twelfth graders with a 2 x 2 table and yes/no responses matching the respective treatment (macro or micro) EDP. The chi-square statistic was used. Hypothesis test 2. Cross-tabs and a frequency table were used to show the DAT or MOIS choices, respectively, and future eleventh and/or twelfth graders’ cluster enrollment using a 2 x 2 table based on the treatment (macro or micro) EDP. The chi-square statistic was used. Hypothesis test 3. Cross-tabs were used to compare eighth- through tenth graders’ original short- and long-range career goal choices and their choices as eleventh and/or twelfth graders, based on whether they had a macro or micro EDP treatment. A 2 x 2 table was used to calculate the chi-square statistic. Hypothesis test 4. Based on the high school course plan exclusive of required classes, matches were recorded of actual classes enrolled in as juniors and seniors and compared to the original high school course plan. A contingency table was created, comparing whether there was a match based on an equal to or greater than 9 weeks (macro) or a less than 9 weeks (micro) treatment, the student’s high school course plan, and actual course enrollments. A 60 2 x 2 table was used, and a chi-square statistic was calculated (Glass & Hopkins, 1970). Summary An overview of the research design was presented in this chapter. The population and sample for the study were described. Succeeding sections included a description of the data-collection procedures, a delineation of the dependent and independent variables, a restatement of the research questions and hypotheses, and a description of the data-analysis procedures. Chapter IV contains a presentation and analysis. of the data collected in the study. CHAPTER IV PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE DATA mm The researcher’s primary purpose in this study was to determine whether there is a match between the EDP choices students make when they are in the eighth through tenth grades and the areas of study they choose as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. Specifically, do eighth- through tenth-grade students’ three favorite vocational clusters, as indicated on the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or the Michigan Occupational Information System (MOIS) search, differ from the vocational-technical education clusters they choose in the eleventh and/or twelfth grade? The researcher sought to discover whether the EDP process used with eighth through tenth graders influenced the areas of study these students chose as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. That is, is it helpful to spend time on decision making and planning related to the EDP and students’ future VTE choices? Schools in the Jackson, Branch, Ionia, and St. Joseph ISDs use an EDP model. The students were given either a micro unit (less than nine weeks) or a macro unit (equal to or greater than nine weeks), depending on the local district. 61 62 Last, through a survey of high school seniors, the researcher attempted to determine whether the long-range career goals on the EDP, which students established when they were in eighth through tenth grade, changed by their senior year. In addressing this research problem, four research questions were formulated. The results of the data analyses are presented in this chapter. Findings are presented in relation to demographic information on the student subjects and the specific research questions. Additional findings using individual school districts as the independent variable also are discussed. Damographic Information on the Subjects Five major student demographic information profiles were used in the study. These included school district attended, year of EDP, the students’ gender, students’ goals while in the eighth through tenth grades, and length of the EDP process. The study sample included 351 students from six rural school districts in Michigan. The distribution of subjects by school district is shown in Table 4.1. Of the 351 valid subjects in the study, 59 (16.8%) were from District A, 68 (19.4%) from District 8, 75 (21.8%) from District C, 41 (11.7%) from District 0, 73 (20.8%) from District E, and 35 (10.0%) from District F. 63 Table 4.l.--Numbers and percentages of subjects by school district. School District No. ' % A 59 16.8 B 68 19.4 C 75 21.8 D 41 11.7 E 73 20.8 F 35 10.0 Total 351 100.0 The distribution of subjects by EDP year is presented in Table 4.2. Of the total 316 valid subjects for this analysis, 58 (18.4%) completed their EDP in the eighth grade, 216 (68.4%) in the ninth grade, and 41 (13.0%) in the tenth grade; 1 (0.3%) did not have an EDP. It should be noted that only 316 subjects instead of the 351 valid cases in the study are shown in Table 4.2. 'This is because none of the students from District F had an EDP. As a result, all 35 students from that district were excluded from Table 4.2. Table 4.2.--Numbers and percentages of subjects by grade of EDP. Grade of EDP No. % 8th 58 18.4 9th 216 68.4 10th 41 13.0 No EDP l 0.2 Total 316 100.0 64 Ther distribution of valid subjects by school district (including District F) and gender is shown in Table 4.3. Of the 316 valid subjects in the study, 160 (50.6%) were males, and 156 (49.4%) were females. In terms of gender representation by school district, males were slightly overrepresented in Districts A, D, and E, whereas females were overrepresented in District 8. The two genders were almost evenly represented in District C. Table 4.3.--Numbers and percentages of respondents by gender and school district. No School Male Female Response Total District ————————— ————————— No. % No. % No. % No. % A 34 54.0 29 46.0 -- -- 63 16.0 B 34 39.5 46 53.5 6 7.0 86 21.8 C 36 44.4 37 45.7 8 9.9 81 20.5 D 24 54.5 18 40.9 2 4.6 44 11.1 E 41 48.2 34 40.0 10 11.8 85 21.5 F 19 52.8 17 47.2 -- -- 36 9.1 Total 188 49.6 181 45.8 26 6.6 395 100.0 Three categories of student goals while in the eighth through tenth grades were identified. These included full-time work after graduation from high school, continuation to a community college or trade school, and continuation to a four-year college or university. The numbers and percentages of subjects having each of these goals are shown in Table 4.4. As shown in the table, 174 (55.1%) of the 65 subjects indicated continuation to a four-year college or university as their educational goal, whereas 80 (25.3%) indicated an educational goal of continuing to a community college or trade school. Only 21 (6.6%) indicated a goal of full-time employment after completing high school. Table 4.4.--Numbers and percentages of subjects by educational goal and gender. Male Female Total Educational Goal No. % No. % - No. % Full-time job 11 6.9 10 6.4 21 6.6 Community college or trade school 47 29.4 33 21.2 80 25.3 Four-year college or university 77 48.1 97 62.2 174 55.1 No response 25 15.6 16 10.3 41 13.0 Total 160 50.6 156 49.4 316 100.0 An interesting feature in the breakdown of students’ educational goals by gender is the variation in choice between continuation to a community college/trade school and continuation to a four-year college/university by male and female subjects. Whereas a higher percentage of females (55.7%) indicated the goal of continuing to a four-year college, a higher percentage of males 66 (58.8%) indicated a desire to proceed to a community college or trade school after graduating from high school. The distribution of subjects by year of EDP, length of the EDP process, and school district is shown in Table 4.5. None of the subjects from District F participated in the EDP process. All of the subjects from Districts 8 and C participated in the EDP process during their ninth-grade year for a period of less than 9 weeks. Subjects from District E participated in the EDP process during their ninth-grade year for a period equal to or greater than 9 weeks, and subjects from District 0 participated during their tenth-grade year for a period equal to or greater than 9 weeks. In addition, all but one subject from District A indicated having completed their EDP during the eighth grade, and all subjects participated in the EDP process for a period of less than 9 weeks. The data did not indicate in what grade one of the subjects from District A completed the EDP. The numbers and percentages of subjects who chose particular educational goals while in the eighth through tenth grades are shown in Table 4.6. Overall, the highest percentage of subjects had the goal of continuation to a four-year college or university, and the lowest percentage intended to have a full-time job after graduating from high school. The highest percentages of the subjects who intended to proceed to a four-year college were from Districts F and A (77.1% and 66.1%, respectively). About 50% of the subjects from the other school districts wanted to proceed to a four-year college. 67 o.oo_ mm -- -- -- -- 0.00, mm -- -- m o.oo_ ee -- -- o.oo_ «e -- -- -- -- o -- -- o.oop _m -- -- o.oo_ .m -- -- u -- -- o.oop em -- -- o.oo_ om -- -- m -- -- 0.09. mm -- -- -- -- ¢.mm No < a .oz a .52 a .02 a .az x .oz meme: 5 m meme: a v auacg ego, aumca gem auacw gem uu_cem_o Lou co senses an“ co Lam» _oo;um .mmmuoca mom mg» mo gumcmp .wopcumwn Poogum use .aou mo Law» an muumnnzm mo mommucmucma cam mcmnsaz--.m.¢ mpnmh 68 In Districts 8 and F, no subject indicated a desire for a full-time job upon completion of high school. Table 4.6.—-Numbers and percentages of students choosing each goal while in the eighth through tenth grades, by school district. Community Four-Year College/ Full-Time No School College Tr. School Job Response Total District -———————— -———————— ———————— No. % No. % No. % No. % A 39 66.1 15 25 4 8 5 -- . -- 59 B 38 55.9 18 26.5 -- -- 12 17.6 68 C 36 48.0 19 25.3 5 6.7 15 20.0 75 D 20 48.8 11 26.8 4 9.8 6 14.6 41 E 41 56.2 17 23.3 7 9.6 8 11.0 73 F 27 77.1 6 17.1 -- -- 2 5.7 35 Total 201 57.3 86 24.5 43 12.3 21 6.0 351 Overall, of the total 351 valid subjects, 287 (81.8%) expressed a desire to continue their education (four-year college, community college or trade school), whereas only 43 (12.3%) considered high school as terminal. Twenty-one subjects (6%) did not express their goals for after high school. Findinqs Pertaining to the Research Questions and Hypotheses The findings with regard to the four research questions and the corresponding hypotheses are presented in the remainder of this chapter. Each research question and corresponding research 69 hypothesis is restated, followed by a presentation of the findings related to that question. Rasearch Question 1 Does the match between actual enrollment in VTE clusters in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades by students who have a bona fide EDP with documented instruction vary with the length of the EDP process? The corresponding research hypothesis was as follows: The eighth- through tenth-grade students who completed the macro unit will have a higher percentage of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ VTE cluster choices on their EDPs are compared to their VTE cluster enrollments as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. _ In their respective school districts, students in the eighth through tenth grades completed an EDP process and a high school course plan in which they made EDP cluster choices. The EDP process used was either a micro unit (less than 9 weeks) or a macro unit (equal to or greater than 9 weeks). These same students were followed up during their eleventh- and/or twelfth-grade years to determine in which VTE clusters they enrolled. These actual enrollments in VTE clusters in their junior and senior years were compared with the students’ EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades. If there was a match in at least one area between the EDP cluster choice and actual VTE cluster enrollment, it was considered a match for that particular student. The resulting dichotomous measure of the match between the actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and the EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades was considered the 70 dependent variable in addressing Research Question 1. The length of the EDP process was used as the independent variable. The numbers and percentages of matches and no matches by school district are shown in Table 4.7. It is evident that, overall, there was very little match between actual VTE enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and the EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades. The percentage match by school district ranged from a low of 4.4% to a high of 55.9%. However, only in District A did the percentage matched exceed 50%. In all other districts, the percentage matched was no more than 22%. Table 4.7.-~Numbers and percentages of matches and nonmatches between actual student enrollments in VTE clusters and EDP cluster choices, by school district. Matches Nonmatches School Total District No. % No. % A 33 55.9. 26 44.1 59 B 3 4.4 65 95.6 68 C 16 21.3 59 78.7 75 D 6 14.6 35 85.4 41 E 13 17.8 60 82.2 73 Fa -- -- -- -- -- Total 71 22.5 245 77.5 316 Chi-square . 53.065, df . 4, p-value = .000 aStudents in School District F did not participate in the EDP process. 71 A chi-square test of statistical significance was used to test the effect of the length of the EDP process on the match between the actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and the EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades. The results are shown in Table 4.8. A slightly higher percentage of matches was observed among students who went through the micro EDP process than among those who went through the macro EDP process. However, this trend was not statistically significant (X2 == 3.45, p > .05). Thus, the data indicated that the length of the EDP process did not have a significant effect on the match between the actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and the EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades. Table 4.8.--Chi-square results for the effect of length of the EDP process on the match between actual VTE cluster enrollment and EDP cluster choices. Match Nonmatch Total Length of EDP Process No. % No. % No. % < 9 weeks 52 25.7 150 74.3 202 63.9 3 9 weeks 19 16.7 95 83.3 114 36.1 Total 71 22.5 245 77.5 316 100.0 Chi-square = 3.45, df = l, p-value = .063 72 Research Question 2 Does the match between actual enrollment in VTE clusters in the eleventh and twelfth grades and EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades by students who have a bona fide EDP with documented instruction vary with the length of the EDP process? The corresponding hypothesis was as follows: The eighth- through tenth-grade students who completed the macro unit will have a higher percentage of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ VTE cluster choices on their EDPs are compared to their VTE cluster enrollments as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. In their respective school districts, students in the eighth through tenth grades completed an EDP process and high school course plan, in which they completed the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or a MOIS search. The EDP process used was either a micro unit (less than 9 weeks) or a macro unit (equal to or greater than 9 weeks). Later on during their eleventh- and/or twelfth-grade years, these same students enrolled in classes. The actual student enrollment in VTE cluster choices during the eleventh and/or twelfth grades was compared with the corresponding DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search during the eighth through tenth grades to check for a match. A match in at least one area between the choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search and the actual VTE cluster enrollment was considered a match for that particular student. Otherwise, no match was recorded for the student” 'The result was a dichotomous variable indicating whether or not a match existed between the choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search and actual VTE cluster enrollment. This measure was used as the key dependent variable and 73 length of the EDP process was used as the independent variable in addressing Research Question 2. The numbers and percentages of matches and nonmatches for each of the five school districts in the study are presented in Table 4.9. The summary statistics shown in the table indicate that, overall, there were only 72 (22.8%) matches between actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and the choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search in the eighth through tenth grades. The highest rate of matching was observed in District A, with 30 (50.8%) matches. For the other school districts, the percentage match ranged from 8.8% (District 8) to 22.7% (District C). Table 4.9.--Numbers and percentages of matches and nonmatches between choices in the DAT Career Planning Ques- tionnaire and/or MOIS search and actual VTE cluster enrollment, by school district. Matches Nonmatches School Total District No. % No. % A 30 50.8 29 49.2 59 B 6 8.8 62 91.2 68 C 17 22.7 58 77.3 75 D 4 9.8 37 90.2 41 E 15 20.5 .58 79.5 73 Fa -- -- -- -- -- Total 72 22.8 244 77.2 316 Chi-square = 5.7479, df . 4, p-value = .24 aStudents in School District F did not participate in the EDP process. 74 The chi—square test of statistical significance was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between the length of the EDP process and the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search in the eighth through tenth grades. The results of this analysis are shown in Table 4.10. From the table, it is evident that a slightly higher percentage of matches was observed among students who went through a micro EDP process than among those who went through a macro EDP process. However, this variation was not statistically significant at the .05 level (X2 = 3.82, p > .05). The data indicated that the duration of the EDP process did not have a statistically significant effect on the match between VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and the choices recorded in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire summary and/or MOIS search in the eighth through tenth grades. 75 Table 4.lO.--Chi-square results for the effect of length of the EDP process on the match between actual VTE enrollment and choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/ or MOIS search. ‘ Match Nonmatch Total Length of EDP Process -————————— ——————____ No. % No. % No. % < 9 weeks 53 26.2 149 73.8 202 63.9 3 9 weeks 19 16.7 95 83.3 114 36.1 Total 72 22.8 244 77.2 316 100.0 Chi-square = 3.82, df = T, p-value = .0515 Research Ouastion 3 Does the match between selection of an area of interest (long- and short-term career goals) in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ selection of short- and long-term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades vary with the length of the EDP process? The corresponding hypothesis was as follows: The eighth- through tenth-grade students who completed the macro unit will have a higher percentage of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ EDP Tong-range and short-range career goals are compared to their senior survey requesting a response as to their present long— and short-range career goals. In their respective school districts, students in the eighth through tenth grades went through an EDP process in which they selected Tong- and short-term career goals. The EDP process used was either a micro unit (less than 9 weeks) or a macro unit (equal to or greater than 9 weeks). Later, in their eleventh and/or twelfth grade years, these same students indicated their current 76 short- and long-term career goals. In this study, students’ short- and long-term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades were compared to their original goals in the eighth through tenth grades to check for a match between the two. A match in at least one career goal (short- and long-term) a student selected in the eighth through tenth grades and the corresponding goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades was considered a match for that particular student. Otherwise, no match was recorded for that student. The result was a dichotomous variable indicating whether or not there was a match between students’ career goals in the eighth through tenth grades and their goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. In addressing Research Question 3, this dependent variable (match) was used with the independent variable, length of the EDP process. The numbers and percentages of matches and nonmatches for each school district are presented in Table 4.11. Overall, there were 96 (30.4%) matches between short- and long-term career goals selected in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ selection of short- and long-term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. The highest rates of matching were in Districts A and C, with 28 (47.5%) and 26 (34.7%) matches, respectively. For the other school districts, the numbers of matches ranged from 22 (30.1%) in District E to 7 (17.1%) in District 0. 77 Table 4.ll.--Numbers and percentages of matches and nonmatches between students’ selection of long- and shortjterm career goals, by school district. Matches Nonmatches School Total District No. % No. % A 28 47.5 31 52.5 59 B 13 19.1 55 80.9 68 C 26 34.7 49 65.3 75 D 7 17.1 34 82.9 41 E 22 30.1 51 69.9 73 F8 -- -- -- -- -- Total 96 30.4 220 69.6 316 Chi-square = 16.3, df = 4, p-value = .003 aStudents in School District F did not participate in the EDP process. . The chi-square test of statistical significance was used to examine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between the length of the EDP process and the match between students’ selected career goals in the eighth through tenth grades and their career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. The results are shown in Table 4.12. There was a slightly higher percentage of matches among students who went through a micro EDP process than those who went through a macro EDP process. This difference, however, was not statistically significant at the .05 level (X2 = 2.06, p > .05). Therefore, the data indicated that length of the EDP process did not have a statistically significant 78 effect on the match between the career goals students selected in the eighth through tenth grades and their career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. Table 4.12.-—Chi-square results for the effect of length of the EDP process on the match between career goals selected in the eighth through tenth grades and goals selected in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. Match Nonmatch Total Length of EDP Process No. % No. % No. % < 9 weeks 67 33.2 135 66.8 - 202 63.9 3 9 weeks 29 25.4 85 74.6 114 36.1 Total 96 30.4 220 69.6 316 100.0 Chi-square = 2.06, df = T, p-value = .15 Research Question 4 Does the match between the choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ actual enrollment in VTE clusters vary with the length of the EDP process? The corresponding hypothesis was: The eighth— through tenth-grade students who completed the macro unit will have a higher percentage of matches than those who completed the micro unit when students’ high school course plan developed as part of the EDP are compared to the students’ actual enrollment in elective classes as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. While in the eighth through tenth grades, as part of the EDP, students in their respective school districts went through a high school course plan in which they made choices. This is the EDP 79 process, which lasts less than 9 weeks (micro unit) (H’ 9 weeks or longer (macro unit). The same students enrolled in the VTE clusters later on during their eleventh-and/or twelfth-grade years. The actual student enrollments in VTE clusters during the eleventh and/or twelfth grades were compared to the corresponding choices in the high school course plan made during their eighth- through tenth- grade years to determine whether there was a match between the two. The criterion for the existence of a match was that there be a match in at least one area between the choices made in the high school course plan and the actual student VTE cluster enrollment. Otherwise, no match was recorded. The result was a dichotomous variable indicating whether or not there was a match between the student VTE cluster enrollment and choices in the high school course plan. As in the previous research questions, this measure was used as the primary dependent variable in addressing Research Question 4. The numbers and percentages of matches and nonmatches between students’ choices in the high school course plan and the actual student enrollment in VTE clusters for each school district in the study are shown in Table 4.13. From the table it is evident that, overall, there was an approximately 50% match between students’ choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP process in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ actual VTE enrollment during the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. The highest percentage match was observed in District A, with an 88.1% match, followed by Districts E and C, with matches of 46.6% and 41.3%, respectively. Percentage matches in the other school districts did not exceed 40%. 80 Table 4.13.--Numbers and percentages of matches and nonmatches between the actual student enrollment in VTE clusters and choices in the high school course plan, by school district. Matches Nonmatches School Total District No. % No. % A 52 88.1 7 11.9 59 B 18 26.5 50 73.5 68 C 31 41.3 44 58.7 75 D 16 39.0 25 61.0 41 E 34 46.6 39 53.4 73 Fa -- -- -- -- -- Total 151 47.8 165 52.2 316 Chi-square = 53.437, df = 4, p-value . .000 aStudents in School District F did not participate in the EDP process. To analyze the data for Research Question 4 further, the chi- square test of statistical significance was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between the length of the EDP process and the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP process during the eighth through tenth grades. The results of this analysis are presented in Table 4.14. As shown in the table, no statistically significant relationship (X2 = 1.101, p > .05) was found between the length of the EDP process and the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or 81 twelfth grades and their choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP process during the eighth through tenth grades. Table 4.l4.--Chi-square results for the effect of length of the EDP process on the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollment and choices in the high school course plan. Match Nonmatch Total Length of EDP Process No. % No. % No. % < 9 weeks 101 50.0 101 50.0 202 63.9 3 9 weeks 50 43.9 64 56.1 114 36.1 Total 151 47.8 165 52.2 316 100.0 Chi-square = 1.101, df = T, p-value = .294 For descriptive purposes, certain trends were observed. For instance, of the total 151 matches, 101 (66.9%) were under a micro unit (less than 9 weeks) and 50 (33.1%) were under a macro unit (equal to or greater than 9 weeks) of an EDP process. Overall, for the total 316 subjects, there were 151 (47.8%) matches compared to 165 (52.2%) nonmatches. However, it should be noted that these trends were not statistically significant at the .05 level. Thus, it was concluded that the length of the EDP process had no statistically significant effect on the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP process during the eighth through tenth grades. 82 Additional Findings After analyzing the data using time as the independent variable and discovering that all four hypothesis tests were not significant, the researcher decided it would enhance the study to investigate whether using school district as 'the independent variable would affect the results. This revisiting of the data was an effort to address more thoroughly specific elements stated in the purpose of the study. After determining there were no significant relationships based on length of the EDP process (macro or micro), the researcher attempted to discover whether one or- more of the school districts’ treatment of the EDP process had significantly different results (match or nonmatch on a particular dependent variable) when compared with the other school districts included in the study. Chi-square tests were performed using the data from Tables 4.7, 4.9, 4.11, and 4.13 with the following results, respectively. A chi-square test of statistical significance was used to test the effect of the school district’s EDP process on the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades. The results are shown in Table 4.7. A slightly higher percentage of matches was observed among students who went through the micro EDP process than among those who went through the macro EDP process. This trend was statistically significant (X2 = 53.065, p < .000). Thus, the data indicated that the school 83 district’s EDP process did have a significant effect on the match between the actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and the EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades. The chi-square test of statistical significance was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between the school district and the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search in the eighth through tenth grades. The results of this analysis are shown in Table 4.9. From the table, it is evident that a higher percentage of matches was observed among the nonmatch students from the school districts. However, this variation was not statistically significant at the .05 level (X2 = 5.7479, p > .05). The data indicated that the school district’s EDP process did not have a statistically significant effect on the match between VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and the choices recorded in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire summary and/or MOIS search in the eighth through tenth grades. The chi-square test of statistical significance was used to examine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between the school district and the match between students’ selected career goals in the eighth through tenth grades and their career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. The results are shown in Table 4.11. This examination was statistically significant at the .05 level (X2 = 16.3, p < .05). Therefore, the data indicated 84 that school district did have a statistically significant effect on the match between the career goals students selected in the eighth through tenth grades and their career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. The chi-square test of statistical significance was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between the school district and the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP process during the eighth through tenth grades. The results of this analysis are presented in Table 4.13. As shown in the table, a statistically significant relationship (X2 = 53.437, p < .05) was found between the school district and the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP process during the eighth through tenth grades. In all cases but the comparison of DAT/MOIS versus VTE enrollment, a statistically significant relationship was found between the school districts as an independent variable and the match or nonmatch based on the particular dependent variable. Second, to determine whether a particular treatment in an individual school district was significant, each district was compared to the balance of the districts in the sample for each of the four dependent variables used earlier in the four hypotheses. The results of these comparisons were considered pertinent to this study. 85 Chi-square calculations were carried out for each district versus all of the remaining districts. In the interest of clarity, only those comparisons found to be statistically significant are reported in the following pages. Chi-Square Results for District A Versus i t i ts and E As shown in Table 4.15, there was a significant difference between District A and the remaining districts in terms of the match between students’ VTE cluster choices in eighth grade and their VTE enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. The difference was in a positive direction and was significant due to the high percentage of "yes" matches. Table 4.15.--Comparison of students’ VTE cluster choices in eighth ‘ grade with their VTE enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades: District A versus Districts 8, C, D, and E. Districts 8, C, D, E District A Total Match No. % No. % No. % No 219 69.30 26 8.23 245 77.53 Yes 38 12.03 33 10.44 71 22.47 ‘Total 257 81.33 59 18.67 316 100.00 Chi-square = 46.635, df = T, p-value = .000 86 A significant difference was found between District A and the remaining districts in terms of the match between students’ choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search in the eighth grade and their enrollment in VTE clusters in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades (see Table 4.16). This difference, which was in a positive direction, was significant due to the high percentage of "yes" matches. Table 4.16.--Comparison of students’ DAT Career Planning Question- naire and/or MOIS search with their enrollment in VTE clusters in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades: District A versus Districts 8, C, D, and E. Districts 8, C, D, E District A Total Match —————————- —————————- -————————— No. % No. % No. % No 215 68.0 29 9.2 244 77.2 Yes 42 13.3 30 9.5 72 27.8 Total 257 81.3 59 18.7 316 100.0 Chi-square = 34.87, df = l, p-value = .000 As shown in Table 4.17, there was a significant difference between District A and the remaining districts in terms of the match between students’ short- and long-term career goals 'hi the eighth grade and their short- and long-term career goals in the eleventh 87 and/or twelfth grades. This difference was in a positive direction and was significant due to the large number of I'yes" matches. Table 4.l7.--Comparison of students’ short- and long-term career goals in eighth grade with their short- and long-term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades: District A versus Districts 8, C, D, and E. Districts 8, C, D, E District A Total Match __ __ __ No. % No. % No. % No 189 59.81 31 9.81 220 69.82 Yes 68 21.52 28 8.86 96 30.38 Total 257 81.33 59 18.67 316 100.00 Chi-square = 10.004, df = 1, p-value = .002 A significant difference was found between District A and the remaining districts in terms of the match between students’ high school course plan choices and their enrollment in VTE clusters in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. The difference, which was in a positive direction, was due to the large number of "yes" matches. 88 Table 4.l8.--Comparison of students’ high school course plan choices with their enrollment in VTE clusters in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades: District A versus Districts 8, C, D, and E. Districts 8, C, D, E District A Total Match No. % No. % No. % No 158 50.00 7 2.22 165 52.22 Yes 99 33.33 52 16.46 151 47.78 Total 257 81.33 59 18.67 316 100.00 Chi-square = 47.339, df = T, p-value - .000 Chi-Square Rasplts for District 8 Versus Districts A, C, D, and E As shown in Table 4.19, a significant difference was found between District 8 and the remaining districts in terms of the match between students’ VTE cluster choices in eighth grade and their VTE enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. This difference was in a negative direction and was significant because of the high percentage of "no" matches. 89 Table 4.l9.-—Comparison of students’ VTE cluster choices in eighth grade with their VTE enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades: District 8 Versus Districts A, C, D, Districts A, C, D, E District 8 Total Match .__________ No. % No. % No. % No 180 56.96 65 20.57 245 77.53 Yes 68 21.52 3 .95 71 22.47 Total 248 78.48 68 21.52 316 100.00 Chi-square = 16.217, df = l, p-value . .000 As shown in Table 4.20, a significant difference was found between District 8 and the remaining districts in terms of the match between students’ short- and long-term career goals in eighth grade and their short- and long-term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. This difference was in a negative direction and was significant because of the high percentage of "no" matches. 90 Table 4.20.--Comparison of students’ short- and long-term career goals in eighth grade versus their short- and long- term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades: District 8 versus Districts A, C, D, and E. Districts A, C, D, E District 8 Total Match No. % No. % No. % No 165 52.22 55 17.41 220 69.62 Yes 83 26.27 13 4.11 96 30.38 Total 248 78.48 68 21.52 316 100.00 Chi-square = 5.196, df = l, p-value = .023 A significant difference was found between District 8 and the remaining districts in terms of the match between students’ high school course plan choices and their enrollment in VTE in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades (see Table 4.21). This difference was in a negative direction and was significant because of the high percentage of "no" matches. 91 Table 4.21.--Comparison of students’ high school course plan choices and their enrollment in VTE as eleventh and/or twelfth graders: District 8 versus Districts A, C, D, and E. Districts A, C, D, E District 8 Total Match No. % No. % No. % No 115 36.39 50 15.82 165 52.22 Yes 133 42.09 18 5.70 151 47.78 Total 248 78.48 68 21.52 316 100.00 Chi-square = 15.76, df = l, p-value = .000 Chi-Sguare Results for District C Ver u istricts B 0 nd None of the comparisons of District C with the remaining school districts included in the study was found to be significant. Chi-Sguare Results for District 0 Versus Districts A. B. C. and E As shown in Table 4.22, a significant difference was found between District 0 and the remaining districts in terms of the match between students’ short- and long-term career goals in eighth grade and their short- and long-term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. This difference was in a negative direction and was significant because of the high percentage of "no" matches. 92 Table 4.22.--Comparison of students’ short- and long-term career goals in eighth grade with their short- and long-term career goals as eleventh and twelfth graders: District 0 versus Districts A, B, C, and E. Districts A, C, D, E District 8 Total Match No. % No. % No. % No 186 58.86 34 10.76 220 69.22 Yes 89 28.16 7 2.22 96 30.38 Total 275 87.03 41 12.97 316 100.00 Chi-square = 3.944, df = T, p-value - .047 Chi-Sguare Results for District E Versus Districts A. B. C. and 0 None of the comparisons of District E with the remaining school districts included in the study was found to be significant. Summary Results of the data analyses and findings of the study were presented in this chapter. Four hypotheses were tested to determine whether there was a match between specific dependent variables with a common treatment in all cases and length of process as the independent variable. Additional findings of analyses using school district as the independent variable also were reported. In Chapter V, a summary of the major findings and conclusions based on the study findings are presented, along with suggestions for educational practice and recommendations for further research. CHAPTER V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS This chapter contains a sumary of the study and the major findings, conclusions drawn from the findings, suggestions for educational practice, and recommendations for further research. Summary The researcher’s primary purpose in this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between the EDP choices students make when they are in the eighth through tenth grades and the areas of study they choose as eleventh and/or twelfth graders. Specifically, do eighth- through tenth-grade students’ three favorite vocational clusters, as indicated on the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or the Michigan Occupational Information System (MOIS) search, differ from the vocational-technical education- (VTE) clusters they enroll in during the eleventh and/or twelfth grades? The researcher also sought to determine whether the length of the EDP process (less than 9 weeks or equal to or greater than 9 weeks) influences the match between students’ career goal and VTE cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades and their career 93 94 goals and actual VTE cluster enrollments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. Pooulation and Sampla The study population consisted of students from rural school districts in Branch, St. Joseph, Ionia, and Jackson ISDs in Michigan who went through the EDP process in their respective school districts in 1987-88. Students from six school districts were selected for the study. However, information for students from one school district (labeled District F) was not used because they had not participated in the EDP process. Thus, information on 316 students from the remaining five school districts was used as valid data for the study. Only students who were eighth graders from the selected school districts in 1987-88 and seniors four years later were considered for the study. The sample from Districts 8 and E included only one- half of the senior class. Students selected for study from these two school districts were determined by a computer-generated class list for one semester of government. This provided similar numbers of students from each school. Instrumentation and Dasa Collection There were four sources of data for this study. Data collected on the demographic profile form from the individual students’ EDPs provided the information on the students’ three cluster choices. The VTE cluster courses they selected as juniors and/or seniors were obtained from the students’ course transcripts. MOIS and/or DAT 95 results were documented for each student on the EDP or actual DAT summary report and transferred to the demographic profile form and compared to the EDP high school course plan listings. The seniors selected for the study responded to a survey questionnaire on which they were asked to identify their short- and long-term career goals. These survey responses also were recorded on the demographic form. Procedures used for this study were as follows. Students’ responses to their three favorite VTE clusters were recorded on the eighth- through tenth-grade EDPs. Three areas of interest on the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire summary were on file, and the results of a MOIS search were recorded on some of the EDPs. When they were seniors, these same students were given a survey in which they were asked to state their short- and long-term career goals. This was one of the same questions on the EDPs they had completed in the eighth through tenth grades. The students also completed a plan of high school courses to take as part of the EDP. Data-Analysis Procedures The study was primarily descriptive in nature, using simple descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies and percentages. Contingency tables were used as an aid in describing the data in relation to the school district, year of EDP, students’ gender, students’ goals while in the eighth through tenth grades, and length of the EDP process. The chi-square test of statistical significance was used to test the effect of the length of the EDP process on the match between the following pairs of variables: 96 1. Students’ actual VTE cluster enrollments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades. 2. Students’ actual VTE cluster enrollments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search in the eighth through tenth grades. 3. The career goals students selected in the eighth through tenth grades and their career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. 4. Students’ actual VTE cluster enrollments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP process in the eighth through tenth grades. Four research questions were addressed in the study. A corresponding research hypothesis was formulated for each question. The .05 alpha level was used as {the criterion for statistical significance in the chi-square tests. Major Findings Research Question 1: Does the match between actual enrollment in VTE clusters in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades by students who have a bona fide EDP with documented instruction vary with the length of the EDP process? . Overall, there was very little match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades. The percentages of matches by school district ranged from 4.4% to 55.9%. 97 Only in District A did the match exceed 50%. In all other school districts, the percentage of matches was no more than 22%. A slightly higher percentage of matches was observed among students who went through a micro EDP process (less than 9 weeks) than among those who went through a macro EDP process (equal to or greater than 9 weeks). However, this trend was not statistically significant at the .05 level. Thus, the length of the EDP process did not have a statistically significant effect on the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollment in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their EDP cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades. I Research Question 2: Does the match between the recorded choices on the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire summary and/or the MOIS search in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ actual enrollment in VTE clusters vary with the length of the EDP process? On the average, there were only 72 (22.8%) matches between students’ actual VTE. cluster: enrollments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search in the eighth through tenth grades. The highest rate of matching was observed in District A, with 30 (50.8%) matches. For the other school districts, the percentage of matches ranged from 8.8% (District 8) to 22.7% (District C). A slightly higher percentage of matches was observed among students who went through a micro EDP process (less than 9 weeks) than among those who went through a macro EDP process (equal to or greater than 9 weeks). However, this variation was not statistically significant at the .05 level. Therefore, the length 98 of the EDP process did not have a statistically significant effect on the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or: MOIS search in ‘the eighth through tenth grades. Research Question 3: Does the match between selection of an area of interest (long- and short-term career goals) in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ selection of short- and long-term career' goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades vary with the length of the EDP process? Overall, there were 30.4% matches between short- and long-term career goals students selected in the eighth through tenth grades and their short- and long-term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. The highest rates of matching were in Districts A and C (47.5% and 34.7%, respectively). For the other school districts the matching rates ranged from 30.1% (District E) to 17.1% (District 0). A slightly higher percentage of matches was observed among those students who went through a micro EDP process (less than 9 weeks) than those who went through a macro EDP process (equal to or greater than 9 weeks). However, this difference was not statistically significant at the .05 level. Thus, the length of the EDP process did not have a statistically significant effect on the match between the career goals students selected in the eighth through tenth grades and their career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. 99 Research Question 4: Does the match between the choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP in the eighth through tenth grades and students’ actual enrollment in VTE clusters vary with the length of the EDP process? On the average, there were approximately 50% matches between students’ choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP process in the eighth through tenth grades and their actual VTE cluster enrollments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. The highest percentage of matches (88.1%) was observed in District A, followed by Districts E and C (46.6% and 41.3%, respectively). Percentages of matches in the other school districts did not exceed 40%. A slightly higher percentage of matches was observed among students who went through a micro EDP process (less than 9 weeks) than among those who went through a macro EDP process (equal to or greater than 9 weeks). However, this difference was not statisti— cally significant at the .05 level. Thus, the length of the EDP process did not have a statistically significant effect on the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their choices in the high school course plan as part of the EDP process in the eighth through tenth grades. Conclusions The following conclusions were drawn from the findings of the study: T. In general, in most of the school districts, there was very little match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades and their EDP cluster choices in the 100 eighth through tenth grades. Overall, the percentage of matches was less than 25%. Even more important, it was found that the length of the EDP had no significant influence on the match or nonmatch between the two variables. But for descriptive purposes, there was a slightly higher matching rate among students who went through a micro EDP process than among those who went through a macro EDP process. 2. The length of the EDP process had no significant influence on the match between students’ actual VTE cluster enrollments and their choices in the DAT Career Planning Questionnaire and/or MOIS search. Although, in general, the percentages of matches were very low, the matching rate among students who went through a micro EDP process was slightly higher than the rate among students who went through a macro EDP process. School District A continued to have the highest percentage of matches of all the school districts whose students participated in the EDP process. 3. In general, there was little match between students’ selection of an area of interest (long- and short-term career goals) in the eighth through tenth grades and their choice of short- and long-term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. The length of the EDP process had no influence on the match between students’ selection of an area of interest in the eighth through tenth grades and their selection of short- and long-term career goals in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. 4. Length of the EDP process had no significant influence on the match between students’ choices in the high school course plan 101 as part of the EDP process in the eighth through tenth grades and their actual enrollment in VTE clusters during the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. However, for descriptive purposes, a higher percentage of matches was observed among students who went through a micro EDP process than among those who went through a macro EDP process. 5. Overall, it was found that the length of the EDP process (micro or macro) had no significant effect on the match between students’ choices on the EDP in the eighth through tenth grades and their actual enrollments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. 6. The most significant findings were discovered after revisiting the data. When comparisons were made, using school district as the independent variable, it was found that District A was significantly different from the remaining districts in all four areas of interest in the study. District 8 also showed a significant difference in three areas when compared to the balance of the districts, but all of the matches in District 8 were negative, on the other end of the continuum from District A. District D was significantly different from the other districts in only one area, and as with District 8 that difference was in a negative direction and at the opposite end of the continuum from District A. Suggestions for Educational Practice The following suggestions for educational practice are based on the findings from this study and information discovered while recording data onto the student demographic profile forms. 102 1. District A consistently had a higher percentage of matches than the other districts. A factor evident in this district and none of the others was that the person who implemented the EDP process and monitored the development of students’ high school course plans in the eighth grade continued on as the students’ counselor in high school. Therefore, this consistency appears to have enhanced matches between the choices students made in eighth grade and their future course choices. Thus, it is suggested that school districts encourage continuity among counseling personnel or at least annual reference to students’ EDPs and high school course plans in light of the students’ career objectives. Another characteristic evident in District A was the two-week modules in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades with components relative to the overall EDP process, and continual assessment of the pertinence of students’ career goals. All of these factors point to the flexibility of students during this period of their maturation, yet the findings from this study provide evidence that plans developed here tend to have more matches than those developed in ninth or tenth grade. 2. Although micro EDPs fared slightly better than macro EDPs in terms of matches, it was found that the length of the EDP process did not seem to be a factor in terms of matches. Therefore, it is suggested that school personnel focus on concise presentation of occupational choices and completion of the planning questionnaires of the EDP. Semester-type courses tend to be filled with many unrelated topics, and the importance of the EDP is thereby lost. 103 3. In addition to having the highest percentages of matches in all categories, District A was also the only one that provided the EDP experience in the eighth grade. Therefore, it is suggested that the EDP process, interest surveys, and high school course plan be delivered to and completed by students when they are in the eighth grade. The later the EDP, the fewer the matches that were found, as evidenced by District D, in which students completed the EDP process in the tenth grade. 4. The researcher does not think the St. Joseph model or the counselor alone was the determining factor causing the significant difference in District A, but rather the commitment by staff (teachers, counselors, and administrators) to recognize that life planning is important enough to provide the awareness and decision- making skills necessary to allow the student eventually to live independently after graduation. Second, any time decision points are evident for the student, all adults who influence that student are communicating the same message. That message is: "Your course choices should relate to and enhance your path to a career. These choices are not final, but .your’ career' goals and schooling are intertwined. 5. Although parental involvement was not addressed in this study, previous studies have indicated that parents have the greatest influence on students’ career choices. School A did invite parents to participate in the EDP high school course planning process. This study was not designed to determine whether or not 104 parental participation was a factor in the matches. What appears to happen during this planning session is that students become more focused on the importance of the planning process because of the involvement of parents and other important adults in their lives during this time. 6. It is further recommended that school district personnel consider using as many of the preceding suggestions as possible, as opposed to selecting just one. Recommendations for Further Research l. A similar study should be conducted with a control school that uses an EDP model with no instructional input, versus the other EDP models available. 2. A similar study should be undertaken, using other variables mentioned in Chapter III (e.g., single parents, mother’s educational level, and economic status). This might provide additional informa- tion regarding factors affecting the match between students’ selected career goals and VTE cluster choices in the eighth through tenth grades and their career goals and actual VTE cluster enroll- ments in the eleventh and/or twelfth grades. 3. Another potential research topic would be to compare the characteristics of rural students with those of their urban and city counterparts, and the relationship of those characteristics to matches occurring on the various components of the EDP process. 4. Another study could be undertaken to compare the matches in the respective areas addressed by the dependent variables in this 105 research, to determine whether students whose parents participate in the EDP process had a higher percentage of matches than did students with nonparticipating parents. APPENDIX A FOUR-YEAR EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN 106 Four Year Educafionm Devebpment Han Name: 550: Date: School: Class of: Student Number: ' (Anrirudn/Interesc) ~44 l e:— 1 2 3 4| 5 a 7 l A S CZIVVI E T E 3?? 5:: :' ‘2; ;=i—§§ ' ‘= " ; Three Interest Areas Tentative Career Choice: (l) (2) Counselor’s Comments: PLAN Freshman Sophomore G.P.A. Credits: G.P.A. Credits: Junior . Senior G.P.A. Credits: C.P.A. Credits: Post High School Plans: Articulated Comm. College: 4 Year College: Employment: Military: Student Signature: Parent Signature: EDUCATIONAL In CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN PROFILE 107 Name 88:! Birth Date Gtade Date . l D E A S m __ ’ _ - .O- — a l , l! i E} i i i 3% ' ’ 8 II I u ADDITIONAL SURVEYITEST INFORMATTON _ _ _, _ _ _ _, l L l l l l — w '— MOIS CAREER SUGGESTlONS OCCUPATIONAL sou/SKILLS YOU WILL HAVE UPON ;; '3 =3 3 53 CRAOUARORPROMHICHSCHOOL 13 3 is I 5 3.5 I; i. at .- ne no u '0 - 1 l I l L I J and. Date and. Data and. Due Grade Om STUDEM‘S CAREER CHOICES mOENrS CAREER CHOICES ‘ SRJOENrS CAREER CHOICES moewrs CAREER CHOICES APPROPRIATE COURSES APPROPRIATE COURSES APPROPRIATE COURSES APPROPRIATE COURSES to ACHIEVE CAREER CHOICES To ACHIEVE CAREER CHOICES ‘I'O ACHIEVE CAREER CHOICES 'ro ACHIEVE CAREER CHOICES I. i. 1. 1. a. z. 2. z a. a. a. a 4. 4. 4. 4. 3. 5. s. S e. a. S. I. 7. 7. 7. 7. 00cm to date: Credits to «to: Clean: to due:__ Cleans to due:— Estimated GPA. I Clue Rank: __ WORKNOLUMEER EXPERIENCE WORKNOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE WORKNOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE WORK/VOLUNTEER BtPERiENCE POST HIGH SCHOOL PLANS POST HIOH SCHOOL PLANS POST HIOH SCHOOL PLANS POST RICH SCHOOL PLANS COMMENTS Gaunt-Io! Such-lute CM. Sludem S.qneime COunuIOl Sugnelme Date Stud-m SIgnume Counselor SIgnelIue Due Sludoni Soon-two CounquI Sugnumo 0an Student SIgnetuIO APPENDIX 8 APPROVAL LETTER FROM THE UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS 108 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ONICE Of \‘lCE PRESIDENT POI RESEARCH EA)! [ANSIN‘G 0 MICHIGAN o «IN-l0“ AND DEAN OF “E GRADUATE SCHOOL Hay 15, 1991 Steve Barnum 6800 E. Brown Rd. Lake Odessa, HI 68859 RE: A CONPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PARTICIPATION OP ELEVENTH AND WELFTH GRADE STUDENTS IN VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL EDUCATION CLUSTERS. BASED ON HIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS. IREfl9l-190 Dear Mr. Barnum: The above project is exempt from full UCRIHS review. I have reviewed the proposed research protocol and find that the rights andIHelfare of human subjects appear to be protected. You have approval to conduct the research. You are reminded that UCRIHS approval is valid for one calendar year. If you plan to continue this project beyond one year, please make provisions for obtaining appropriate UCRIHS approval one month prior to May 16. 1992. Any Changes in procedures involving human subjects must be reviewed by the UCRIHS .prior to initiation of the change. UCRIHS must also be notified promptly of any problems (unexpected side effects. complaints. etc.) involving human subjects during the course of the work. Thank.you for bringing this project to our attention. If we can be of any future help. please do not hesitate to let us know. Sincerely. C) oAaig) ‘EELv. (J\;) It] O id E. Uright. Ph.D. Chair. UCRIHS DEN/den cc: Dr. John Suehr "\l.’ u 4. Allwueauov Arlen- qual “frost-lulu Inclusion. APPENDIX C LETTER TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS SEEKING APPROVAL TO RETRIEVE AND RECORD DEMOGRAPHIC DATA AND SCHOOL PERMISSION FORM 109 April, 18, 1991 6800 E. Brown Rd. Lake Odessa, MI 48849 616-367-4580 (home) or 616-527-4900 (office) Dear M As partial fulfillment of a degree requirement for the degree of Ph.D. from Michigan State University, I am performing a study which will hopefully, determine if middle school educational development plans (EDPs) make a significant difference in cluster areas chosen as eleventh or twelfth grade students. Your school was chosen based on it's fit with the variables selected for this study. Because the data is spread over a four to five year period. it will be necessary to obtain permission to retrieve and record the proposed demographic data from the student's EDP or their school files and also record actual class enrollments for the same student as eleventh and twelfth graders. All participating schools who wish can have a copy of the tabulated data. It will not be necessary to record student names or indicate the buildings students attend. All. participating' schools ‘will remain anonymous in the report which is to be generated from the study. Confidentiality of student records will be preserved in the study. The only staff requirement will be to make files available to the researcher. Thank you in advance for your help in this project. I am hopeful that this study will provide all of us with valuable information. Sincerely, . Steven Barnum Enclosure: Demographic Data Form & Approval Letter 110 PLEASE RETURN THIS TO: STEVEN BARNUM ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT IONIA COUNTY INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT 2190 HARWOOD RD. IONIA, MI 48846 I . of School, give my consent to Steven Barnum to perform a study of selected senior student's records for the purpose of obtaining demographic research data for fulfilling a Ph.D. dissertation requirement. The study will determine if middle school educational development plans (EDPs) make a significant difference in cluster areas chosen as eleventh and twelfth grade students. Signature: Date: School: Address: Phone: APPENDIX D DEMOGRAPHIC DATA FORM 10. 11. 111 -. , ’, DEMOGRAPHIC DATA .‘FORM Not to be used Entry Date _l_l1991 2. Assigned Number I I in final rcport J, V, B, St.J, or I (Circle one) Year Completed EDP: I l 8 [I9 [110 Sex: [ JMale [ lFemale Educational Goal: [ 1 Full-time Work After Graduation Based on DAT or EDP [ ] Community College/Trade School questions educational [ I Four Year College goal [ 1 Other Decisions Based On a. Job cluster Choices (3) Ranked (MOIS) l. 2. 3. b. Cluster Choices (DAT) l. 2. 3. c. VTE Cluster Choices 1. 2. 3. Time Spent On Decision Making Unit: (Actual I: of lira.) . A. Vocational-Technical Education Course Enrolled In Related To Development Plan - Middle School Vocational Cluster Choice? I 'Choices 1 I 2 3 No Srs. I B. Non-VTE enrollees match with cluster choices on EDPS ChoicesIl 2 I 3 INo I - Srs. I I I I Educational C. Four year plan original courses/enrolled in course-cluster match? Not to include required. Number of Original Junior Courses That Match MMODES l. 2. 3. 4. __ 5. Original Senior Courses That Match 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. EDP [ I Yes [ I No E P Survey SI-niors DOT Long Term Goal SMB Short Term Goal O’TIITISI APPENDIX E SENIOR STUDENT SURVEY 112 STUDENT SURVEY To: Student participant NOTE: This survey is part of Research Study being undertaken by Steven Barnum a graduate student at Michigan State University. The purpose of the study is to determine if Educational Development Plans (EDPs) provide a: useful instrument for student planning. There is no penalty for not completing this survey instrument. If you fill out this survey you are giving permission to Steven Barnum to use the information in an anonymous manner in his study. NAME (‘1 3 I v—l m WHAT IS YOUR SHORT TERM CAREER GOAL? A "Short Term“ career goal would be a job for which you could qualify within two years of high school graduation. Ex. Auto mechanic, Salesperson, etc. WHAT IS YOUR LONG TERM CAREER GOAL? “Long Term“ career goals are the jobs you would like to do after a lot of training and/or work experience. It could be the same as your short term goal. Some examples are: Attorney, Business Manager, Doctor, Professional Engineer, Teacher, etc. REFERENCES REFERENCES Aubrey, R. F. (1977). Historical development of guidance and counseling and implications for the future. Personnel amp Guidance Journal, §§, 288-295. Berryman, S. E. (l988). Education and the economy: A diaqnostic reviewaand implications for the federal role. Paper presented at the Aspen Institute Seminar on the Federal Role in Educa- tion, Aspen, Colorado. Biennial Report. l987-l988. (l988). Lansing: Michigan State Advisory Council for Vocational Education. Bonaparte, G., Chapman, J., & Sternberg, J. (l987, September). 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