The Center for Public Education has released the second in a pair of reports focused on high school students who do not continue their formal education after graduation and factors that contribute to positive outcomes and future success.
A rigorous high school program boosts the chances of success for both college goers and students who do not attend college after high school. High school graduates who do not attend college are more successful later on if they have taken high-level math courses and focused vocational training in high school.
The results of the second study of a series, “The Path Least Taken II: Preparing Non-college Goers for Success,” reinforce the essential role of high school preparation in students’ success, regardless of the paths they chose after graduation. The study by the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) Center for Public Education (CPE) looks at the credentials and high school experiences of non-college going graduates to identify the factors that lead to success after school in both work and life.
Drawing on data from the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES’s) Education Longitudinal Study (ELS:2002), CPE’s report examines the 12 percent of high school graduates who had not enrolled in a two- or four-year college by age 26.
Non-college goers did much better in the labor market if they had completed high-level math and science courses; earned higher grades; completed multiple vocational courses focusing on a specific labor market area, and obtained a professional certification or license.
The Path Least Taken II: Preparing Non-college Goers for Success, is available at: www.centerforpubliceducation.org/pathleasttakenII.
The first report, The Path Least Taken: A Quest to Learn More About High School Graduates Who don’t Go on to College, is available online at: www.centerforpubliceducation.org/pathleasttaken
