Not Being All They Can Be: A Comparison of Four-Year-College-Bound and Military-Bound High School Graduates

• In Event: Achievement and Course Taking From the High School Transcript Study: Engagement, Charter Schools, and the Socioeconomic Status Measure in NAEP

Abstract

The United States Armed Forces provides high school graduates the means to learn career-based skills and earn money for college education. About one in five graduates applying to join the United States Army, though, could not pass the enlistment examination, prompting education and military experts to claim that high schools were not preparing their graduates with the knowledge and skills needed to achieve postsecondary success. This paper analyzes coursetaking and performance measures from the NAEP 2009 High School Transcript Study to examine these claims. It notes differences in academic achievement between military-bound graduates and four-year-college-bound graduates, and also examines the role that high school military courses has on preparing graduates for military service.

Authors

• Robert Colby Perkins, Westat

• Stephen E. Roey, Westat

• Philip H. Morse, Retired