Career Pathways Advancing Life Opportunities for Students: Results From a Longitudinal Evaluation

• In Event: 75.061 - Roundtable Session 34
  In Roundtable Session: 75.061-4 - Evaluating Programs Designed to Enhance College and Career Readiness

Abstract

We examined the relationship between programs of study (POS) participation and high school achievement. POS offer course sequences spanning secondary and postsecondary education, blending academic and career and technical education (CTE). Using an instrumental variable model of the effects of POS enrollment and CTE credit-earning on GPA and graduation, results indicated that POS enrollment increased the likelihood of graduation by 11.3%. We found non-significant effects on GPA. Senior surveys indicated that similar numbers of intervention and comparison students planned to attend four-year colleges full time. These findings all suggest that POS benefited student retention at no cost to achievement, and that POS do not diminish college aspirations. We recommend that districts seek ways to increase CTE credit-earning by students.

Authors

• Marisa E. Castellano, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• George Richardson, University of Cincinnati

• Kirsten Ewart Sundell, Southern Regional Education Board

• Laura Overman, University of Louisville

• James R. Stone, Southern Regional Education Board