Creating IT Career Pathways Through High School Career and Technical Education

This research will utilize population data on students enrolled in CTE-IT programs collected by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE):
 
(a) the Illinois Student Information System (ISIS) and
(b) the Performance Management Information System (PMIS).

The ISIS contains data on more than 300,000 students annually enrolled in CTE programs each school year, including approximately 10,000 students enrolled in CTE-IT programs. The PMIS includes information on more than 30,000 students annually who complete CTE programs, provide SSN, and transition into postsecondary education and employment in Illinois. Data for nine school years, 1996 through 2004, will be analyzed through three specific studies. Cohort analyses will include cross-sectional (year-by-year) and over-lapping four-year longitudinal panels. Six parallel analyses will be performed on each longitudinal panel (96 –- 99, 97 – 00, 98 – 01, 99 – 02, 00 – 03, 01 – 04, 02 - 05).

Study 1 The Research-to-Practice Team will identify career counseling and student support strategies implicated in the research literature to recruit and retain female students in IT career programs. All high school guidance counselors and CTE-IT instructors in Illinois will be surveyed to determine their awareness and use of the implicated practices.

Study 2 Through analysis of the ISIS data, the influence of student-level and school-level variables (including the strategies identified in Study 1) on enrollment, work-related, and completion experiences will be determined for four student groups (females and males, with and without disabilities) in CTE-IT programs.

Study 3 Study 3 will build on Study 2 to determine the influence of student-level and school level variables on females’ employment and/or enrollment in postsecondary education in an IT field.

Award # 0306092
Funded by National Science Foundation