High School and Beyond explained

High School and Beyond (HS&B) is a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of people who were high school sophomores and seniors in 1980. The study was originally funded by the United States Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) as a part of their Secondary Longitudinal Studies Program. NORC at the University of Chicago, then known as the National Opinion Research Center, developed the sample design and performed the data collection for the study. The study surveyed students from over 1,000 public and private high schools on their cognitive and non-cognitive skills, high school experiences, work experiences, and future plans. Baseline surveys were administered in 1980, with follow-up surveys in 1982, 1984, 1986, 1992 (sophomores), 2014 (sophomores), and 2015 (seniors).

An additional follow-up study entered the field in 2021. Researchers at the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University are working in collaboration with NORC to continue the project (with the endorsement of NCES). In 2019, the National Institute on Aging (Grant R01 AG058719) and the Alzheimer’s Association (Grant SG-20-717567) awarded grants to re-contact the members of the original 1980 sophomore and senior classes.

Historical Context

The HS&B was designed and collected with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) as part of their National Education Longitudinal Studies program to document the “educational, vocational, and personal development of young people… following them over time as they begin to take on adult roles and responsibilities”. NORC at the University of Chicago collected the surveys. Noted sociologist James Samuel Coleman led the design team for the initial study. James S. Coleman’s work has had “a far-reaching impact on government education policy”. In his writings on Coleman, Peter Marsden notes that “Coleman made influential contributions that range across the sociology of education, policy research, mathematical sociology, network/structural analysis, and sociological theory” and “ranks among the most influential sociologists of the twentieth century.”

HS&B respondents occupy an important position at the end of the Baby Boom. They are the first post-Civil Rights cohort; they are the first cohort in which women's educational attainments exceeded those of men; they are the first in recent history in which it was normative for women to experience uninterrupted labor force participation; and they are among the first cohorts to confront the insecurity and loss of the generous pensions and affordable health insurance they experienced and expected when they began their careers. The HS&B cohort is more racially and ethnically diverse than earlier contemporary cohorts, in part because it was the first to come of age after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (the Hart-Cellar Act).

Study design

Base year surveys

HS&B began in 1980 as a nationally representative sample of 30,030 sophomores and 28,240 seniors in 1,015 public and private high schools in the United States. From the initial sample of 58,270 public and private high school students, 14,825 sophomores and 11,995 seniors were selected to be re-interviewed over their early adult years. Each school contained a representative sample of 36 sophomores and 36 seniors, making possible inferences about each school and its student body. The student questionnaires in 1980 gathered important information about educational experiences, cognitive skills (measured by standardized multiple-choice assessments of reading, math, science and social studies achievement) and non-cognitive skills (e.g., self-esteem, self-efficacy, emotional distress, social activities, academic effort, reports from four teachers about the students’ educational, behavioral, and social characteristics), as well as peers, employment activities, educational and occupational plans and aspirations, and family background (e.g., parental education, family composition, siblings, parenting practices and parents’ educational and occupational expectations for their children).

Follow-up surveys

The sample members were re-surveyed in 1982, in 1984, and in 1986. The 1980 sophomores were also surveyed in 1992 and 2013-2014. The 1980 seniors were surveyed again in 2015. All follow-ups conducted in the 1980s and 1992 gathered information about cohort members’ educational, employment, and family activities and transitions. The 1982 re-interview of sophomores featured a second round of cognitive tests and gathered secondary school transcripts, and the 1986 and 1992 surveys gathered post-secondary transcripts. Post-secondary transcripts were obtained for seniors in 1984 and 1986. The newest round of data collection is to begin in 2021, surveying the 1980 sophomores and seniors. The follow-up is designed to learn more about the 1980 cohort as they age.

Key findings

A wealth of information has been generated from the data gathered by the HS&B study. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) issued numerous reports as well as other publications generated from the study. Many of these reports address key education policy issues and are available to the public from the NCES website.

Researchers have used the HS&B data to write many journal articles (over 400), books, dissertations (over 250), and other reports (over 200) in a number of subject areas, including sociology, management, business, education, economics, political science, planning development, family studies, urban studies, social work, public administration, health care and health policy, and others.

In the area of education, HS&B data have been used for studies related to:

In the area of employment, HS&B data have been used for studies related to:

In recent years, HS&B data has been used for studies related to:

HS&B data have been used for research in areas outside of education and employment, such as alcohol use (Martin and Pritchard, 1991)[46], family studies (O'Hare, 1991; Goldscheider and Goldscheider, 1989; Goldscheider and Goldscheider, 1991; Goldscheider and Goldscheider, 1993)[47-51], obesity (Faith et al., 1998)[52], and teenage pregnancy (Hanson, Myers and Ginsburg, 1987; Parnell, Swicegood and Stevens, 1994).[53-54]

Findings from the HS&B study have helped to inform public policy debates about workforce training and financial aid for college, among other things. Information from the study has helped scientists and lawmakers understand what shapes people's lives between high school and early adulthood. Lawmakers have used findings using the HS&B data to design national education policies, such as the expansion of the States Scholars Program in 2005.

Current activity

In 2019, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Minnesota, and Columbia University, and NORC at the University of Chicago began planning for a new 2021 follow-up of the HS&B sample members. The 2021 follow-up is funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association and will follow up with approximately 25,500 sample members of the 1980 sophomore and senior classes from the original HS&B study sponsored by NCES.

The 2021 follow-up surveys will assess sample members’ cognitive skills as they approach age 60 and are designed to understand the connections between social relationships, education, and health. The survey also collects updated information about sample members’ work experiences, health, and family roles at midlife. This information will be used to understand how sample members have fared since they were last contacted. Study respondents will also have the opportunity to participate in a home health visit to complete health measurements in their own home, like blood pressure, height and weight. Sample members will also be asked to provide blood and saliva samples. This information will be used to better understand how people’s genes, biology, and life experiences intersect to influence health and cognitive well-being.

The resulting research will focus on understanding how opportunities and experiences of adolescents and young adults, as well as characteristics of their high schools and post-secondary institutions, shape sample members’ lives as they age and approach the retirement years.

Selected bibliography of research generated from HS&B data

References

External links

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