To boost college graduation rates, policymakers often advocate for academic supports such as coaching or mentoring. Proactive and intensive coaching interventions are effective, but are costly and difficult to scale. We evaluate a relatively lower-cost group coaching program targeted at first-year college students placed on academic probation.…

This study examined the relationship between cooperative education (co-op) and the early career outcomes of graduates at Missouri University of Science and Technology, a science and technological research university in the Midwest. The study's primary purpose was to provide university leadership with a quantitative evaluation of the university's…

In this article, we analyse findings of the largest, most comprehensive survey of the career paths of social science PhD graduates to date, "Social Science PhDs--Five+Years Out (SS5)". "SS5" surveyed more than 3,000 graduates of U.S. PhD programmes in six social science fields six to ten years after earning their PhD. The…

Research messages 2010 is a collection of summaries of research projects published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The summaries are clustered under five broad themes used by NCVER to organise its research and analysis: Industry and employers; Students and individuals; Teaching and learning: VET system; and VET in…

In this paper, we analyse the transition to the labor market of participants in vocational training in Madeira in Portugal. The analysis is in two stages. First, we investigate how the employment status at different dates (1 month, 1 year, and 2 years after the completion of the training program) depends on relevant variables, such as age, gender,…

This paper evaluates the labour market effects of the introduction of the polytechnic education system in Finland. The polytechnic reform gradually transformed former vocational colleges into polytechnics. Since the timing of the reform differed across schools, we can compare the performance of polytechnic graduates to the performance of…

The authors propose a methodology based on the principal strata approach to causal inference for assessing the relative effectiveness of two degree programs with respect to the employment status of their graduates. An innovative use of nonparametric bounds in the principal strata framework is shown, examining the role of some assumptions in…

Helping young people make a smooth transition from school to the workplace or further study has become an important role for the vocational education and training (VET) sector. To provide a clear picture of young people's participation in vocational education and training, and the impact and role of VET on their transitions to work, this "At…

Reauthorization of welfare reform legislation has focused attention on the effectiveness of short-term training as a means for welfare recipients to attain self-sufficiency. Its effects on employment and earnings have been one focus of recent evaluations of federal programs. Although some Job Opportunities and Basic Skills programs produced…

A study was conducted to gather follow-up data on inmates who were graduated from vocational education programs in the Ohio Central School System in 1979. During the study, researchers examined the parole records of 650 inmates who successfully completed and were graduated from vocational programs in seven penal institutions in the school system.…

This study was conducted to provide information on the educational and employment status of 1976-1980 vocational program completers in Pennsylvania. Results were based on a 59 percent return (2,669 persons) from selected area vocational-technical schools. The data were collected by mail from October 1982 to January 1983. Some of the findings were…

A three-year longitudinal followup mail survey of the 1980-81 graduates of 12 cooperating districts of the Wisconsin Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education (VTAE) was conducted beginning in the summer of 1984. The purpose of the survey was to determine and analyze changes in selected circumstances that may have occurred over the three-year…

An evaluation of secondary vocational education in Wisconsin was made using self-evaluation data from 55 schools. Each school gathered data from graduates, employers, advisory committee members, staff, and current students. Findings from the data were synthesized under five outcome areas: employment, postsecondary training, training satisfaction,…

This study extends previous research on labor market effects of vocational education by estimating the relationship between vocational education in high school and the intervening factors in its relationship to labor market outcomes. The strategy is to use data from a stratified national longitudinal survey to estimate a simplified, reduced-form…

A longitudinal study was conducted to determine the short-term (2-year), intermediate (5-year), and long-term (10-year) impact of earning a high school equivalency diploma by taking the General Educational Development (GED) Tests in Iowa. The random sample of 2,500 GED graduates was drawn from each time cohort (individuals who had passed the GED…