Date Approved

2003

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department or School

Leadership and Counseling

Committee Member

Martha W. Tack, PhD

Committee Member

David Anderson, PhD

Committee Member

Patrick Melia, PhD

Committee Member

Eboni Zamani, PhD

Abstract

Tech Prep programming was introduced in Michigan in 1987 to improve the academic skills of high school students when they enter a Michigan community college. Over $44,000,000 had been spent on Tech Prep programming in Michigan since 1991, and there had been little evaluation of the effort in its impact on academic achievement. This study was designed to determine if Tech Prep programming had been effective in reducing remediation rates in Michigan community colleges. The research was an ex post facto study that examined the relationships and predictability of Tech Prep programming on high school and college readiness in Michigan community colleges using Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) High School Test (HST) scores in writing, reading, and mathematics, and the college readiness assessment instruments ASSET, COMP ASS, and ACT were examined. The students in the study were from Monroe County and Wayne County, in southeastern Michigan. The analysis examined differences in student performance between Career Technical Education students in Tech Prep and non-Tech Prep programs, as defined by the Michigan Department of Career Development. The sample included 31,270 students from high schools in the Southeastern Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA) region, Henry Ford Community College, and Monroe County Community College. To analyze the data, independent samples t-tests and both linear and logistical regression analyses were utilized. Tech Prep students did outperform, p < . 01 , non-Tech Prep students in high school on the MEAP/HST in writing, reading, and mathematics; but there was no statistically significant difference in their college readiness assessments. While there was no impact on the overall rate of remediation and Tech Prep was ineffective in increasing the rate of college readiness as  finding, Tech Prep students did score higher than their non-Tech Prep counterparts in the area of college readiness in mathematics. Socioeconomic status and minority status contributed significantly to the predictive models in writing and reading. Only socioeconomic status contributed significantly to the predictive model in mathematics. Based on these findings recommendations were made to state and local officials, including Tech Prep coordinators, and federal legislators along with U.S. Department of Education officials.

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