The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of Tech Prep to student enrollment and retention in a California community college. Tech Prep was conceived by Dale Parnell as an articulated high school/community college program focusing on the neglected majority or the middle-quartile of high school students. This study included a review of high school Tech Prep student data for 1997–1998 and 1998–1999. These students were tracked from the high school program through the community college program. The data generated from this review indicated that 1,947 high school students enrolled in the Tech Prep program during this time period, with 1,437 completing the high school requirements, 420 of these students enrolled in the community college within a two year timeframe, and 51 completed the community college Tech Prep course, thereby receiving community college credit for the high school Tech Prep course(s). Student perceptions and self reported attitudes were obtained through surveys of a random sample of those high school Tech Prep students who continued their education at community college. Findings indicated that lack of information about program opportunities is the key to loss of student continuity. Interviews were conducted of fifteen of the surveyed students, resulting in validation of this contention. An evaluation of the student data, surveys and interviews revealed that there was no definitive relationship of enrollment and retention of high school Tech Prep student through the community college Tech Prep program. The resulting findings revealed that the community college Tech Prep programs require significant and appropriate changes in communicating program information in order to positively impact enrollment and retention of the target population. Recommendations were also made for future studies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:pacific.edu/oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-3557 |
| Date | 01 January 2002 |
| Creators | White-Daniels, Sheila Denise |
| Publisher | Scholarly Commons |
| Source Sets | University of the Pacific |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations |
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