High School and Beyond


High School and Beyond (HS&B) is a national longitudinal study originally funded by the United States Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) as a part of their 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 1,015 public and private high schools on their cognitive and non-cognitive skills, high school experiences, work experiences, and future plans.[1]. Baseline surveys were administered in 1980, with follow-up surveys in 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1992.[2]

Additional follow-up studies are underway. The researchers at the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin work in collaboration with NORC and researchers from the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin to continue to build this time series dataset with the endorsement of NCES.[3] In 2012, The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation awarded a grant to re-contact the 14,825 members of the original 1980 sophomore class. The National Science Foundation awarded a grant in 2014 for the researchers to re-contact the 11,995 members of the 1980 senior class.


The origins/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[4] work has had “a far-reaching impact on government education policy”. In his writings on Coleman, Peter Marsden [5] 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.”[6]

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 will be surveyed 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 most current follow-up surveys are discussed in greater detail below.

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:

HS&B data have been used for research in areas outside of education and employment, such as alcohol use (Martin and Pritchard, 1991)[40], family studies (O'Hare, 1991; Goldscheider and Goldscheider, 1989; Goldscheider and Goldscheider, 1991; Goldscheider and Goldscheider, 1993)[41-44], obesity (Faith et al., 1998)[45], and teenage pregnancy (Hanson, Myers and Ginsburg, 1987; Parnell, Swicegood and Stevens, 1994).[46-47]

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 2013, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Minnesota in collaboration with NORC at the University of Chicago began a new follow-up of the HS&B sample members, called High School and Beyond: Human Capital over the Life Cycle as a Foundation for Working Longer, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that followed-up with the 14,825 sample members of the 1980 sophomore class from the original HS&B study sponsored by NCES.[48] In 2014, the researchers were awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation (grant number DRL 1420691) for a 2015 follow-up with the 11,995 sample members of the 1980 senior cohort.

The sophomore survey assesses sample members’ cognitive and non-cognitive skills, and collects updated information about their work experiences, health, family roles, and retirement planning at midlife. This information will be used to understand how sample members are faring since they were last contacted. The senior follow-up survey collects updated work experiences, health status, and retirement planning and focuses on how education and work force experiences as early adults have affected circumstances later in life.

The resulting research will focus on understanding how conditions and characteristics of adolescents and young adults, as well as their high schools and post-secondary institutions, shape the circumstances of their lives as they age and approach the retirement years. This information is particularly important for understanding how late baby boomers have fared during the many economic changes that they have occurred during their adult lives.

Selected bibliography of research generated from HS&B data

Astone, Nan Marie and Sara S. McLanahan. 1991. "Family Structure, Parental Practices and High School Completion." American Sociological Review, 56(3), 309-20.

Astone, Nan Marie, and Sara S. McLanahan. 1994. "Family Structure, Residential Mobility, and School Dropout: A Research Note." Demography 31(4):575-84.

Bekhuis, Tanja C. H. M. 1994. "The Self-Esteem of Adolescents in American Public High Schools: A Multilevel Analysis of Individual Differences." Personality and Individual Differences 16(4):579-88.

Bound, John; Brad Hershbein and Bridget Terry Long. 2009. "Playing the Admissions Game: Student Reactions to Increasing College Competition," NBER Working Paper No. 15272. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Statistics,

Bryk, Anthony S., Valerie E. Lee and Peter B. Holland. 1993. Catholic Schools and the Common Good. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bryk, Anthony S. and Yeow Meng Thum. 1989. "The Effects of High School Organization on Dropping Out: An Exploratory Investigation." American Educational Research Journal, 26(3), 353-83.

Coleman, James S., Thomas Hoffer, and Sally Kilgore (1981). Public and Private Schools. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Educational Statistics.

Coleman, James S. Thomas Hoffer, and Sally Kilgore. 1982. High School Achievement: Public, Catholic, and Private Schools Compared. New York: Basic Books.

Coleman, James S. and Thomas Hoffer. 1987. Public and Private High Schools: The Impact of Communities. New York: Basic Books.

Coleman, James S. 1988. "Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital." American Journal of Sociology, 94(Supplement), S95-S120.

Deluca, Stefanie, and James E. Rosenbaum. 2001. "Individual Agency and the Life Course: Do Low-SES Students Get Less Long-term Payoff for Their School Efforts?" Sociological Focus 34(4):357-76.

DiPrete, Thomas A., Chandra Muller, and Nora Shaeffer. 1981. Discipline and Order in American High Schools. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics.

Eide, Eric R., Mark H. Showalter, and David P. Sims. 2002. "The Effects of Secondary School Quality on the Distribution of Earnings." Contemporary Economic Policy 20(2):160-70.

Faith, M. S., E. Manibay, M. Kravitz, J. Griffith, and D. B. Allison. 1998. "Relative Body Weight and Self-esteem among African Americans in Four Nationally Representative Samples." Obesity Research 6(6):430-7.

Gamoran, Adam. 1987. "The Stratification of High School Learning Opportunities." Sociology of Education 60(3):135-55.

Goldscheider, Frances K., and Calvin Goldscheider. 1989. "Family Structure and Conflict: Nest-leaving Expectations of Young Adults and Their Parents." Journal of Marriage & Family 51(1):87-97.

Goldscheider, Frances K., and Calvin Goldscheider. 1991. "The Intergenerational Flow of Income: Family Structure and the Status of Black Americans." {Goldscheider, 1993 #1158} 53(2):499-508.

Goldscheider, Frances K., and Calvin Goldscheider. 1993. "Whose Nest? A Two-Generational View of Leaving Home During the 1980s." Journal of Marriage & Family 55(4):851-62.

Hanson, Sandra L., David E. Myers, and Alan L. Ginsburg. 1987. "The Role of Responsibility and Knowledge in Reducing Teenage Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing." Journal of Marriage & Family 49(2):241.

Heckman, James J and Paul A. LaFontaine. 2007. "The American High School Graduation Rate: Trends and Levels," NBER Working Paper No. 13670. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research,

Heckman, James J. and Paul A. LaFontaine. 2010. "The American High School Graduate Rate: Trends and Levels." The Review of Economics and Statistics, 92(2), 244-62.

Keith, Timothy Z., Sheila M. Pottebaum, and Steve Eberhart. 1986. "Effects of Self-concept and Locus of Control on Academic Achievement: A Large-sample Path Analysis." Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment 4(1):61-72.

Lee, Valerie E. and Anthony S. Bryk. 1989. "A Multilevel Model of the Social Distribution of High School Achievement." Sociology of Education, 62(3):172-92.

Lucas, Samuel R. 2001. "Effectively Maintained Inequality: Education Transitions, Track Mobility, and Social Background Effects." American Journal of Sociology, 106(6), 1642-90.

Lucas, Samuel R. Good Aaron D. 2001. "Race, Class, and Tournament Track Mobility." Sociology of Education 74(2):139-56.

Madhere, Serge. 1997. "Convergence and Divergence in the Process of Academic Development for Black, White, and Hispanic High School Students." Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk 2(2):137-60.

Mahaffy, Kimberly A. 2004. "Girls' Low Self-Esteem: How Is It Related to Later Socioeconomic Achievements?" Gender and Society 18(3):309-27.

Marsh, Herbert W. 1989. "Sex Differences in the Development of Verbal and Mathematics Constructs: The High School and Beyond Study." American Educational Research Journal 26(2):191-225.

Marsh, Herbert W. 1990a. "Influences of Internal and External Frames of Reference on the Formation of Math and English Self-Concepts." Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1):107-16.

Marsh, Herbert W. 1990b. "Two-Parent, Stepparent, and Single-Parent Families: Changes in Achievement, Attitudes, and Behaviors during the Last Two Years of High School." Journal of Educational Psychology 82(2):327-40.

Marsh, Herbert W. 1991. "Employment during High School: Character Building or a Subversion of Academic Goals?" Sociology of Education 64(3):172-89.

Marsh, Herbert W. 1992. "Extracurricular Activities: Beneficial Extension of the Traditional Curriculum or Subversion of Academic Goals." Journal of Educational Psychology 84(4):553.

Marsh, Herbert W., and Sabina Kleitman. 2005. "Consequences of Employment during High School: Character Building, Subversion of Academic Goals, or a Threshold?" American Educational Research Journal 42(2):331-69.

Martin, M. J., and M. E. Pritchard. 1991. "Factors Associated with Alcohol Use in Later Adolescence." Journal of Studies on Alcohol 52(1):5-9.

McCaul, Edward J., and et al. 1992. "Consequences of Dropping Out of School: Findings from High School and Beyond." Journal of Educational Research 85(4):198-207.

McNeal Jr, Ralph B. 1997. "High School Dropouts: A Closer Examination of School Effects." Social Science Quarterly (University of Texas Press) 78(1):209-22.

Milne, Ann M., David E. Myers, Alvin S. Rosenthal, and Alan Ginsburg. 1986. "Single Parents, Working Mothers, and the Educational Achievement of School Children." Sociology of Education 59(3):125-39.

Morgan, Stephen L. 1996. "Trends in Black-White Differences in Educational Expectations: 1980-92." Sociology of Education 69(4):308-19.

Murnane, Richard J. 1984. "A Review Essay-Comparisons of Public and Private Schools: Lessons from the Uproar." The Journal of Human Resources 19:263-277.

Murnane, Richard J., John B. Willett, and Frank Levy. 1995. "The Growing Importance of Cognitive Skills in Wage Determination." Review of Economics and Statistics 77:251-266.

Murnane, Richard J., John B. Willett, and John H. Tyler. 2000. "Who Benefits from Obtaining a GED? Evidence from High School and Beyond." Review of Economics and Statistics 82:23-37.

Nielsen, François and Steven J. Lerner. 1986. "Language Skills and School Achievement of Bilingual Hispanics." Social Science Research, 15(3), 209-40.

Nielsen, Francois. 1986. "Hispanics in High School and Beyond," M. A. Olivas, Latino College Students. New York: Teachers College Press, 71-103.

Noah, Lewin-Epstein. 1981. Youth Employment During High School. Washington, DC. U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics.

O'Hare, W. P. 1991. "Gonna Get Married: Family Formation in Rural Areas." Population Today 19(2):6-7, 9.

Parnell, Allan M., Gray Swicegood, and Gillian Stevens. 1994. "Nonmarital Pregnancies and Marriage in the United States." Social Forces 73(1):263-87.

Pittman, Robert B. 1991. "Social Factors, Enrollment in Vocational/Technical Courses, and High School Dropout Rates." Journal of Educational Research 84(5):288-95.

Raudenbush, Stephen W., and et al. 1991. "A Multilevel, Multivariate Model for Studying School Climate with Estimation via the EM Algorithm and Application to U.S. High-School Data." Journal of Educational Statistics 16(4):295-330.

Riegle-Crumb, Catherine, Barbara King, Eric Grodsky, and Chandra Muller. 2012. "The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same? Prior Achievement Fails to Explain Gender Inequality in Entry into STEM College Majors Over Time." American Educational Research Journal 49(6):1048-73.

Rivkin, Steven G. 1995. "Black/White Differences in Schooling and Employment." Journal of Human Resources 30(4):826-52.

Rosenbaum, James. 2001. Chapter 8 “Are Noncognitive Behaviors in School Related to Later Life Outcomes?” Beyond College for All: Career Paths for the Forgotten Half. New York, NY: Russell Sage.

Taeuber, Karl E. and David R. James. 1982. "Racial Segregation among Public and Private Schools." Sociology of Education 55(2-3):133-143.

Taeuber, Karl E. and David R. James. 1983. "Racial Segregation among Public and Private Schools: A Response." Sociology of Education 56(4):204-207

Thomas, M. Kathleen. 2009. "The Impact of Education Histories on the Decision to Become Self-Employed: A Study of Young, Aspiring, Minority Business Owners." Small Business Economics, 33(4), 455-66.

Zimiles, Herbert, and Valerie E. Lee. 1991. "Adolescent

    References

    1. National Opinion Research Center. 1995. High School and Beyond Fourth Follow-Up Methodology Report. Washington, D.C. National Center for Education Statistics. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs95/95426.pdf.

    2. United States Department of Education. National Center for Educational Statistics website. Captured on July 15, 2013. “High School & Beyond (HS&B).”.

    3. University of Texas at Austin. Population Research Center website dated February 5, 2013. “Chandra Muller, Sandra E. Black and Colleagues Receive Large Grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.”

    4. "James S. Coleman." Encyclopædia Britannica . Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 22 Jul. 2013.

    5. Marsden, Peter V. “Coleman, James (1926–95)”. Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology Online.

    6. Marsden, Peter V. 2005. "The Sociology of James S. Coleman." Annual Review of Sociology, 31(1), 1-24.

    7. Raudenbush, Stephen W., and et al. 1991. "A Multilevel, Multivariate Model for Studying School Climate with Estimation via the EM Algorithm and Application to U.S. High-School Data." Journal of Educational Statistics 16(4):295-330.

    8. Lee, Valerie E. and Anthony S. Bryk. 1989. "A Multilevel Model of the Social Distribution of High School Achievement." Sociology of Education, 62(3):172-92.

    9. Gamoran, Adam. 1987. "The Stratification of High School Learning Opportunities." Sociology of Education 60(3):135-55.

    10. Bryk, Anthony S., Valerie E. Lee and Peter B. Holland. 1993. Catholic Schools and the Common Good. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    11. Coleman, James S. and Thomas Hoffer. 1987. Public and Private High Schools: The Impact of Communities. New York: Basic Books.

    12. McCaul, Edward J., and et al. 1992. "Consequences of Dropping Out of School: Findings from High School and Beyond." Journal of Educational Research 85(4):198-207.

    13. McNeal Jr, Ralph B. 1997. "High School Dropouts: A Closer Examination of School Effects." Social Science Quarterly .78(1):209-22.

    14. Pittman, Robert B. 1991. "Social Factors, Enrollment in Vocational/Technical Courses, and High School Dropout Rates." Journal of Educational Research 84(5):288-95.

    15. Taeuber, Karl E. and David R. James. 1982. "Racial Segregation among Public and Private Schools." Sociology of Education 55(2-3):133-143.

    16. Taeuber, Karl E. and David R. James. 1983. "Racial Segregation among Public and Private Schools: A Response." Sociology of Education 56(4):204-207

    17. Lucas, Samuel R. Good Aaron D. 2001. "Race, Class, and Tournament Track Mobility." Sociology of Education 74(2):139-56.

    18. Madhere, Serge. 1997. "Convergence and Divergence in the Process of Academic Development for Black, White, and Hispanic High School Students." Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk 2(2):137-60.

    19. Morgan, Stephen L. 1996. "Trends in Black-White Differences in Educational Expectations: 1980-92." Sociology of Education 69(4):308-19.

    20. Rivkin, Steven G. 1995. "Black/White Differences in Schooling and Employment." Journal of Human Resources 30(4):826-52.

    21. Riegle-Crumb, Catherine, Barbara King, Eric Grodsky, and Chandra Muller. 2012. "The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same? Prior Achievement Fails to Explain Gender Inequality in Entry into STEM College Majors Over Time." American Educational Research Journal 49(6):1048-73.

    22. Marsh, Herbert W. 1989. "Sex Differences in the Development of Verbal and Mathematics Constructs: The High School and Beyond Study." American Educational Research Journal 26(2):191-225

    23. Marsh, Herbert W. 1991. "Employment during High School: Character Building or a Subversion of Academic Goals?" Sociology of Education 64(3):172-89.

    24. Marsh, Herbert W. 1992. "Extracurricular Activities: Beneficial Extension of the Traditional Curriculum or Subversion of Academic Goals." Journal of Educational Psychology 84(4):553.

    25. Marsh, Herbert W., and Sabina Kleitman. 2005. "Consequences of Employment during High School: Character Building, Subversion of Academic Goals, or a Threshold?" American Educational Research Journal 42(2):331-69.

    26. Mahaffy, Kimberly A. 2004. "Girls' Low Self-Esteem: How Is It Related to Later Socioeconomic Achievements?" Gender and Society 18(3):309-27.

    27. Marsh, Herbert W. 1990a. "Influences of Internal and External Frames of Reference on the Formation of Math and English Self-Concepts." Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1):107-16.

    28. Bekhuis, Tanja C. H. M. 1994. "The Self-Esteem of Adolescents in American Public High Schools: A Multilevel Analysis of Individual Differences." Personality and Individual Differences 16(4):579-88.

    29. Astone, Nan Marie and Sara S. McLanahan. 1991. "Family Structure, Parental Practices and High School Completion." American Sociological Review, 56(3), 309-20.

    30. Astone, Nan Marie, and Sara S. McLanahan. 1994. "Family Structure, Residential Mobility, and School Dropout: A Research Note." Demography 31(4):575-84.

    31. Marsh, Herbert W. 1990b. "Two-Parent, Stepparent, and Single-Parent Families: Changes in Achievement, Attitudes, and Behaviors during the Last Two Years of High School." Journal of Educational Psychology 82(2):327-40.

    32. Milne, Ann M., David E. Myers, Alvin S. Rosenthal, and Alan Ginsburg. 1986. "Single Parents, Working Mothers, and the Educational Achievement of School Children." Sociology of Education 59(3):125-39.

    33. Zimiles, Herbert, and Valerie E. Lee. 1991. "Adolescent Family Structure and Educational Progress." Developmental Psychology 27(2):314.

    34. Coleman, James S. 1988. "Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital." American Journal of Sociology, 94(Supplement), S95-S120.

    35. Murnane, Richard J., John B. Willett, and Frank Levy. 1995. "The Growing Importance of Cognitive Skills in Wage Determination." Review of Economics and Statistics 77:251-266.

    36. Murnane, Richard J., John B. Willett, and John H. Tyler. 2000. "Who Benefits from Obtaining a GED? Evidence from High School and Beyond." Review of Economics and Statistics 82:23-37.

    37. Deluca, Stefanie, and James E. Rosenbaum. 2001. "Individual Agency and the Life Course: Do Low-SES Students Get Less Long-term Payoff for Their School Efforts?" Sociological Focus 34(4):357-76.

    38. Rosenbaum, James. 2001. Chapter 8 “Are Noncognitive Behaviors in School Related to Later Life Outcomes?” Beyond College for All: Career Paths for the Forgotten Half. New York, NY: Russell Sage.

    39. Eide, Eric R., Mark H. Showalter, and David P. Sims. 2002. "The Effects of Secondary School Quality on the Distribution of Earnings." Contemporary Economic Policy 20(2):160-70.

    40. Martin, M. J., and M. E. Pritchard. 1991. "Factors Associated with Alcohol Use in Later Adolescence." Journal of Studies on Alcohol 52(1):5-9.

    41. O'Hare, W. P. 1991. "Gonna Get Married: Family Formation in Rural Areas." Population Today 19(2):6-7, 9.

    42. Goldscheider, Frances K., and Calvin Goldscheider. 1989. "Family Structure and Conflict: Nest-leaving Expectations of Young Adults and Their Parents." Journal of Marriage & Family 51(1):87-97.

    43. Goldscheider, Frances K., and Calvin Goldscheider. 1991. "The Intergenerational Flow of Income: Family Structure and the Status of Black Americans." 53(2):499-508.

    44. Goldscheider, Frances K., and Calvin Goldscheider. 1993. "Whose Nest? A Two-Generational View of Leaving Home During the 1980s." Journal of Marriage & Family 55(4):851-62.

    45. Faith, M. S., E. Manibay, M. Kravitz, J. Griffith, and D. B. Allison. 1998. "Relative Body Weight and Self-esteem among African Americans in Four Nationally Representative Samples." Obesity Research 6(6):430-7.

    46. Hanson, Sandra L., David E. Myers, and Alan L. Ginsburg. 1987. "The Role of Responsibility and Knowledge in Reducing Teenage Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing." Journal of Marriage & Family 49(2):241.

    47. Parnell, Allan M., Gray Swicegood, and Gillian Stevens. 1994. "Nonmarital Pregnancies and Marriage in the United States." Social Forces 73(1):263-87.

    48. University of Texas at Austin. Population Research Center website dated February 5, 2013. “Chandra Muller, Sandra E. Black and Colleagues Receive Large Grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.”

    External links

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