High School and Beyond (HS&B) Series

collection: series

Investigator(s): National Center for Education Statistics

About this Collection

The HS&B describes the activities of seniors and sophomores as they progressed through high school, postsecondary education, and into the workplace. The data cover the period 1980 through 1992 and include parent, teacher, and high school transcript data, student financial aid records, and college transcripts in addition to student questionnaires.

NCES also provides access to HS&B data through the DAS Web site. At this site you will find a link to a Windows software data analysis application (DAS). Users must download this software to their personal computers, create and submit their own specifications to generate statistical tables to this Web site, and retrieve their results.

For more information, visit HS&B at NCES.

Studies

4 results

High School and Beyond, 1980: Sophomore and Senior Cohort Third Follow-up (1986)

This data collection represents the fourth wave of the High School and Beyond series. The base-year data (ICPSR 7896) were collected in 1980, and the first and second follow-ups (ICPSR 8297 and ICPSR 8443) were conducted in 1982 and 1984. The High School and Beyond series is a longitudinal study of students who were high school sophomores and seniors in 1980. As with the first and second follow-ups, the structure and documentation of High School and Beyond Third Follow-Up data files represent a departure from base-year (1980) practices. While the base-year student file contains data from both the senior and sophomore cohorts, the three follow-up surveys provide separate student files for the two cohorts. Each of the cohort files for this collection merges the base year and first and second follow-up data with the third follow-up data. To maintain comparability with prior waves, many questions from previous follow-up surveys were repeated on the third follow-up questionnaire. Respondents were asked to update background information and to provide information about their work experience, unemployment history, education and other training, family information, income, and other experiences and opinions. Event history formats were used for obtaining responses about jobs held, schools attended, periods of unemployment, and marriage patterns. New items were added on respondents' interest in graduate degree programs and on alcohol consumption habits. The transcript files, which present data taken from official records of academic and vocational schools, include information on program enrollments, periods of study, fields of study pursued, specific courses taken, and credentials earned.

High School and Beyond, 1980: A Longitudinal Survey of Students in the United States

This data collection contains information from the first wave of High School and Beyond (HSB), a longitudinal study of American youth conducted by the National Opinion Research Center on behalf of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Data were collected from 58,270 high school students (28,240 seniors and 30,030 sophomores) and 1,015 secondary schools in the spring of 1980. Many items overlap with the NCES's NATIONAL LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE CLASS OF 1972 (ICPSR 8085). The HSB study's data are contained in eight files. Part 1 (School Data) contains data from questionnaires completed by high school principals about various school attributes and programs. Part 2 (Student Data) contains data from surveys administered to students. Included are questionnaire responses on family and religious background, perceptions of self and others, personal values, extracurricular activities, type of high school program, and educational expectations and aspirations. Also supplied are scores on a battery of cognitive tests including vocabulary, reading, mathematics, science, writing, civics, spatial orientation, and visualization. To gather the data in Part 3 (Parent Data), a subsample of the seniors and sophomores surveyed in HSB was drawn, and questionnaires were administered to one parent of each of 3,367 sophomores and of 3,197 seniors. The questionnaires contain a number of items in common with the student questionnaires, and there are a number of items in common between the parent-of-sophomore and the parent-of-senior questionnaires. This is a revised file from the one originally released in Autumn 1981, and it includes 22 new analytically constructed variables imputed by NCES from the original survey data gathered from parents. The new data are concerned primarily with the areas of family income, liabilities, and assets. Other data in the file concentrate on financing of post-secondary education, including numerous parent opinions and projections concerning the educational future of the student, anticipated financial aid, student's plans after high school, expected ages for student's marriage and childbearing, estimated costs of post-secondary education, and government financial aid policies. Also supplied are data on family size, value of property and other assets, home financing, family income and debts, and the age, sex, marital, and employment status of parents, plus current income and expenses for the student. Part 4 (Language Data) provides information on each student who reported some non-English language experience, with data on past and current exposure to and use of languages. In Parts 5-6, there are responses from 14,103 teachers about 18,291 senior and sophomore students from 616 schools. Students were evaluated by an average of four different teachers who had the opportunity to express knowledge or opinions of HSB students whom they had taught during the 1979-1980 school year. Part 5 (Teacher Comment Data: Seniors) contains 67,053 records, and Part 6 (Teacher Comment Data: Sophomores) contains 76,560 records. Questions were asked regarding the teacher's opinions of their student's likelihood of attending college, popularity, and physical or emotional handicaps affecting school work. The sophomore file also contains questions on teacher characteristics, e.g., sex, ethnic origin, subjects taught, and time devoted to maintaining order. The data in Part 7 (Twins and Siblings Data) are from students in the HSB sample identified as twins, triplets, or other siblings. Of the 1,348 families included, 524 had twins or triplets only, 810 contained non-twin siblings only, and the remaining 14 contained both types of siblings. Finally, Part 8 (Friends Data) contained the first-, second-, and third-choice friends listed by each of the students in Part 2, along with identifying information allowing links between friendship pairs.

High School and Beyond, 1980: Sophomore and Senior Cohort Second Follow-up (1984)

This data collection constitutes the third wave of data in the High School and Beyond series. The base-year data (ICPSR 7896) were collected in 1980, and the first follow-up (ICPSR 8297) was conducted in 1982. The series is a longitudinal study of students who were high school sophomores and seniors in 1980. As with the first follow-up, the structure and documentation of High School and Beyond Second Follow-Up data files represent a departure from base-year (1980) practices. While the base-year student file contains data from both the senior and sophomore cohorts, the two follow-up surveys provide separate student files for the two cohorts. Each of the cohort files for this collection merges the base year and first follow-up data with second follow-up data. Data collected for the sophomore cohort second follow-up differ substantially from data collected for the first follow-up since by 1984 the majority of respondents were out of high school and enrolled in postsecondary school, working, or looking for work. File 1, the Sophomore Cohort Second Follow-up Sample File, includes detailed questionnaire responses on background information, education, other training, military experience, work experience, periods unemployed, family information, income, experiences, and opinions. Information is also presented on the kind of school attended, hours per week spent in class, degree, certificate or diploma being sought, and requirements completed. Financial information in this file includes items on tuition and fees, scholarships, and financial aid from parents to the respondent and to any siblings. Work history data, including occupation, industry, gross starting salary, gross income, hours per week worked, and job satisfaction, are available along with data on the family, including the spouse's occupation and education, date of marriage(s), and number of children. File 5, the Senior Cohort Second Follow-up Sample File, repeats many of the same variables that are present in the first follow-up for this cohort. Respondents were asked to update background information, to provide information about postsecondary education, work experience, military service, family, income, and life goals. New items include a limited series on computer literacy (e.g., use of computers and software, knowledge of computer language), detailed information on financial assistance received from parents for pursuing postsecondary education, education and training outside of regular school, college or military programs (on-the-job and other employer-provided training), and periods of unemployment. Files 9,11,12, and 13 contain transcript data from each postsecondary institution reported by sample members of the High School and Beyond elder cohort (1980 senior cohort) in their responses to the High School and Beyond First Follow-up (1982) and Second Follow-up (1984) surveys. Data are available for several types of postsecondary institutions, ranging from short-term vocational or occupational programs through major universities with graduate programs and professional schools. Data in these four rectangular files--Student, Transcript, Term, and Course Files--are organized to be used in combination hierarchically. Information is available on terms of attendance, fields of study, specific courses taken, and grades and credits earned. A supplementary survey, the Administrator and Teacher Survey (ATS), was conducted in 1984 in approximately half of the schools sampled in the original High School and Beyond study. The ATS was designed to explore findings from research on effective schools, which were defined as those schools in which students perform at higher levels than would be expected from their backgrounds and other factors. The ATS provides measures of staff goals, school climates, and other processes identified in the effective schools literature as being important for achieving educational excellence. Separate questionnaires were administered to teachers, administrators, vocational education coordinators, and heads of guidance. Items in the questionnaires were selected to complement information already in the High School and Beyond database. Included were questions on staff goals, pedagogic practices, interpersonal relations of staff, work load of teachers, staff attitudes, availability and use of guidance services, planning processes, hiring practices, special programs, and linkages to local employers, parents, and the community.