Summary of Graduate Intentions: 2001-02

Evaluation & Research Department October 2003 E&R Report No. 02.30 SUMMARY OF GRADUATE INTENTIONS: 2001-02 Overview: Wake County Public Schools graduated 5,406 seniors in 2001-02, and 89% intended to continue their education after graduation. Near the end of each school year, high school seniors complete a Graduating Seniors Intention Survey that serves multiple purposes: it reveals the immediate intentions of each graduating senior; it specifies a select college to receive final transcripts; and it provides a forwarding address for possible follow-up surveys. Using these surveys, guidance counselors and principals complete a composite report of the postgraduate intentions of all students receiving diplomas at any time during the current school year. The required report summarizes intentions by ethnicity and gender. The Evaluation and Research Department (E&R) then compiles the individual school reports and transmits them to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This report is a brief summary of the information for graduates in the 2001-02 school year. The survey asks students to indicate whether they plan to: • enroll in four-year institutions (broken down by public or private) and whether or not their intended college is in or out of North Carolina; • enroll in two-year community, technical, or junior colleges (broken down by public or private) and whether or not their intended college is in or out of North Carolina; • enroll in trade, business, or nursing schools; • enlist in military service; • seek employment; • do something other than the items listed above. For summary purposes, all four-year institutions are combined, and all two-year institutions are combined in this report. Attachments contain a summary of Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) graduate intentions for 2001-02, detailed tables showing all postgraduate categories for all schools, Graduate Intentions Over a Four-Year Period by School, and a sample of the Graduating Seniors Intention Survey A total of 5,406 students graduated from 15 high schools and one alternative school during the 2001-02 school year. This constitutes a 4.92% increase from last year. Author Wanda Wildman Chuck Dulaney E&R Report No. 02.30 Of the total number of graduating students in WCPSS, 49% were males and 51% were females. The following figure shows the distribution of males and females in the prescribed postgraduate categories. More females than males planned to attend four-year colleges, and more females than males intended to continue with some form of schooling. About 6% of females and 11% of males intended to enter the military or get a full-time job. Results by gender are nearly the same as for 2000-01 graduates. Figure 1: Graduate Intentions by Gender in 2001-02 Males Females Totals Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Attend 4-year college 1523 57.9% 1878 67.7% 3401 62.9% Attend 2-year college 685 26.0% 627 22.6% 1312 24.3% Trade/business school 51 1.9% 35 1.3% 86 1.6% Go into the military 112 4.3% 28 1.0% 140 2.6% Get a full-time job 177 6.7% 134 4.8% 311 5.8% Other 83 3.2% 73 2.6% 156 2.9% Totals 2631 2775 5406 The next table illustrates the breakdown by subgroups designated in federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. By ethnicity, the group with the highest percentage of students planning to attend a four-year college was Asian at 78.2%; Hispanic/Latino graduates had the lowest percentage at 44.1%. American Indian and Black graduates had the highest percentage of students planning to get a full-time job (10%) while Asian graduates had the lowest percentage at 1.3%. Figure 2: Graduate Intentions by NCLB Grouping in 2001-02 (Percent of Students) American Hispanic/ Multi- Asian Black White FRL LEP Indian Latino Racial N=234 N=1101 N=3840 N=348 N=111 N=10 N=152 N=69 Attend 4-year college 50.0% 78.2% 52.6% 66.0% 44.1% 49.3% 36.2% 26.1% Attend 2-year college 40.0% 17.1% 27.5% 23.2% 34.2% 33.3% 35.9% 54.1% Trade/business school 0 0.4% 3.0% 1.2% 2.6% 1.4% 2.3% 0 Go into the military 0 0.9% 3.9% 2.3% 3.3% 2.9% 4.6% 1.8% Get a full-time job 10.0% 1.3% 10.0% 4.6% 9.9% 7.2% 12.4% 8.1% Other 0 2.1% 3.0% 2.7% 5.9% 5.8% 8.6% 9.9% Note: The numbers for Free or Reduced-price Lunch (FRL) and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) categories were taken from individual Graduating Seniors Intention Survey forms, not from reports submitted by schools. 2 E&R Report No. 02.30 Figure 3 compares WCPSS graduating students to all graduating students in North Carolina for the last two years for which data is available. WCPSS had a higher percentage of both White and Black students planning to attend four-year institutions. While 66% of White students in WCPSS planned to attend four-year colleges in 2001-02, only 44% of all North Carolina White students had those aspirations, a 22-point difference. About 53% of Black graduates in WCPSS planned to attend four-year colleges, compared to 46% of all North Carolina Black graduates. Figure 3: Comparison of Graduate Intentions for WCPSS and North Carolina (Percent of Graduates) Attend four-year Attend two-year Get a full-time job WCPSS college college 2000-01 2001-02 2000-01 2001-02 2000-01 2001-02 American Indian 80% 50% 10% 40% - 10% Asian 74% 78% 19% 17% 3% 1% Black 54% 53% 26% 28% 8% 10% White 65% 66% 24% 23% 5% 5% Hispanic/Latino 40% 44% 37% 34% 14% 10% Multi-racial 63% 49% 32% 33% 5% 7% Total 63% 63% 24% 24% 5% 6% Attend four-year Attend two-year Get a full-time job North Carolina college college 2000-01 2001-02 2000-01 2001-02 2000-01 2001-02 American Indian 31% 40% 28% 31% 20% 15% Black 45% 46% 28% 25% 9% 12% White 49% 44% 34% 33% 10% 12% Other* 42% 39% 32% 32% 12% 12% Total 48% 48% 32% 33% 10% 9% * North Carolina Statistical Profiles group Asian, Hispanic/Latino, and Multi-racial graduates together as “Other.” Note: Percentages do not add to 100 because this figure does not show other intentions. See Attachment 1 or Figure 2 for more detail. 3 E&R Report No. 02.30 Figure 4 shows a breakdown of graduating seniors by ethnicity for each WCPSS high school. The 2001-02 graduating class size of the comprehensive high schools ranged from 180 students at Wakefield (first year of graduating seniors) to 496 students at Enloe. The average graduating class from a WCPSS high school in 2001-02 was 357 students. (Note: Longview and Phillips are alternative schools with specialized programs and do not offer a comprehensive curriculum.) Figure 4: Ethnic Breakdown for High Schools in 2001-02 (Number of Students) All Graduating Students American Hispanic/ Multi- Indian Asian Black White Latino Racial Total Apex 1 10 41 362 29 5 448 Athens - 27 44 277 17 1 366 Broughton 1 21 65 265 7 2 361 Cary - 38 37 231 16 11 333 East Wake 2 2 89 192 11 1 297 Enloe - 41 154 287 6 8 496 Fuquay-Varina - 1 55 235 4 - 295 Garner - 2 104 249 9 8 372 Green Hope - 25 19 268 10 2 324 Leesville 1 20 59 351 9 4 444 Longview - ----- 0 Millbrook - 22 106 252 19 11 410 Phillips - 1 30 20 2 2 55 Sanderson 1 6 79 236 6 6 334 SE Raleigh 3 10 154 285 2 1 455 Wake Forest - 3 40 187 4 2 236 Wakefield 1 5 25 143 1 5 180 Totals 10 234 1101 3840 152 69 5406 Percent 0% 3% 13% 47% 2% 1% 100% A closer look is given to the graduate intentions of seniors by school in Figure 5. The percentage of graduating students at a comprehensive high school planning to attend four-year colleges ranged from 39% to 78%. The percentage of graduating students planning to further their educational pursuits through four-year colleges, two-year colleges, or trade/business schools ranged from 78% to 96%. The school with the largest senior class – Enloe—with 496 graduating students—also had the highest percentage of students (78%) planning to attend four-year institutions. 4 E&R Report No. 02.30 Leesville Road had the highest percentage of seniors (96% - up four points from last year) planning to continue their education, either through four-year colleges, two-year colleges, or trade/business schools. Other schools with more than 90% of graduates planning to continue their education include Athens Drive, Apex, and Enloe. Fuquay-Varina had the highest percentage of seniors (6%) planning to enter the military. East Wake had the highest percentage of seniors (10%) planning to seek employment. Schools that had the highest percentage of students with intentions other than college or trade school were Garner (22%), East Wake (19%), Fuquay-Varina (18%), and Cary (14%). Figure 5: Graduate Intentions by School in 2001-02 (Percent of Students) Total Other school Military Employment Employment Trade/Business Two-year college Four-year college Apex 61% 30% 2% 2% 5% 0% 100% Athens 66% 26% 2% 1% 2% 4% 100% Broughton 77% 12% 1% 3% 4% 3% 100% Cary 54% 31% 2% 2% 8% 4% 100% East Wake 45% 34% 1% 6% 10% 3% 100% Enloe 78% 14% 1% 2% 3% 2% 100% Fuquay-Varina 48% 33% 1% 5% 11% 2% 100% Garner 39% 38% 1% 4% 15% 2% 100% Green Hope 71% 19% 1% 0% 5% 4% 100% Leesville 76% 19% 1% 1% 1% 2% 100% Millbrook 62% 23% 1% 2% 4% 6% 100% Phillips 5% 5% 38% 0% 51% 0% 100% Sanderson 65% 24% 1% 1% 5% 4% 100% SE Raleigh 72% 17% 1% 4% 4% 3% 100% Wake Forest 61% 28% 2% 5% 3% 2% 100% Wakefield 58% 32% 2% 2% 2% 4% 100% Percent 59% 24% 4% 3% 8% 3% 100% Total Students 3401 1312 86 140 311 156 5406 5 E&R Report No.

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