Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002): A First Look at the Initial Postsecondary Experiences of the High School Sophomore Class of 2002

摘要

The Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) provides a wealth of information from multiple sources about the factors and circumstances related to the performance and social development of American high school sophomores as they enter and leave various levels of the education system. This First Look report draws upon ELS:2002 second follow-up data to describe the initial postsecondary experiences of the high school sophomore class of 2002. Particular attention is paid to rates of postsecondary participation, as well as to student background characteristics and high school factors associated with postsecondary destinations and decisions. Appendix A provides a description of the ELS:2002 design for data users, in addition to outlining a range of research questions that can be addressed using the survey data. We hope that the information provided in this brief overview will be useful to a wide range of interested readers, including policymakers and educators. We further hope that the results reported here will encourage other researchers to use the ELS:2002 data.