Date of Award

12-1993

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Robert O. Brinkerhoff

Second Advisor

Dr. Dale Brethower

Third Advisor

Dr. Charles Warfield

Abstract

This is a correlational study designed to determine the readiness of high school students to pursue employment upon graduation. The study consisted of 137 subjects in grades 10-12, enrolled in 11 vocational education classes within the Kalamazoo Public School System in Kalamazoo County. Subjects were administered both a literacy instrument designed to measure literacy levels; and a self-awareness inventory, designed to obtain demographic information and to assess each subject’s knowledge or awareness of employer expectations as well as skills necessary for the workplace. Each teacher also complemented an inventory, which allowed the researcher to determine the similarities between subject’s and teacher’s responses to the one question asked of both groups. Data analysis was conducted using Pearson R to determine various relationships between subject’s literacy scores and other variables of the study.

There were four hypotheses for this study, and based on the results, two of the hypotheses were supported, the other two were not. The results suggest that: a relationship exists between subjects’ literacy levels and their awareness levels at the.10 level of significance; there is a relationship between subjects’ literacy levels and their performance on standardized tests at the .05 level of significance. There was no relationship between literacy scores for subjects’ whose parents believed in the importance in education, and those who did not. Also there was no relationship between literacy scores for students who believed in the importance in education and those who did not.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

Download

Share

COinS