Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication
Date of this Version
Winter 12-1981
Abstract
The specific objectives of this study were to compare the extent of knowledge possessed by students in Nebraska Career Information System (NCIS) schools and those in non-NCIS schools with regard to: (1) work factors as well as a knowledge of the interests and abilities which relate to these factors; (2) postsecondary school entrance and financial requirements, schools which provide training for specified occupations, together with knowledge of employment opportunities available in those occupations; (3) knowledge of working conditions, including work settings, wage scales, and the salary necessary for a beginning wage. Additional objectives were to compare the extent to which students in NCIS schools and those in non-NCIS schools could make educational choices and could make choices among alternative goals, and were familiar with the sources of occupational information available to them. Students were asked to respond to a questionnaire consisting of 33 questions designed to measure career information knowledge possessed by students from NCIS schools and students from non-NCIS schools. The population from which the sample for this study was drawn consisted of 2450 high school seniors from forty high schools in Nebraska. The schools were selected by random sampling and included twenty high schools which subscribed to NCIS and twenty which did not. Eighteen hundred and twelve respondents totaled a 74 percent participation rate. Analysis of the data revealed that significant differences were scored by students from NCIS schools in their responses to questions concerning ability to determine the level of education desired, ability to make decisions with regard to size of town as well as geographical location for job settings, knowledge of wage scales and the salary necessary for a beginning wage, awareness of schools in Nebraska which provided desired postsecondary training, choice of sources for career information, and use of materials for career information. Analysis of the data revealed that significant differences were not scored by students in their responses to questions concerning work factors and the knowledge of interest and abilities which relate to these factors, with respect to working conditions, interests in postsecondary education training, in choosing postsecondary occupation plans, with regard to an interest in planning alternate goals, awareness of job availability in chosen occupation, awareness of educational requirements for postsecondary training, knowledge of tuition costs for postsecondary schools, and with regard to knowledge of systems of career information. The recommendations based on this study include: (1) conducting an orientation on NCIS for freshmen high school students and their parents; (2) emphasizing public relations with the schools, particularly with administrators and the counselors; (3) suggesting that schools establish group guidance courses implementing NCIS; and (4) suggesting that schools use a time study with NCIS delivery of information to determine effectiveness of the system.
Comments
A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College in the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Education Major: Interdepartmental Area of Administration, Curriculum, and Instruction Under the Supervision of Professor Roy D. Dillon