A follow-up study of the achievement of adult basic education students in pre employment programs in district vocational schools of Newfoundland and Labrador

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the achievement of former adult basic education (ABE) students who were enrolled in pre-employment training programs in the Province's vocational institutions during the 1980-81 and 1981-82 school years. The vocational achievement of these students was compared to that of three other groups of students who occupied these programs: Basic Training for Skill Development (BTSD), General Educational Development (GED), and Regular High School Program (RHSP). -- Percentage scores in Mathematics, English, Science, Trade Theory and Trade Practical represented the basic data used to compare the achievement of the various student groups within vocational school programs and program clusters. Program clusters consisted of trade programs which were grouped according to similarity of content in the various subject areas. -- The achievement of adult basic education students was found to be significantly lower in comparison to the various groups of non-adult-basic-education students on each of the dependent measures. The greatest number and range of achievement discrepancies was found between the adult basic education and the regular high school student groups. Data analysis by program clusters found that adult basic education students were comparable in achievement to the various groups of non-adult basic education students only in the business Education cluster. Data also showed significant differences in vocational achievement between sexes. -- This study recommended that Adult Education personnel undertake an intensive investigation in an effort to determine why their graduates fail to achieve to the level of their counterparts in vocational school programs.