The Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs partnered with three groups to conduct a study that aims to positively affect how higher education is approached in Appalachia Ohio. A student’s ability to achieve higher education and succeed is the goal of the ongoing study, “Access and Success – Appalachian Ohio.”
“We hope that this study will help us figure out what is being done and what we need to do in the future, as well as give us insights on where to direct more work,” Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education Executive Director Brenda Haas said.
Southeast Ohio’s history of low college-attendance and a similar study conducted in 1992 inspired the current two-year study that will include five different reports. The first report was published on the OACHE Web site in January. The second report is currently underway and involves interviewing high school seniors and high school counselors. The reports aim to provide information about how programs and policies can better assist students from Appalachian Ohio to successfully pursue higher education and college degrees.
“The study in 1992 described the barriers faced by Appalachian Ohio students,” Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs staff member Marsha Lewis said. “This [current] study replicates that and will see if or how the situation has changed and what areas are most important for programs and policies.”
The first report analyzed secondary data and found several conclusions about education in the Appalachian Ohio area. First, compared to the rest of the state, Appalachia Ohio has a lower percentage of students who take high school curriculum that would prepare them for college; fewer students take Advanced Placement tests; fewer students attended Ohio colleges in 2004; and fewer students continue college after their first year. However, the results also found that Appalachian Ohio school districts have a slightly higher percentage of students who take at least one college course in high school than in the rest of the state. Interestingly, the percent of first generation college students in Appalachian Ohio is higher than in the rest of the state and students tend to lean toward pursuing degrees in fields that will help Ohio’s current and emerging growth sectors, especially the medical field.
The data complied in the first report built the foundation of knowledge that will assist with the completion of the remaining four reports. For the second report, approximately 1,300 high school seniors are being interviewed about their aspirations, how they prepare for college, their high school coursework and their current career choices. High school counselors will also be interviewed.
“Guidance counselors are pivotal people who give students a sense that they can succeed,” Voinovich School staff member Lesli Johnson said. “Some of the barriers [for students] other than finances in the 1992 study were that students, teachers, parents and counselors did not think students were capable of college work – perceptual barriers.”
Appalachian Ohio high school students were surveyed for the third report and were asked about their future collegiate or non-collegiate plans. Future studies will include asking college students about their college experiences and future plans and surveying parents.
“There is a concern about talent leaving the state, [so] the interviews with graduating high school students and college students will assess whether or not students plan to find jobs in the state and the [southeast Ohio] area,” Johnson said.
An educated workforce is very important and advantageous to the region, according to Johnson; therefore, follow-up surveys with the students will be conducted post-college graduation, which were not completed in the 1992 study. The fourth and fifth reports will continue to assess college access, retention, post-secondary pathways and students’ completion of high school and college in Appalachia Ohio in the hope to improve educational experiences and opportunities.
The current study continues the commitment to education in Appalachia Ohio that was started by the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) in their 1992 “Appalachian Access and Success” study. Its results created successful policies and programs that greatly affected the area, like the creation of the Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education. OACHE has served as a model program and has been replicated other states like Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
For the current two-year study, OACHE joined forces with the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, the OBR, the Ohio College Access Network and the Ohio Department of Education’s Ohio College Tech Prep Program.
“Many of the same stakeholders had a hand in the first study, which shows the continuing commitment to [education in] this region,” Lewis said.
The fourth and fifth reports will continue to assess the student, parent and counselor interviews and surveys. They will be conducted in the latter part of the year.
OACHE Executive Director Haas hopes that this current venture will drive policy like the 1992 study. She would also like to see researchers take pieces of the study and analyze them at a deeper, grassroots level. Haas also potentially sees the study assisting with one of her long-term visions for OACHE: to work with elementary and middle schools on career awareness.
“We must get a handle on what is happening now,” Haas said. “We are fortunate to have the Voinovich School [who can help us] see this and [perform] follow-up analyses.”
Additional Information: http://www.ohio.edu/outlook/08-09/June/713.cfm