An evaluation study of an experience-based career education program

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot implementation of the Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) program in the traditional high school setting in Kanawha County, West Virginia. Four questions were formulated to serve as guides in ascertaining whether students who participated in the EBCE program exhibited cognitive abilities and affective characteristics comparable to students in the regular high school curriculum. These questions included: (1) student achievement in the comprehensive English skill areas, as measured by subtests one through five of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS); (2) attitudes toward the world of work, as indicated by the Attitude Scale of the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI); (3) attitudes toward the educational experience, as determined by the Semantic Differential; and (4) attendance, as recorded on student records. The effectiveness of the pilot EBCE program was to be determined by whether the EBCE students of the experimental group scored as well as the control students on the three selected instruments used to assess achievement and attitudes. Attendance data were also utilized as a measure of the effectiveness of the EBCE program.

The absence of opportunity for random sampling led to the choice of an evaluation, rather than an experimental, design. The evaluation design freed the experimenter from the constraint of the "go or no-go" null hypothesis, and permitted probing of the data in a more subjective, but not necessarily less meaningful manner. The test data were analyzed by the statistical tools of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). Attendance data were analyzed by the use of the chi square statistic.

Multivariate analysis of covariance tests indicated a significant difference between experimental and control groups on the five CTBS subtest posttest scores when considered simultaneously. Subsequent analysis, using Simultaneous confidence interval tests, revealed that the difference was attributable to posttest differences on the mechanics and expression subtests. The differences were in favor of the control group.

Analysis of the data relevant to growth in the area of career maturity, showed no significant difference between the experimental and control groups. The statistically similar growth of both groups suggested the influence of a maturation factor.

Evaluation of the data obtained from the semantic Differential, also showed there to be no Significant difference between the perceptions of the EBCE students toward their educational experience and those of the control group. Analysis of the attendance data, similarly failed to show significant difference between the experimental and control groups.