1987 NAEP High School Transcript Study

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a federally-funded, ongoing, periodic assessment of educational achievement in the various subject areas and disciplines taught in the nation's schools. Since 1969, NAEP has gathered information about levels of educational achievement of 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds across the country. In the fall of 1987, high school transcripts were collected from 34,140 students attending 433 schools that had previously been sampled for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in 1986. The sample of students for the transcript study included both handicapped and nonhandicapped students who in 1985-1986 were enrolled in the 11th grade and/or were 17 years old. Approximately half of the sampled students had participated in NAEP assessments in 1986. The 1987 High School Transcript Study also collected school-level information such as course lists, graduation requirements, and the definition of units of credit and grades. Student information included sex, grade level, age, graduation status, and race/ethnicity.