The evaluation of a community-based career education program for gifted and talented high school students as an administrative model for an alternative program

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of participation and nonparticipation in a triadic gifted and talented career education program on post high school career planning and direction. The subjects were identified as all former students at A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, Texas, who had been nominated as gifted and talented during the 1976-77 school term and who had participated in the screening procedures for the gifted and talented career education program. Of the 42 subjects of the study, 31 provided usable responses to the survey instrument developed specifically for this study. Statistical data generated from the responses were computed using the chi square statistic in the SAS computer program. It was concluded on the basis of results that: (1) participation in the triadic career education program for gifted and talented students made a significant difference in the perceptions of gifted and talented subjects toward the career relevance of their high school experiences , (2) there were no significant differences between participants and nonparticipants in post high school planning and direction, (3) there were no significant differences between the groups regarding the information they specified as most critical for a gifted student to receive prior to high school graduation, and (4) there were no significant differences between the groups in their opinions regarding occupations that would become obsolescent, new occupations that would emerge, and problem areas that would be future concerns. Based on the conclusions of this research, it is recommended that community-based career education be instituted as an alternative program for gifted and talented students that will provide needed indepth career experiences.