Cohort Profile: High School and Beyond

High School and Beyond (HSB) began in 1980 to study how educational opportunities and experiences shape early adult outcomes, and includes a nationally representative probability sample of 30 030 sophomores and 28 240 seniors from 1020 randomly selected US public and private high schools. Data on students’ educational experiences, cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills, peers, educational and occupational plans and aspirations, health and socioeconomic background were obtained via student, parent, school administrator and teacher questionnaires. From the initial sample of 58 270 students, a random subsample of 14 830 sophomores and 12 000 seniors were selected to participate in a longitudinal panel. A follow-up of the 25 370 surviving panelists is being fielded in 2021. Questionnaires gather information about: cognitive functioning and impairment; memory complaints; health conditions; work; family; finances; COVID-19 incidence and vaccination; and wellbeing. Sample members complete several cognitive tasks commonly employed in studies of ageing. Home health visits take anthropomorphic measures and collect saliva samples (for genomic analysis of the microbiome) and whole-blood samples (for human genomic analysis and for assaying markers of neurodegeneration). High School and Beyond (HSB) was launched with funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) as part of its Secondary Longitudinal Studies Program. Sociologist James S. Coleman directed the design of the study. From 1980 through 1992, the purpose of HSB was to document the educational and labour force development of young people and to study their development as they entered post-secondary institutions, the work force, the military and adult family life. HSB sample members—all of whom were high school sophomores (10th grade of U.S. secondary school) or seniors (12th and final year of US secondary school) in the spring of 1980—occupy an important position at the end of the American Baby Boom cohort. They are the first cohort to enter adult lives after the American Civil Rights movements: after it became normative for women’s educational attainments to exceed those of men’s; after it became normative for women to work in paid jobs without interruption for child rearing; and after the decline of generous pensions and affordable health insurance for most workers. The HSB cohort is more racially and ethnically diverse than earlier cohorts, in part because it was the first to come of age after the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. From 2014 onward, however, the purpose of HSB has been to document the long-run relationship between education and sample members’ mid-life health, cognitive status, mortality, labour force status, economic status, family and other outcomes. Of particular interest has been assessing how early life educational and other contexts influence: mid-life cognitive functioning and impairment; longevity; health; and employment and economic outcomes. No other large, diverse, nationally representative US cohort study includes such a wealth of information about early life—especially educational—contexts and detailed measures of later life outcomes. In 1980, HSB students were selected through a two-stage stratified probability sample with schools as the first-stage units and students as the second-stage units.1 Except for special strata—e.g. alternative schools, high-performing private schools, predominantly Cuban schools, Catholic schools—schools were selected with probability proportional to enrolment in a stratified way across regions and urban/rural areas. Within each school, 36 seniors and 36 sophomores were randomly selected; if there were fewer than 36 seniors or 36 sophomores, all eligible students were selected. As designed, the sample included 1120 schools (from a frame of 26 100 schools with grades 10 or 12 or both). Substitution was carried out for schools that refused to participate in HSB, but there was no substitution for students who could or would not participate. In the end, the achieved sample in 1980 included 1020 schools and 58 270 participating students (including 30 030 sophomores and 28 240 seniors). See Table 1 for more details. Sociodemographic variables, by response status and by survey wave All sample sizes rounded to the nearest 10 as per the terms of our restricted data use agreement. R, respondent; NR, non-respondent; RR, response rate. Non-respondents include: (i) those eligible to respond who did not do so; and (ii) those ineligible to respond (e.g. because of death or institutionalization). Response rates include ineligible sample members as non-respondents and should be interpreted with caution. See Table 2 for more informative response rates. Sociodemographic variables, by response status and by survey wave All sample sizes rounded to the nearest 10 as per the terms of our restricted data use agreement. R, respondent; NR, non-respondent; RR, response rate. Non-respondents include: (i) those eligible to respond who did not do so; and (ii) those ineligible to respond (e.g. because of death or institutionalization). Response rates include ineligible sample members as non-respondents and should be interpreted with caution. See Table 2 for more informative response rates. From the initial sample of 58 270 students in 1980, a random subset of 26 830—including 14 830 sophomores and 12 000 seniors—has been re-interviewed on multiple occasions since 1982. By design, this longitudinal cohort sample included disproportionate numbers of base-year sample members from policy-relevant subpopulations (e.g. high-achieving racial and ethnic minorities, students from Catholic and other private high schools, high school dropouts, and students planning to pursue post-secondary schooling). Carefully constructed sampling weights allow researchers to produce statistical estimates that reflect the population from which students were selected. Nearly all panellists were born between 1962 and 1965, thus being between 56 and 59 years old in 2021. All panel members were re-surveyed in 1982, 1984, and 1986; sophomores were re-surveyed in 1992 and 2014; and seniors were re-surveyed in 2015. As the time of this writing in 2021, both sophomores and seniors are being re-interviewed and invited to participate in home health visits. The HSB surveys have had remarkably high response rates—ranging from ∼90% in the 1980s to ∼65% in the 2014–15 follow-ups2,3: see Tables 1 and 2 for more details. As shown in Table 1, there are differentials in response rate by socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and nativity such that less advantaged people, the foreign-born, and members of racial/ethnic minority groups are less likely to respond—but nonetheless response rates through 1992 were universally and remarkably high. Response rates were somewhat lower in 2014/15—although by current standards they were quite good. Several methodology reports from 1980 onward describe differential response rates and the construction of corresponding panel weights (e.g. 2, 3). Summary of data collection, 1980–2021 All sample sizes are rounded to the nearest 10 as per the terms of our NCES resricted data use agreement. Response rates are calculated based on the rounded (not the more precise) sample sizes. The target sample size for schools pertains to those schools that agreed to participate. A total of 1120 schools were invited to participate; after substitution, 1020 participated. For the 1980 teacher comment form, the target and achieved sample sizes refer to the numbers of students for whom teacher comments were sought and obtained (not the numbers of teachers targeted or responding). For the 2014 and beyond survey waves, the target sample excludes deceased and institutionalized individuals. Summary of data collection, 1980–2021 All sample sizes are rounded to the nearest 10 as per the terms of our NCES resricted data use agreement. Response rates are calculated based on the rounded (not the more precise) sample sizes. The target sample size for schools pertains to those schools that agreed to participate. A total of 1120 schools were invited to participate; after substitution, 1020 participated. For the 1980 teacher comment form, the target and achieved sample sizes refer to the numbers of students for whom teacher comments were sought and obtained (not the numbers of teachers targeted or responding). For the 2014 and beyond survey waves, the target sample excludes deceased and institutionalized individuals. As shown in Table 3, the 1980 student questionnaires gathered data on sophomores’ and seniors’ educational experiences, educational and occupational plans and aspirations, health and disability, demographic attributes, family socioeconomic background, student friendships and more. Both cohorts completed standardized multiple-choice assessments of reading, vocabulary and mathematics. Sophomores also completed assessments in writing, science and civics, and seniors completed a paired associate test of short-term memory, mosaic recognition assessments of general cognitive ability and a spatial relations assessment. Survey content, by wave and cohort, 1980 through 2014/15 Some sophomores were given a longer survey. This table only describes the content of survey items given to all sophomores and seniors. Survey content, by wave and cohort, 1980 through 2014/15 Some sophomores were given a longer survey. This table only describes the content of survey items given to all sophomores and seniors. Although not described in Table 3, the 1980 survey wave also included a parent survey, a school administrator survey and a teacher survey. The parent questionnaire—administered to only a sample of participating students—primarily gathered information about family attitudes toward and financial planning for students' post=secondary educations; it also included parental reports of students' school activities and experiences. School questionnaires gathered information about enrolment, demographics, staffing, educational programmes, school control, school finances, facilities and services, dropout rates, college-going rates and school and district policies. The teacher survey—designed to obtain at least one teacher report pertaining to each HSB sample member—provided teachers an opportunity to comment on HSB sample members' school performance, popularity and likelihood of success in higher education and in the labour market. A second school questionnaire was administered in 1982. As shown in Table 3, follow-up surveys of students conducted in the 1980s and in 1992 gathered information about cohort members’ educational, employment and family statuses, activities and transitions. The 2014 and 2015 surveys—conducted when most sample members were in their early 50 s—gathered mid-life data on health, work, family, finances and educational outcomes; see Table 3 for more details. The 2021 survey—being conducted when most sample members are approaching age 60—is gathering objective data on cognitive functioning and subjective cognitive concerns, health conditions, work, finances, family, COVID 19 and science knowledge; see Table 4 for more details. The 2021 fieldwork also includes an in-person home health visit at which anthropometric measures are gathered and blood and saliva collected. Most of the blood is stored for future analysis, but assays for markers of neurodegeneration will be conducted first. The blood and saliva are also used to produce genomic measures that characterize humans and their oral microbiomes. Survey content, 2021 follow-up, by mode Sample members are asked to complete either the telephone or web survey; those who refuse are eventually offered the paper survey. Proxy surveys are for sample members who are unable to complete a survey themselves. All sample members completing telephone, web or paper surveys are invited to complete a home health visit for anthropometric measures and blood and saliva collection; those refusing home health visits are mailed a saliva collection kit. ADRD, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia;CERAD, Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease; AD8, an eight-item Alzheimer's Disease screener; APOE, apolipoprotein E; GWAS = genome-wide association study. Survey content, 2021 follow-up, by mode Sample members are asked to complete either the telephone or web survey; those who refuse are eventually offered the paper survey. Proxy surveys are for sample members who are unable to complete a survey themselves. All sample members completing telephone, web or paper surveys are invited to complete a home health visit for anthropometric measures and blood and saliva collection; those refusing home health visits are mailed a saliva collection kit. ADRD, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia;CERAD, Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease; AD8, an eight-item Alzheimer's Disease screener; APOE, apolipoprotein E; GWAS = genome-wide association study. As shown in Figure 1, HSB records have been or soon will be linked to a variety of administrative and commercial data sources, including: secondary and post-secondary school enrolments and transcripts; mortality records; consumer credit data; real-estate transaction records; voter registration and turnout data; state tumour registries; and pharmacy records. These administrative data are available for analyses, although the manner in which they can be accessed varies across source. Administrative record data linked (or soon to be linked) to high school and beyond, by yearaYears of availability of tumour registry data vary across states. Prior to 2014, HSB survey and administrative data were extensively used for academic and policy research on issues related to education, schooling, and resulting socioeconomic outcomes in early adulthood. Several hundred academic articles, books and dissertations on issues related to education appeared in sociology, management, business, education, economics, political science, planning development, family studies, urban studies, social work, public administration, health care, health policy and other fields. A comprehensive list of publications is maintained at [http://sites.utexas.edu/hsb/publications/]. In the area of education, HSB data have most notably been used for studies related to the roles that schools play in: educational outcomes4–6; the development of students’ non-cognitive skills7,8; the correlates of dropping out of school9–11; racial/ethnic12–17 and gender18,19 disparities in schooling opportunities and outcomes; the associations among extracurricular activities, paid work and academic performance in high school20–22; and the associations among family structure, parental involvement, related variables and children's educational outcomes.23–27 With respect to early adult socioeconomic outcomes, HSB has been used for research on: the role of social capital in the creation of human capital28; the association between cognitive skills and wages and other labour market outcomes29,30; the associations between non-cognitive skills and wages and other labour market outcomes31,32; and the associations between school attributes and earnings and labour market outcomes.33 Pre-2014 HSB data have been used for research in areas outside these key areas, such as on alcohol use,34 family studies,35–38 obesity39 and teenage pregnancy.40,41 Ageing and health outcomes were included in the 2014–15 round of data collection, and the data have been used for: studies related to the relationship between high school (especially mathematics) coursework and mid-life health outcomes42; the association between failing to meet adolescent occupational expectations and early mortality via ‘deaths of despair’43; the association between taking science, technology, engineering and mathematics [STEM]-related courses in high school and later life occupational outcomes44; the importance of the source of mortality information on inferences about mortality disparities45; the association between educational attainment and inequality and mid-life noncognitive skills46; and the relationship between dimensions of the process of schooling (beyond attainment) and mortality outcomes.47 HSB is among just a few prospective cohort studies in the USA that has followed a nationally-representative—and thus highly diverse—sample of people from adolescence through later adulthood. The design and content of the study make it invaluable for studying the ways in which the process and outcomes of education ‘get under the skin’ to shape later-life cognition, health and other outcomes. Since the sample was originally clustered in over 1000 high schools, it may be valuable for understanding place-based processes, including segregation and exposure to environmental toxicants, which can shape long-run health trajectories. Its mix of survey, administrative and biomarker data allows for careful analyses of the factors that stratify core ageing outcomes among contemporary Americans. Other strengths of the study include: its relatively high response rates; the strength of the sampling designs; and the unique historical context of the cohort included in HSB. Another virtue of HSB is the potential for cross-cohort comparisons: it is one of several cohort studies in NCES’s Secondary Longitudinal Studies Program. Its predecessor—the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972—will (pending funding) be followed up soon using similar protocols as HSB. Its successors—the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 and the new High School and Beyond 2020 cohort—all could potentially be followed up in comparable ways in the future. HSB also has weaknesses for some purposes. Sample members come from one narrow range of birth cohorts, so analyses of inter-cohort trends are not generally possible using HSB data alone. All sample members completed at least 10th grade, so people who left formal schooling earlier—e.g. through high school dropout, institutionalization or early death—are not represented. Likewise, people who immigrated to the USA after completing secondary school are not represented. Because of the original purpose of the study, information about some early life cognitive and health domains—e.g. childhood disease, adolescent mental health—is somewhat limited. The surveys conducted in the early 1980s include limited information about health risk behaviours (e.g. smoking, drug use, exercise). Finally, since the survey was not conducted for many years, there is a large gap in temporal coverage between when sample members were in their early (seniors) to late (sophomores) twenties and when they were in mid-life (although as shown in Figure 1, some data are available in intervening years). Survey data and documentation through the 2014–15 follow-ups are available to qualified researchers for research purposes at no cost through NCES’s Restricted-use License Program; see [https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/licenses.asp]. The procedure to obtain a licence includes submitting: (i) a formal request document signed by the principal researchers and the senior official of the organization; (ii) a statement listing the requested database, the research goals and data use, the sectors of the community that will be served and assurance that the data will not be used for administrative or regulatory purposes; (iii) a data security plan which typically requires that data be stored on a stand-alone computer with no internet connections; (iv) a signed and notarized affidavit of non-disclosure for each individual who will have to the data; and the which the data will be used years and data from the 2021 HSB survey will be available from the National on of Alzheimer’s Disease Data see biomarker data (e.g. total will be available through the Alzheimer’s see In both a unique and will be used to sample members’ genomic data or biomarker data to their survey information at only NCES will the between these data linked survey and genomic biomarker researchers will have for to restricted survey data from for to biomarker data from and the linked records in a The protocols for the 2021 wave of HSB data collection were and by the of the of and at the of All were of the to design and the 2021 wave of HSB fieldwork and are of funding for that All to and this as for the This work and the 2021 wave of HSB data collection were by the National on of the U.S. National of and by the Alzheimer's The 2014–15 wave of HSB data collection was the the U.S. National to to to to and to the U.S. on Education to and to and the to and to The of is would to and for their and careful work on the 2021 wave of HSB data collection; and for their work on HSB since the 2014–15 wave of HSB data collection; for careful research and the survey at at the of for their also the National for and of the U.S. National for to the of at Center the of Center for and and the of Center the National on of the U.S. National of to the of at Center on and the of Center for of and and the of Center