Teachers Education Follow-Up Surveys : Are the Respondents Representatives of the Group? / Judith A. Boser.

An attempt was made to determine whether a non-response bias exists in the annual follow-up surveys of graduates of teacher education programs when the surveys focus on more than employment. Subjects were 291 graduates of teacher certification programs at a major university in the southeastern United States from Fall 1986 through Summer 1987. In an initial survey concerning employment, 88.6% of the subjects responded. A second follow-up was conducted that requested more detailed information, including evaluation of the teacher preparation program and career plans. A total of 227 subjects (78%) responded. Sixty-four subjects did not respond, and most of these non-respondents could not be contacted. Data were also collected from analyses of subjects' college records. Chi-square tests comparing respondents and non-respondents on employment, major, status, date of graduation, location, and gender revealed no significant differences for these variables. Non-respondents tended to be older than respondents, but no significant differences were found for grade point average and scores on the American College Tests and the National Teacher Examination. Since the survey had a 78% response rate, it was encouraging to know that respondents were representative of the entire sample. Two tables provide the results of chi-square and Mann-Whitney comparisons of the study data. (SLD)

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