A nationally representative sample of eighth-graders were first surveyed in the spring of 1988. A sample of these respondents were then resurveyed through four follow-ups in 1990, 1992, 1994, and 2000. On the questionnaire, students reported on a range of topics including: school, work, and home experiences; educational resources and support; the role in education of their parents and peers; neighborhood characteristics; educational and occupational aspirations; and other student perceptions. Additional topics included self-reports on smoking, alcohol and drug use and extracurricular activities. For the three in-school waves of data collection (when most were eighth-graders, sophomores, or seniors), achievement tests in reading, social studies, mathematics and science were administered in addition to the student questionnaire.
To further enrich the data, students' teachers, parents, and school administrators were also surveyed. Coursework and grades from students' high school and postsecondary transcripts are also available in the restricted use dataset - although some composite variables have been made available in the public use file.
The NELS:88 data can be used for policy-relevant research about educational processes and outcomes, for example: student learning; early and late predictors of dropping out; and school effects on students' access to programs and equal opportunity to learn.
The base year of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) represents the first stage of this major longitudinal effort designed to provide trend data about critical transitions experienced by students as they leave middle or junior high school, and progress through high school and into postsecondary institutions or the work force.
The first follow-up in 1990 constitutes the first opportunity for longitudinal measurements from the 1988 baseline. It also provides a comparison point to high school sophomores-ten years before, as studied in HS&B. The dataset captures the population of early dropouts (those who leave school prior to the end of tenth grade), while monitoring the transition of the student population into secondary schooling.
The second follow-up took place early in 1992, when most sample members were in the second term of their senior year. The second follow-up provides a culminating measurement of learning in the course of secondary school, and also collects information that will facilitate investigation of the transition into the labor force and postsecondary education after high school. Because the NELS:88 sample was freshened to represent the high school class of 1992, trend comparisons can be made to the high school classes of 1972 and 1980 that were studied in NLS-72 and HS&B. The NELS:88 second follow-up returned to students who were identified as dropouts in 1990, and identified and surveyed additional students who had left school since the prior wave.
The third follow-up took place in 1994, when most sample members had completed high school. The primary goals of the 1994 round were: 1) to provide data for trend comparisons with NLS-72 and HS&B; 2) to address issues of employment and postsecondary access and choice; and 3) to ascertain how many dropouts have returned to school and by what route.
Data from the fourth follow-up interview in 2000 will permit researchers to examine what this cohort had accomplished 12 years after the eighth-grade baseline survey. The 2000 data were collected at a key stage of life transitions for the eighth-grade class of 1988-most had been out of high school for nearly 8 years. Many had already completed postsecondary education, started or even changed careers, and started to form families. The public use fourth follow-up data is now available.
Researchers may obtain a free copy of the NELS:88 public use data files and electronic codebook (ECB) from the NELS:88 contact persons.
For access to restricted NELS:88 data, researchers will need to obtain (or amend) an NCES restricted data license due to NCES's confidentiality legislation.
Recent Publications
September 18, 2007:
Interpreting 12th-Graders’ NAEP-Scaled Mathematics Performance Using High School Predictors and Postsecondary Outcomes From the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88)This report utilizes four sources of NELS:88 data: questionnaire responses, tests, high school transcripts, and postsecondary education transcripts.
August 9, 2007:
Advanced Mathematics and Science Coursetaking in the Spring High School Senior Classes of 1982, 1992, and 2004This report presents new time series data on the coursetaking patterns in mathematics and science for the spring high school graduating classes of 1982, 1992, and 2004.
May 31, 2007:
Findings from the Condition of Education 2007: High School CoursetakingThis report contains a special analysis that is republished from the Condition of Education 2007 in a booklet form.
October 12, 2006:
Economic Outcomes of High School Completers and Noncompleters 8 Years LaterThis Issue Brief uses data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) to compare the economic outcomes of high school completers at three different points in time with the outcomes of individuals who did not complete high school.
