The NLSY97 survey collects data on respondents' educational activities, attitudes, and status through questions on schooling. These questions, tailored to the respondent’s grade level, cover educational experiences before high school, during high school, and in college.

Additionally, the NLSY97 data include information on respondents' formal training experiences outside of regular schooling.

School and transcript surveys gathered data on schools within the NLSY97 sample areas and documenting respondents’ academic records.

In round 1, most NLSY97 respondents participated in a national assessment, the computerized Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). Some respondents also completed the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT) Math Assessment during their interviews. Furthermore, the survey have collected information on various standardized achievement tests, such as the ACT and SAT, that respondents may have taken in junior high or high school.

Table 1 summarizes the NLSY97 education, training, and achievement test topics available, along with their universes.

Structure of education questions in questionnaire

Round 1 questionnaire administration

In round 1, if the youth respondent had not attended college, the schooling section of the youth questionnaire collected information about the school currently or most recently attended by the youth. If the respondent had attended college, the questionnaire permitted the collection of information about all colleges attended, not just the current or most recent college. However, no respondents had attended more than one college as of the round 1 interview date. Therefore, in effect all respondents provided information only about their current or most recent school, regardless of whether that institution was a K-12 school or a college. In addition, if the respondent's current or most recent school was a college, or if the respondent had completed grade 12 and was not currently enrolled, the survey asked a set of retrospective questions regarding the respondent's classes and grades in high school, as well as attainment of a high school diploma or GED. Figure 1 shows the information gathered in the round 1 schooling section.

For youths with a parent interview, this school-specific information collected from the respondent is supplemented by retrospective data about the youth's schooling. The parent reported information about all schools attended by the youth since 7th grade and answered questions about gaps in enrollment of one month or more. These data are described in School Experience but not reflected in Figure 1.

Questionnaire administration in subsequent rounds

In rounds 2 and up, the schooling section of the youth questionnaire used a retrospective format. The section recorded information about all schools the respondent had attended since the last interview. The section first referred to the school (current or most recent) reported by the youth at the time of the last interview and then collected information about all schools attended since that date. The names of these schools and the dates they were attended by the respondent are organized on the NEWSCHOOL roster (school names are not released to the public). This roster also contains variables indicating the reason the respondent left the school; the level of the school (elementary, middle/junior high, high school, college); the type of school (for example, public or private); and the interview during which the school was first reported (that is, in round 1, round 2, etc.). Finally, each school is assigned an identification number (NEWSCHOOL_PUBID) so that users can tell if a respondent attended the same school in more than one round. The ID variables do not let users identify multiple respondents attending the same school. After the roster was created, the survey proceeded to ask about the respondent's experiences at each high school or college.

Figure 2 summarizes the flow of the schooling section for rounds 2 and up. Note that "DOLI" is an abbreviation for the phrase "date of last interview."

The NEWSCHOOL roster, a list of the respondent's schools, was a new feature of the round 2 schooling section and was used again in later rounds. This roster is somewhat similar to the YEMP roster used in the employment section. For each school attended since the previous interview, this roster contains the dates of up to three periods of enrollment at each school, the level of school attended, and the round in which the school was first reported. See Types of Variables: Raw, Symbols, Rosters & Created for more information about the way rosters are constructed during the interview and how researchers can use rosters in analyses.

Example illustrating the NEWSCHOOL roster's structure

Suppose a respondent named Harvey reported being enrolled in Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School at the time of the round 1 interview. In round 2, this will be the first school that the respondent is asked about and will, except in very rare cases, be the first school that appears on the NEWSCHOOL roster. Each school is assigned a pubid that is based on the round that it is first reported. In this example, the NEWSCHOOL_PUBID variable associated with this school will equal 101.

Let's say that in round 2 Harvey reported graduating from Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School the previous spring and then enrolling that fall at John F. Kennedy High School, the school at which he is currently enrolled. The PUBID variable will be assigned based on the school's status as a newly reported round 2 school and will thus be set at 201. When all schools that the respondent has attended since the date of last interview and the dates of enrollment at each school have been collected, the NEWSCHOOL roster will be sorted based on the date the respondent last attended the school. The roster is then sorted from least-recently attended to most-recently attended. Thus, in this example, Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School will appear on line 1 of the NEWSCHOOL roster, and John F. Kennedy High School will appear on line 2 of the NEWSCHOOL roster. This means that in round 2, the variables NEWSCHOOL_PUBID.01 and NEWSCHOOL_PUBID.02 will equal 101 and 201, respectively. Throughout the rest of the schooling section, the school line numbers remain constant, so that each variable containing, for example, the phrase "School 01" refers to Harvey's experience at Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School, and the phrase "School 02" refers to Harvey's experience at John F. Kennedy High School.

Now let's move ahead to round 5, where Harvey has reported graduating from John F. Kennedy High School during the spring following his round 4 interview. He now reports his current enrollment at Big State University. On Harvey's round 5 NEWSCHOOL roster, line 1 will list John F. Kennedy High School, still with a PUBID of 201, and Big State University will appear on line 2 of the NEWSCHOOL roster with a PUBID of 501. As with the previous examples involving the middle school and the high school, the school line numbers throughout the section will remain constant. John F. Kennedy High School will appear as "School 01" and Big State University will appear as "School 02."However, the presence of a college on the NEWSCHOOL roster adds some complexity to the section as there are several questions in the schooling section specifically about colleges. It is important to note that although many variables in the schooling section contain the phrase "COLL 02" or "COLLEGE 02," these variables are still sorted according to the NEWSCHOOL roster. In this example, questions in the college loop about Big State University will say "COLL 02" even though it is the first and only college reported during this interview period. There will be no data in the section for "COLL 01" because "COLL 01" is actually John F. Kennedy High School, and because it is not a college, all college loops questions about this school will be skipped.

Table 2 demonstrates the implications of the roster numbering system.