Appendix 11: Collection of the Transcript Data (High School)
Appendix 11: Collection of the Transcript Data (High School)
Notes on Transcript Survey Variables
Transcript Survey variables can be found in the NLSY97 data set by browsing through the "transcript survey" area of interest or by searching for question names with the prefix TRANS_. This section provides supplemental notes not included in the codebook about individual transcript variables.
Table 6. Additional information about Transcript Survey variables
Question name (all begin with TRANS_) and reference number(s) | Variable title and notes |
CRS_CODE.xx R97128.-R97251. |
Course Code xx Courses are numbered approximately as they appeared on the high school transcript. The course number has no content except to identify the course uniquely. Because terms are numbered approximately chronologically, course numbers and term numbers may not increase in tandem. Information on the Secondary School Taxonomy - Revised (SST-R) is available on the National Center for Education Statistics website, http://nces.ed.gov. Note that researchers must use the crosswalk provided above to compare the NLSY97 course codes to the SST-R. |
CRS_CREDIT.xx R97252.-R97375. |
Credits Earned for Course xx Credits earned are listed in the units provided by the school and are not necessarily comparable across schools. Some schools may award 1 credit for a one-year course, while others award credits according to the number of hours per week that the course meets. Course credits within a term may not sum to the credits earned for the term due to additional credits from non-coursework activities (e.g., community service, yearbook, etc.), or because of credit accumulation rules that involve multiple courses. For example, all religion courses may be worth .5 credits, but a student may face a ceiling of 2 credits earned from religion courses across all high school terms. |
CRS_GRADE_RECODE_STATUS.xx R97376.-R97499. |
Recoding Status of Grade for Course xx See "Course Grades" discussion under Data Entry and Processing above. |
CRS_GRADE.xx R97500.-R97623. |
Recoded Quality Grade xx See "Course Grades" discussion under Data Entry and Processing above. |
CRS_TERM_NU.xx R97624.-R97747. |
Course Term Number xx Because terms are numbered approximately chronologically while courses are numbered approximately as they appeared on the transcript, course numbers and term numbers may not increase in tandem. The term number has no content except to identify the term uniquely. |
TERM_CREDIT.xx R97748.-R97765. |
Credits Earned in Term xx Credits earned are listed in the units provided by the school and are not necessarily comparable across schools. Some schools may award 1 credit for a one-year course, while others award credits according to the number of hours per week that the course meets. Course credits within a term may not sum to the credits earned for the term due to additional credits from non-coursework activities (e.g., community service, yearbook, etc.), or because of credit accumulation rules that involve multiple courses. For example, all religion courses may be worth .5 credits, but a student may face a ceiling of 2 credits earned from religion courses across all high school terms. |
TERM_START_DATE.xx R97856.-R97873.01 |
Month, Year Term Started xx Calendar month and year listed on transcript for start of term. If only one date was associated with a term and a start or end date could not be determined, that date appears in TERM_END_DATE.xx. Term dates may overlap if a youth transferred from one school to another mid-session, or in rare cases, with simultaneous enrollment in a vocational school, alternative school program or community college. |
TERM_END_DATE.xx R97766.-R97783.01 |
Month, Year Term Ended xx Calendar month and year listed on transcript for end of term. If only one date was associated with a term and a start or end date could not be determined, that date appears as the end date. Term dates may overlap if a youth transferred from one school to another mid-session, or in rare cases, with simultaneous enrollment in a vocational school, alternative school program or community college. |
TERM_GRADE.xx R97784.-R97801. |
Grade Level for Term xx The grade level (e.g., 10, 11, etc.) in which the youth was enrolled during term xx. |
TERM_SCH_NU.xx R97802.-R97819. |
School Number for Term xx The ID of the school in which the youth was enrolled in term xx. Corresponds only to variables SCH_CAT.xx and not to other school IDs in the NLSY97 youth data. School number 01 indicates the school from which the transcript was received. A school number greater than 01 indicates transferred coursework. |
TERM_SEASON.xx R97820.-R97837. |
Term Season xx Calendar season or other term designation of term xx. Note, when the term structure did not correspond to a season, a term type designation was assigned to maintain a chronological progression. |
TERM_YEAR.xx R97838.-R97855.01 |
Term Year xx Calendar year of term xx designation. May not match TERM_END_DATE.xx or TERM_START_DATE.xx, as in Fall 2000 term ending in January 2001. |
SCH_CAT.xx R97874.-R97885. |
Course Catalog Received xx Marked 'yes' if a course catalog was available from the school during the course coding process. May indicate higher reliability of SST-R code assigned in CRS_CODE.xx. Can be linked to CRS_CODE.xx through term number of course (CRS_TERM_NU.xx) and school number of term (TERM_SCH_NU.xx). School numbers link only to TERM_SCH_NU.xx variable and not to other school IDs in the NLSY97 youth data. School number 01 indicates the school from which the transcript was received, generally the most recent school of enrollment. A school number greater than 01 indicates transferred coursework. |
SPECIAL_ED R97886. |
Participated in Special Ed Marked yes if sampled school indicated on Student Request list that youth was enrolled in special education courses. Pertains to School 01. |
BILING_ED R97887. |
Participated in Bilingual Ed Marked yes if sampled school indicated on Student Request list that youth was enrolled in bilingual education courses. Pertains to School 01. |
GIFTED_CRS R97888. |
Participated in Gifted Courses Program Marked yes if sampled school indicated on Student Request list that youth was enrolled in a gifted courses program. Pertains to School 01. |
TERM_TOTAL R97889. |
Total Number of Terms Reported Total number of terms reported for youth across all schools. Equal to the maximum xx for which TERM_xx variables will have non-missing data. |
SCH_START_DATE R97890.-R97890.01 |
Month, Year Enrollment at School Started Calendar month and year in which school shows student as first enrolled. Pertains to School 01. |
SCH_END_DATE R97891.-R97891.01 |
Month, Year Enrollment at School Ended Calendar month and year in which school shows student as last enrolled. Pertains to School 01. |
AB_AYxxxx R97892.-R97899. |
Number of Absences in Academic Year xxxx Total absences in each academic year if youth was enrolled during that school year. For example, variable AB_AY1992 refers to absences in academic year 1992-93. May have been reported annually or summed from term-level data. Pertains to School 01. |
AB-MISS R97900. |
Number of Absences if Year Not Assigned Total absences for youth if absences are not classified by attendance year. Pertains to School 01. |
TARDY_AYxxxx R97901.-R97908. |
Number of Tardies in Academic Year xxxx Total tardies in each academic year if youth was enrolled during that school year. For example, variable TARDY_AY1992 refers to tardies in academic year 1992-93. May have been reported annually or summed from term-level data. Pertains to School 01. |
TARDY_MISS R97909. |
Number of Tardies if Year Not Assigned Total tardies for youth if tardies are not classified by attendance year. Pertains to School 01. |
FLAG_MISS_AB_AYxxxx R97910.-R97917. |
Enrolled, Missing Absences in Academic Yr xxxx Flag indicating that youth was enrolled in an academic year but was missing absence information for that year. For example, FLAG_MISS_AB_AY1992 refers to academic year 1992-93. Pertains to School 01. |
FLAG_MISS_TARDY_AYxxxx R97918.-R97925. |
Enrolled, Missing Tardies in Academic Yr xxxx Flag indicating that youth was enrolled in an academic year but was missing tardy information for that year. For example, FLAG_MISS_TARDY_AY1992 refers to academic year 1992-93. Pertains to School 01. |
AT_SCH R97926. |
Has R Left School School's report of youth's enrollment status in spring 2000. Pertains to School 01. |
LEFT_DATE RR97927.-R97927.01 |
Month, Year Left School Calendar month and year in which school assigned non-enrollment status to students who have left school. May differ from SCH_END_DATE because of incomplete requirements that delayed graduation beyond the final term in which student enrolled in courses. May also differ if school has a lag period in which students are not considered to have dropped out, or if a student who transfers out mid-session is recorded as enrolled until the end of that session. Pertains to School 01. |
LEFT_REASON R97928. |
Reason Left School School's report of student's departure status for students who have left school. Pertains to School 01. |
GPA R97929. |
GPA for Last Year Grade-point average as calculated by the school in its metric for last year of youth's enrollment. May not match GPA calculated using CRS_GRADE.xx values due to conversion of grades to uniform scale, weighting procedures at school, or other school-specific GPA calculations (e.g., physical education courses do not contribute to academic GPA). Pertains to School 01. |
CLASS_RANK R97930. |
Class Rank for Last Year Youth's rank in class for last year of enrollment. Pertains to School 01. |
CLASS_SIZE R97931. |
Class Size Category for Last Year Categorical variable denoting size of youth's class (grade level) during last year of enrollment. Pertains to School 01. |
PSAT_MATH R97932. |
PSAT Math Score Standardized PSAT math score for youth's last administration of PSAT. |
PSAT_VERB R97933. |
PSAT Verbal Score Standardized PSAT verbal score for youth's last administration of PSAT. |
ACT_COMP R97934. |
Composite ACT Score Standardized ACT composite score for youth's last administration of ACT. Entered directly from transcript, may not correspond to sum of component scores. |
ACT_ENG R97935. |
ACT English Score Standardized ACT English score for youth's last administration of ACT. Entered directly from transcript, may not sum with other components to composite score. |
ACT_MATH R97936. |
ACT Math Score Standardized ACT Math score for youth's last administration of ACT. Entered directly from transcript, may not sum with other components to composite score. |
ACT_READ R97937. |
ACT Reading Score Standardized ACT Reading score for youth's last administration of ACT. Entered directly from transcript, may not sum with other components to composite score. |
SAT_VERBAL R97938. |
SAT Verbal Score Standardized SAT Verbal score for youth's last administration of SAT. |
SAT_MATH R97939. |
SAT Math Score Standardized SAT Math score for youth's last administration of SAT. |
SAT_DATE R97940.-R97940.01 |
Month, Year SAT Was Taken Month and year of youth's last administration of SAT. |
AP_ART R97 |
AP Art Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement art exam. This Advance Placement variable is available for Wave 2 students only; students taking this exam in Wave 1 would have their score reported in the OTH_AP variable series below. |
AP_BIO R97941. |
AP Biology Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement biology exam. |
AP_CALC R97942. |
AP Calculus Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement calculus exam. |
AP_CHEM R97943. |
AP Chemistry Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement chemistry exam. |
AP_CMPSCI R97 |
AP Computer Science Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement computer science exam. This Advance Placement variable is available for Wave 2 students only; students taking this exam in Wave 1 would have their score reported in the OTH_AP variable series below. |
AP_ECON R97 |
AP Economics Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement economics exam. This Advance Placement variable is available for Wave 2 students only; students taking this exam in Wave 1 would have their score reported in the OTH_AP variable series below. |
AP_ENG R97944. |
AP English Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement English exam. |
AP_HIST_EU R97945. |
AP European History Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement European history exam. |
AP_GOVT R97946. |
AP Government and Politics Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement government and politics exam. |
AP_INTENG R97 |
AP International English Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement international English exam. This Advance Placement variable is available for Wave 2 students only; students taking this exam in Wave 1 would have their score reported in the OTH_AP variable series below. |
AP_PHYS R97947. |
AP Physics Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement physics exam. |
AP_PSYCH R97948. |
AP Psychology Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement psychology exam. |
AP_SPAN R97949. |
AP Spanish Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement Spanish exam. |
AP_STAT R97 |
AP Statistics Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement statistics exam. This Advance Placement variable is available for Wave 2 students only; students taking this exam in Wave 1 would have their score reported in the OTH_AP variable series below. |
AP_HIST_US R97950. |
AP U.S. History Score Highest test score for an Advanced Placement U.S. history exam. |
OTH_AP1 R97959. |
Number Other AP 1 Total number of other Advanced Placement exams on which youth received a score of 1. May include additional exams in subjects listed above. |
OTH_AP2 R97960. |
Number Other AP 2 Total number of other Advanced Placement exams on which youth received a score of 2. May include additional exams in subjects listed above. |
OTH_AP3 R97961. |
Number Other AP 3 Total number of other Advanced Placement exams on which youth received a score of 3. May include additional exams in subjects listed above. |
OTH_AP4 R97962. |
Number Other AP 4 Total number of other Advanced Placement exams on which youth received a score of 4. May include additional exams in subjects listed above. |
OTH_AP5 R97963. |
Number Other AP 5 Total number of other Advanced Placement exams on which youth received a score of 5. May include additional exams in subjects listed above. |
SATII_BIO R97951. |
SAT II Biology Score Highest standardized score for an SAT 2 Biology exam. |
SATII_MATH1 R97952. |
SAT II Math I Score Highest standardized score for an SAT II Math I exam. |
SATII_MATH2 R97953. |
SAT II Math II Score Highest standardized score for an SAT II Math II exam. |
SATII_CHEM R97954. |
SAT II Chemistry Score Highest standardized score for an SAT II Chemistry exam. |
SATII_ENG_LIT R97955. |
SAT II English Literature Score Highest standardized score for an SAT II English Literature exam. |
SATII_ENG_WRITE R97956. |
SAT II English Writing Score Highest standardized score for an SAT II English Writing exam. |
SATII_HIST_AM R97957. |
SAT II American History and Social Studies Score Highest standardized score for an SAT II American History and Social Studies exam. |
SATII_PHYS R97 |
SAT II Physics Score Highest standardized score for an SAT II Physics exam. This SAT II variable is available for Wave 2 students only; students taking this exam in Wave 1 would have their score reported in the OTH_SAT variable series below. |
SATII_HIST_WORLD R97958. |
SAT II World History Score Highest standardized score for an SAT II World History exam. |
SATII_SPANL R97 |
SAT II Spanish Score Highest standardized score for an SAT II Spanish exam. This SAT II variable is available for Wave 2 students only; students taking this exam in Wave 1 would have their score reported in the OTH_SAT variable series below. |
OTH_SAT1 R97964. |
Number Other SAT 200400 Total number of other SAT II exams on which youth received a score of 200-400. May include additional exams in subjects listed above. |
OTH_SAT2 R97965. |
Number Other SAT 401500 Total number of other SAT II exams on which youth received a score of 401-500. May include additional exams in subjects listed above. |
OTH_SAT3 R97966. |
Number Other SAT 501600 Total number of other SAT II exams on which youth received a score of 501-600. May include additional exams in subjects listed above. |
OTH_SAT4 R97967. |
Number Other SAT 601700 Total number of other SAT II exams on which youth received a score of 601-700. May include additional exams in subjects listed above. |
OTH_SAT5 R97968. |
Number Other SAT 701800 Total number of other SAT II exams on which youth received a score of 701-800. May include additional exams in subjects listed above. |
High School Graduation Requirements (Geocode CD only)
Available on the restricted-use geocode CD only, these variables record information concerning high-school graduation requirements applicable to each case. GRADREQ_TYPE describes whether the requirements were in terms of credits, terms, or term/years. The five credit-requirement variables, GRADREQ_TOTAL through GRADREQ_SOC, give the total number of credits required for graduation and the numbers required from courses in the four specific subject areas of English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. The final variable, GRADREQ_SOURCE, shows where the requirements information was obtained. We preferred to show requirements information that came from or applied to the student's particular school, either through the individual school's catalog or website or from the school district. However, in some cases school-specific information was not available, and in these cases, we show graduation requirements set by the state in which the primary school was located, where these requirements could be determined. The values of the five credits-requirements variables must be divided by 100 before they can be used. Variable question names and titles are as follows:
TRANS_GRADREQ_TYPE | Credits or time requirements? | |
TRANS_GRADREQ_TOTAL | Graduation requirements, total | |
TRANS_GRADREQ_ENGL | Graduation requirements, English | |
TRANS_GRADREQ_MATH | Graduation requirements, Math | |
TRANS_GRADREQ_SCI | Graduation requirements, Science | |
TRANS_GRADREQ_SOC | Graduation requirements, Social Studies | |
TRANS_GRADREQ_SOURCE | Source of requirements data |