Overview

The High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) is a nationally representative, longitudinal study of more than 21,000 9th graders in 944 schools who will be followed throughout their secondary and postsecondary years. The study focuses on understanding students' trajectories from the beginning of high school into postsecondary education, the workforce, and beyond. What students decide to pursue when, why, and how are crucial questions for HSLS:09, especially, but not solely, in regards to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses, majors, and careers. This study features a new student assessment in algebraic skills, reasoning, and problem solving and includes, like past studies, surveys of students, their parents, math and science teachers, school administrators, as well as a new survey of school counselors. The first wave of data collection for HSLS:09 began in the fall of 2009 and produced not only a nationally representative dataset but also state representative datasets for each of ten states. The next data collection begins in January 2012.