N. John Popovich, Ed.D. Chair and Associate Professor of Career & Technical Education
Date of Award
Career and Technical Education, M.S.Ed.
Dr. Steve Macho
Dr. Steve Macho
BOCES was a public institution originally created in 1948 to enable smaller rural school districts to combine resources and funding. Pooling of resources allows for the creation of programs that would not otherwise be economically feasible due to low population density and funding gaps (boces.org). BOCES has evolved to include rural and larger school districts as well. Just as there is a need for the skills learned at BOCES to match industry demands, so too is there a need for the work-force diversity to be reflected in the student population at BOCES. To meet this need, BOCES administration must pay special attention to attracting a diverse swath of the population from the school districts it serves. Predicting demographic changes in the population could serve as a useful method in changing marketing strategies for the ever-changing student population. The United States Census collects regional demographic data every decade about all individuals in the U.S. Using pre-existing census and enrollment information may be the key to understanding future population trends. Specifically, are demographics in census data predictors of changes in enrollment at Orleans-Niagara BOCES from 2000 to 2010? To put it simply, yes and no. Gender demographics were not predictors of changes in enrollment in 2000. The 2010 gender demographics showed only slight differences. Race demographics also showed little change between 2000 and 2010. The one race category that did not follow these trends was the Hispanic population in Orleans county. Not only did the Hispanic population greatly increase from 2000 to 2010, the number of Hispanic students enrolled in BOCES dropped between 2000 and 2010.
Roman, Dana N., "CORRELATING CENSUS DATA WITH BOCES ENROLLMENT DEMOGRAPHICS: A STUDY ON THE NEED FOR DEMOGRAPHIC COHESION" (2019). Career & Technical Education Theses. 3.