Welcome to childhood and beyond!
On this site, you can find information on scales, questionnaires, and data for researchers, a more detailed explanation of the study and FAQ for past participants, and a list of articles and publications that have resulted from the study.
what is cab?
The Childhood and Beyond (CAB) project is a study of students' achievement and learning experiences from kindergarten through grade 12. CAB data collection began in 1987, and over the course of 30 years, we have conducted 10 waves of surveys and interviews with approximately 850 children and 65% of their parents. The surveys cover a broad range of activities, behaviors and beliefs. For example, we ask about: school activities and beliefs (e.g., what kinds of classes, and how the student feels about them), family atmosphere (e.g., decision making in the home and sibling relationships), extra-curricular activities (e.g., participation in and importance of sports/clubs), and mental health (e.g., how often do you feel good about yourself). We also collected student record data and some publicly available information, such as: semester grades, standardized test scores, and special education placement.
The study was set up to address three basic issues:
The study was set up to address three basic issues:
- The development of students' and teachers' motivational beliefs in a variety of fields, such as math, language, music/art, science, computer science and sports.
- The relationship between these motivational beliefs and adolescents' actual choices about which activities to engage in, their performance in these activities, and their long term educational and occupational planning.
- The influence of certain home and school factors on motivational beliefs, activity choices and performance, and future goals.
current survey
The National Science Foundation has recently awarded new funding to the CAB project, allowing us the exciting opportunity to begin a new wave of data collection. All prior CAB participants are invited to participate in this new survey. The current survey asks for updated information on what our participants are up to in their thirties, and will offer a unique opportunity to link their beliefs and experiences during school with their life choices later in adulthood. This new phase of the study is particularly focused on understanding how young people make major educational and occupational decisions, and the different ways that females and males approach these choices. For example, females are still less likely than males to pursue college degrees and jobs in engineering, physical sciences, computer sciences and mathematics even though the gap between males and females in math performance has narrowed. Even among females who are interested in science, they are more likely to pursue degrees and jobs in the biological, health, and social sciences rather than physical and engineering sciences. Therefore, a major goal of our new project is to investigate gender differences as well as individual differences in the development of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) related interests. More specifically, we will examine topics such as:
Between 2012 and 2014, we collected data with the following 3 steps:
- The emergence of interests, anxieties, and beliefs regarding STEM-related professions, with a focus on classroom experiences and gender-role stereotypes about math, science and reading during the middle and high school years.
- The relationship between early motivational beliefs and individual or gender differences in STEM-related educational tracks and professions from age 20 to 40.
Between 2012 and 2014, we collected data with the following 3 steps:
- Survey 1: All prior CAB participants were invited to complete a short, 15-minute screening survey about career and family milestones. We contacted all participants to confirm their contact information.
- Survey 2: Based on responses to the screening survey, a subset of CAB participants was invited to participate in a longer career survey about educational and occupational experiences, for which we offered $20 in compensation.
- Survey 3: Based on responses to survey 2, certain participants were eligible to participate in an in-depth interview about their career path, for which we offered an additional $20.