2016 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT

Table of Contents

ABOUT THE MEMBERS

About DECA:

2 3

Impact Report Findings

DECA Members are College Ready...........4-5

DECA Members are Career Ready................6

DECA Provides Enrichment for Advisors.......7

Research Methodology..................................8

Appendices:

2016 DECA Student Survey........................10

2016 DECA State Conference Registration Form .......................................11

2016 DECA International Conference Registration Form .......................................13

2016 DECA Educator Questionnaire..........15

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For nearly 70 years, DECA has impacted the lives of more than ten million students, educators, school administrators and business professionals. Our core focus has remained consistent throughout and is captured in our mission: DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for ca-reers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.

DECA’s programs and activities constantly evolve as we

apply cutting edge educational research and use the

latest technology to engage both educators and stu-

dents and remove barriers to participation. DECA’s ex-

cellent results are created by providing co-curricular pro-

grams that integrate into classroom instruction, helping

students apply learning, connect to business and the

community and understand the value of competition.

Our student members leverage their DECA experiences

to become academically prepared, community oriented,

professionally responsible, experienced leaders.

DECA offers two unique student divisions. The High School Division includes 211,000 members in 3,500 schools, and the Collegiate Division includes over 13,500 members in 250 colleges and universities. DECA Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit student organization with

DECA members understand the critical need to obtain

their high school diplomas, as well as the valuable

connection between what they are currently learning and

a college degree. DECA students seek challenging

courses and advanced programs of study, and pursue

college and career readiness with determination that

outpaces the national average. In addition, the more

engaged members are with DECA’s competitive

programs, the higher their GPAs, and the more likely

they are to be successful self-challengers, choosing

more relevant business courses and rigorous classes

than their peers.

Choosing the most challenging courses and beginning

their career preparations early, DECA members will

become our future business people, entrepreneurs

and professionals. DECA members are more likely to

attend college and are significantly more likely to major

in business and business-related specialties such as

accounting and marketing.

more than 224,500 members in all 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Canada, China, Germany, Guam, Honduras, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain. The United States Congress, the United States Department of Education and state, district and international depart-ments of education authorize DECA’s programs.

In addition to general knowledge, businesses

around the world are seeking graduates with

coveted 21st Century Skills: creativity, critical

thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and

the motivation for lifelong learning. DECA puts

tremendous focus on developing these skills in

emerging leaders and entrepreneurs. All of DECA’s

Comprehensive Learning Program activities are

cross-walked to the Framework for 21st Century

Learning. As members progress through DECA’s

learning program, they demonstrate a highly

advanced understanding and ability to execute

these skills. They also gain direct exposure to

the expectations that businesses have for

their future employees and executives.

This Annual Impact Report highlights

the college and career readiness

of DECA members at all levels of

participation – in a DECA chapter,

at a State Career Development

Conference (SCDC) and at DECA’s

International Career Development

Conference (ICDC).

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Grade Point Average DECA members are top achievers: the more involved they are in DECA’s competitive program, the higher their GPAs.

Business Courses TakenDECA members understand the need for career prepara-tion and choose to enroll in more business courses than other business students.

DECAMembers

SCDC Participants

ICDC Participants

78%

23%

15%

11%

26%

7%

81%

31%

22%

20%

18%

7%

77%

29%

21%

17%

21%

6%

National Average

DECA Members

SCDC Participants

ICDC Participants

Accounting/Finance 2% 6% 11% 11%

Advertising 0% 2% 5% 5%

Business Owner/Entrepreneur 4% 12% 12% 13%

Business 4% 13% 23% 25%

Business (International) 1% 5% 8% 10%

Communications/Public Relations 1% 2% 4% 4%

Culinary/Chef 4% 4% 1% 1%

Economics 0% 1% 4% 5%

Fashion 3% 5% 3% 2%

Marketing 1% 8% 15% 19%

Sports Management 4% 6% 4% 3%

Travel/Hospitality 1% 1% 1% 1%

College Major/Future Career Interests

National Average

DECA Members

SCDC Participants

ICDC Participants

School of Business 15% 36% 56% 61%

School of Communications 3% 6% 9% 11%

School of Economics 2% 6% 13% 17%

National Average

DECA Members

SCDC Participants

ICDC Participants

State College/University 86% 84% 77% 76%

Private College/University 30% 36% 62% 64%

Community/Junior College 13% 12% 4% 6%

Vocational/Technical School 9% 6% 3% 2%

Specialized Degree Program Interests

College Type Interests

4

National Average

DECA Members

SCDC Participants

ICDC Participants

Advanced Placement (AP)

22% 34% 66% 72%

Honors Programs

31% 40% 65% 66%

College-Credit Courses

16% 18% 26% 32%

Career and Technical (CTE)

12% 22% 19% 22%

General CollegePrep

55% 36% 19% 18%

Gifted/Accelerated Programs

9% 7% 16% 18%

Other Advance Programs

11% 10% 14% 14%

International Baccalaureate (IB) 3% 2% 5% 6%

Advanced Course TakingDECA members are self-challengers who choose to enroll in the advanced programs that offer them better preparation for college and career.

“A” Average

85% ICDC

Participants

40%DECA

Members

39% National Average

DECA’s Members Are College Ready

The level of engagement with DECA has a direct correspondence to those members who seek out advanced courses and excel academically.

3

Sports & Entertainment

Hospitality & Tourism

Marketing

Finance/Accounting

Entrepreneurship

Management/Administration

80% SCDC Participants

5 6

95% 96%88% 91% 97%

Gained skills in problem

solving

Learned how to

communicate thoughts and ideas

Learned to work as part

of a team

Gained creative

skills

Gained skills to improve their personal and professional

behaviors

88%

Empowered me to become an

effective leader

88%

Connected school to the real world

for me

77%

Helped me recognize the benefit and responsibility of

community service

My DECA experiences have…

Members are Prepared to

Become Leaders

Members Gain 21st Century SkillsThrough DECA activities, members…

Members say that their DECA experiences influence their career plans. Members who are more committed to their DECA memberships say this at a much higher rate.

DECA multiplies the positive impact on its members by providing substantial tools that help educators increase their classroom effectiveness. First, DECA’s co-curricular model aligns with key accountabilities outlined in the National Curriculum Standards, Career Clusters®, Common Core Standards and the Framework for 21st Century Learning. Second, DECA provides its educators with continuing education programs and support for integrating this high level learning program into the classroom. The impact is demonstrated through generations of educators engaging DECA’s co-curricular learning program and professional learning series.

DECA Impacts Teaching

Members are Motivated for the FutureThrough DECA participation, members are …

87%

74%

66%

71%

60%

Prepared academically for college and a career

Influenced in attending school

Influenced in their college plans

Influenced in their career plans

Influenced to consider business ownership

79% DECA has made teaching more meaningful

and engaging.

74% DECA has helped me foster better learning

relationships with my students.

57% DECA has helped me teach more rigorous and relevant content.

67% DECA’s resources have allowed me to better

integrate DECA into classroom instruction.

79% Academic Integration

51%

DECA Makes Classroom Instruction More Relevant Through:

Career Clusters® and pathway alignment

DECA Advisors are Engaged

• Nine in ten (92%) DECA advisors say that the DECA Comprehensive Learning Program Competitive Events have been effective in their classrooms.

• Nearly half of DECA advisors say that DECA professional development has helped them in their classrooms.

• Three out of four advisors say that they are more involved with DECA than any other extracurricular activity.

DECA Members Are Career Ready DECA Provides Enrichment for Advisors

Top 3 Ways DECA’s Connection to Business Impacts Classrooms

42%

57% Community Service

70% Classroom Presentations

Fundraisers

Research MethodologyThis research was conducted by My College Options®. In the fall of 2015 and spring of 2016, business educators and DECA advisors were invited to lead an activity in the classroom, as well as at the State and International Career Development Conferences, encouraging students to register for the My College Options College Planning Program. As part of that process, students provided their attitudes and interests related to business careers and their involvement with DECA. The data analysis and research findings resulting from that process are shared in this report.

Sampling ErrorThe margin of error and the confidence interval below are a measurement of how well the DECA research results represent the entire student community. For example, in theory, one could say that if we performed the survey 100 times, the results for each respondent would fall within the margin of error above or below the percentage reported 99 out of 100 times.

Nonsampling ErrorIt is possible that question wording and logistical difficulties in research studies can introduce error or bias into the findings, in addition to that caused by non-response and sampling error.

Respondent Group..................................................All studentsSample...............................................................................45,274Estimated Population.....................................................249,250Margin of Error (MOE-99%)........................................+/- 0.05%

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Sample Demographics

Students

# of Classroom DECA Members...............9,097

# of SCDC Respondents..........................30,832

# of ICDC Respondents..........................12,874

# of total DECA Members.......................45,274

Gender

Male...................................................46% Female..............................................54%

Ethnicity

American Indian.............................................3%Asian.................................................12%African-American...................................11%Hispanic.............................................13%Middle Eastern...............................................2%White...................................................60%Other.......................................................3%Prefer not to respond.....................................8%

Graduation Year

2016.....................................................39%

2017......................................................33%

2018...................................................20%

2019...................................................8%

Other.............................................0.1%

Educators

# of Educator Respondents.........................846

Community

Rural..................................................29%

Suburban.........................................30%

Urban..............................................41%

School Type

Public................................................99%

Private...............................................1%

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APPENDICES

RESEARCH FOR THE FUTUREPrepared by My College Options®, the nation’s largest

college planning program.

www.mycollegeoptions.org

1908 Association Drive Reston, Va. 20191-1584703-860-5000 • www.deca.org