Transcript Addressing Diversity in Rural Education

Schooling Influences on Aspirations of
Rural Youth
Judith L. Meece, UNC-CH
Presenter
Special Acknowledgements
Matthew Irvin, Investigator
Soo-yong Byun, Postdoctoral Scholar
Thomas W. Farmer, Investigator
Bryan Hutchins, Project Coordinator
Kim Dadisman, Investigator
Dylan Robertson, Investigator
Laura Shaffer, Program Assistant
Paul Wilson, Program Assistant
Background of Study
• High school reform is currently a national priority;
• Numerous national reports over the last decades
have documented the negative impact of high
schools on adolescents’ development and transition
to adulthood;
• Most research has focused on urban schools (e.g.,
NRC & Institute of Medicine, 2004).
• Few studies have studied the impact of high schools
in rural communities.
What is Known about High Schools in Rural
Communities?
Unique Assets of Rural High Schools:
– Close community-school relations;
– Curricular tracking less prevalent
– Close Supportive student-teacher relations;
– Small size
• Greater participation in extracurricular activities;
• Greater sense of belonging;
• Stable peer relations;
• Higher satisfaction with school
• Lower drug and alcohol use.
Sources: Coladarci, 2007; Hardre & Sullivan, 2008; Kannapel & DeYoung, 1999;
Gandara, Gutierrez, & O’Hara, 2001; Scafft, Alter, & Bridger, 2006.
What is Known about Rural High
Schools?
Unique Challenges of Rural Schools
– Geographical isolation
– Poverty rates
– Limited resources for address diverse needs
– Limited curricular options
– Recruitment & retention of high quality teachers
– Limited employment opportunities in community
– High rates of school dropout in impoverished rural
communities
Sources: Farmer, 2006; Friedman & Lichter, 1998; Khattri, Riley, & Kane, 1997;
Provasnick et al., 2007; Monk, 2007; Johnson & Strange, 2007
Aims of Current Study
• Examine levels of rural youths’ educational
and vocational aspirations for the future;
• Describe involvement of youth in
postsecondary transition activities;
• Examine relations of youths’ schooling
experiences to educational and vocational
aspirations.
Focus of Study
Focus of study is on school-related predictors of school
engagement, motivation, aspirations for the future.
“Motivation is essential at all ages, but it becomes pivotal at
adolescent as youth approach the threshold of adulthood”
(NRC & Institute of Medicine, 2004).
Adolescents who view themselves as smart and capable and
recognize the value of their school experiences for future are
likely to have high postsecondary school aspirations (Hardre &
Sullivan, 2008)
Aspirations serve as goals for the future that help to organize,
direct, and guide behavior (Bandura, 1986)
Defining Aspirations
•
Some research refer to aspirations as a goal the
adolescent hopes or desires to attain (e.g., Wilson,
Peterson, & Wilson, 1993);
•
Other research refer to aspirations as a goal the
adolescent expects to attain (e.g., Bandura et al.,
2001);
•
When the two response forms are compared,
adolescents tend to have lower expectations than
aspirations (Howley, 2006; Majoribanks, 1998);
•
To date, there is limited information about the
long-term predictive value of survey questions
focused on future aspirations vs. expectations.
Prior Research on Aspirations of
Rural Youth
• Rural youth tend to have lower educational and occupational aspirations
than urban youth;
• Rural youth has have lower levels of educational attainment than urban
youth;
• Differences attributed to lack of local employment opportunities, parental
expectations, ethnicity, gender, family income, academic preparation, and
residential preferences.
Sources: Blackwell & McLaughlin, 1999; Cobb, McIntire, & Pratt, 1989;
Haller & Vickler, 1993; Howley, 1997; Kannapel & DeYoung, 1999;
Rojewski,1999; Roscigno & Crowley, 2001
Rural HSA School Sample
School
Type
Number of
Schools
School
Size
Poverty
Status
Minority
Percent
Rural Remote
43
32 - 418
0 - 99%
0 - 95%
Rural Distant
19
81 - 661
18 - 82%
1 - 99%
Rural Fringe
3
123 - 400
31 - 81%
3 - 85%
Small Town
8
165 - 1883
16 - 51%
1 - 56%
Rural HSA Student Sample
N = 8754
– Grade levels included
• 28% 9th graders
• 27% 10th graders
• 25% 11th graders
• 19% 12th graders
– 51% female and 49% male students
– 11% of sample identified as receiving
special services by their teachers
Rural HSA Student Sample
N = 8754
-Ethnic Background:
• 64% White; 11% Hispanic
• 12% Multiracial; 7% African American
• 4% American Indian
-Parental Education:
• 30% some PSE or 2-year degree
• 14% 4-year degree; 12% advanced degree
• 21% HS or GED degree
-Less than 10% of students reported family economic
hardship a lot or all of the time
Measures
• Student Outcome Measures
– Educational Aspirations
• How far in school would you most like to go?
– Vocational Aspirations
• Do you plan to work or have a career at age 30?
• If yes, what kind of job or occupation would you
most like to have?
Student Measures
Student Background Variables (self-reports)
– Gender
– Ethnic Background
– Economic Hardship
– Level of Parental Education
– Parental Educational Expectation
– Grade Level
Student Measures
• School-Related Influences
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
High School Program
Grade Retention
Perceived Emphasis on Place-Based Education
Teachers’ Educational and Vocational Expectations
School Belonging
Academic Self-Concept
School Valuing
Analysis Procedures:
Educational Aspirations
• Descriptive Analyses
• Hierarchical Linear Modeling
• SEM Analyses
Educational Aspirations of Rural Youth
Totals vs. Rural Remote
80.0
70.0
60.0
Percent
50.0
40.0
Total
Rural Remote
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
Don't know
High school
or GED only
2 year
program or
degree
Graduate
from 4 year
college
Advanced
degree
Required Educational Levels of Reported Career
Choices : Total Sample vs. Rural Remote
80
70
60
Percent
50
40
Total
Rural Remote
30
20
10
0
Less than High
School
High School or
some College
College Degree
Advanced Degree
High School Programs by Grade Level
80%
70%
60%
Percent
50%
Grade 9
40%
Grade 10
Grade 11
Grade 12
30%
20%
10%
0%
General High School
Program
College prep, academic,
or specialized academic
Vocations, technical, or
business and career
I don't know
Postsecondary Education Exploration
80
Never
Once or twice
3 to 5 times
40
30
20
10
0
Percent
50
60
70
4 More than 5 times
Talked with a guidance
counselor or other advisor
about college
Visited a college campus?
Searched for college
courses or programs
available by the internet
Talked with your parents
about how to pay for
college
Frequency of Career Exploration Activities
Never
80
Once or twice
3 to 5 times
4 More than 5 times
70
60
Percent
50
40
30
20
10
0
Internship
Job Mentoring
Job Shadowing
School Based
Enterprise
Cooperative
Education
Schooling Influences on
Educational Aspirations
• Previous research has treated educational
aspirations as continuous and categorical
variable;
• For HLM analyses converted educational
aspirations into years of schooling (e.g.,
16 = 4-year college);
• Results of HLM analyses indicate that
approximately 3% of the variance was
between school.
Distal Variables
Gender
(female)
Race
(white)
Grade
Economic Hardship
School Belonging
Control Variables
Place-Based
Education
Educational
Aspirations
Teacher’s
Educational
Expectations
HS Program
Grade
Retention
Academic
Self-Concept
School
Valuing
Proximal Variables
Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations
Gender
(female)
Distal Variables
Race
(white)
School
Belonging
Grade
-.069
Economic Hardship
-.049
Control Variables
.115
-.027
.415
.420
Place-Based
Education
.236
Educational
Aspiration
.235
Teacher’s
Educational
Expectations
Explained variance (R2) .26
.072
.064
-.049
.233
.284
Model fit summary
NFI:
.825
CFI:
.831
RMSEA: .054
HS Program
.095
Retention
-.074
.230
Academic
Self-Concept
School
Valuing
Proximal Variables
Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations
Gender
(female)
Distal Variables
Race
(white)
School
Belonging
Grade
-.069
Economic Hardship
-.049
Control Variables
.115
-.027
.415
.420
Place-Based
Education
.236
Educational
Aspiration
.235
Teacher’s
Educational
Expectations
Explained variance (R2) .26
.072
.064
-.049
.233
.284
Model fit summary
NFI:
.825
CFI:
.831
RMSEA: .054
HS Program
.095
Retention
-.074
.230
Academic
Self-Concept
School
Valuing
Proximal Variables
Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations
Gender
(female)
Distal Variables
Race
(white)
School
Belonging
Grade
-.069
Economic Hardship
-.049
Control Variables
.115
-.027
.415
.420
Place-Based
Education
.236
Educational
Aspiration
.235
Teacher’s
Educational
Expectations
Explained variance (R2) .26
.072
.064
-.049
.233
.284
Model fit summary
NFI:
.825
CFI:
.831
RMSEA: .054
HS Program
.095
Retention
-.074
.230
Academic
Self-Concept
School
Valuing
Proximal Variables
Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations
Conclusions:
Educational Aspirations
• Approximately 77% of rural youth aspire to
complete a college or advanced professional
degree;
• Aspirations for college are equivalent with other
national studies (NCES, 2004);
• ELS: 2002 data reveal differences in urban and
rural samples for advanced degrees only
(NCES, 2004)
• Most of the variation in educational aspirations
occurs within school rather than between school.
Conclusions:
Transition Preparation
Given students relatively high educational aspirations, postsecondary
preparation activities were limited for the sample as whole:
• Approximately 20% of 11th and 12th grade students reported they
were enrolled in a some type of college preparatory course.
• National studies indicate that rural youth are less likely to have
access to advanced high school courses than urban youth (Planty et
al., 2007).
• Participation in traditional postsecondary transition activities (college
visits, talking with counselors about college, job mentoring, job
shadowing, etc.) was also limited for the RHSA sample as a whole.
Conclusions:
Schooling Experiences
• Educational Aspirations strongly related to
malleable aspects of the school
environment:
– Teacher expectations
– School belonging
– Curriculum relevance
– Academic self-concept
– School valuing beliefs
Limitations of Study
• Aspirations measured at one point in time;
• Lack of information of goal attainment
• Aspirations vary by gender, ethnicity, and perceived economic
hardship; the moderating influence of student characteristics
on school influences will be examined in future analyses
• Not a longitudinal study; therefore no causal conclusions can
be drawn from the regression analyses presented.
• Schooling model presented explained approximately 25% of
the variance in students’ educational aspirations, even with
parental and student background variables included.