A Prospective Longitudinal Study of High School Dropouts Examining Multiple Predictors Across Development (original) (raw)
Related papers
Student Disengagement and School Dropout: Parenting Practices as Context
The main purpose of this paper-based thesis (180 ECTS) is to examine school dropout among Icelandic youth longitudinally, from two perspect-ives: theories on school dropout that conceptualize students’ disengage-ment as the central concept in understanding the process of leaving school prematurely; and the literature on the influence that the family has on youth adjustment from the perspective of parenting practices. Icelandic youth were followed over an eight-year period, from age 14 to 22. This study is part of a larger ongoing, longitudinal study: the Reykjavik Adolescent Risk-Taking Longitudinal Study (RAR-LS; Adalbjarnardottir, 1994). The findings have been presented in three papers (Blondal & Adalbjarnardottir, 2009, 2012, 2014 in press). More precisely, the aim of this thesis is to further expand the existing literature on school dropout by following adolescents over an eight-year period through three approaches. First, it looks at multidimensional aspects of student engagement at age 14 and its development from age 14 to 15 in relation to school dropout. The diversity of the student group is taken into account, particularly those who appear to be at risk of dropping out but still beat the odds, and those who appear to be on promising educational pathways but fail to do well. Second, it explores general aspects of parent¬ing in relation to school dropout, examining the longitudinal relationship of both parental involvement and parenting style with school dropout. Third, it further expands the combined findings of the study on student engagement and parenting practices in relation to educational status at age 22, by exploring how the context of authoritative parenting influences school dropout and graduation through students’ engagement in adolescence. The thesis contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it uses a longitudinal design that covers a long period—over eight years—unusual in studies of socialization and school dropout. This design makes it possible to conclude quite confidently about the predictive power of family factors on school dropout. Second, the thesis contributes to the literature by exploring students’ different educational pathways in relation to multidimensional constructs of disengagement during adolescence. It places a special focus on students who are the exceptions to predictions about the expected pathways, an approach that is rare in research on school dropout but provides valuable insights into possible reasons for academic resilience among at-risk students and vulnerabilities for academically strong students. Third, it explores the behavioral and emotional components of engagement, as they change over time in relation to different educational pathways, unlike most research on dropouts, which includes only behavioral components and at one point in time. Fourth, the ability to explore the relationship between multidimensional character¬istics of parenting practices and school dropout revealed import¬ant pathways to consider for adolescent development. Previous research on the relationship between family characteristics has been criticized for being focused too narrowly, looking mainly at parental involvement in the child’s education. In general, the findings from studies with this focus have been inconsistent and weaker than expected. Thus, to better understand the influence that parents have on their child’s education it is important to look at a broader conceptualization of child upbringing that characterizes the parents’ actions in their communications with their child. Fifth, the thesis explores longitudinally how multifaceted parenting practices during adolescence (age 14) influence educational status at age 22 (gradu¬ation/ dropout) through student engagement at age 15. Even though student engagement is a central concept in most theories of school dropout and dropout often seems to result from a long-term process of withdrawal from school, little research has focused on how parenting practices may relate to school dropout through the process of student disengagement. The main results of the thesis indicate that adolescents’ behavioral and emotional disengagement differs according to their educational pathways. Based on their achievement at age 15 and educational attainment at age 22, they were classified into groups that took expected versus unexpected paths. Those who were “at risk” academically at age 14, but graduated contrary to expectations, showed less behavioral disengagement than the expected dropouts. Moreover, high achievers who dropped out unexpectedly showed more behavioral and emotional disengagement compared to expected graduates. In general, during the following year (age 15), disengagement increased among the unexpected dropouts but decreased among the expected graduates. A second major finding is that adolescents who at age 14 characterized their parents as authoritative (showing acceptance and supervision) were more likely to have completed upper secondary education by age 22, compared to those who perceived their parents as authoritarian, indulgent, or neglectful. It is worth noting that this finding remained pronounced even after controlling for parents’ SES, adolescents’ gender, parents’ involve¬ment in their education, and adolescents’ temperament. In addition, even when controlling for the strong influence that previous academic achieve¬ment had on standardized test scores at age 15, adolescents with autho¬ritative parents were more likely to complete upper secondary education by age 22 than were those from authoritarian and neglectful families. A third major finding is that a broader conceptualization of parenting was a considerably stronger predictor of school dropout than were the specific behaviors depicted in parental involvement in their child’s education. In the fourth major finding, the students’ level of engagement at age 15 mediated the association between multidimensional parenting practices as perceived by adolescents at age 14 and their educational status at age 22. Adolescents who perceived their parents as more authoritative (i.e., providing high levels of acceptance and supervision, and granting psychological autonomy) were more likely to have completed upper secondary school at age 22, compared to their counterparts who perceived their parents as less authoritative. Student engagement seems to play a critical role in this relationship between parenting practices and school dropout/graduation. Importantly, those adolescents who had more authoritative parents were not only less likely to feel disengaged at school, but also more likely to complete upper secondary school. The main conclusions of these combined findings are that the context of authoritative parenting seems to protect adolescents from the general decline in engagement at an age that places them at risk of dropping out, even when they are doing well academically. During this challenging period of adolescence characterized by psychosocial and biological changes, young persons have to make critical decisions about their education. In addition they have to adjust to increased academic challenges as well as more complicated, less structured, and often more impersonal school environ¬ments than they experience in the lower grades (Eccles, et al., 1993; Wang & Holcombe, 2010). The findings suggest that a parent-child relationship characterized by emotional support and mutual respect, in which the parents impart clear standards for their child’s behavior but at the same time grant autonomy, may buffer against the edu¬cational challenges in adolescence by fostering their child’s positive school behavior, along with positive feelings towards their studies and bonding with school. At this critical point students’ feelings towards their academic tasks and school, as well as their school behaviors and the way their disengagement develops the following year, can have an impact: some students who are at risk academically become more resilient and some who seem to be on a promising educational track become more vulnerable. By using a broad conceptualization of parenting this thesis sheds light on the family processes that lie behind the strong relationship between family background and educational attainment. Furthermore it suggests that the effects that specific practices such as parental involvement have on youth’s educational attainment depend on the characteristics of the parent-child relationship. These findings should give parents encouragement and guide¬lines in their important role of supporting their children’s educational success during adolescence. Moreover, they should enhance the understanding of teachers, school counselors, principals, and educational policy makers about the importance of working with students who are not in supportive relationships with their family.
Exceptions to High School Dropout Predictions in a Low-Income Sample: Do Adults Make a Difference?
Journal of Social Issues, 2008
Adult-child relationship factors were examined to determine whether they differentiated between individuals who follow expected versus unexpected educational pathways. Low-income participants (96 men, 83 women) in the United States were followed from birth through age 23. Individuals were identified who followed expected versus unexpected pathways to high school graduation or dropping out based on academic achievement and behavioral problems. Patterns of parental involvement in school were significantly different between expected dropouts and unexpected graduates in middle childhood. In contrast, expected graduates had higher levels of parent involvement in middle childhood, more supportive parent-child relationships in early adolescence, and higher levels of social competence with adults than unexpected dropouts.
A critical review of the literature on school dropout
Educational Research Review, 2013
This paper reviews the growing literature on early school leaving. We clarify what is at stake with early school leaving, and touch upon underlying problems and methodological issues raised in the literature. The paper investigates the levels, the methods and models with which the topic has been studied, and discusses potential (dis)advantages of each of those.
Family factors in early school leaving
2013
Young people who leave school early are at greater risk of experiencing long-term unemployment and slipping into social exclusion as a result. This paper looks at the risk factors associated with young people exiting the education system prematurely, particularly in a family context. The impact of parental separation and changes to family structure on academic outcomes, and the continued importance of parental involvement in education in the secondary school years are further explored. Key messages for child and family support practitioners who are working with families with adolescent children are provided. Online: Family factors in early school leaving Download printable version (PDF 258 KB) Download EPUB version (66 KB) | About EPUB
The Process of Dropping Out of High School: A 19Year Perspective
American Educational Research Journal, 1997
In tbis study, nested latent-uariable causal models uere contrasted to cornpare tbe dircct and indirect relationsbips oJ'distal .famil-r' ancl'cbild ard proximal adolescent factors to dropping ottt o.f bigb scbool. Tbe santple included 1 94 Euro-American CollLientionql and nonconuentional families in a 19-year longitudinal study. Tbe findings sbou'ed tbat dropping ottt of bigb scboot is a multiply-determined process, u,itb eaily influences begittrtirtg in cbildbood, tbat inuolues family as u,ell as cbild and adolescent factors. Earl.lt family nonconuentionality witb bigber comnxitment to lifestyle ualues was associated witb a lou,er probability of dropping out; clu?xttlatiue fantiht stress, loruer bigb scbool acbieuement and motiuation, lower sixtb-grade school perforrnqnce, and adolescent drug ttse tt)ere associated u'itb a bigber probabilitlt of dropping out. Fantill' lfestyles and ualues are related to cbildren's deuelopmental patbways tbrougb cbildbood e^posure to drug use, cbild ability prior to scbool entry, and early scbool performance.
Nonacademic Factors Associated with Dropping Out of High School: Adolescent Problem Behaviors
Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 2013
This study uses a social capital and collective socialization lens to examine nonacademic factors in middle school that predict students' failure to complete high school, and focuses on youth who engage in adolescent problem behaviors of smoking cigarettes, sexual intercourse, delinquency, marijuana use, and alcohol use. Our area of interest was the extent to which these variables were predictive of dropping out of high school measured 6 years later and beyond the traditional variables of school performance and school engagement, which are the target of many dropout prevention programs. Analyses use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to follow a nationally representative sample of children from middle school through the end of the high-school years. Results indicate that engaging in regular smoking and sexual activity during middle-school years predict high-school dropout independent of school performance during middle school. Acts of delinquency during middle school in the context of poverty (i.e., mothers' receipt of welfare was proxy for poverty) are also predictive of high-school dropout. These findings suggest the importance of factors that reach beyond school performance and school engagement as possible targets for dropout prevention programs.
National Center on Secondary Education and Transition University of Minnesota, 2006
Students who drop out of school face a difficult future. They are more likely to be unemployed, incarcerated, and/or impoverished. For students with disabilities, the risks are intensified. Their dropout rate is about 40 percent-more than twice that of their peers without disabilities. However, families can play an important role in making sure their student with or without disabilities graduates. Staying involved in your teen's life during middle school and high school is critical. This Brief provides information and practical tips to help you do this. Risk Factors for Dropping Out Identifying students who are most likely to drop out is not a precise process. Some students with no risk factors leave school, and some with many risk factors complete school. Although risk factors are not precise predictors, parents should be aware of them. More Parent Brief Promoting effective parent involvement in secondary education and transition.
2006
A brief providing information and practical tips to help parents stay involved in their teen's life during middle school and high school to help make sure they graduate. Students who drop out of school face a difficult future. For students with disabilities, the risks are intensified. Their dropout rate is about 40 percent - more than twice that of their peers without disabilities. However, families can play an important role in making sure their student with or without disabilities graduates. Staying involved in your teen's life during middle school and high school is critical. Produced by PACER Center in collaboration with the Institute's National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET).
Connecting Entrance and Departure: The Transition to Ninth Grade and High School Dropout
Education and Urban Society, 2008
Much of the literature on school dropout implies a randomness to the timing of when leaving school becomes more appealing than staying. In this paper, we examine how one crisis point in urban students' educational careersthe transition to high school-affects the likelihood of dropping out. We find that despite an extensive set of pre-high school controls for family, achievement, aspirations, school engagement, and peer relationships, ninth grade outcomes add substantially to our ability to predict dropout. The importance of the ninth grade year suggests that reducing the enormous dropout rates in large cities will require attention to the transition to high school.