Labour Market Outcomes and Skill Acquisition of High-School Dropouts

We estimate the effect that dropping out of high school has on 8 outcomes pertaining to wages, employment and subsequent skill acquisition for youths. Our analysis is based on the older cohort of the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) for 2003, an ideal data set because it contains a rich array of outcome measures and characteristics on individuals when they are in high school and a few years later. Our analysis indicates that dropouts have poorer wage and employment outcomes, and they do not make up for their lack of education through additional skill acquisition and training. The analysis thereby suggests that policies to curb dropping out could have both desirable efficiency effects (high returns) as well as distributional effects (high returns to otherwise more disadvantaged groups) and potential social spillover effects.     

School dropout and injecting drug use in a national sample of white non-Hispanic American adults

In this study we sought to extend our previous finding of an association between school dropout and injecting drug use (IDU) among African Americans by testing the association in a sample of White non-Hispanic Americans. A nationally representative sample of White non-Hispanic Americans age eighteen years and older was drawn from public use data files of the 1995-1996 National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). Adults with a self-report history of IDU were identified, and were matched to non-IDU adults in the same neighborhoods of residence. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the association between dropping out of high school and the occurrence of IDU. White non-Hispanic American high school dropouts were more likely than high school graduates to have injected a drug at least once. The findings of this research on non-Hispanic Whites are generally consistent with our earlier evidence on the association between educational status and a history of IDU among African-American adults. School dropout prevention programs may merit attention in an overall strategy of preventing injecting drug use and HIV/AIDS.     

The GED certificate and the poverty status of adult women

Are women who hold a General Educational Development (GED) certificate less likely to ever be in poverty? Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study examines the probability of entering poverty for women. Given that a woman is poor, the study also examines the probability of exiting poverty. The analysis differentiates between high school dropouts, GED certificate holders, and high school graduates, and it is restricted to the first entry into poverty and the first exit out of poverty. In general, the results show that the GED certificate may be an economically beneficial route for women to achieve short-term earnings growth and remain out of poverty, as compared to dropping out of high school. The analysis shows that women with a GED certificate have a significantly higher probability of entry into poverty than high school graduates. However, a GED certificate increases the probability that a woman will exit poverty, compared to high school dropouts. This finding differs from other studies about the economic impact of the GED certificate.     

The Role of Caring in the Teacher-Student Relationship for At-Risk Students

This study uses information from both teachers and students to explore how the perceptions of each other's investment in the relationship affects the productivity of the relationship. Using the National Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS), I analyze the conditions and academic consequences of students'investment in the relationship with teachers and school. I find that teachers'perceptions that the student puts forth academic effort and students'perceptions that teachers are caring are each weakly associated with mathematics achievement for most students. For students who are judged by their teachers as at risk of dropping out of high school, however, the value for math achievement of having teachers who care is substantial and mitigates against the negative effect of having been judged as at risk. The results suggest that social capital, as defined by a relationship that facilitates action, is especially high for at-risk students who feel their teachers are interested, expect them to succeed, listen to them, praise their effort, and care.     

American Indian High School Completion in Rural Southeastern Montana1

Factors related to dropping out of school are examined among a rural population of American Indians in southeastern Montana. Analyses assess the relative effects of community location, type of school, and student, family, and school variables on dropout behavior. Findings reveal the importance of students' community residence, parental education, and school experiences. The effects of these factors vary by school, however, suggesting that schools create different environments, opportunities, and relationships with specific communities that affect school outcomes. This research suggests the need to examine interactions among schools and Indian students, their families, and communities to understand school dropout patterns.     

Is Adolescent Employment Still a Risk Factor for High School Dropout?

Past cohorts of teenagers who spent long hours in jobs were more likely to drop out of high school than those who worked moderate hours or did not work at all. This article examines the association between employment intensity and dropout among adolescents in the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 who traversed high school during a time of decreased prevalence of both employment and dropout relative to earlier cohorts. Analyses reveal that a relatively small percentage of teenagers nowadays are characterized as either intensive workers or dropouts (around 11% each). Yet, despite declines in intensive employment and dropout, disadvantaged youth remain overrepresented in both groups, and intensive work is still a risk factor for poor grades and dropout.     

School Order,Justice, and Education: Climate,Discipline Practices,and Dropping Out

There is a growing body of research that explores how school climate, order, and procedural justice are related to violence within American public schools. What remains in the background, however, is how school climate, order, and justice are related to aspects of education such as dropping out. This study uses multilevel analysis, drawing from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, to examine the effect of school climate, order, and justice on dropping out. Results indicate that, when considering the various dimensions of school climate, order, and justice, a student receiving a formal school sanction remains the strongest factor related to the likelihood of a student dropping out of school. These results underscore the importance of careful design and implementation of school discipline and safety policies.     

Identity Development as a Mediating Factor Between Urban Poverty and Behavioral Outcomes for Junior High School Students

This study examines the developmental issue of identity development among 102 eighth graders living in a context of economic hardship. Results show that links between economic deprivation and behavioral outcomes were mediated by identity development for two of three outcomes. Support also was found for the hypothesis that content-specific identity development is more strongly related to behavioral outcomes than global assessments of identity development. Much of the research on youth living in urban poverty has focused on problem behaviors, such as drug use or dropping out of school. Less is known about how normal developmental transitions are resolved. Results are discussed relative to the protective nature of identity development and to theoretical and methodological issues regarding measuring identity development within specific populations.     

Sense of School Coherence, Perceptions of Danger at School, and Teacher Support Among Youth at Risk of School Failure

Using a sample of middle and high school students who had been identified by school personnel as at risk of school failure, this investigation examines two competing models about the effects of students' perceptions of danger at school and teacher support on their sense of school coherence. From the compensatory model, it is assumed that risk and protective factors combine additively to influence outcomes. From the immunity model, it is assumed that protective factors buffer or moderate the negative effects of risk factors on outcomes. Support is found for the compensatory or additive model, with perceptions of school danger negatively influencing students' sense of school coherence and teacher support positively influencing variation in the criterion variable. Implications for theory, practice, and further research are discussed.     

Do male dropouts benefit from obtaining a GED, postsecondary education, and training?

The authors use longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to investigate whether the wage trajectories of male high school dropouts are affected by the acquisition of the General Educational Development (GED) credential, by postsecondary education, and by training. The authors show that acquisition of the GED results in wage increases for dropouts who left school with weak skills, but not for dropouts who left high school with stronger skills. College and training provided by employers are associated with higher wages for male dropouts.     

Hispanic Adolescent Girls’ Attitudes Toward School

Hispanic adolescent girls are at elevated risk for dropping out of school. The authors interviewed 54 Hispanic adolescent girls who were attending after-school programs in the New York metropolitan area. The study investigated how the multiple factors of mother–daughter and friend mutuality, coping, acculturation, self-esteem, depression and family environment influenced the way these girls felt about school. The final logistical regression analysis appeared to support our hypothesis that girls who have a higher degree of mutuality with their mothers will be more likely to like school a lot. In addition, girls who liked school a lot were significantly more likely to have higher overall grades and to be somewhat religious. Findings are discussed within the context of the empirical and theoretical literature and implications for prevention of school drop-out are considered.     

Eighth‐Grade School Form and Resilience in the Transition to High School: A Comparison of Middle Schools and K‐8 Schools

We examine a set of academic and social outcomes in 9th grade, comparing middle school attendees with those who attended K‐8 schools. Previous research with these data has shown that there are few differences in 8th‐grade outcomes by school type. Here we extend these findings to determine whether school form influences student outcomes in the first year of high school. The results reveal several domains in which attendance at a middle school results in worse outcomes (e.g., greater rates of course failure); however, we find that a large portion of the difference by type of a student's 8th‐grade school is accounted for by differential rates of attendance at the district's magnet schools. That is, our results indicate that type of school attended during the middle grades is significantly and positively related to magnet school attendance and thereby on the academic outcomes in the 9th‐grade year.     

Student-Teacher Relationships

Abstract

It has been predicted that the number of students who do not complete a high school education will continue to increase. Of particular concern is the disproportionate number of poor and minority students who fail to complete high school. While the vast majority of the literature on school dropouts focuses on individual and family factors, a body of research has recently begun to examine how school factors contribute to the dropout problem. One of the most overlooked school factors is the quality of the relationship between teachers and students, especially at-risk students and the powerful impact of teacher attitudes and beliefs on student success. This article addresses how schools contribute to students' decisions to drop out of school and stresses the importance of selecting interventions aimed to improve the relationships between school personnel and students. Innovative programs designed to enhance strong student-teacher relationships are highlighted.     

Assessing School Climate Among Sexual Minority High School Students

ABSTRACT

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and intersex (i.e., sexual minority) youth are often targets of aggression because of their sexual identity, both in and out of schools. Literature on school-related aggression toward sexual minority youth often relies on quantitative surveys or retrospective studies. Little non-retrospective research has been done with this population investigating the nature of bullying, school climate, and the effects of being a sexual minority youth in schools. Sixteen sexual minority high school youth participated in face-to-face, in-depth interviews. Results for the themes from these interviews are presented in four categories: Sexual minorities' overall perspective on their school climate, the nature of aggression in schools against sexual minorities when present, the characteristics of the victims and bullies, and the consequences of being a sexual minority in schools. These youth's perspectives provide support for existing literature on the nature of bullying while providing additional insights into the nature and deficiencies of the resources available to them at schools. Ideas for future research with sexual minority youth in school-based settings also are included.     

Dropouts and continuers in Gamblers Anonymous: Life-context and other factors

The design, aims and rationale are outlined of a follow-up study of dropouts from Gamblers Anonymous. A cohort of those attending for the first time and dropping out after more than one meeting was contacted and the cooperators given a structured interview examining factors which may have contributed to decisions to dropout. A comparison group of continuers from the same meeting who had been totally abstinent for at least a year were given the same structured interviews. This first of four parts examines life context factors making it more difficult to maintain attendance, commitment to the treatment program, perceived pre-meeting expectations and reasons for coming, impacts of the first meeting, effects of pressures to maintain attendance and the influence of spouses.     

When Does Premature Treatment Termination Occur? Examining Session-by-Session Dropout Among Clients with Gambling Disorder

Premature termination challenges the successful outcomes of psychological treatments for gambling disorder. To date, research has primarily identified clients who are at particular risk for dropping out of treatment. A smaller but growing body of literature has investigated when dropout occurs. Typically, those studies have not considered improvement in psychological distress within their operationalizations of dropout and therefore may have misrepresented when dropout occurs. The current study examined when dropout occurs using an operationalization based on the criteria of attaining reliable change in a naturalistic sample of clients with gambling disorder, and the classification rates yielded from that operationalization were compared to the rates from a more common operationalization. Participants (n = 334) were clients meeting diagnostic criteria for gambling disorder at an outpatient private practice who completed a measure of psychological distress at baseline and prior to each subsequent treatment session. A survival analysis was conducted to determine temporal patterns of treatment dropout (i.e., clients who discontinued treatment before realizing reliable changes in psychological distress) and completion (i.e., clients who discontinued treatment after realizing reliable changes in distress) at each treatment session. Forty-nine percent of clients were classified as dropouts, and the majority of those clients did so in the first few sessions. The more common operationalization of dropout classified clients as dropouts when they had improved in their distress and clients as completers when they had not improved in their distress. Discussion centers on the implications of dropout occurring at various stages of treatment and future directions.     

Exploration of the reasons for dropping out of psychotherapy: A qualitative study

Elucidating the reasons for dropping out of psychotherapy can lead to the development of interventions aimed at reducing patient drop out. The present study aimed to explore patients’ reasons for dropping out of psychotherapy in Kermanshah, Iran. The present qualitative study was performed using conventional content analysis. The current sample included 15 participants consisting of 7 patients who dropped out of psychotherapy and 8 psychotherapists who have previously experienced patient dropout. A semi-structured interview was used for data collection. All interviews were audio recorded and subsequently transcribed. Content analysis using constant comparisons was performed for transcribed interviews. Four main categories emerged as reasons for dropping out of psychotherapy: dissatisfaction with the quality of psychotherapy, financial problems in psychotherapy, unprepared socio-cultural context of psychotherapy, and psychotherapy as a non-user friendly treatment. Additionally, specific subcategories within each main category were documented. The results revealed distinct reasons for psychotherapy drop out in the current Iranian-based sample. These identified reasons should be considered and addressed at the onset of treatment as well as in the development of formal interventions aimed at reducing dropout. Further research investigating the antecedents leading to patient drop out is recommended.     

RELIGIOUS INVOLVEMENT AND EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES: The Role of Social Capital and Extracurricular Participation

Previous research has observed that religious participation is positively related to a wide variety of adolescent outcomes, including academic achievement, but relatively little is known about why this is the case. We focus on a group of related potential explanations for why religious involvement improves educational outcomes. We examine whether religious participation enhances academic outcomes among teens by the way in which it shapes their social ties, or social capital, focusing on both intergenerational relationships and on relationships with peers. We also examine the potential intervening role of extracurricular participation. Using structural equation models to analyze data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we examine the potential role of social capital and extracurricular participation in mediating the relationship between religious participation and academic achievement, dropping out of high school, and attachment to school. We find that religious attendance promotes higher intergenerational closure, friendship networks with higher educational resources and norms, and extracurricular participation. These intervening variables account for a small part of the influence of adolescent religious participation on the educational outcomes in this study.     

Differential effects of parental involvement on cognitive and behavioral outcomes by socioeconomic status

Parental involvement is a much investigated area of research. Unfortunately, there are many conflicting findings. In some cases, researchers claim parental involvement positively affects academic achievement, while others claim parental involvement negatively affects academic achievement. Finally, a third grouping of studies find parental involvement has no significant relationship to academic achievement. A parallel body of research investigating the forces affecting dropping out has also been developed. Unfortunately, little research has actually attempted to link the various dimensions of parental involvement to dropping out or other at-risk behavioral outcomes, such as truancy (one exception being Astone and McLanahan 1991). Using the concepts of cultural and social capital, I provide a theoretical framework for why there would exist differential effects of parental involvement across cognitive (e.g., science achievement) and behavioral (e.g., truancy and dropping out) outcomes. I further investigate the variable relationships between involvement and each outcome by socioeconomic status. Findings indicate that parental involvement is generally a salient factor in explaining behavioral but not cognitive outcomes, with greatest support for parent-child discussion and involvement in Parent-Teacher organizations. Findings also indicate that specific dimensions of involvement have greater effects for upper SES students. These findings can be considered preliminary support for the contention of Bourdieu (1977) and Lareau (1989) that the greater levels of cultural capital possessed by the members of the upper class magnifies parental involvement’s effect for advantaged students.