Title: Schooling Influences on Aspirations of Rural Youth
1Schooling Influences on Aspirations of Rural
Youth
- Judith L. Meece, UNC-CH
- Presenter
-
2Special 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
3Background 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.
4What 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, OHara, 2001 Scafft, Alter,
Bridger, 2006.
5What 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
6Aims 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.
7Focus 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) -
8Defining 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. -
9Prior 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
10Rural 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
11Rural HSA Student SampleN 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
12Rural HSA Student SampleN 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
13Measures
- 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?
14Student Measures
- Student Background Variables (self-reports)
- Gender
- Ethnic Background
- Economic Hardship
- Level of Parental Education
- Parental Educational Expectation
- Grade Level
15Student 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
16Analysis ProceduresEducational Aspirations
- Descriptive Analyses
- Hierarchical Linear Modeling
- SEM Analyses
17Educational Aspirations of Rural Youth Totals vs.
Rural Remote
18Required Educational Levels of Reported Career
Choices Total Sample vs. Rural Remote
19High School Programs by Grade Level
20Postsecondary Education Exploration
21Frequency of Career Exploration Activities
22Schooling Influences onEducational 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.
23Gender (female)
Race (white)
Grade
Distal Variables
Control Variables
Educational Aspirations
Teachers Educational Expectations
HS Program
Grade Retention
Proximal Variables
Academic Self-Concept
Mediation Model of School Influences on
Educational Aspirations
24Gender (female)
Race (white)
Grade
Distal Variables
-.049
-.069
Control Variables
.115
-.027
.415
.420
.236
Educational Aspiration
.235
Teachers Educational Expectations
Explained variance (R2) .26
-.049
.064
.072
.233
.284
.230
Model fit summary NFI .825 CFI
.831 RMSEA .054
HS Program
.095
Retention
-.074
Proximal Variables
Mediation Model of School Influences on
Educational Aspirations
25Gender (female)
Race (white)
Grade
Distal Variables
-.049
-.069
Control Variables
.115
-.027
.415
.420
.236
Educational Aspiration
.235
Teachers Educational Expectations
Explained variance (R2) .26
-.049
.064
.072
.233
.284
.230
Model fit summary NFI .825 CFI
.831 RMSEA .054
HS Program
.095
Retention
-.074
Proximal Variables
Mediation Model of School Influences on
Educational Aspirations
26Gender (female)
Race (white)
Grade
Distal Variables
-.049
-.069
Control Variables
.115
-.027
.415
.420
.236
Educational Aspiration
.235
Teachers Educational Expectations
Explained variance (R2) .26
-.049
.064
.072
.233
.284
.230
Model fit summary NFI .825 CFI
.831 RMSEA .054
HS Program
.095
Retention
-.074
Proximal Variables
Mediation Model of School Influences on
Educational Aspirations
27ConclusionsEducational 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.
28ConclusionsTransition 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. -
29ConclusionsSchooling Experiences
- Educational Aspirations strongly related to
malleable aspects of the school environment - Teacher expectations
- School belonging
- Curriculum relevance
- Academic self-concept
- School valuing beliefs
30Limitations 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.