Schooling Influences on Aspirations of Rural Youth

Judith L. Meece, UNC-CHPresenter

Special Acknowledgements

Matthew Irvin, InvestigatorSoo-yong Byun, Postdoctoral Scholar

Thomas W. Farmer, InvestigatorBryan Hutchins, Project Coordinator

Kim Dadisman, InvestigatorDylan Robertson, Investigator

Laura Shaffer, Program AssistantPaul 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 ofSchools

SchoolSize

PovertyStatus

MinorityPercent

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 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

Rural 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

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 YouthTotals vs. Rural Remote

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0P

erc

en

t

Don't know High schoolor GED only

2 yearprogram or

degree

Graduatefrom 4 year

college

Advanceddegree

Total

Rural Remote

Required Educational Levels of Reported Career Choices : Total Sample vs. Rural Remote

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Pe

rce

nt

Less than HighSchool

High School orsome College

College Degree Advanced Degree

Total

Rural Remote

High School Programs by Grade Level

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Per

cen

t

General High SchoolProgram

College prep, academic,or specialized academic

Vocations, technical, orbusiness and career

I don't know

Grade 9

Grade 10

Grade 11

Grade 12

010

2030

4050

6070

80

Per

cen

t

Talked with a guidancecounselor or other advisor

about college

Visited a college campus? Searched for collegecourses or programs

available by the internet

Talked with your parentsabout how to pay for

college

Never

Once or twice

3 to 5 times

4 More than 5 times

Postsecondary Education Exploration

Frequency of Career Exploration Activities

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Per

cen

t

Internship Job Mentoring Job Shadowing School BasedEnterprise

CooperativeEducation

Never

Once or twice

3 to 5 times

4 More than 5 times

Schooling 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.

School Belonging

School Valuing

Educational Aspirations

Academic Self-Concept

Place-Based Education

HS Program

Grade Retention

Teacher’s Educational Expectations

Gender (female)

Race (white)

Grade

Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations

Economic Hardship

Proximal Variables

Control Variables

Distal Variables

School Belonging

School Valuing

Educational Aspiration

Academic Self-Concept

Place-Based Education

HS Program

Retention

Teacher’s Educational Expectations

Gender (female)

Race (white)

Grade

Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations

Explained variance (R2) .26

Model fit summaryNFI: .825CFI: .831RMSEA: .054

.420

.236

.415

.284

.072

.095

-.074

.233 .230

.115

-.049-.069

.235

.064 -.049

Economic Hardship

-.027

Distal Variables

Control Variables

Proximal Variables

School Belonging

School Valuing

Educational Aspiration

Academic Self-Concept

Place-Based Education

HS Program

Retention

Teacher’s Educational Expectations

Gender (female)

Race (white)

Grade

Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations

Explained variance (R2) .26

Model fit summaryNFI: .825CFI: .831RMSEA: .054

.420

.236

.415

.284

.072

.095

-.074

.233 .230

.115

-.049-.069

.235

.064 -.049

Economic Hardship

-.027

Distal Variables

Control Variables

Proximal Variables

School Belonging

School Valuing

Educational Aspiration

Academic Self-Concept

Place-Based Education

HS Program

Retention

Teacher’s Educational Expectations

Gender (female)

Race (white)

Grade

Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations

Explained variance (R2) .26

Model fit summaryNFI: .825CFI: .831RMSEA: .054

.420

.236

.415

.284

.072

.095

-.074

.233 .230

.115

-.049-.069

.235

.064 -.049

Economic Hardship

-.027

Distal Variables

Control Variables

Proximal Variables

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.