Search

The research on students who do not graduate from high school has traditionally focused on students who drop out before their expected graduation date. This ignores the experiences of "persisters" or "persisting students"--those who remain enrolled in high school on or beyond their expected graduation date, but have yet to earn a diploma. Where data are available persisting students are estimated to be equal to or greater in number than dropouts. Authors argue that persisting students warrant greater attention in research, policy, and practice efforts meant to better understand and promote high school completion and the postsecondary transition. To this end, this article summarizes the existing literature on persisting students, with attention to how they are defined, their sociodemographic and academic characteristics, and the schools they attend. The article also lays out a research agenda and policy implications, highlighting the importance of better understanding this group and meeting their needs more effectively with the twin goals of (1) adding nuance to our understanding of persisting students and (2) improving the precision in educational research more broadly.

Attrition is a critical concern for evaluating the rigor of prevention studies, and the current study provides rates of attrition for subgroups of students and schools who are often sampled for prevention science. This is the first study to provide practical guidance for expected rates of attrition using population-level statewide data; findings indicated that researchers using K-12 school-based samples should plan for attrition rates as high as 27% during middle school and 54% during elementary school. However, researchers should consider the grade levels initially sampled, the length of follow-up, and the specific student characteristics and schools available for sampling. Postsecondary attrition ranged from 45% for bachelor's degree seekers to 73% for associate degree seekers. This practical guidance can help researchers to proactively plan for attrition in the study design phase, limiting bias and increasing the validity of prevention studies.

The transition out of adolescence signals a period of increasing personal and social responsibility. For many this means entering postsecondary or the labor market. Previous research has demonstrated that youth who do not finish high school in four years have less favorable postsecondary and labor outcomes. However, few studies compare the postsecondary and labor market outcomes within the group of students who do not finish high school in four years. The current study uses 12 years of linked-administrative data from Maryland to present the first statewide analyses comparing postsecondary and labor market outcomes for on-time graduates, GED earners, non-completers, and late graduates. The results describe an under-researched and underserved group of vulnerable students, with implications for supporting students during high school to improve the postsecondary and labor market transition.

Although persisters now represent the largest group of non-graduating high school students, they have received little attention in the research literature, leaving unanswered the question of how persisters differ from dropouts in terms of demographic characteristics, academic preparation, and key life outcomes. Using statewide linked-administrative education and labor market data, we applied multilevel modeling to examine the differences in demographic and academic characteristics between persisters and late (Year 4) dropouts. We identified several student- (i.e., race, special education participation, previous dropout, standardized test scores, on-track status, and attendance) and school- (i.e., school type, school size) level characteristics that related to the odds of persisting and dropping out in students' fourth year of high school. Additionally, we used a descriptive approach and data visualization to illustrate the near-term academic, postsecondary enrollment, and labor market pathways of 4-year non-graduates. Our findings highlight the unique characteristics and outcomes of persisting non-graduates and underscore an enhanced understanding of non-graduation through examining both persisting students and dropouts.

School concentrated disadvantage has been linked to poorer academic achievement and psychosocial functioning in prior research. The current study expands upon prior examinations of school concentrated disadvantage by applying a measurement approach first described by Michelmore and Dynarski in 2017, where eligibility for free and reduced-price meals (FRPM) is examined over time and the duration of eligibility serves as the key indicator of student disadvantage. We used data from a linked longitudinal administrative data system in Maryland, and we measured disadvantage using the proportion of years a student was eligible for FRPM between 6th and 12th grades (see ref. Michelmore & Dynarski). This measure was aggregated to the school level to measure school concentrated disadvantage. We found that school-level concentrated disadvantage was uniquely, and more strongly related to college enrollment than individual student-level disadvantage. However, early labor market outcomes tended to be more strongly linked to race/ethnicity than experiences with disadvantage. We highlight the need for additional targeted resources for students in schools with high concentrations of disadvantaged students.

Group mentoring is an increasingly popular intervention, but is still under-studied. This article reports findings from a qualitative study of the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP), a combined group and one-on-one mentoring program for early adolescent girls. Protégés (n = 113) were interviewed post-program about changes they made as a result of the program and mechanisms of those changes. Girls reported making changes in four major domains as a result of YWLP: (a) Academics (e.g., study habits), (b) Relational Development (e.g., trusting people), (c) Self-Regulation (e.g., thinking before acting), and (d) Self-Understanding (e.g., being yourself). Relational development and self-understanding were the most frequently reported types of change. Protégés reported mentors as contributing to changes in academics more often than the mentoring group. They reported the mentoring group as the change mechanism more often than mentors for relational development. Protégés reported the mentors and mentoring groups about equally as the mechanisms of change for self-regulation and self-understanding. The findings support prior research on group mentoring and suggest that social and relational skills are a developmental domain in which group-based mentoring programs for early adolescent girls may be particularly effective at intervening.

Objective/Research Question: How do student- and school-level factors measured in the final year of high school contribute to the odds of a student being assessed to need remediation in Math during the students' first community college enrollment? Methods: The present study draws on five years of linked secondary and post-secondary administrative records and includes the academic records for 18,814 students attending 228 high schools across 24 jurisdictions in Maryland. We used a series of multilevel models (MLM) to address the research question. Results: Using MLM, we identified both student and school-level factors, drawn from the final year of high school, which relate to the odds of needing math remediation in their first year of community college. Of note, student-level academic performance in high school had a larger influence on the odds that a student would need remedial education than socio-demographic factors. In addition, receiving English language learner services and graduating from high school in the fifth-year functioned as protective factors linked to a reduced likelihood of needing math remediation. Conclusions/Contributions: Community colleges are functionally dependent upon secondary schools to prepare the student body for college level coursework. As such, preventing the need for remediation among community college students will not be resolved within institutional siloes and will most probably require some degree of inter-system collaboration. The findings from the current study presents opportunities for early identification and suggest possible targets for intervention intended to reduce the likelihood that high-risk students will need remedial coursework when they arrive at community college.

There is demand among policy-makers for the use of state education longitudinal data systems, yet laws and policies regulating data disclosure limit access to such data, and security concerns and risks remain high. Well-developed synthetic datasets that statistically mimic the relations among the variables in the data from which they were derived, but which contain no records that represent actual persons, present a viable solution to these laws, policies, concerns, and risks. We present a case study in the development of a synthetic data system and highlight potential applications of synthetic data. We begin with an overview of synthetic data, what it is, how it has been utilized thus far, and the potential benefits and concerns in its application to education data systems. We then describe our federally-funded project, proposing the steps required to synthesize a statewide longitudinal data system covering high school, postsecondary, and workforce data. Last, for use as a template for other agencies considering synthetic data, we review the challenges we have confronted in the development of our synthetic data system for research and policy evaluation purposes.

Race relations are becoming an increasingly central conversation in society following several recent national events, including white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Portland, Oregon. Extant literature highlights the adverse effects of peer racial/ethnic discrimination on youth's mental, physical, and academic well-being, particularly for minorities. Because peer relationships are one of the most proximal risk and protective factors for healthy youth development, understanding key peer processes is critical for promoting healthy youth development. School settings are one of the most racially and ethnically diverse contexts for youth interactions; therefore, school social workers are well positioned to meet the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare's Grand Challenge to ensure healthy development for all youth. This review will highlight key peer processes from the developmental science literature that school social workers should consider when working with adolescents. Increasing school social workers' awareness of developmental theory and research focusing on the development of peer relationships, racial/ethnic socialization, and cross-race peer relationships can aid school social workers in identifying and implementing culturally appropriate interventions within schools to promote healthy development across races and ethnicities.

Homeless and low-income students share multiple overlapping risk experiences; however, some studies report little to no observed differences in outcomes between these students. From the cumulative risk perspective, homelessness is perched at the extreme edge of economic insecurity, suggesting that homeless students encounter additional hardships beyond poverty experiences alone. Using a continuum of risk framework, this study leveraged statewide administrative data from a 6th grade cohort of Maryland public school students (N = 52,610) to investigate the association between homelessness and educational and early labor market outcomes, above and beyond the associations linked to poverty. Findings provide support for the continuum of risk in relation to educational outcomes; however, no significant differences were observed in early labor market outcomes, although racial differences were detected. This study underscores the importance of targeted interventions in promoting positive, long-term outcomes, particularly for students who were homeless in adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although persisters now represent the largest group of non-graduating high school students, they have received little attention in the research literature, leaving unanswered the question of how persisters differ from dropouts in terms of demographic characteristics, academic preparation, and key life outcomes. Using statewide linked-administrative education and labor market data, we applied multilevel modeling to examine the differences in demographic and academic characteristics between persisters and late (Year 4) dropouts. We identified several student- (i.e., race, special education participation, previous dropout, standardized test scores, on-track status, and attendance) and school- (i.e., school type, school size) level characteristics that related to the odds of persisting and dropping out in students' fourth year of high school. Additionally, we used a descriptive approach and data visualization to illustrate the near-term academic, postsecondary enrollment, and labor market pathways of 4-year non-graduates. Our findings highlight the unique characteristics and outcomes of persisting non-graduates and underscore an enhanced understanding of non-graduation through examining both persisting students and dropouts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School concentrated disadvantage has been linked to poorer academic achievement and psychosocial functioning in prior research. The current study expands upon prior examinations of school concentrated disadvantage by applying a measurement approach first described by Michelmore and Dynarski in 2017, where eligibility for free and reduced-price meals (FRPM) is examined over time and the duration of eligibility serves as the key indicator of student disadvantage. We used data from a linked longitudinal administrative data system in Maryland, and we measured disadvantage using the proportion of years a student was eligible for FRPM between 6th and 12th grades (see ref. Michelmore & Dynarski). This measure was aggregated to the school level to measure school concentrated disadvantage. We found that school-level concentrated disadvantage was uniquely, and more strongly related to college enrollment than individual student-level disadvantage. However, early labor market outcomes tended to be more strongly linked to race/ethnicity than experiences with disadvantage. We highlight the need for additional targeted resources for students in schools with high concentrations of disadvantaged students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition out of adolescence signals a period of increasing personal and social responsibility. For many this means entering postsecondary or the labor market. Previous research has demonstrated that youth who do not finish high school in four years have less favorable postsecondary and labor outcomes. However, few studies compare the postsecondary and labor market outcomes within the group of students who do not finish high school in four years. The current study uses 12 years of linked-administrative data from Maryland to present the first statewide analyses comparing postsecondary and labor market outcomes for on-time graduates, GED earners, non-completers, and late graduates. The results describe an under-researched and underserved group of vulnerable students, with implications for supporting students during high school to improve the postsecondary and labor market transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying childhood precursors for depression has been challenging and yet important for understanding the rapid increase in the rate of depression among adolescent girls. This study examined the prospective relations of preadolescent girls' emotion regulation and parenting style with depressive symptoms. Participants were 225 children and their biological mothers recruited from a larger longitudinal community study. Girls' observed positive and negative emotion during a conflict resolution task with mothers, their ability to regulate sadness and anger, and their perception of parental acceptance and psychological control were assessed at age 9. Depressive symptoms were assessed by self-report at ages 9 and 10. The results indicated interactions between child emotion characteristics and parenting in predicting later depression. Specifically, low levels of positive emotion expression predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms in the context of moderate to high parental psychological control. Low levels of sadness regulation were predictive of high levels of depressive symptoms in the context of low to moderate parental acceptance. Findings from this study support the hypothesis that the prospective association between vulnerabilities in emotion regulation and depression are moderated by the caregiving environment. Keywords: depression, emotion regulation, emotion expression, parenting, preadolescent girls

Race relations are becoming an increasingly central conversation in society following several recent national events, including white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Portland, Oregon. Extant literature highlights the adverse effects of peer racial/ethnic discrimination on youth's mental, physical, and academic well-being, particularly for minorities. Because peer relationships are one of the most proximal risk and protective factors for healthy youth development, understanding key peer processes is critical for promoting healthy youth development. School settings are one of the most racially and ethnically diverse contexts for youth interactions; therefore, school social workers are well positioned to meet the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare's Grand Challenge to ensure healthy development for all youth. This review will highlight key peer processes from the developmental science literature that school social workers should consider when working with adolescents. Increasing school social workers' awareness of developmental theory and research focusing on the development of peer relationships, racial/ethnic socialization, and cross-race peer relationships can aid school social workers in identifying and implementing culturally appropriate interventions within schools to promote healthy development across races and ethnicities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used propensity scores to statistically approximate the causal effect of having aggressive friends on aggressive behavior in childhood. Participants were 1355 children (53 percent girls; 31 percent minority) in 97 third and fifth grade classrooms enrolled in the Classroom Peer Ecologies Project. Propensity scores were calculated to control for the impact of 21 relevant confounder variables related to having aggressive friendships and aggressive behavior. The 21 variables included demographic, social, and behavioral characteristics measured at the beginning of the school year. Presence/absence of aggressive friends was measured in the middle of the school year, and aggressive behavior was measured at the end of the school year. Results indicated a significant effect of having one or more aggressive friends on children's aggressive behavior above and beyond the effects of the 21 demographic, social, and behavioral variables. The propensity score model was compared with two other models of peer influence. The strengths and practical challenges of using propensity score analysis to study peer influence were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group mentoring is an increasingly popular intervention, but is still under-studied. This article reports findings from a qualitative study of the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP), a combined group and one-on-one mentoring program for early adolescent girls. Protégés (n = 113) were interviewed post-program about changes they made as a result of the program and mechanisms of those changes. Girls reported making changes in four major domains as a result of YWLP: (a) Academics (e.g., study habits), (b) Relational Development (e.g., trusting people), (c) Self-Regulation (e.g., thinking before acting), and (d) Self-Understanding (e.g., being yourself). Relational development and self-understanding were the most frequently reported types of change. Protégés reported mentors as contributing to changes in academics more often than the mentoring group. They reported the mentoring group as the change mechanism more often than mentors for relational development. Protégés reported the mentors and mentoring groups about equally as the mechanisms of change for self-regulation and self-understanding. The findings support prior research on group mentoring and suggest that social and relational skills are a developmental domain in which group-based mentoring programs for early adolescent girls may be particularly effective at intervening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]