Educational consequences of a sibling's disability: Evidence from type 1 diabetes

While there is a growing literature on family health spillovers, questions remain about how sibling disability status impacts educational outcomes. As disability is not randomly assigned this is an empirical challenge. In this paper we use Danish administrative data and variation in the onset of type 1 diabetes to compare education outcomes of focal children with a disabled sibling to outcomes of focal children without a disabled sibling (matched on date of birth of the focal child, sibling spacing and family size). We find that having a disabled sibling significantly decreases 9^th grade exit exam GPAs, while having no impact on on-time completion of 9^th grade. However, educational trajectories are impacted, as we find significant decreases in high school enrollment and significant increases in vocational school enrollment by age 18. Our results indicate that sibling disability status can generate economically meaningful inequality in educational outcomes.     

The Challenge of Improving Urban High School Graduation Outcomes: Findings from a Randomized Study of Dropout Prevention Efforts

This 5-year longitudinal randomized study focused on the effects of a dropout prevention program implemented at two urban high schools. The program incorporated the characteristics of personalization found in previous research to have some positive effects, and typical of the type of programs implemented in many high schools nationwide. The primary program component was the provision of a facilitator for about 60 program students at each school to encourage students regarding attendance, their academic coursework, and personal issues. In particular, the study examined whether at-risk students randomly assigned to the program had better outcomes (particularly attendance, on-time promotion in grade, and high school completion) than those at the same high schools that were assigned to the control group. The article explores reasons for the nonsignificant effects of this program, emphasizing the need for earlier intervention prior to the ninth grade year among at-risk urban students.     

Evaluation of a truancy court intervention in four middle schools

The effectiveness of a school‐based truancy court intervention in four middle schools in a mid‐sized school district was evaluated. Cumulative data from 185 youth attending a truancy court from 2004 through 2008 were included in the analyses. Results indicated a differential impact of the truancy court intervention depending on truancy severity at baseline. The intervention was most successful in increasing attendance for students with severe truancy, but had limited impact on students with moderate truancy, and no impact on mild truancy. The intervention did not result in improved school attachment or grade point averages, nor did it significantly reduce discipline offenses. Furthermore, the aftercare intervention, consisting of regular meetings with an authority figure (e.g., a juvenile officer), was only effective at maintaining truancy court attendance gains for students with severe truancy at baseline, although it was associated with a substantial decrease in discipline offenses for all groups. These results suggest that truancy courts similar to the one described here may have an impact on truancy for severely truant students, but may have a limited effect on students with mild or moderate truancy. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Fourth Graders' Social Standing with Peers: A Prospective Study on the Role of First Grade Physical Activity,Weight Status,and Motor Proficiency

We prospectively examined the role of physical activity involvement, weight status, and motor functioning capability in 1^st grade for social status among other pupils in class in the 4^th grade. Our sample included 80 Norwegian 1^st grade pupils (Girls N = 44; Boys N = 36). 1^st grade motor proficiency and objectively measured physical activity, but not weight status was predictive of 4^th grade social standing among pupils in class as measured by socio‐metric status. Interaction findings also revealed that 1^st grade healthy weight children being proficient in the motor domain benefit more in terms of their social standing among peers in 4^th grade than do 1^st grade overweight but equally motor proficient children. Being physically active in the 1^st grade seems more important for social standing among peers in 4^th grade for 1^st grade girls than for boys. Results may inform early intervention efforts in school to enhance pupils' psychosocial development.     

Cumulative environmental risk and youth maladjustment: the role of youth attributes

Using data from 5,070 youth ages 11 to 18 years old who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, concurrent and longitudinal associations among cumulative risk, protective factors, and youth maladjustment were examined. Cumulative risk was associated with concurrent conduct problems and depressed mood. For conduct problems, a compensatory effect was found for scholastic achievement and problem-solving ability. For depressed mood, a compensatory effect was found for scholastic achievement. A protective-reactive effect of self-esteem was found for both forms of maladjustment. Youth gender, grade, and ethnicity moderated these associations. Cumulative risk predicted change over time in depressed mood. Scholastic achievement and self-esteem compensated for this risk. Findings indicate that youth attributes offer limited protection when adolescents experience risk factors across life domains.     

Understanding and Improving Classroom Emotional Climate and Behavior Management in the “Real World”: The Role of Head Start Teachers' Psychosocial Stressors

Research Findings: This article reports on two studies. Study 1 considered ways in which Head Start teachers' (n = 90) psychosocial stressors are related to teachers' ability to maintain a positive classroom emotional climate and effective behavior management in preschool classrooms. Study 2 tested the hypothesis that among teachers randomly assigned to a treatment condition (n = 48), psychosocial stressors serve as important predictors of their use of an intervention designed to improve classroom emotional climate and behavior management. Practice or Policy: Findings from Study 1 were mixed; notably, teachers' personal stressors were moderately predictive of lower use of effective strategies of behavior management in the classroom. Findings from Study 2 suggest that psychosocial stressors are not a barrier to teachers' use of intervention services. Contrary to our expectations, teachers reporting more stressors attended more training sessions than did teachers reporting fewer stressors. Teachers reporting higher levels of stress availed themselves of less support from mental health consultants during classroom consultation visits offered to treatment group classrooms as part of the intervention.     

Early Childhood Intervention and Educational Attainment: Age 22 Findings From the Chicago Longitudinal Study

This study investigated whether participation in the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) Preschool Program associated with higher educational attainment (high school completion, highest grade completed, and college attendance) at age 22. The study sample included 1,334 youth (869 in the preschool group and 465 in the comparison group) from the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Probit regression was used to examine the group differences in educational attainment controlling for child and family characteristics, including gender, race/ethnicity, and family risk status. Results indicated that CPC preschool participation was significantly associated with more years of education (11.33 vs. 10.93, p < .001), a higher rate of high school completion (Diploma or General Equivalency Diploma [GED], 66.9% vs. 55.3%, p < .001), and a higher rate of college attendance (23.0% vs. 17.9%, p = .055). Only gender subgroups showed an interaction effect with program participation on high school completion among all subgroups. Males benefitted more from the preschool program than females on high school completion. Findings demonstrate that large-scale school-based programs can have enduring effects into early adulthood.     

EFFECTS OF PARENTAL DIVORCE OR A FATHER'S DEATH ON HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION

Associations between parental loss and high school (HS) completion were examined in data drawn from 1,761 male and 1,689 female offspring born in wedlock to mothers participating in a nationally representative study. Multiple logistic regression models were conducted predicting HS completion by age 19 among offspring whose parents divorced or father died, compared to offspring of continuously married parents. Models were estimated without and with adjustment for correlated sociodemographic characteristics, including maternal education and age at first childbirth and offspring age at last assessment and race/ethnicity. In unadjusted models, parental divorce predicted a 41% decreased odds of HS completion for males, and paternal death predicted a 79% decreased odds of HS completion for females. In models including sociodemographic risk factors, associations between parental divorce and paternal death reduced slightly. Findings highlight the importance of examining unique risks from paternal death versus parental divorce on educational attainment in male and female offspring.     

Short-term fun or long-term gain: a mixed methods empirical investigation into perceptions of truancy among non-truants in Flanders

The purpose of the present study is to explore non-truanting youngsters’ perceptions of truants and truancy. In-depth qualitative interviews (N: 8) are used to explore inductively the perceptions of truancy among non-truanting pupils in secondary education in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium). We use survey analysis (N: 3314) to assess the prevalence of different attitudes towards truancy and their mutual relationships, the prevalence of truants at school, individual risk factors for truancy, and school context variables. The results reveal two attitudes toward truancy: (1) disapproval of truancy and (2) the appeal of truancy. Factors that increased disapproval of truancy included attachment to school, attachment to parents, belief in school rules and cultural capital. Finding truancy attractive was associated with a lack of attachment to school and the presence of truants in the peer group. In the conclusion we elaborate on the implications of our findings.     

Exploring Resilience in Latina/o Academic Outcomes: A Latent Class Approach

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between various protective factors with academic outcomes of Latina/o high school students. We use two groups of protective influences, individual and family, and their relationship to 12th grade mathematics achievement, dropout rates, and enrollment in post-secondary education. Latent class analysis was used to identify academic protective profiles, or latent groups/classes, among high school Latina/o students (N?=?1610) and assess group differences with respect to gender, SES, immigrant status, student’s native language, preschool attendance, and 10th grade mathematics. Results indicated the presence of four academic protective groups, which differed with respect to academic discussions with parents, and attitudes about mathematics. The four classes are compared with respect to academic outcomes and differences are discussed as well as implications for practice.     

Direct and Indirect Effects of Parenting on the Academic Functioning of Young Homeless Children

Research Findings: Effects of parenting quality on the academic functioning of young homeless children were examined using data from 58 children ages 4 to 7 and their parents during their stay at an emergency homeless shelter. Parenting quality, child executive function, child intellectual functioning, and risk status were assessed in the shelter, and teacher reports of academic functioning were obtained when the children began kindergarten or 1st grade. As hypothesized, parenting quality was associated with children's academic success, and this effect was mediated by executive function skills in the child. Parenting quality also had a moderating effect on risk, consistent with a protective role of high-quality parenting among children with higher risk levels. Concomitantly, children with higher risk and lower parenting quality appeared to be more vulnerable to academic problems. Practice or Policy: In homeless families, parenting may play an especially important role in academic success through multiple pathways, including the development of executive function skills in their children. Policies and practices to support parents and foster the executive function skills of young children in homeless families may be important strategies to promote child academic success. Implications for intervention efforts with homeless parents and children are discussed.     

Inequitable Compliance: Implementation Failure of a Statewide Student Discipline Reform

Researchers and others in the education community are concerned about over-reliance on exclusionary discipline such as out-of-school suspension (OSS) and expulsion. Exclusionary discipline is associated with lower student achievement, higher risk of drop-out or grade retention, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. In response, many schools, districts, and states are moving toward less exclusionary consequences. In 2013, the Arkansas state legislature passed a bill prohibiting the use of OSS as a consequence for truancy. Yet, even after 3 school years, there has not been a complete elimination in the use of OSS for truancy. In this article, I use 8 years of student achievement, demographic, and disciplinary data from all Arkansas public schools to assess which school-level factors are associated with the use of OSS as a consequence for truancy in the year the law was passed, and which are associated with policy compliance in the following 3 years. I find schools that served more minority students, had higher rates of truancy, and higher rates of OSS were less likely to comply with the policy, all else equal. Combined, these results suggest that the types of schools likely targeted by this policy are the same ones not fully complying with it. As a result, the impact of policy reforms, which sound beneficial prima facie, may be limited if changes are not communicated well to schools, if there is not accountability to ensure compliance, and if there is not school capacity to handle discipline effectively.     

Rethinking Early Elementary Grade Retention: Examining Long-Term Academic and Psychosocial Outcomes

Abstract

Grade retention, the practice of requiring a student to remain in the same grade the following year, disproportionately affects students with sociodemographic risk and facing academic challenges. Each year, the United States spends $20 billion on retention and two million children are retained. Extant studies examining early elementary grade retention generally focus on short-term effects and academic outcomes; little is known about long-term effects on academic and psychosocial outcomes in the middle grades. The current study uses propensity score methods and a national data set to estimate the effect of first- or second-grade retention on academic achievement and psychosocial outcomes six or seven years later. By comparing students who were retained to students who were similar on observed characteristics but otherwise promoted, we generate causal estimates that show a statistically significant negative effect of retention on reading achievement. Significant and robust effects were not consistently detected for other academic or psychosocial outcomes. As grade retention is a widely used educational intervention, implications for its effectiveness from a policy and practice perspective are discussed.     

Survivors of institutional abuse in long-term child care in Scotland

BackgroundThe Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) commissioned the research project to document the outcomes of institutional abuse in long-term child care in Scotland.ObjectiveTo profile the experiences of survivors abused in long-term child care in Scotland, and to develop a model which linked maltreatment, risk and protective factors, and outcomes.Participants and Setting225 survivors of historical institutional abuse in Scotland, who made witness statements to SCAI.MethodsData were extracted from witness statements using a coding frame developed through a thematic analysis of a subsample of 52 statements.ResultsSurvivors had been in care in predominantly Catholic and non-religious residential institutions in Scotland for an average of 8 years, having entered at an average age of 6.8 years. They had suffered multiple forms of maltreatment. Maltreatment rates were: physical abuse, 95.6%; emotional abuse, 85.3%; sexual abuse, 60.4%; emotional neglect, 51.1%; and physical neglect, 37.3%. Across the lifespan survivors had negative outcomes in psychosocial adjustment (96%), mental health (84%), and physical health (43%). The effect of maltreatment in care on psychosocial problems was mediated by both risk and protective factors; and on mental health was mediated by risk factors, but not protective factors. Maltreatment in care had a direct effect on physical health which was not mediated by risk or protective factors. The effects of the cumulative number of risk factors on adverse mental health and psychosocial outcomes was greater than that of maltreatment, and protective factors had a limited impact on adverse outcomes.ConclusionsEvidence-based child protection policies and practices should be implemented to prevent institutional abuse and treat child abuse survivors in Scotland.     

Immediate Effects of a School Readiness Intervention for Children in Foster Care

Research Findings: School readiness is a strong predictor of adjustment in elementary school and beyond. Children in foster care are at particular risk for academic and social difficulties in school. Limitations in self-regulatory skills and caregiver involvement among these children might contribute to a lack of school readiness. This study presents the immediate effects on school readiness of a targeted, short-term intervention designed to improve children's early literacy, prosocial, and self-regulatory skills during the summer before kindergarten entry: Kids in Transition to School. Using a randomized controlled trial design, we assigned 192 children in foster care to either an intervention or services as usual comparison condition. Multimethod, multi-informant assessments were conducted immediately prior to and following the completion of the intervention. The results from structural equation modeling indicated that the intervention had significant positive effects on early literacy and self-regulatory skills. Practice or Policy: An efficacious, short-term, readily scalable, theoretically based intervention targeted at specific vulnerabilities for children in foster care may help to improve the school readiness and eventual school adjustment of these children.     

The impact of interventions to prevent truancy: A review of the research literature

It is well established that truancy has a negative impact on pupils’ educational careers. Much more discussion is needed concerning the strategies and interventions that effectively help to remedy truancy. Therefore, this article provides an integrative review of interventions to prevent truancy. Sixteen empirical studies that reported on the effectiveness of an intervention were coded according to the research design, participants, effect size, and outcomes. In addition, attention was paid to implementation fidelity and the theoretical frameworks that underpinned each intervention. The results indicate truant students benefit in particular from interventions that are derived from the school bonding perspective. In the conclusion we elaborate on the implications of our findings and discuss recommendations for practice, policy, and research.     

Child maltreatment and risk behaviors: The roles of callous/unemotional traits and conscientiousness

Child maltreatment poses significant risk to the development of callous/unemotional traits as well as risk behaviors such as engaging in violence, having sex with strangers, and binge drinking. In the current study, the indirect pathway from child maltreatment to risk behaviors was examined via callous/unemotional traits; whereas the conscientious personality trait was tested as a moderator of this indirect pathway. Young adults and parents (N = 361; M_age = 19.14, SD = 1.44) completed questionnaires on child maltreatment histories, callousness/unemotional traits, personality characteristics, and risk behaviors. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the hypothesized direct, indirect and conditional indirect effects. Findings showed indirect links between the child maltreatment latent factor and physical fighting, having sex with strangers, and binge drinking via callous/unemotional traits. Furthermore, the conscientiousness personality type significantly buffered the connection between callous/unemotional traits and physical fighting, supporting a conditional indirect effects. Callous/unemotional traits are important factors in the underlying mechanism between child maltreatment and risk behaviors among young adults, and conscientiousness serves as a protective factor against violence. Preventive intervention programs and clinicians may benefit from focusing in addressing callous/unemotional traits among youth who report childhood maltreatment experiences as well as targeting conscientiousness as a protective factor.     

Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Beliefs,Coping Strategies,and Academic Performance: An Evaluation of Theoretical Models

Research has identified factors associated with academic success by evaluating relations among psychological and academic variables, although few studies have examined theoretical models to understand the complex links. This study used structural equation modeling to investigate whether the relation between test anxiety and final course grades was mediated by personal control, self-efficacy, goal orientation, coping strategies, and self-regulation. Participants were 297 undergraduate students taking an algebra course designed for engineering students. Results indicated that the proposed theoretical model was supported by the data, although a modified model produced a better fit. Other competing models were also tested. Collectively, analyses revealed that the psychological variables played important roles in predicting students’ grades, as all the structural coefficients and R ² statistics were statistically and practically significant. Findings suggest value in the development and testing of additional models that contribute to the expansion of intervention programs to enhance academic outcomes among students.