Abstract
This article explores the concepts of risk and resilience applied to children and youth. I suggest advantages in considering a definition of risk grounded in actual school performance and behavior, as opposed to common conceptions of risk tied to various group-level probabilities of failure. The study focuses on students doing poorly or lacking confidence in finishing school as of the eighth grade who turn themselves around by the tenth grade. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) survey, analyses examine the nature of performance-based risks and the conditions under which students improve their performance levels and outlooks by grade 10. The estimated models of resilience show influences resembling those found in studies of individual resilience in other domains. The importance of family supports, school responsiveness to students, and student involvement in school and community activities stand out as predictors of recovery from low performance. A few patterns within subgroups emerge: for instance, the noninfluence of socioeconomic status (SES) on resilience within the Hispanic and African American cohorts, and the finding that Hispanic youth are less resilient in schools where there are perceived problems with youth gangs.
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