High School Graduation Status Research Articles

Childhood behavioral problems are associated with the intergenerational transmission of low education: a 16-year population-based study.

The intergenerational transmission of low educational attainment is well-documented, but little is known about how behavioral problems in childhood explain this association. Drawing upon a population-based cohort study (n = 3020) linked to administrative records, we investigated the extent to which inattentive, internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial behaviors at child ages 6-8years accounted for associations between parental education and child's risk of failing to graduate from high school. We adjusted for economic, demographic, cognitive, and perinatal factors, as well as parental mental health. Using logistic regressions and the Karlson-Holm-Breen decomposition method, we found that childhood behaviors together explained 19.5% of the association between mother's education and child's high school graduation status at age 22/23, and 13.7% of the association between father's education and this same outcome. Inattentive behaviors were most strongly associated with failure to graduate from high school, while the role of other behaviors was modest or negligible. Inattentive behaviors may represent a mediational pathway between parental education and child education. Early interventions targeting inattentive behaviors could potentially enhance the prospects of intergenerational educational mobility.

Course grades as actionable early warning indicators: predicting high school graduation in an urban school district

Using administrative data from an urban school district, two series of predictive models were tested for their ability to project a student’s high school graduation status. The models included student grades, attendance, behavior, demographic predictors, and school-level variables. Eighth and ninth-grade variables were tested for two graduation cohorts (n = 2773) and multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted to analyze the data. Most early warning indicator (EWI) models include end-of-course grades as predictors. This study operationalizes course failure as having failed a single marking period in the eighth grade or having failed a single semester in the ninth grade. Findings offer practitioners an actionable course grades based EWI, allowing for intervention after a single marking period of failure.

School connectedness and high school graduation among maltreated youth

Maltreated youth have higher rates of school dropout than their non-maltreated peers. School connectedness is a modifiable predictor of school success. We hypothesized maltreated youth’s school connectedness (supportive relationships with adults at school and participation in school clubs) would be positively associated with high school graduation. We included youth with at least one Child Protective Services (CPS) report by age twelve from Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect, a prospective cohort study. Participation in extracurricular activities and adult relationships reported at age 16, high school graduation/General Education Development (GED) status reported at age 18, and demographics were provided by youth and caregivers. Maltreatment data were coded from CPS records. The outcome was graduation/receipt of GED. Multivariable logistic regressions examined the association between school connectedness and graduation/receipt of GED, controlling for confounders. In our sample of 318 maltreated youth, 73.3% graduated. School club was the only activity with a statistically significant association with graduation in bivariate analysis. Having supportive relationships with an adult at school was not significantly associated with graduation, though only 10.7% of youth reported this relationship. Maltreated youth who participated in school clubs had 2.54 times the odds of graduating, adjusted for study site, gender, poverty status, caregiver high school graduation status, and age at first CPS report (95% CI: [1.02, 6.33]). Few maltreated youth reported relationships with adults at school, and additional efforts may be needed to support these vulnerable youth. School club participation may represent an opportunity to modify maltreated youth’s risk for school dropout.

The long-term effects of school dropout and GED attainment on substance use disorders

BackgroundEpidemiologic research suggests that 14% of the population do not complete high school, and dropout has been linked to mental health conditions, substance use, chronic health problems, and criminal behavior. Few studies have assessed whether attainment of the general education development (GED) credential is protective from substance use. PurposeTo assess the long-term outcomes of school dropout and GED attainment on past year substance use disorders, age of onset, and current smoking status. MethodsLongitudinal data were included for lifetime substance users who participated in the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (Waves I and II). Eligible participants (N=30,608) were classified as having completed high school, dropped out of high school and did not complete a GED, or completed GED at Wave I. Survey logistic regression analyses were used to determine whether high school graduation status was associated with substance use disorders and smoking at Wave II. ResultsMultivariate results suggest that participants who dropped out of high school (OR=1.53; p<.01) or attained a GED were more likely to have a past year marijuana use disorder (OR=1.62 p<.01) compared to high school graduates. High school dropouts were also more likely to be current smokers (OR=1.88; p<.05) than graduates. ConclusionsHigh school dropouts have higher long-term rates of marijuana use disorder and smoking in adulthood than graduates. Attainment of a GED does not appear to be protective from marijuana use disorders in adulthood.

Widening mortality disparities by educational attainment among native-born Americans adults over 3 decades of follow up: the mystery deepens

Mortality disparities between high school dropouts and high school graduates may be widening over time. These changes could simply reflect demographic changes among dropouts over time or could represent changes to the cognitive or social benefits of education itself. We used a unique dataset that contains 32 years of survey data, 38 years of mortality follow-up data, and a wide array of psychological, sociological, cognitive, and demographic questions to explore the underlying causes of widening disparities in survival among high school dropouts relative to graduates. We focus on individuals surveyed from 1978 through 1997, and focus on ten-year survival for each respondent. We confirm that mortality disparities between high school dropouts and high school graduates have widened over time. We also find that the racial composition, parental education, racial mix of neighborhoods, income, and verbal IQ of high school dropouts and high school graduates have changed greatly over the past three decades. However, while each of these factors is itself an important determinant of survival, we find that none of these factors (or combinations of them) explain the widening mortality disparities by high school graduation status over the two time periods we study. The widening disparities in survival time by educational attainment we observe are not linked to changes in the socio-demographic characteristics of high school dropouts relative to high school graduates.

Childhood Trajectories of Inattention and Hyperactivity and Prediction of Educational Attainment in Early Adulthood: A 16-Year Longitudinal Population-Based Study

Literature clearly documents the association between mental health problems, particularly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and educational attainment. However, inattention and hyperactivity are generally not considered independently from each other in prospective studies. The aim of the present study was to differentiate the unique, additive, or interactive contributions of inattention and hyperactivity symptoms to educational attainment. The authors randomly selected 2,000 participants from a representative sample of Canadian children and estimated developmental trajectories of inattention and hyperactivity between the ages of 6 and 12 years using yearly assessments. High school graduation status, at age 22-23 years, was obtained from official records. Four trajectories of inattention and four trajectories of hyperactivity were observed between the ages of 6 and 12 years. After controlling for hyperactivity and other confounding variables, a high inattention trajectory (compared with low inattention) strongly predicted not having a high school diploma at 22-23 years of age (odds ratio=7.66, 95% confidence interval [CI]=5.06-11.58). To a lesser extent, a declining or rising trajectory of inattention also made a significant contribution (odds ratios of 2.67 [95% CI=1.90-3.75] and 3.87 [95% CI=2.75-5.45], respectively). Hyperactivity was not a significant predictor once inattention was taken into account. Inattention rather than hyperactivity during elementary school significantly predicts long-term educational attainment. Children with attention problems, regardless of hyperactivity, need preventive intervention early in their development.

Overweight Adolescents and On-time High School Graduation: Racial and Gender Disparities

Obesity among U.S. adolescents ages 12–19 rose from 4.6% in 1963–1965 to 17.4% in 2003–2004. This paper contributes to the literature on the impact of unhealthy body mass index (BMI) on health (e.g., obesity) and human capital (e.g., schooling) investments of adolescents. We use the propensity score method to study 8,388 individuals who responded to survey Waves I through III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), for students in grades 7–12. We estimate an economic model that captures longer-term effects of BMI categories (obesity and overweight separately) on on-time (dichotomous) high school graduation. We control for characteristics at the individual, household, and community levels. Baseline probit regression estimates were improved upon by using matching estimators (propensity scores yield consistent estimate of the average treatment on the treated) based on the nearest neighbor and the more robust kernel density weighting schemes. Results from both full and reduced models suggest no adverse impact of overweight or obesity on timely high school completion for males, but a significant average negative effect on females. Investigating disparities in effects across both gender and race, we isolate the adverse effects primarily to white and Asian females. No significant effects were found for African-Americans. One of the novel contributions of our research is that the significant effects of gender- and race- specific adolescent obesity and overweight conditions reach beyond high school GPA standing to also impact on-time high school graduation status.

Predictors of educational attainment in the Chicago Longitudinal Study.

The authors investigated a comprehensive set of predictors of high school completion and years of completed education for youth in the Chicago Longitudinal Study, an ongoing investigation of over 1500 low-income, minority children who grew up on high-poverty neighborhoods. The study sample included 1286 youth for whom educational attainment could be determined by age 20. Predictors were measured from birth to high school from participant surveys and administrative records on educational and family experiences as well as demographic attributes. Results from regression analyses indicated that the model explained 30.4% of the variance in years of completed school. The model also predicted accurately 73.3% of youths’ observed high school completion status and 72.6% of their high school graduation status. The strongest predictors of educational attainment were maternal educational attainment, school absences and mobility, grade retention, and youth’s educational expectations. Findings indicate that students’ expectation and school mobility are targets of intervention that can promote children’s educational persistence.

Prospective Prediction of Alternative High School Graduation Status at Emerging Adulthood1

Most studies that examine the prediction of graduation status among teens have examined those who attend regular high schools. The present study reports the prediction of high school graduation status 5 years later among 646 youth who attended alternative (continuation) high schools at baseline. Those youth at baseline who: (a) reported less intention to use soft drugs (cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana) during the next year; (b) suffered relatively few drug‐related consequences during the last year; (c) were relatively less likely to have carried a weapon (knife or gun) in the last year; (d) reported feeling relatively hopeful about the future; and (e) were older were more likely to self‐report having graduated continuation high school 5 years later. These results suggest that the consequences of drug use, not drug use per se, other illegal behavior, and a sense of well‐being are important predictors of graduation among groups of high‐risk teens. Problem behavior and resiliency theories are offered as potential explanations of these findings.

Relationship of Substance Use by Students with Disabilities to Long-Term Educational, Employment, and Social Outcomes

The study is based on data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988–2000 (NELS: 88). The results indicate that adolescents with disabilities who used either cigarettes or marijuana or who engaged in binge drinking had significantly higher dropout rates, lower high school graduation status, lower college attendance, and lower high school grade point averages, and fewer earned core credit units in English, science, and mathematics than nonusers. In addition, adolescents with disabilities who used either cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs were significantly more likely to engage in sexual activity at a younger age. The findings support the need for improved substance use prevention programming targeting the needs of youth with disabilities.

Exploring the Association Between Grade Retention and Dropout: A Longitudinal Study Examining Socio-Emotional, Behavioral, and Achievement Characteristics of Retained Students

Previously published research has not moved beyond studying the general association between retention and high school dropout. This longitudinal study seeks to evaluate within-group differences, exploring the characteristics of those students who are retained and subsequently drop out as compared to those students who are retained and do not drop out. A transactional-ecological view of development is presented to assist in situating the findings within a framework of long-term outcomes across development. The results of this study suggest that there are early socio-emotional and behavioral characteristics that distinguish which retained students are most likely to drop out of high school. In addition, maternal level of education and academic achievement in the secondary grades were also associated with high school graduation status. These findings provide information that extend beyond the association between grade retention and later dropout. In particular, this investigation suggests that it is especially important to attend to the socio-emotional and behavioral adjustment of children throughout their schooling to facilitate both their immediate and long-term academic success.

The Impact of Learner Variables on Language Test Performance

Research has shown that learner variables such as age, language background, field of study, and educational background have an impact on non-native speakers' scores on language tests. However, does this impact reflect a natural advantage of one group over another, or is it indicative of test favoritism or test bias? This article looks at how the learner variables of age, sex, language background, high school graduation status, and length of stay in the United States affect performance on six language texts: two doze tests, a reading test, a structure test, and two listening tests. A multiple regression approach to the problem, posed by analysis of variance, was taken to determine 1) the amount of variance accounted for by each of the learner variables on all tests combined and on each test individually and 2) the interaction of variables with test type. Such an interaction would be evidence of either test favoritism or test bias. It was found that age, language background, and high school graduation status accounted for small but significant amounts of variance on the tests. Furthermore, there was an interaction between the test and learner variables. Therefore, both test advantage and test favoritism/bias were found. Researchers in ESOL have found that learner characteristics such as age, language background, field of study, sex, and high school graduation status are related to non-native speakers' performance on language tests (Hisama 1980, Ilyin, Spurling, and Seymour 1983). Other sources (Resource Consultants, Inc. 1981) have found that number of years of education correlates positively with performance on listening and reading tests, whereas number of years out of school correlates negatively. Some researchers (see, for example, Pike 1979) have found differences in test scores among different populations but have not accounted for such differences. Others (Krashen, Sferlazza, Feldman, and Fathman 1976) have found that