Longitudinal Study Of American Youth Research Articles

The Dynamic Relationships between Educational Expectations and Science Learning Performance among Students in Secondary School and Their Later Completion of a STEM Degree.

The educational expectations of students for themselves have been commonly corroborated to directly predict their higher academic performance. Nevertheless, some recent research has reported that the academic performance of students may also contribute to their better development of educational expectations. Moreover, more advanced but limited research has argued that both the educational expectations and academic performance of students are developmental and changeable over time rather than fixed and stable. Due to the importance of students' science learning performance during the years of secondary school in relation to their later STEM development in adulthood, the current study is intended to investigate how the developmental and growth trajectories of students' educational expectations and science learning performance reciprocally affect each other directly and inversely in secondary school and then later contribute to their successful completion of a STEM degree in adulthood. Based on the six-wave panel data containing a nationally representative sample of adolescent students from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), the current study was conducted by parallel-process latent growth curve modeling (PP-LGCM) and found that both the developmental and growth trajectories of students' educational expectations and science learning performance were mutually predictive of each other across the years of secondary school, which then contributed to their later higher likelihood of successful completion of a STEM degree in adulthood. In addition, the conditional direct PP-LGCM model, which is to model the effects of students' educational expectations on their science learning performance, and the conditional inverse PP-LGCM model, which is to model the effects of students' science learning performance on their educational expectations, showed significant within- and cross-domain effects differently. The implications of the study findings related to educational reforms and policy designs are discussed.

Family and Individual Contexts of Middle-School Years and Educational Achievement of Youths in Middle-Aged Adulthood.

Although educational development of youths can profoundly affect their other domains of health and well-being across later life trajectories, little research has investigated the prolonged effects of family and individual contexts of youths in middle-school years, a most critical developmental and formative stage, on their educational achievement in middle-aged adulthood. The current study employed data of a nationwide representative sample of middle-school youth students in the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) to examine how grade-7 parental support for college education, family SES, and educational expectations of youths contribute to their educational achievement in adulthood of mid-thirties through their development of grade-8 academic commitment and grade-9 educational performance in terms of English, mathematics, science, and social studies grade scores. Results based on structural equation modeling of longitudinal relationship found that grade-7 parental support for college education, family SES, and educational expectations of youths had significant and direct effects on youths' higher educational achievement in adulthood, and youths' grade-8 academic commitment and grade-9 educational performance significantly mediated the effects of grade-7 family SES, parental support for college education, and educational expectations of youths on their educational achievement in adulthood respectively and/or concurrently. Furthermore, interaction analysis supported the promotive but not buffering effects of grade-7 educational expectations of youths by family SES on their grade-9 educational performance and educational achievement in adulthood. Implications related to the important findings of the current study pertaining to educational development of youths are discussed.

The Association Between Music Engagement, Academic Performance, and Self-Esteem in Seventh Graders: A Secondary Data Analysis

<h3>Research Objectives</h3> To examine if engaging in musical activities is associated with self-esteem or, secondarily, with higher academic achievement. <h3>Design</h3> Survey, logistic regression. <h3>Setting</h3> United States, educational settings. <h3>Participants</h3> 3,675 7th graders surveyed from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth's 2015 cohort. <h3>Interventions</h3> Not applicable. <h3>Main Outcome Measures</h3> The primary independent variable was music engagement, which included all of the following: going to the symphony, playing a musical instrument over the summer, and participating in a music group in school. Self-esteem was measured using a sum score of six Likert-scale items, including prompts such as "I have a positive attitude toward myself." Academic performance was a self-reported measure of grades. <h3>Results</h3> Music engagement was a significant predictor of academic performance (p <.001, OR=1.97, 95%CI =1.35, 2.86). Students who engaged in music had 1.97 times larger odds of having better academic performance, which represented a small to moderate magnitude of association. The magnitude of the association between music and self-esteem was positive (OR=1.18, 95%CI=0.99, 1.42) but not statistically significant (p=.072). An examination of the demographic variables indicated that academic performance was the strongest predictor of self-esteem (OR=2.76, 95% CI=2.18, 3.49). Additionally, males had larger odds of having higher self-esteem than females, students from rural communities had lower odds of having higher self-esteem than students from suburban communities, and students in the West had lower odds of having self-esteem than students in the Midwest. <h3>Conclusions</h3> These positive associations are crucial to understand, as music is a modifiable factor (unlike other demographic variables) that may support self-esteem and academic performance and impact adolescents' lives into adulthood. Expanding music resources to subgroups at risk for lower self-esteem, such as rural areas and in the West, may provide more opportunities for students' participation which in turn may positively influence academic performance and self-esteem. <h3>Author(s) Disclosures</h3> None.

An Analysis of Mathematics and Science Achievements of American Youth with Nonparametric Quantile Regression

Considering the importance of science and mathematics achieve ments of young students, one of the most well known observed phenomenon is that the performance of U.S. students in mathematics and sciences is undesirable. In order to deal with the problem of declining mathematics and science scores of American high school students, many strategies have been implemented for several decades. In this paper, we give an in-depth longitudinal study of American youth using a double-kernel approach of non parametric quantile regression. Two of the advantages of this approach are: (1) it guarantees that a Nadaraya-Watson estimator of the conditional func tion is a distribution function while, in some cases, this kind of estimator being neither monotone nor taking values only between 0 and 1; (2) it guar antees that quantile curves which are based on Nadaraya-Watson estimator not absurdly cross each other. Previous work has focused only on mean re gression and parametric quantile regression. We obtained many interesting results in this study.

Do Parents' Educational Expectations in Adolescence Predict Adult Life Satisfaction?

ObjectiveTo examine the extent to which parents' educational expectations for adolescents are associated with children's life satisfaction in adulthood and whether that association is mediated by adolescents' individual characteristics.BackgroundLife satisfaction is acknowledged to be an important goal in a child's developmental path. However, less is known about the long‐term influence of parental expectations on adolescents' positive life outcomes and how functioning in adolescents aside from parental expectations is related to these long‐term associations.MethodUsing data from the 2 cohorts of high school students and their parents who participated in the Longitudinal Study of American Youth from 1991 to 2010 (N = 2,289), direct and indirect paths from parental expectations to adulthood life satisfaction were tested within the structural equation modeling framework.ResultsParents' higher educational expectations for adolescents were positively related to their children's life satisfaction 2 decades later via children's expectations, self‐esteem, and educational attainment. Parents' expectations were associated with higher self‐esteem in the adolescent years through adolescents' expectations, which ultimately predicted adolescents' life satisfaction as adults.ConclusionThe level of expectations parents have for their children are related to their adolescents' life satisfaction 2 decades later, perhaps because expectations are associated with adolescents' educational attainment and self‐esteem.ImplicationsFamily practitioners and educators are encouraged to educate adolescents' parents about the link between their educational expectations and long‐term educational attainment and life satisfaction for their children in adulthood.

The enduring effect of scientific interest on trust in climate scientists in the United States

People who distrust scientists are more likely to reject scientific consensus, and are more likely to support politicians who are sceptical of scientific research1. Consequently, boosting Americans’ trust in scientists is a central goal of science communication2. However, while previous research has identified several correlates of distrust in climate scientists3 and scientists more broadly4, far less is known about potential long-term influences taking root in young adulthood. This omission is notable, as previous research suggests that attitudes towards science formulated in pre-teenage years play a key role in shaping attitudes in adulthood5. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, I find that interest in science at age 12–14 years is associated with increased trust in climate scientists in adulthood (mid thirties), irrespective of Americans’ political ideology. The enduring and bipartisan effects of scientific interest at young ages suggest a potential direction for future efforts to boost mass trust in climate scientists. Analysis of longitudinal survey data shows that interest in science at age 12–14 years is associated with increased trust in climate scientists in adulthood (mid thirties) in the United States, irrespective of political ideology.

Two tests of social displacement through social media use

ABSTRACTThe present manuscript presents two tests of the hypothesis that social media use decreases social interaction, leading to decreased well-being. Study 1 used the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (N = 2774), which is a national probability sample of Generation X, to test displacement over a three-year time period. Latent change scores were used to test associations among social media adoption in 2009, social media use in 2011, direct contact frequency across years, in relation to change in well-being. Although social media adoption in 2009 predicted less social contact in 2011, increased social media use between 2009 and 2011 positively predicted well-being. Study 2 used experience sampling with a combined community and undergraduate sample (N = 116). Participants reported on their social interactions and passive social media use (i.e., excluding chat via social media) five times a day over five days. Results indicate that social media use at prior times of day was not associated with future social interaction with close others or with future face-to-face interaction. Passive social media use at prior times predicted lower future well-being only when alone at prior times. Neither study supported the social displacement hypothesis. Several interpretations of results, including a need-based account of social media use, are examined. The challenges of identifying an appropriate time scale to study social displacement are identified as critical question for future research.

The Importance of Early Attitudes toward Mathematics and Science

Background/Context Given the importance of increasing student participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), there is a need to understand how factors such as student's attitudes toward math and science in middle and high school are linked to their later college and career choices. Purpose/Objective The purpose of this study is to describe heterogeneity in math and science attitudes and how these attitudes change through middle and high school. This study contributes to the literature by using measures from grade levels where student attitudes might be particularly vulnerable to shifting; examining the extent to which attitudes are persistent for particular groups of students; comparing the stability of attitudes across multiple domains (mathematics and science), which are intertwined in the pursuit of STEM careers; and relating attitudes to STEM career attainment, an outcome that occurred some 20 years later. Research Design We used the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) to examine the development of student attitudes in middle and high school and the relationship of those patterns to academic achievement and career choices. We used latent class analysis and latent transition analysis to study change over time. Findings/Results Based on latent class analyses conducted for seventh, 10th, and 12th grade independently, four attitudinal profiles were identified at each grade level that varied in their affinity toward mathematics and science: very positive, qualified positive, neutral, less positive. The stability of these four attitudinal profiles at each grade level varied over time. Using latent transition analysis, approximately 40% of students in this study did not change their attitudes from seventh through 12th grade. Of those who changed their attitudes, change occurred prior to 10th grade and changed toward more negative attitudes. This pattern of change varied depending on ethnicity and gender. Conclusions/Recommendations Findings suggest that although a proportion of students have consistently positive or consistently negative attitudes toward mathematics and science, there is a larger group of students with malleable attitudes. These findings emphasize the importance of encouraging and supporting early positive attitudes toward mathematics and science, particularly for ethnically underrepresented females because of the impact on outcomes such as achievement and STEM career attainment.

Parental Characteristics and the Achievement Gap in Mathematics: Hierarchical Linear Modeling Analysis of Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY)

One of the most salient problems in education is the achievement gap. The researchers investigated the effects of parental education and parental occupations in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or medical professions (STEMM) on the achievement gap in mathematics. Because students were nested within schools, two-level Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was the main analysis. Findings were consistent with another Multilevel Modeling analysis, that is, parental characteristics such as parental education had a positive effect on student achievement (Teodorovic, 2012). Moreover, parental occupations in STEMM had a positive effect on student mathematics achievement.

Education as a collective accomplishment: how personal, peer, and parent expectations interact to promote degree attainment

University enrollment rates have increased substantially both in the U.S. and internationally over the past 40 years. Unfortunately, university completion rates have not kept pace, causing scholars to project that international labor markets may face a deficit in qualified (i.e., bachelors-degree or equivalent) workers. In the U.S., this could begin as early as 2018. With this deficit looming, efforts to understand the factors that contribute to degree attainment have redoubled. This article is a piece of that effort. By analyzing data from 3279 individuals who participated in the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, this study examines the relative importance of personal, peer, and parent educational expectations in the degree attainment of students 15 years after high school graduation. Results suggest that all three of these factors are indeed predictive of educational outcomes, even when controlling for student background characteristics and high school achievement levels. However the relative importance of these variables varies across demographic groups. Implications of results will be discussed in terms of educational policy and practice.

Pygmalion in the Classroom and the Home: Expectation's Role in the Pipeline to STEMM

Background/ContextAlthough students frequently begin forming ideas about potential college majors or career choices prior to entering college, research on Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM), and (M)edicine has almost exclusively focused on students’ experiences in postsecondary institutions. To better understand the full length of the STEMM pipeline—from high school through to postsecondary levels—it is essential to identify and explore factors that influence students’ choices in STEMM while they are in secondary schools, a setting that is arguably the first critical step of the pipeline.Purpose/ObjectiveAmong factors that influence students’ choices to pursue STEMM fields, this study examines the influence of students’ self-efficacy and expectation, as well as the expectation and encouragement they received from parents and high school teachers on their decisions to major in, complete a degree in, and pursue a career in STEMM. Given this focus on expectation specifically, the study employs a conceptual framework developed through the application of prior literature on teacher and parent expectations, as well as Social Cognitive Career Theory.Research DesignUsing the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) 1987 data, the study investigated students’ decision making at three distinct time points along a typical STEMM education/career path and predicted their persistence in the STEMM pipeline by utilizing logistic regression analyses. To further examine whether such sets of expectations are moderated by gender, analysis also included interaction terms for gender and teacher expectation, as well as those of gender and parent expectation.Findings/ResultsThe results of this study indicate that expectation plays a significant role in students’ choices in STEMM and teacher expectation is shown to be especially influential. Focusing on gender differences, males’ choices in STEMM were shown to be most affected by their teachers’ educational expectations and encouragement while females’ choices were most affected by those of their parents.Conclusions/RecommendationsThe decision to pursue education and a career in a STEMM is not a one-time decision, but a longitudinal process that begins during secondary education and carries on through into college. The findings of this study provide meaningful information about the importance of students’ self-efficacy and expectation within the STEMM pipeline, as well as the influence teacher expectations and encouragement can have on students’ pursuit of and persistence in STEMM.

Parental Characteristics and the Achievement Gap in Mathematics: Hierarchical Linear Modeling Analysis of Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY).

One of the most salient problems in education is the achievement gap. The researchers investigated the effects of parental education and parental occupations in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or medical professions (STEMM) on the achievement gap in mathematics. Because students were nested within schools, two-level Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was the main analysis. Findings were consistent with another Multilevel Modeling analysis, that is, parental characteristics such as parental education had a positive effect on student achievement (Teodorovic, 2012). Moreover, parental occupations in STEMM had a positive effect on student mathematics achievement. L’ecart de rendement constitue un des problemes les plus importants en education. Les chercheurs ont etudie les effets de l’education et de la profession des parents en sciences, technologie, ingenierie, mathematiques et medecine (STIMM) sur l’ecart de rendement en mathematiques. Puisque les eleves etaient emboites dans les ecoles, l’analyse repose sur un modele de regression lineaire hierarchique a deux niveaux. Les resultats correspondent a ceux d’une autre analyse basee sur la modelisation a niveaux multiples qui indique que les caracteristiques des parents telles leur education a eu un effet positif sur le rendement des eleves (Teodorovic, 2012). De plus, quand la profession des parents est reliee a STIMM, le rendement en mathematiques de leurs enfants a eu meilleur.

Visiting Science Museums During Middle and High School: A Longitudinal Analysis of Student Performance in Science

This exploratory analysis of student attendance at science museums finds that student achievement in science and mathematics is somewhat higher for those students who visited science museums frequently during the school year or summer. The strength of the association with cognitive achievement is sufficiently noteworthy to encourage further analysis of the role of informal activities such as museum attendance on cognitive learning. The association of cognitive performance with science museum visiting was found to be only partially a product of student selectivity of parents with higher educational levels or prior achievement at earlier grades. However, student attitudes of science efficacy, utility, and anxiety in middle school were not found to be predictive or a result of frequent science museum attendance or achievement in later high school years, although attitudes and cognitive achievement did become more aligned by the 12th grade. But, no evidence is found in the analysis of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (1987–1993) and the 2009 High School Longitudinal Survey that visiting science museums was associated with reversing the typical trend of decline in student reports of science self-efficacy or beliefs in the utility of science during high school years.

The Composition of the STEMM Workforce: Rationale for Differentiating STEMM Professional and STEMM Support Careers

This article argues for the need to differentiate between professional and support careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), the article identifies important differences in the nature of the work and responsibility that differentiate the scientific workforce into a professional component and a support component. Further analysis demonstrates that the kind of training and education needed for STEMM support occupations is generally lower and different than the education needed for entrance into a STEMM profession. The LSAY data indicate that the students planning to enter a STEMM profession tend to make their choice earlier, select appropriate courses and programs to obtain professional credentials, and make a substantially longer commitment to educational preparation than do young adults who enter STEMM support occupations. We suggest some policy implications that may flow from this distinction.

Pathways to an Engineering Career

Utilizing data from the 20-year record of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), this analysis uses a set of variables to predict employment in engineering for a national sample of adults aged 34 to 37. The LSAY is one of the longest longitudinal studies of the impact of secondary education and postsecondary education conducted in the United States. A structural equation model found that mathematics is a primary gateway to an engineering career, beginning with algebra track placement in Grades 7 and 8 and continuing through high school and college calculus courses. Home and family factors such as parent education and parent encouragement of science and mathematics during secondary school also enhanced the likelihood of a young adult becoming a professional engineer. In addition, young men were substantially more likely to become professional engineers than young women. Considering each of these factors, this article seeks to understand the varied pathways available to students interested in engineering careers.

Pathways to a STEMM Profession

The inadequate number of American young adults selecting a scientific or engineering profession continues to be a major national concern. Using data from the 23-year record of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) and working within the social learning paradigm, this analysis uses a set of 21 variables to predict young people's employment in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or medicine (STEMM) at ages 36 to 39. The LSAY is one of the longest and most intensive longitudinal studies of the impact of secondary education and postsecondary education conducted in the United States. Using a structural equation model, the study found that mathematics continues to be a primary gateway for STEMM professions, beginning with algebra track placement in grade eight and continuing through high school and college calculus courses. Home and family factors such as parent education and parent encouragement of science and mathematics during secondary school also enhanced the likelihood of entering a STEMM profession.

Pathways to Careers in Medicine and Health

Physicians and other health professionals are an important part of the national scientific and technical workforce, and it is important to understand the factors that attract (or fail to attract) young adults into these fields. Using data from the 20-year record of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) and working within a social learning paradigm, this analysis uses a set of variables to predict employment in medicine or other health professions for a national sample of young adults aged 36 to 39. The LSAY is one of the longest longitudinal studies of the impact of secondary education and postsecondary education conducted in the United States. A structural equation model found that early home and parental factors provided substantial encouragement toward a career in medicine or health but that the net impact of these early advantages was slightly less for medicine and health than for other STEMM professions. Early school success and early algebra and calculus enrollment were important factors in eventual entrance into medicine or other health professions, but more as gatekeepers than as programmatic factors. Although twice as many young women earned premedical or prehealth professional degrees than young men, twice as many young men eventually entered medicine or another health profession as young women.

Pathways to STEMM Professions for Students From Noncollege Homes

In this article we use data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth to examine the influence of parent education on pathways to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) professions. Building on a general model of factors related to STEMM education and employment, we employ a two-group structural equation model to examine the factors that predict enrollment in a postsecondary STEMM program and employment as a STEMM professional. The results of this analysis indicate that most of the variables in the two models function in a similar manner, but the levels of parental encouragement, help, and direction vary significantly between college-educated and non-college-educated families. The children of non-college-educated parents were less likely to take algebra in Grade 8, take calculus in high school, and take calculus in college than were the children of college-educated parents. Young adults that grew up in noncollege families were less likely to enter postsecondary education; more likely to begin postsecondary education at a community college; less likely to earn a baccalaureate, graduate, or professional degree; and less likely to become a STEMM professional. The analysis reveals a clear pattern of cumulative advantage and cumulative disadvantage, and the final section of this article discusses the need for educational and public policy leaders to develop strategies and programs to address the substantial differential associated with parent education.

Do the Paths to STEMM Professions Differ by Gender?

In this article we examine gender differences in factors related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) education and employment between the ages of 36 and 39. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, we identified a STEMM high school talent pool. We found early gender differences in interest in engineering, although we found no such differences in entry into a general STEMM undergraduate major. Throughout the course of the study, we developed and tested structural equation models. We discovered that there were no major gender differences in family encouragement or precollege educational experiences, except that high school boys were slightly more likely to take calculus in high school. There were no significant differences in entrance into medicine and other health professions, but there were substantial gender differences in earned engineering degrees and employment in engineering. The completion of a graduate or professional degree was a stronger predictor of female employment in a STEMM profession than for young men. Among young adults with academic qualifications for a STEMM profession, the presence of children 18 years of age or younger in the family made no difference in the likelihood of employment in a STEMM profession.

An investigation of early parental motivational strategies on mathematics achievement by ethnicity: a latent curve model approach

This study examined the developmental effects of early parental intrinsic and extrinsic motivational strategies on mathematics achievement scores obtained from White students compared to underrepresented minority students. A latent growth curve model was fit to data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) with mathematics achievement assessed from 7th grade through 12th grade. Intrinsic parental motivational strategies were found to positively predict initial levels of mathematics achievement scores for White students but not underrepresented minority students. Extrinsic parental motivational strategies did not predict initial levels of mathematics achievement scores for either group of students. For White students, growth rate was found to be positively influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic parental motivational strategies. However, there is no evidence of this relationship for underrepresented minority students. This research contributes to an emerging literature relating developmental change processes to mathematics achievement.