Midwestern High School Research Articles

Career and College Advice to the Forgotten Half: What Do Counselors and Vocational Teachers Advise?

This article examines the career and college advice that high school counselors and vocational teachers give to the “forgotten half,” students who are unlikely to seek a 4-year college degree. Using interview data from 12 Midwestern high schools, we found that most counselors tend to encourage all students to attend college, regardless of the students’ interests or plans. Vocational teachers, on the other hand, showed evidence of a more nuanced view of the need for college. We found that vocational teachers in our sample fit in to four broad categories in terms of their advice and opinions about college: the college-for-all advocates, who push college regardless of circumstances; the diplomats, who try subtly to tell students that their plans are unrealistic; the straightforward, who try to make sure that students have realistic information; and the hands-off, who disavow any role in helping students make future plans. After an examination of these approaches, we conclude with a discussion of the implications of the various approaches for guiding students’ choices.

Perceived Peer Context and Adolescent Adjustment

This study examines the relation between close, dyadic, peer relationships and adolescent adjustment by addressing 3 questions. First, which more strongly predicts adolescent adjustment, the quality or the quantity of close friendships? Second, what are the relative contributions of positive and negative friendship qualities to adolescent boys' and girls' adjustment? Third, how do differing patterns of these friendship qualities predict adolescent adjustment? Participants were 456 juniors and seniors attending 2 midwestern high schools (51% boys; ages 16 to 19, M = 17.2, SD = 0.74) who completed a survey assessing adjustment (i.e., adolescent depression, substance use, positive affect) and the qualities of their closest peer relationships. Results partially supported the hypothesized relations between specific friendship qualities and adolescent adjustment, but the pattern of gender differences was opposite to that predicted. However, negative and positive friendship qualities were jointly associated with...

Creating smarter schools through collaboration

Principles of cognitive psychology are considered, not primarily as they inform classroom practice, but as they inform school organization and administrative practice in schools. Theories of knowledge as distributed, social, situated, and based on prior beliefs and knowledge are applied to organizational learning within schools. Collaborative problem solving is explored as a means that schools might employ to become smarter. The study is situated within a Midwestern high school that is striving to improve itself. This school employs collaborative strategies to learn and adapt to changed expectations and circumstances. In the school examined, this collaboration is orchestrated through the creation of discourse communities among teachers and cognitive apprenticeships among teachers and administrators.

The Settings of Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Use

The current study examined the settings in which adolescents use alcohol and drugs, emphasizing sex and peer group differences in where substance use occurs, settings associated with more problematic substance use, and settings potentially serving as sites of initiation of adolescent substance use. Subjects were 449 juniors and seniors attending two Midwestern high schools (51% male; aged 16–19) who completed in-class surveys. Few sex differences in settings of substance use were found, although girls were more likely than boys to drink in family settings. More severe substance use was associated with a higher likelihood of drinking at school. Moreover, alcohol users were more likely to report drinking in their own homes and at their friends' homes than abstainers were to indicate selecting these settings to use alcohol if they were to do so. Drug users were more likely to report substance use outdoors, at their friends' homes, at social parties, and at school than were abstainers to indicate selecting these settings to use drugs if they were to do so. Implications of these findings for understanding the epidemiology of substance use and high-risk settings for the initiation and escalation of substance using behaviors are discussed.

Antecedent Factors Differentiating Women and Men in Science/Nonscience Careers

Factors that differentiate women and men who choose a science career from those who do not were investigated using longitudinal data from 1980 and 1990. The participants ( N = 459) were ninth or twelfth graders at six midwestern high schools in 1980. Women in science compared to women in other careers were significantly more likely to value math and science for their future career goals, whereas men in science compared to men in other careers had significantly higher high school grade point averages in natural science and higher career aspirations. Not unexpectedly, both women and men in science careers compared to those in nonscience careers took more high school elective science courses because they wanted to, aspired to higher prestige careers as young adults, and attributed their math successes more to their ability. The male model accounted for more than twice the variance accounted for by the female model, and context variables were not predictive for either model. Suggestions for revising the model and improving the assessment of context influences are made. Implications for research and practice include designing and evaluating programs to increase the number of intellectually able girls valuing math and science as these relate to their future goals.

The Social Studies Teacher's Lament

This year-long study examined three research questions: (a) Does the increase in quantity and quality of the African American experience in a U.S. history textbook promote significant knowledge acquisition of that group? (b) Does this knowledge positively modify racial attitudes of White students toward that group? (c) What is the effect of a teacher's utilization of the textbook's technology on knowledge acquisition and attitude change? The subjects were 149 White high school sophomores enrolled in U.S. history classes in two Midwestern high schools. Four teachers were placed in pairs in a limited use control group and an extensive use experimental group. A Black History Knowledge Test and the Multifactor Racial Attitude Inventory served as the pretest/posttest measures. The data indicated that although both limited and extensive use of such a text produced statistically significant knowledge gains, neither had any significant impact on attitude change.

Early Drinking Onset and Its Association with Alcohol Use and Problem Behavior in Late Adolescence

Objective.To examine the relationship between age of drinking onset and patterns of use, abuse of other substances, and the prevalence of other alcohol-related problems in a population of midwestern high school seniors.Design.We analyzed self-report survey data on public school students' history of alcohol and other drug use and related problems from the Minnesota Student Survey conducted in 1989. The sample consisted of 2,650 male and female seniors, representing a 10% random sample of all white seniors in the study.Results.The findings suggest that early onset of alcohol use (by age 12) is associated with subsequent abuse of alcohol and related problem behaviors in later adolescence, including alcohol-related violence, injuries, drinking and driving, and absenteeism from school or work, as well as increased risks for using other drugs.Conclusion.This paper identifies the preadolescent years from age 10 to 12 as a particularly vulnerable period for the development of early alcohol dependence and abuse. Delaying alcohol use onset to age 13 may significantly reduce the risk of severe alcohol abuse in later adolescence.

Aids Knowledge and Sexual Responsibility

A sample of 221 midwestern high school and college adolescents completed the AIDS Knowledge Test and Sexual Responsibility Scale. Overall, students had a moderate to high level of AIDS knowledge. Females had greater knowledge of AIDS than males. Adolescents who had not engaged in sexual intercourse had greater AIDS knowledge than did adolescents who had engaged in sexual intercourse. Sexually active college students scored higher on the AIDS Knowledge Test than did sexually active high school adolescents. AIDS Knowledge Test scores were significantly positively correlated with Sexual Responsibility scores. Female adolescents were found to be more sexually responsible than male adolescents. The practical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

Coping with the Ultimate Tragedy—The Death of a Student

An existing crisis intervention plan proved invaluable when four students from one midwestern high school were killed in an automobile accident. Provided here is a chronology of how that plan was implemented.

Evaluating a Guidance and Language Arts Unit for High School Juniors

In this study the authors report on the evaluation of a program enhancing both the career development and writing skills of high school juniors. Participants were 166 juniors attending a suburban midwestern high school. School counselors and English teachers worked together to provide an opportunity for students to develop academic skills while exploring relevant career issues. Results indicated that for a wide range of students, participation in the program led to the achievement of specific guidance competencies. Changes in perceived mastery of guidance competencies predicted positive change in vocational identity and attainment of higher English grades for girls. Implications for promoting school counselors' involvement in guidance program evaluation practices are discussed.

Human growth hormone: a new substance of abuse among adolescents?

It has been estimated that as many as 250,000 adolescents are using anabolic steroids (AS). Recently, anecdotal reports suggest that athletes may also be using human growth hormone (HGH). The purpose of the present study was to determine the following: 1) if adolescents in two suburban midwestern high schools (83% white, 14% Asian, and 3% black) were using HGH; 2) knowledge of its effects; 3) reasons for use; and 4) concurrent AS use. After we obtained informed written consent, 224 male and 208 female 10th-grade students were surveyed using a 15-item questionnaire. Of male students surveyed, 5% (n = 11) reported past or present use of HGH, and one female student reported use. Our data suggest that among male adolescents surveyed, a majority had heard of this substance, and 31% of males reported knowing someone who was using HGH. Chi-square analysis found a significant association between AS and HGH use where seven AS users reported past or present use of HGH. Most HGH users were unaware of its side effects and reported first use between 14 and 15 years of age. No differences in sports activity, ethnicity, or age were found between users and nonusers of HGH.

Intimacy development in middle adolescence: Its relationship to gender and family cohesion and adaptability

The relationships of family cohesion and adaptability to adolescent intimacy development were explored by administering the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales survey and the Fundamental Interpersonal Relationship Orientation - Behavioral Version survey to 207 middle adolescents (70 males and 137 females) from a small midwestern high school. The adolescents' perceptions of family adaptability correlated with the amount of responsibility the teens expressed in their relationships, while cohesion correlated with companionship and affection in their relationships; however, females' scores were related to cohesion, while males' scores were related to satisfaction with cohesion in their families. The study suggests that family cohesion and adaptability differentially influence intimacy development based on the adolescent's gender.

The Principal as Instructional Coach— Providing Quality Education

Described here is the instructional growth model developed by one mid western high school. The model is based on the concept of the principal as instructional coach.

An analysis of adolescent suicidal ideation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the predominant variables (i.e., hopelessness, depression, anxiety, negative life stress, family social climate, coping behaviors) theorized to be etiologically significant in the production of adolescent suicidal ideation. Subjects were 433 normal, midwestern high school students. ANOVAs revealed significant sex differences in level of suicidal ideation over the past year. Therefore, separate path analyses were conducted for males and females. Various statistical tests revealed that assumptions of path analysis were upheld by the male and female models that emerged. For males, levels of depression and family cohesiveness were found to have direct effects on the criterion. For females, levels of depression and trait anxiety were found to have direct effects on the criterion. The remaining significant variables in both models only indirectly affected the criterion.

Dating Violence among High School Students

Students from three midwestern high schools were surveyed regarding their experience with sexual, physical, and verbal dating violence. There were 631 respondents from suburban, rural, and inner-city schools. The survey explored the proportion of students who experienced violence and the characteristics and correlates of the violence. The pro-portion of females who reported sexual violence was 15.5 percent; the proportion was the same for physical violence. However, it rose to 24.6 percent reporting sexual or physical violence or both. The proportion of male respondents reporting violence was lower: 4.4 percent for sexual violence, 7.8 percent for physical violence, and 9.9 percent for both sexual and physical violence. Significant correlates of violence included dating patterns, grade point average, and the community in which the student lived. Respondents said violence tended to recur, but they did not disclose this to parents or officials. Implications with regard to the causes, treatment, and prevention of violence are discussed.

Changes in Nutrition Knowledge Scores and Calcium Intake in Female Adolescents

A three‐day nutrition education program on calcium nutriture for female adoles cents ages 14–16 was presented at a midwestern high school. The purpose of the program was to increase the adolescents' knowledge of calcium balance and its importance, thus prompting healthy food and lifestyle habits. The study was conducted using a pretest, posttest, and post‐posttest one month later. Each testing period consisted of a nutrition examination, lifestyle questionnaire, and 24‐hour diet recall. Data were analyzed by a two‐way ANOVA with repeated mea sures. Female adolescents were randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 29) or a no‐treatment control group (n = 20). The findings were: (a) the experimental group's nutrition knowledge scores increased significantly following the program and remained significantly higher 30 days later; (b) calcium and vitamin D intakes increased between the pretest and posttest by 27% and 30%, respectively, in the control group and by 24% and 51%, respectively, in the experimental group; and (c) compared to the control group, the mean intakes for calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus in the experimental group were closer to the RDA for those nutrients, and the calcium:phosphorus ratio was closer to the recommended ratio of 1:1 at the posttest period and at the post‐posttest period.

Bulimic symptoms in high school females: Prevalence and relationship with multiple measures of psychological health

A 118-item survey assessed prevalence of bulimic symptomatology and examined multiple psychological health-related correlates in a sample of 2,042 midwestern high school females. Students completed the Bulimia Test (BULIT), Trait Anxiety Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, a General Self- Efficacy subscale, a Specific (eating) Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Goldfarb Fear of Fat Scale. Based on BULIT scores, 6.3% fell in the high symptom group, 9.3% fell in the moderate symptom group, and 84.4% fell in the low symptom group. High symptom group membership was equally common across high school grades, and racial differences were not found. Most high symptom students reported binge eating and self-induced vomiting at least weekly as well as depression, anxiety, fear of fat, and low self-efficacy. Specific self-efficacy and fear of fat were most strongly correlated with the BULIT and, along with depression, were the three most potent multivariate predictors of the bulimic symptom group. Theory and practice implications are discussed.

Helping Adolescents Cope with the Death of a Peer

The authors present an exploratory study of grief and coping responses of students in a rural Midwestern high school 18 months after a peer's death from leukemia. Evidence indicated both continued bereavement as well as several expected patterns of immediate grief and coping responses. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons of close and more distant friends of the dead peer indicated that whereas close friends were more likely to have had frequent thoughts about death, experienced difficulty discussing death, and reported life changes following a peer's death, all students experienced some difficulty coping. Implications for individual and school system adjustment are discussed.

Weight and Dieting Concerns in Adolescents, Fashion or Symptom?

Attitudes toward body weight and dieting and the relations of these attitudes to psychological adjustment were investigated in 497 randomly selected adolescents who were in their senior year in one urban and two suburban midwestern high schools. Most students reported feeling physically healthy. Two thirds of female adolescents were preoccupied with weight and dieting compared with only a small number (approximately 15%) of male adolescents. Black female adolescents were found to be less weight- and diet-conscious than white female adolescents. Increased weight and dieting concerns were associated with greater body and self-image dissatisfaction, with a depressed mood, and greater overall symptomatic distress in both male and female adolescents. The fairly common fear of being overweight and thoughts about dieting experienced by contemporary female adolescents, in part, seem to reflect the greater aesthetic value that contemporary society places on thinness for women. Overall, the findings suggest that preoccupation with weight and/or dieting concerns in either male or female adolescents are likely to indicate psychological problems.

The etiology of adolescents' perceptions of their weight

The present study examined adolescents' actual and perceived weights in relation to why adolescents think they weigh what they do, where adolescents obtain weight control information, and adolescents' weight locus of control. The study was conducted in a Midwestern high school, based on information obtaind from 194 freshmen. Thirty percent of the adolescents perceived their weight category inaccurately when compared to their actual weight and height. One-third of those who were thin, one-half of those who were normal weight, and two-thirds of those who were heavy had been exercising during the past six months to control or lose weight. Six percent of the thin, 41% of the normal weight, and 56% of the heavy students had dieted within the past six months to control or lose weight. The leading sources of weight control information were television, family, friends, and magazines. Teachers were identified as sources of information by less than 10% of the students. Mother, family, and friends were identified as those most helpful in adolescents' attempts to lose weight. Significant chi-square differences were found between weight locus of control orientations and actual and perceived weight categories. Finally, a multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyze adolescents' perceptions of weighing what they do. Eat too much vs too little and exercise too much vs too little were the two reasons identified that were statistically significant. The information obtained from this study may be useful in designing and implementing weight control and nutritional programs for adolescents. For many of the adolescents, their perceptions were different from reality.