Analysis of the High School Longitudinal Study to Evaluate Associations Among Mathematics Achievement, Mentorship and Student Participation in STEM Programs

Using a latent class analysis (LCA) with data from a subsample of children in stepfamilies ( N = 6,637) from the 2009 High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS), this study examined how stepfamily involvement in their (step)child’s education in and outside of school influenced their (step)child’s college preparation. Stepfamily involvement in their (step)child’s education in school (e.g., help with homework) and outside of school (e.g., educational experiences such as going to a museum) may help overcome challenges associated with academic and college preparation for children in stepfamilies. Results broadly indicate students with higher stepfamily involvement in education in and out of school had (step)parents who believed that college was attainable, students engaged in more activities that would prepare them for their future, and students took more AP/IB level courses and tests. Together, findings suggest that stepfamily involvement in education both in and out of school is important for their (step)child’s college preparation behaviors.

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On Track or Derailed? Race, Advanced Math, and the Transition to High School

Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World ◽

10.1177/2378023120980293 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 237802312098029

Author(s):

Yasmiyn Irizarry

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Middle School ◽

Longitudinal Study ◽

Ninth Grade ◽

Transition To High School ◽

Performance Factors ◽

Recent Scholarship ◽

Racial Gaps ◽

Accelerated Math ◽

Research And Policy

Recent scholarship has examined how accelerated math trajectories leading to calculus take shape during middle school. The focus of this study is on advanced math course taking during the critical yet understudied period that follows: the transition to high school. Data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 are used to examine advanced math course taking in ninth grade, including both track persistence among students who took advanced math in middle school and upward mobility among students who took standard math in middle school. Results reveal sizable racial gaps in the likelihood of staying on (and getting on) the accelerated math track, neither of which are fully explained by prior academic performance factors. Interactions with parents and teachers positively predict advanced math course taking. In some cases, interactions with teachers may also reduce inequality in track persistence, whereas interactions with counselors increase such inequality. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

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Predicting family poverty and other disadvantaged conditions for child rearing from childhood aggression and social withdrawal: A 30-year longitudinal study

International Journal of Behavioral Development ◽

10.1177/0165025410372008 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 97-106 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Lisa A. Serbin ◽

Caroline E. Temcheff ◽

Jessica M. Cooperman ◽

Dale M. Stack ◽

Jane Ledingham ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Longitudinal Study ◽

Social Withdrawal ◽

Childhood Aggression ◽

Drop Out ◽

Child Rearing ◽

Parental Absence ◽

Early Parenthood ◽

School Drop Out ◽

High School Drop Out

This 30-year longitudinal study examined pathways from problematic childhood behavior patterns to future disadvantaged conditions for family environment and child rearing in adulthood. Participants were mothers (n = 328) and fathers (n = 222) with lower income backgrounds participating in the ongoing Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project. Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine pathways from childhood aggression and social withdrawal to future high school drop-out, early parenthood, parental absence, and family poverty after the participants became parents. Childhood aggression directly predicted early parenthood and parental absence in both mothers’ and fathers’ models, and high school drop-out for the fathers (for the mothers, this path was indirect via achievement in primary school). Childhood aggression predicted family poverty indirectly, with some gender differences in significant pathways.

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