scholarly journals A longitudinal study of factors predicting students’ intentions to leave upper secondary school in Norway

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 1259-1279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Arvid Haugan ◽  
Per Frostad ◽  
Per-Egil Mjaavatn
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
School Engagement ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Intention To Leave ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Upper Secondary

Abstract This article illuminates factors predicting students’ intention to leave upper secondary school. The research is anchored in an ecological theoretical perspective that considers dropout as a multifaceted phenomenon that culminates in the decision to leave school. Based on this, we have used a longitudinal research design to investigate to what extent factors related to students’ experiences predict their intention to leave school early. The sample in this study comprises 1695 students from upper secondary schools in the county of Trøndelag in Norway. We ran descriptive analyses, correlations and hierarchical regression to analyse our data. In the stepwise causal modelling, the independent variables were placed in the same order as the hypotheses were formulated. This enabled us to test each of the independent variables to explain how much variance there was in the dependent variable (intention to leave) beyond those entered in the previous steps. The results show that the students’ grades from elementary school, parental and teacher support and school engagement in upper secondary school are important explanatory factors leading to dropout. Loneliness at secondary school and students’ ability to cope with stressful life events seem to be the two most important predictive factors in relation to the students’ thoughts about leaving.

scholarly journals Matematiikan parhaat osaajat lukion lopussa ja heidän matematiikka-asenteissaan tapahtuneet muutokset

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Niemi ◽  
Jari Metsämuuronen ◽  
Markku Hannula ◽  
Anu Laine
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Primary Education ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
High Achieving Students ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
High Achieving ◽  
Upper Secondary Level

Tutkimus perustuu Opetushallituksen ja Kansallisen koulutuksen arviointikeskuksen keräämään pitkittäisaineistoon. Samaan ikäluokkaan kuuluvat oppilaat ovat osallistuneet kansallisiin matematiikan kokeisiin ja matematiikka-asenteita kartoittaviin kyselyihin vuosien 2005–2015 aikana neljällä eri mittauskerralla perusopetuksen kolmannelta vuosiluokalta toisen asteen loppuun. Tutkimusaineiston kokonaisotos käsittää yhteensä 3896 oppilasta. Tutkimuksessa keskitytään tarkastelemaan matematiikassa parhaiten menestyneitä opiskelijoita. Matematiikan parhaiksi osaajiksi määritetään kansalliseen matematiikan kokeeseen osallistuneet lukiolaiset, jotka saivat pitkän matematiikan ylioppilaskokeesta arvosanan laudatur tai eximia cum laude approbatur (n = 146). Ensin tutkimuksessa selvitetään, miten parhaiden osaajien matematiikka-asenteet muuttuivat perusopetuksesta lukion loppuun ja toiseksi, miten opetuksen pedagogiset ratkaisut yläkoulussa ja lukiossa selittävät osaamiseltaan parhaiden tyttöjen ja poikien asenteissa tapahtuneita muutoksia. Selittävien tekijöiden analyysissa käytetään päätöspuuanalyysia (DTA) ja lineaarista regressioanalyysia. Matematiikan parhaiden osaajien matematiikasta pitäminen kasvoi lukio-opintojen aikana, mutta minäkäsitys ja kokemus matematiikan hyödyllisyydestä laskivat. Matematiikassa parhaiten menestyneiden tyttöjen asenteissa tapahtuneet muutokset poikkesivat asenteiden yleisestä muutossuunnasta. Parhaiden tyttöjen minäkäsitys kasvoi yläkoulun ja lukion aikana lähes parhaiten menestyneiden poikien tasolle ja tytöt pitivät matematiikasta lukion lopussa poikia enemmän. Matematiikassa parhaiten menestyneiden tyttöjen ja poikien asenteiden kehittymistä selittivät erilaiset opetuksen pedagogiset ratkaisut. Molemmilla myönteisiä asenteita vahvistivat yleisesti oppilaskeskeisyyteen, yhteistoiminnallisuuteen ja oppijoiden tarpeiden huomioimiseen liittyvät pedagogiset ratkaisut. In English The study is part of a longitudinal research. Students belonging to the same age group were followed from the third grade of primary education to the end of upper secondary level. The data was collected by EDUFI and FINEEC during 2005–2015. The data consists of 3896 students. The target group consists of mathematically high-achieving students at the end of their studies in upper secondary school. The definition of high-achieving students based on success in matriculation examination of advanced math (n = 146). First we examine how high-achieving students’ attitudes towards mathematics change from primary education to the end of upper secondary level and then how pedagogical solutions in grades 7–9 and in upper secondary level explain boys’ and girls’ changes in attitudes. Decision tree analysis (DTA) and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that high-achieving students liked more mathematics during upper secondary school but self-concept and experience of usefulness of mathematics decreased. The changes of high-achieving girls’ attitudes differed from the general trend of change. High-achieving girls’ self-concept increased almost to the same level than high-achieving boys’ during grades 7–9 and in upper secondary school. Additionally, girls liked mathematics more than boys at the end of upper secondary level. The development of high-achieving girls’ and boys’ attitudes was explained by different pedagogical solutions. Both girls’ and boys’ positive attitudes were generally reinforced by pedagogical solutions related to student-centeredness, cooperative learning and paying attention to students’ needs. Fulltext in Finnish.

Adolescents’ Self-Concordance, School Engagement, and Burnout Predict Their Educational Trajectories 1This paper is part of a series on “Youth Development in Europe: Transitions and Identities” that will appear in the European Psychologist throughout 2008 and 2009. Taken together, the papers aim to make a conceptual contribution to the increasingly important area of youth development, especially within the context of an expanding Europe, by focusing on variations and changes in the transition to adulthood and emerging identities. The series will conclude with a summary by the organizers of the series, Katariina Salmela-Aro (University of Jyväskylä, Finland) and Ingrid Schoon (University of London, UK).

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 332-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kati Vasalampi ◽  
Katariina Salmela-Aro ◽  
Jari-Erik Nurmi
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
School Engagement ◽  
Educational Aspirations ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Goal Progress ◽  
Educational Trajectories ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
High Level

This study investigated whether self-concordance of adolescents’ achievement-related goal predicts their school engagement and lack of burnout during upper secondary school as well as their subsequent educational trajectories. We also examined whether goal effort and progress mediate these associations. The sample consisted of 614 17-year-old upper secondary school students, who were surveyed three times: (1) in the second grade of upper secondary, (2) in the third grade of upper secondary school, and (3) one year later. The results showed that when adolescents pursued their achievement-related goal for internal reasons, they also invested effort in their goal, which was reflected in a high level of goal progress. Among girls, goal progress predicted a high level of school engagement during upper secondary school and, subsequently, success in the educational transition after upper secondary school, whereas low goal progress was related to school burnout, which in turn was reflected later on in delay in studies and low educational aspirations.

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