Planning for College and Careers: How Families and Schools Shape the Alignment of Postsecondary Expectations

2021 ◽  
pp. 003804072110392
Author(s):  
Caitlin E. Ahearn

Students with aligned educational and occupational expectations have improved college and labor market outcomes. Despite extensive knowledge about the ways social background and school context contribute to educational expectations, less is known about the role of social intuitions in shaping expectational alignment. Drawing on data from the 2009 High School Longitudinal Study, I estimate the magnitude of socioeconomic inequality in alignment. I examine how differences in observed student characteristics contribute to, and whether school-based postsecondary planning initiatives mitigate, that inequality. Results from multinomial regression models show large socioeconomic differences in ninth-grade alignment, and I identify achievement, attitudes about college and careers, and relationships with significant others as contributors to those differences. Participation in postsecondary planning is associated with reduced uncertainty and increased alignment, but this relationship does not differ by social background, indicating that the examined college and career planning policies do little to address inequality in alignment.

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
pp. 101844
Author(s):  
Julie Dalgaard Guldager ◽  
Jesper von Seelen ◽  
Pernille Tanggaard Andersen ◽  
Anja Leppin

Author(s):  
Carlo Barone ◽  
Moris Triventi ◽  
Marta Facchini

Students and parents choose among high school tracks based on the assumption that academic tracks will offer a better preparation for university while vocational tracks will make the transition in the labour market easier, if students do not have a tertiary degree. We assess whether this assumption holds also when considering the long-term occupational outcomes of tracks choices in upper secondary education, controlling for both social and ability selection into tracks. We use for this purpose recent data from the 2014 ISFOL PLUS survey and apply linear regression/probability models to investigate labour market outcomes in a stage of occupational maturity. We find that, while there are no significant differences between tracks in the likelihood of being employed, students with an academic diploma fare better than vocational students in terms of social class attainment, even in the absence of a tertiary degree. The advantage of the academic diploma holds both for entering the salariat class and the high salariat class, and for avoiding demotion into manual occupations or unskilled manual occupations. We also show that tracking accounts for a large proportion of the total effects of socio-economic background on occupational attainment, and that coming from socio-economically advantaged families exacerbates the labour market advantages of attending an academic track.<br /><br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>The link between social background, high school track and long-term occupational outcomes is analysed.</li><br /><li>Analyses control for social and ability selection into tracks.</li><br /><li>There are no significant differences between tracks in employment status at occupational maturity in Italy.</li><br /><li>Academic diploma holders have higher chances of entering the upper classes and lower risks of ending into manual occupations.</li></ul>


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Gro Hellesdatter Jacobsen ◽  
Doris Overgaard Larsen ◽  
Ole Steen Nielsen

ResuméMed skolereformen fra 2014 har pædagoger fået en ny rolle i skolen, hvor de bl.a. varetager ”understøttende undervisning”. Det er dog stadig ikke helt klart, hvad pædagoger kan bidrage med i skolen, og hvordan deres bidrag forholder sig til lærernes. Med denne artikel præsenterer vi, med udgangspunkt i et almenpædagogisk perspektiv, et mere udfoldet bud på, hvad pædagoger kan bidrage med i skolen, og særligt hvordan de kan bidrage til at mindske marginalisering af børn. Vi argumenterer for, at pædagoger frem for at benytte sig af tydeligt instruerede aktiviteter, der minder om lærernes undervisning, med fordel kan benytte sig af arrangementet som en pædagogisk handlingsform, hvor den pædagogiske intention bevidst holdes svag for børnene. Hermed kan pædagoger bruge deres pædagogiske faglighed til at fremme børns medvirken i egne lærings- og dannelsesprocesser samt mindske marginalisering i skole og SFO. AbstractThe Danish school reform (2014) has given pedagogues (social educators) a new role in primary schools, where they among other things provide "supportive teaching". However, it is still not quite clear how pedagogues contribute and how their contribution relates to that of the teachers. Based on a general pedagogical theoretical perspective, we propose a more detailed description of pedagogues’ contribution in the school context, with a particular focus on reducing marginalization of children. We argue that pedagogues, rather than using clearly instructed activities similar to teachers' lessons, should make use of ”the pedagogical arrangement” as a form of action, in which the pedagogues’ intention is deliberately kept subtle. In this way, pedagogues may use their pedagogical expertise to promote children's involvement in their own learning and Bildung processes and to reduce marginalization in schools and school-based leisure time facilities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-278
Author(s):  
Christina J. Diaz

Although schools are important socialization venues for all children, they also serve as sites of acculturation for immigrant youth. According to segmented assimilation theory, first- and second-generation students experience divergent trajectories of incorporation, in part, because they are exposed to school contexts that support or stifle their attainment. I argue that such a process must have social-psychological underpinnings, which I examine by relating children’s educational expectations to their school environment during adolescence. Specifically, I use the National Education Longitudinal Study to assess differences in expectations by school context among immigrant and U.S.-origin youth between eighth and 12th grades. Results indicate that students in comparably disadvantaged school environments report lower expectations, though this relationship is driven by household resources and student characteristics. I also find that most students exhibit increases in their educational expectations, and that such changes are not systemically patterned by school context. This article sheds light on the goals of immigrant youth and the extent to which these plans transform from childhood to adolescence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-254
Author(s):  
Kylie J. Smith ◽  
Lisa N. Oxman ◽  
Louise Hayes

AbstractAcceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has substantial support in adult populations but less among adolescents. To date, very little research has evaluated whether it can be delivered in a highly accessible school context. This study examined a 6-hour, weekly ACT-informed school-based group intervention for adolescent girls, focusing on anxiety, depression and building psychological flexibility. Participants (N = 10) who completed the intervention experienced significantly lowered levels of anxiety and increased psychological flexibility, with postintervention scores for all variables trending in the expected directions. Findings provide preliminary support for the efficacy of the intervention and encourages further evaluation of ACT delivered in schools.


2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 686-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daphnee Hui Lin Lee ◽  
Chi Shing Chiu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how principals’ leadership approaches to teacher professional development arise from school banding and may impact upon teacher professional capital and student achievement. Design/methodology/approach The case study is situated within the context of school-based management, comprising reflective accounts of nine school principals selected by stratified sampling from a sample of 56 Hong Kong schools to represent Bands One, Two, and Three schools. The reflective accounts were triangulated with observations of teachers and analysis of school websites. Findings First, under school-based management, principals remain obliged to recognize the power of state-defined examinations in determining the schools’ future priorities. Second, the exercise of school autonomy in response to this obligation varies, depending upon the competitive advantage schools have in the school banding system. Ideally, effective school-based management is dependent upon the principal’s capacity to facilitate good instructional practices. However, principals need to adjust their leadership practices to school contextual demands. Third, adaptations to contexts result in the varied developments of teacher capacities in schools, corresponding with the types of principal leadership adopted. Originality/value While statistical studies have identified attributes of exemplary principal leadership, few studies have examined the qualitative reasons for the exemplification of these attributes, and the influence of the school context in shaping these attributes. Departing from assumptions that leadership attributes are intrinsic to individuals, this paper considers how principals contextualize leadership in teacher professional development to the schools’ student academic achievement.


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