1. Schooling Influences on Aspirations of Rural Youth Judith L. Meece, UNC-CH Presenter

2. Special Acknowledgements Matthew Irvin, Investigator Soo-yong Byun, Postdoctoral Scholar Thomas W. Farmer, Investigator Bryan Hutchins, Project Coordinator Kim Dadisman, Investigator Dylan Robertson, Investigator Laura Shaffer, Program Assistant Paul Wilson, Program Assistant

3. Background of Study High school reform is currently a national priority; Numerous national reports over the last decades have documented the negative impact of high schools on adolescents’ development and transition to adulthood; Most research has focused on urban schools (e.g., NRC & Institute of Medicine, 2004). Few studies have studied the impact of high schools in rural communities.

4. What is Known about High Schools in Rural Communities? Unique Assets of Rural High Schools: –Close community-school relations; –Curricular tracking less prevalent –Close Supportive student-teacher relations; –Small size Greater participation in extracurricular activities; Greater sense of belonging; Stable peer relations; Higher satisfaction with school Lower drug and alcohol use. Sources: Coladarci, 2007; Hardre & Sullivan, 2008; Kannapel & DeYoung, 1999; Gandara, Gutierrez, & O’Hara, 2001; Scafft, Alter, & Bridger, 2006.

5. What is Known about Rural High Schools? Unique Challenges of Rural Schools –Geographical isolation –Poverty rates –Limited resources for address diverse needs –Limited curricular options –Recruitment & retention of high quality teachers –Limited employment opportunities in community –High rates of school dropout in impoverished rural communities Sources: Farmer, 2006; Friedman & Lichter, 1998; Khattri, Riley, & Kane, 1997; Provasnick et al., 2007; Monk, 2007; Johnson & Strange, 2007

6. Aims of Current Study Examine levels of rural youths’ educational and vocational aspirations for the future; Describe involvement of youth in postsecondary transition activities; Examine relations of youths’ schooling experiences to educational and vocational aspirations.

7. Focus of Study Focus of study is on school-related predictors of school engagement, motivation, aspirations for the future. “Motivation is essential at all ages, but it becomes pivotal at adolescent as youth approach the threshold of adulthood” (NRC & Institute of Medicine, 2004). Adolescents who view themselves as smart and capable and recognize the value of their school experiences for future are likely to have high postsecondary school aspirations (Hardre & Sullivan, 2008) Aspirations serve as goals for the future that help to organize, direct, and guide behavior (Bandura, 1986)

8. Defining Aspirations Some research refer to aspirations as a goal the adolescent hopes or desires to attain (e.g., Wilson, Peterson, & Wilson, 1993); Other research refer to aspirations as a goal the adolescent expects to attain (e.g., Bandura et al., 2001); When the two response forms are compared, adolescents tend to have lower expectations than aspirations (Howley, 2006; Majoribanks, 1998); To date, there is limited information about the long-term predictive value of survey questions focused on future aspirations vs. expectations.

9. Prior Research on Aspirations of Rural Youth Rural youth tend to have lower educational and occupational aspirations than urban youth; Rural youth has have lower levels of educational attainment than urban youth; Differences attributed to lack of local employment opportunities, parental expectations, ethnicity, gender, family income, academic preparation, and residential preferences. Sources: Blackwell & McLaughlin, 1999; Cobb, McIntire, & Pratt, 1989; Haller & Vickler, 1993; Howley, 1997; Kannapel & DeYoung, 1999; Rojewski,1999; Roscigno & Crowley, 2001

10. Rural HSA School Sample School Type Number of Schools School Size Poverty Status Minority Percent Rural Remote4332 - 4180 - 99%0 - 95% Rural Distant19 81 - 66118 - 82%1 - 99% Rural Fringe3 123 - 400 31 - 81%3 - 85% Small Town8 165 - 188316 - 51%1 - 56%

11. Rural HSA Student Sample N = 8754 –Grade levels included 28% 9 th graders 27% 10 th graders 25% 11 th graders 19% 12 th graders –51% female and 49% male students –11% of sample identified as receiving special services by their teachers

12. Rural HSA Student Sample N = 8754 - Ethnic Background: 64% White; 11% Hispanic 12% Multiracial; 7% African American 4% American Indian -Parental Education: 30% some PSE or 2-year degree 14% 4-year degree; 12% advanced degree 21% HS or GED degree -Less than 10% of students reported family economic hardship a lot or all of the time

13. Measures Student Outcome Measures –Educational Aspirations How far in school would you most like to go? –Vocational Aspirations Do you plan to work or have a career at age 30? If yes, what kind of job or occupation would you most like to have?

14. Student Measures Student Background Variables (self-reports) –Gender –Ethnic Background –Economic Hardship –Level of Parental Education –Parental Educational Expectation –Grade Level

15. Student Measures School-Related Influences –High School Program –Grade Retention –Perceived Emphasis on Place-Based Education –Teachers’ Educational and Vocational Expectations –School Belonging –Academic Self-Concept –School Valuing

16. Analysis Procedures: Educational Aspirations Descriptive Analyses Hierarchical Linear Modeling SEM Analyses

17. Educational Aspirations of Rural Youth Totals vs. Rural Remote

18. Required Educational Levels of Reported Career Choices : Total Sample vs. Rural Remote

19. High School Programs by Grade Level

20. Postsecondary Education Exploration

21. Frequency of Career Exploration Activities

22. Schooling Influences on Educational Aspirations Previous research has treated educational aspirations as continuous and categorical variable; For HLM analyses converted educational aspirations into years of schooling (e.g., 16 = 4-year college); Results of HLM analyses indicate that approximately 3% of the variance was between school.

23. School Belonging School Valuing Educational Aspirations Academic Self-Concept Place-Based Education HS Program Grade Retention Teacher’s Educational Expectations Gender (female) Race (white) Grade Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations Economic Hardship Proximal Variables Control Variables Distal Variables

24. School Belonging School Valuing Educational Aspiration Academic Self-Concept Place-Based Education HS Program Retention Teacher’s Educational Expectations Gender (female) Race (white) Grade Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations Explained variance (R 2 ).26 Model fit summary NFI:.825 CFI:.831 RMSEA:.054.420.236.415.284.072.095 -.074.233.230.115 -.049 -.069.235.064 -.049 Economic Hardship -.027 Distal Variables Control Variables Proximal Variables

25. School Belonging School Valuing Educational Aspiration Academic Self-Concept Place-Based Education HS Program Retention Teacher’s Educational Expectations Gender (female) Race (white) Grade Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations Explained variance (R 2 ).26 Model fit summary NFI:.825 CFI:.831 RMSEA:.054.420.236.415.284.072.095 -.074.233.230.115 -.049 -.069.235.064 -.049 Economic Hardship -.027 Distal Variables Control Variables Proximal Variables

26. School Belonging School Valuing Educational Aspiration Academic Self-Concept Place-Based Education HS Program Retention Teacher’s Educational Expectations Gender (female) Race (white) Grade Mediation Model of School Influences on Educational Aspirations Explained variance (R 2 ).26 Model fit summary NFI:.825 CFI:.831 RMSEA:.054.420.236.415.284.072.095 -.074.233.230.115 -.049 -.069.235.064 -.049 Economic Hardship -.027 Distal Variables Control Variables Proximal Variables

27. Conclusions: Educational Aspirations Approximately 77% of rural youth aspire to complete a college or advanced professional degree; Aspirations for college are equivalent with other national studies (NCES, 2004); ELS: 2002 data reveal differences in urban and rural samples for advanced degrees only (NCES, 2004) Most of the variation in educational aspirations occurs within school rather than between school.

28. Conclusions: Transition Preparation Given students relatively high educational aspirations, postsecondary preparation activities were limited for the sample as whole: Approximately 20% of 11 th and 12 th grade students reported they were enrolled in a some type of college preparatory course. National studies indicate that rural youth are less likely to have access to advanced high school courses than urban youth (Planty et al., 2007). Participation in traditional postsecondary transition activities (college visits, talking with counselors about college, job mentoring, job shadowing, etc.) was also limited for the RHSA sample as a whole.

29. Conclusions: Schooling Experiences Educational Aspirations strongly related to malleable aspects of the school environment: –Teacher expectations –School belonging –Curriculum relevance –Academic self-concept –School valuing beliefs

30. Limitations of Study Aspirations measured at one point in time; Lack of information of goal attainment Aspirations vary by gender, ethnicity, and perceived economic hardship; the moderating influence of student characteristics on school influences will be examined in future analyses Not a longitudinal study; therefore no causal conclusions can be drawn from the regression analyses presented. Schooling model presented explained approximately 25% of the variance in students’ educational aspirations, even with parental and student background variables included.