Browsing by Subject "Achievement motivation in adolescence"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item School engagement and high school expectations for the transition to high school(2004-05) Ávalos Lozano, María Dolores; Falbo, ToniThe purposes of this study were to understand the relationships between socio-demographic variables such as school engagement and extracurricular participation, and high school expectations, to use these psychosocial variables to determine the marginalization of students, and to determine which variables were stronger predictors for students’ expectations for their transition into high school. The results of this study point to the importance of school engagement and extracurricular participation as facilitators of the transition to high school from middle school. There were strong relationships between extracurricular participation, engagement in school, and expectations for the transition into high school. Results also indicate that students who are severely marginalized, that have low engagement and participation in extracurricular activities, have low expectations for high school success. Although these students’ families’ economic well-being and their mothers’ education attainment provide some vi information allowing prediction of their high school expectations, engagement and extracurricular participation were much stronger predictors for determining the students’ expectations for high school. Latino students in this study were more likely to be severely marginalized than all other students. The findings of this study suggest that using psychosocial variables to determine the marginalization of students is much more useful than using socio-demographic variables such as ethnicity, home language, parents’ educational attainment, or gender.Item Socioracial group differences in family and peer influences on adolescents' academic achievement(2004) Bates, Stacey Leigh; Carlson, Cindy I.This study investigates the relationships between peer and family influences and the academic achievement of adolescents from diverse socioracial backgrounds. Participants were 2,202 White, Hispanic, and African American students attending four public middle schools in Austin, Texas. Participants completed self-report questionnaires that included information about student achievement, family background, family influences (i.e., parental monitoring, parent involvement, family stress), and positive and negative peer influences. The investigation examined whether a comparative model or a moderation model better explains the relationships among peer influences, family influences, and adolescents’ academic achievement. A comparative model was supported for the overall sample. Results indicated that both peer and family influences play a role in achievement; however, compared to family influences, peer influences accounted for twice the amount of variance in achievement. A moderation model of peer and family influences on achievement was partially supported for African American students, as a significant interaction was found between self-enhancing peer behavior and parental monitoring for African American students compared to White students. For African American students, positive peer influences served as a buffer against potential negative effects of low parental monitoring, and high parental monitoring buffered against potential negative effects of having few positive peer influences. No significant interactions were found for White or Hispanic students. When socioracial group differences in the impact of peers and families on achievement were examined, a significant difference was found between White and African American students in the relation of parent involvement and self-destructive peer behavior to academic achievement. Compared to White students, the achievement of African American students was not as strongly related to parent involvement or to negative peer influences. Hispanic students did not differ significantly from White students in peer and family influences on achievement. Findings of this study contribute to the understanding of how developmental contexts outside the classroom work together to influence academic performance of adolescents. Implications of the patterns of peer and family influences on achievement during early adolescence and directions for future research are discussed.