The Gateway program: ten-year lessons about outcomes and admission measures

The Gateway to Higher Education is a comprehensive program that provides selected minority students from five New York public high schools with rigorous high school preparation for college and professional careers in medicine, science, engineering, and technology. In existence for over ten years, the program has begun to accumulate solid outcomes data. The authors briefly describe the Gateway program and discuss students' graduation rates, career plans, and other outcomes. They then describe the correlation they have established between students' scores on the Stanford mathematics test (a standardized test administered to all Gateway ninth-grade students) and their subsequent SAT scores. Given the correlation recently established by the Association of American Medical Colleges between SAT scores and MCAT scores, this information provides another useful--and early--predictor of the future success in medical school of underrepresented minority students.     

Adjustment trajectories in college science programs: Perceptions of qualities of parents' and college teachers' relationships.

This longitudinal study had 2 goals. The 1st goal was to describe trajectories of academic and emotional adjustment in college science programs. The 2nd goal was to determine whether these trajectories differed as a function of students' self-reports of the quality of their relationships with parents and teachers. The sample consisted of 498 students recruited during their last year of high school. Assessment of adjustment continued until the end of the 2nd year of college. For a number of students, the authors observed a significant decline in both academic and emotional adjustment. Moreover, it was possible to identify an at-risk profile characterized by poor academic and emotional adjustment. In examining the students' perceptions of their family and school environments, the authors found that poorly and well-adjusted students differed from each other on the basis of parental but not teachers' relationship quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting success in college: A longitudinal study of achievement goals and ability measures as predictors of interest and performance from freshman year through graduation.

The authors examined the role of achievement goals, ability, and high school performance in predicting academic success over students' college careers. First, the authors examined which variables predicted students' interest and performance in an introductory psychology course taken their first semester in college. Then, the authors followed students until they graduated to examine continued interest in psychology and performance in subsequent classes. Achievement goals, ability measures, and prior high school performance each contributed unique variance in predicting initial and long-term outcomes, but these predictors were linked to different educational outcomes. Mastery goals predicted continued interest, whereas performance-approach goals predicted performance. Ability measures and prior high school performance predicted academic performance but not interest. The findings support a multiple goals perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived awareness and caring influences alcohol use by high school and college students.

Perceived awareness and caring, or beliefs about how much parents and peers know and care about students' behavior, was assessed in relation to students' drinking patterns. Prior to and at the end of the first semester at college, participants completed Web-based surveys assessing alcohol use, family and social motives, and perceived awareness and caring from parents and peers. Family motives moderated the effect of perceived parental awareness and caring on the quantity of high school alcohol use, whereas social motives moderated the effect of perceived peer awareness and caring on frequency and quantity of college drinking. Longitudinally, college alcohol use was predicted by perceived awareness and caring from parents. Perceived awareness and caring may affect alcohol use whereby parents exert influence during high school but peers are more influential in college. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of students' willingness to report threats of violence in campus communities.

Objective: This study extends prior work on students' willingness to report threats of violence to college-aged populations. Method: Undergraduate students (N = 967) were sampled from a large university in the Southern U.S. Results: Almost seventy percent (69%) of students endorsed being “at least somewhat willing” to report a threatening peer. Trust in the college support system (e.g., trust in police, administrators) was positively related to students' willingness to report threats of violence. Similarly, feeling connected to the campus environment was positively related to willingness to report threats directly and indirectly through trust in the college support system. In contrast, delinquency was negatively related to willingness to report and self-efficacy toward service (i.e., the belief that one can have a positive impact) only was positively related to reporting in the presence of trust in the college support system and campus connectedness. Lastly, fear of negative evaluation was unrelated to students' willingness to report. Conclusion: To facilitate threat reporting, it is important for students to feel connected to the campus community and trust in members of the college support system as self-efficacy toward service is not sufficient by itself. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of the field-dependent and field-independent cognitive styles in academic evolution: A longitudinal study.

To assess hypotheses derived from field-dependence theory about the role of cognitive styles in students' academic development, a group of 1,548 students was followed longitudinally from college entry into graduate/professional school. The Group Embedded Figures Test was administered at college entry. 1,422 Ss were followed through their college careers, and 831 Ss were identified as having applied to graduate or professional school and 550 as having enrolled. In their preliminary choices at college entry, final college majors and graduate/professional school specialties, relatively field-independent students favored impersonal domains requiring cognitive restructuring skills (e.g., sciences) and relatively field-dependent students favored interpersonal domains which do not emphasize such skills (e.g., elementary education). Ss whose college-entry choices were incongruent with their cognitive styles tended to shift to more compatible domains by college graduation or graduate school; Ss with congruent choices tended to remain with their choices. Some tendency was found for students to do better in domains compatible with their cognitive styles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching writing to high school students: A national survey.

A random sample of language arts, social studies, and science high school teachers (N = 361; 53% women) from the United States were surveyed about what their students wrote, their use of evidence-based writing practices, the adaptations they made for weaker writers, how they assessed writing, their preparation to teach writing, beliefs about the importance of writing, and judgments about their students' writing capabilities. The findings from this survey raised some concerns about the quality of high school writing instruction. The writing activities they were assigned most frequently by teachers involved little analysis and interpretation, and almost one half of the participating teachers did not assign at least one multiparagraph writing assignment monthly. Although the majority of high school teachers did apply most of the evidence-based practices and adaptations included in the survey, they used these practices infrequently. Most teachers did not believe their college teacher education program adequately prepared them to teach writing. A sizable minority of language arts and social studies teachers indicated that their in-service preparation was inadequate too. For science teachers this was close to 60%. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes toward higher education and course evaluation.

Tested the hypothesis that course evaluations are related to (a) students' and instructors' own and perceived attitudes toward higher education and college teaching and (b) congruence between students' and instructors' own and perceived attitudes. Two experiments were conducted with 24 college instructors and 889 students. The evaluation measure contained 18 5-step items drawn from previous studies; factor analysis yielded 4 factors—Intellectual Challenge, Student–Instructor Rapport, Content/Structure, and Teaching Method—accounting for 64% of the variance in the final instrument. Regression analyses show that attitudes accounted for close to 50% of evaluative variance. The most efficient subset of predictors was instructors' attitudes as perceived by students such that the attribution to instructors of attitude items preferred by students was associated with positive course evaluation. These items tended to be progressive or social in orientation. Results support the hypotheses which were derived from directive state and balance theories. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-determination and persistence in a real-life setting: Toward a motivational model of high school dropout.

The purpose of this study was to propose and test a motivational model of high school dropout. The model posits that teachers, parents, and the school administration's behaviors toward students influence students' perceptions of competence and autonomy. The less autonomy supportive the social agents' behaviors are, the less positive are students' perceptions of competence and autonomy. In turn, the less positive students' perceptions are, the lower their levels of self-determined school motivation are. Finally, low levels of self-determined motivation lead students to develop intentions to drop out of high school, which are later implemented, leading to actual dropout behavior This model was tested with high school students (N?=?4,537) by means of a prospective design. Results from analyses of variance and a structural equation modeling analysis (with LISREL) were found to support the model for all participants and for each gender separately. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anti-Black racism, self-esteem, and the adjustment of White students in higher education.

The present study examined the negative consequences of racism to White university students. It was hypothesized that anti-Black racism would impact students' self-esteem, college social adjustment, and college personal-emotional adjustment above and beyond academic adjustment. It was further expected that self-esteem would mediate the relationship between racism and college adjustment. In a White university student sample, students reporting attitudes reflecting a combination of overtly racist and egalitarian attitudes toward Blacks also reported lower levels of self-esteem and college social adjustment. Furthermore, self-esteem mediated the relationship between anti-Black racism and college social adjustment. Findings inform the multidimensional nature of negative consequences of racism to Whites in higher education. A discussion of implications from this research with regard to the creation of diverse and culturally sensitive university environments is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of Parental Involvement and Support as Predictors of College Students' Persistence in a Science Curriculum.

As technological and scientific skills are increasingly needed, finding that science students encounter significant problems in their academic program causes serious concern. The authors examined how perceived parental involvement and support predict college students' persistence in science based on J. P. Connell and J. G. Wellborn's (1991) theoretical model: Perceived parental involvement and support should foster student persistence by promoting students' competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Results suggest that perceived parental autonomy supports predicted scientific persistence partly through students' autonomy. Perceived parental involvement, although unrelated to persistence, was a significant predictor of autonomy and relatedness. Results suggest that perceived parental involvement and support have specific roles in predicting student self-processes and achievement, highlighting the importance of sustaining parents' contribution for college students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support as a buffer in the relationship between socioeconomic status and academic performance.

The present study was an investigation of the potential moderating effect of social support on academic performance for students living in poverty. Data were collected in one urban middle school from 164 primarily Hispanic students using the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS; Malecki, Demaray, & Elliott, 2000) and students' course grade point averages (GPA). Regarding socioeconomic status (SES), students were classified as lower-SES if they received free or reduced-cost lunches or higher-SES if they did not receive free or reduced-cost lunches. First, for students with higher SES, correlational analyses revealed no significant associations between social support and academic performance as measured by GPA. Alternatively, for students of lower SES, significant, moderate associations were found between GPA scores and social support scores. Second, as predicted, regression analyses provided evidence that social support may moderate the relationship between poverty and academic performance. Implications for school psychologists and suggestions for future research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment State of Mind, Learning Dispositions, and Academic Performance During the College Transition.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation among attachment state of mind, students' learning dispositions, and academic performance during the college transition. Sixty-two students were involved in a short-term longitudinal study and were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview. Students' learning dispositions were assessed at the end of high school (Time 1) and halfway through their 1st semester in college (Time 2). Academic records were collected at Time 1 as well as at the end of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd college semesters. Autonomous students showed better learning dispositions throughout the transition and were less likely than dismissing and preoccupied students to experience a decrease in these dispositions between Time 1 and Time 2. In addition, dismissing students obtained the lowest average of grades in college, and this association was mediated by changes in quality of attention during the transition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived social support by children with characteristics of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Examined students' perceptions of social support behaviors exhibited by significant adults and peers at school. A total of 29 teachers and 94 boys, in Grades 3–6, and their parents participated in the study. Approximately half of the boys displayed significant levels of behaviors characteristic of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The remaining boys did not display characteristics of ADHD. Information on students' academic performance, social skills, self-concept, and problem behaviors was assessed via rating scales completed by the students and their respective parents and teachers. Brief questionnaires were also used to collect perceptions of social support from the teachers and parents. The data indicated that children with characteristics of ADHD perceived lower frequencies of overall social support. Both the ADHD characteristics group and comparison group perceived the importance of social support similarly; social support was moderately and significantly correlated with self-concept and student-reported positive social skill behaviors; and students' perceptions of social support were moderately related to parents' and teachers' perceptions of the frequency of social support they make available. These results are discussed and their implications for future research and practice are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of the Need for Relatedness at College Questionnaire (NRC-Q).

Research indicates that reasons for attending college influence college success and that college students of color (CSC) can be motivated to attend college for different reasons than White college students (WCS). The Need for Relatedness at College Questionnaire (NRC-Q) was developed and tested to provide an instrument for identifying and understanding the various ways in which needs for relatedness, a salient motivator for many CSC, affect college success. On the basis of the recommendation from D. Guiffrida's (2006) cultural critique of V. Tinto's (1993) theory, the scale was developed with a self-determination theory (E. L. Deci & M. R. Ryan, 1991) perspective. Results support the content validity, internal consistency, temporal stability, and construct validity of the scale items, and a confirmatory factor analysis supported the underlying structures of the scale. Results also suggest that college students' needs for relatedness at home are more complex than previous research has suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An exploration of Asian American college students' civic engagement.

This is an exploratory study of civic engagement among Asian immigrant college students. Fourteen students participated in semistructured interviews. This study found three categories of facilitators and barriers to civic engagement: (a) relational factors, (b) identity factors, and (3) acculturation gap factors. Findings also suggest that civic engagement is related to positive social and academic development among participants. Results highlight the importance of cultural and social factors in supporting Asian immigrant college students' civic engagement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

School adjustment, school membership and adolescents' future expectations

Two studies investigated how students' school adjustment and sense of school membership relates to their future expectations. In Study 1 measures of future expectations, school membership and school adjustment were administered to a random sample of 307 5th-12th grade (male and female) students in 16 schools. Correlations among the measures were significant, and no meaningful grade differences were found on these variables. Multiple regression analysis showed that students' social acceptance in school predicted future expectations. Study 2 replicated Study 1 using 164 female students (i.e. the entire student population of one high school) as subjects. Findings of Study 2 also support the conclusion that students' school experiences, particularly with peers, shape their future expectations.     

Academic and social motives and drinking behavior.

This longitudinal study of 1,447 first-time college students tested separate time-varying covariate models of the relations between academic and social motives/behaviors and alcohol use and related problems from senior year of high school through the end of the second year in college. Structural equation models identified small but significant inverse relations between academic motives/behaviors and alcohol use across all time points, with relations of somewhat larger magnitude between academic motives/behaviors and alcohol-related problems across all semesters other than senior year in high school. At all time points, there were much larger positive relations between social motives/behaviors and alcohol use across all semesters, with smaller but significant relations between social motives/behaviors and alcohol-related problems. Multi-group models found considerable consistency in the relations between motives/behaviors and alcohol-related outcomes across gender, race/ethnicity, and family history of alcohol problems, although academic motives/behaviors played a stronger protective role for women, and social motives were a more robust risk factor for Caucasian and Latino students and individuals with a positive family history of alcohol problems. Implications for alcohol prevention efforts among college students are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A social-cognitive-behavioral model of academic predictors of adolescents' life satisfaction.

The current study provided a comprehensive examination of factors related to school that are implicated in students' life satisfaction. A theoretical model is put forth that hypothesizes that behavior experiences (classroom conduct, school grades) and social experiences (perceived school climate) at school influence students' cognitions relative to their global academic beliefs and attitudes toward their current school. These cognitive contexts of schooling are hypothesized to constitute students' judgments of their satisfaction with school, an important predictor of global life satisfaction. Self-report measures assessing adolescents' perceptions of these constructs were administered to a pilot sample of 321 high school students in a southeastern city. Simultaneous regression and correlational analyses clarified which aspects of school climate and other school-related factors were significantly associated with students' life satisfaction. Results of a revised path model provided preliminary support for the model. Findings support the relevance of considering students' quality of life in addition to the current focus on monitoring academic achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)