Predicting achievement, distress, and retention among lower-income Latino youth

Abstract This study used structural equation modeling to evaluate whether a combination of social cognitive and self-determination theories [Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall; Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1987). The support of autonomy and the control of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1024–1037] would effectively predict high school students’ distress, achievement, and retention. Participants were 427 predominately Latino youth from an inner-city low-income high school. Results indicated that students who reported feeling connected to teachers and their school reported higher levels of autonomous motivation for attending school. Students reporting higher levels of autonomous motivation for attending school reported more confidence (i.e., self-efficacy) in their academic ability, and performed better academically. In addition, students who reported higher self-efficacy beliefs reported less physical and psychological distress and reported higher levels of achievement. Retention in school was predicted by a combination of achievement and the absence of physical/psychological distress. Implications for practice and further research on urban high school students’ academic development are described.

[1]  A. Bandura.  Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control , 1997, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[2]  G. Holmbeck.  Toward terminological, conceptual, and statistical clarity in the study of mediators and moderators: examples from the child-clinical and pediatric psychology literatures. , 1997, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[3]  Patricia L. Hardré,et al.  A motivational model of rural students' intentions to persist in, versus drop out of, high school , 2003 .

[4]  E. Deci,et al.  The support of autonomy and the control of behavior. , 1987, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[5]  C. Streeter,et al.  Assessment of middle class youth at-risk to dropout: School, psychological and family correlates , 1995 .

[6]  A Bandura,et al.  Self-efficacy pathways to childhood depression. , 1999, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[7]  Theodore A. Walls,et al.  Relations among personal agency, motivation, and school adjustment in early adolescence , 2005 .

[8]  Barry J. Zimmerman,et al.  Effects of model persistence and statements of confidence on children's self-efficacy and problem solving. , 1981 .

[9]  Richard M. Ryan,et al.  Representations of Relationships to Teachers, Parents, and Friends as Predictors of Academic Motivation and Self-Esteem , 1994 .

[10]  J. Culpepper.  National Center for Educational Statistics , 2007 .

[11]  Janice E. Jones,et al.  Classifying At‐Risk High School Youth: The Influence of Exposure to Community Violence and Protective Factors on Academic and Health Outcomes , 2007 .

[12]  R. Vallerand,et al.  Self-determination and persistence in a real-life setting: toward a motivational model of high school dropout. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[13]  Ernest T. Pascarella,et al.  Patterns of Student-Faculty Informal Interaction beyond the Classroom and Voluntary Freshman Attrition , 1977 .

[14]  Promoting Success Pathways for Middle and High School Students: Introducing the Adaptive Success Identity Plan for School Counselors , 2002 .

[15]  R. Ryan,et al.  PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Origins and Pawns in the Classroom: Self-Report and Projective Assessments of Individual Differences in Children's Perceptions , 1986 .

[16]  Steven D. Brown,et al.  Relation of self-efficacy beliefs to academic outcomes: A meta-analytic investigation. , 1991 .

[17]  Marianne Miserandino,et al.  Children Who Do Well in School: Individual Differences in Perceived Competence and Autonomy in Above-Average Children , 1996 .

[18]  E. Deci,et al.  The effects of instructors' autonomy support and students' autonomous motivation on learning organic chemistry: A self-determination theory perspective , 2000 .

[19]  S. Lamborn,et al.  The Adaptive Success Identity Plan (ASIP): A Career Intervention for College Students , 1998 .

[20]  Ernest T. Pascarella,et al.  Predicting Freshman Persistence and Voluntary Dropout Decisions from a Theoretical Model , 1980 .

[21]  L. Taylor,et al.  Human Agency in Social Cognitive Theory , 1989 .

[22]  R. Lerner.  America's Youth in Crisis: Challenges and Options for Programs and Policies , 1994 .

[23]  J. B. Torres,et al.  Role of Self-Efficacy, Stress, Social Integration, and Family Support in Latino College Student Persistence and Health. , 2001 .

[24]  Karl G. Jöreskog,et al.  Lisrel 8: User's Reference Guide , 1997 .

[25]  Rhona S. Weinstein,et al.  Early teacher perceptions and later student academic achievement , 1999 .

[26]  W. Risser,et al.  Decomposing the Reciprocal Relationships between Academic Achievement and General Self-Esteem , 1992 .

[27]  B. Zimmerman,et al.  Self-Motivation for Academic Attainment: The Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Personal Goal Setting , 1992, American Educational Research Journal.

[28]  Karl G. Jöreskog,et al.  Lisrel 8: Structural Equation Modeling With the Simplis Command Language , 1993 .

[29]  R B Cairns,et al.  Early school dropout: configurations and determinants. , 1989, Child development.

[30]  Li-tze Hu,et al.  Academic self-efficacy and first year college student performance and adjustment. , 2001 .

[31]  R. Hoyle.  Structural equation modeling: concepts, issues, and applications , 1997 .

[32]  E. Deci,et al.  Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[33]  Carla M. Trujillo.  A Comparative Examination of Classroom Interactions Between Professors and Minority and Non-Minority College Students , 1986 .

[34]  A. Bandura.  Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory , 1985 .

[35]  Karen M. O’Brien,et al.  Predictors of Student and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Among Nontraditional College Women , 2004 .

[36]  Richard M. Ryan,et al.  Autonomy and Relatedness as Fundamental to Motivation and Education , 1991 .

[37]  G. Holmbeck.  Toward terminological, conceptual, and statistical clarity in the study of mediators and moderators : examples from the child-clinical and pediatric psychology literatures , 1997 .

[38]  アメリカスクールカウンセラー協会.  The ASCA national model : a framework for school counseling programs , 2005 .

[39]  Nancy E. Betz,et al.  Gender, Ethnicity, and Social Cognitive Factors Predicting the Academic Achievement of Students in Engineering. , 1992 .

[40]  R. Abbott,et al.  Mediational and deviance theories of late high school failure: Process roles of structural strains, academic competence, and general versus specific problem behavior. , 2002 .

[41]  Alketa Hysenbegasi,et al.  The impact of depression on the academic productivity of university students. , 2005, The journal of mental health policy and economics.

[42]  J. Connell,et al.  What motivates children's behavior and emotion? Joint effects of perceived control and autonomy in the academic domain. , 1993, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[43]  R. Ryan,et al.  Perceived locus of causality and internalization: examining reasons for acting in two domains. , 1989, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[44]  G. Hackett,et al.  The effects of mathematics task performance on math self-efficacy and task interest☆ , 1986 .

[45]  Mar ianne Mise,et al.  Children Who Do Well in School : Individual Differences in Perceived Competence and Autonomy in Above-Average Children , 2001 .

[46]  D. Schunk.  Modeling and attributional effects on children's achievement: A self-efficacy analysis. , 1981 .

[47]  Richard G. Lomax,et al.  A Beginner's Guide to Structural Equation Modeling , 2022 .

[48]  V. Mcloyd,et al.  Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. , 1998, The American psychologist.

[49]  E. Glennie,et al.  When and Why Dropouts Leave High School , 2006 .