Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2757
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Item Stress and Literacy Achievement: The Potential Moderating Role of Socioemotional Factors for Dual Language and Non-Dual Language Students(2019) Goldthrite, Antoinette Marie; O'Neal, Colleen R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The achievement gap is one of the most pervasive education problems in the United States. Stress may contribute to this achievement gap, since it is inversely related to achievement. Dual Language Learners (DLLs) may face a wide variety of stressors that contribute to their lower grades, relative to their non-DLL peers. Researchers have turned to a slew of socioemotional factors to see which may help reduce the gap between ethnic minority and White students. However, in the face of stress, these factors may not all be equally protective. This study explored the potential protective effects of three socioemotional factors – grit, growth mindset, and anger regulation - by using moderation analyses within both a self-regulation and a risk and resilience framework in an ethnically diverse sample of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. Results were compared between the DLL (N = 81) and non-DLL (N = 170) students. Results indicated that grit was a significant moderator of the relationship between stress and reading achievement for the for the DLL subsample; those with high grit outperformed those with low grit in times of high stress. Additionally, in the DLL group, growth mindset moderated this relationship; those with high growth mindset outperformed those with low growth mindset in times of low perceived stress, while those with low and high growth mindset performed similarly in times of high perceived stress. Anger regulation was a significant moderator for the non-DLL group; those with reporting high usage of anger regulation skills outperformed those with low use of anger regulation in times of high stress. The findings of this study suggest that there may be different protective factors for different groups facing stress, though more research needs to be conducted to explore this relationship. School administrators and school psychologists should continue to consider the potential benefits of fostering socioemotional skills to promote reading achievement but are cautioned to critically consider and tailor which interventions are selected for which students.Item Can grit fix the achievement gap? An investigation of grit's conceptual uniqueness and predictive value in diverse student achievement(2016) Riley, Lynsey W; O'Neal, Colleen R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Grit, defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals,” is considered an important noncognitive factor for promoting academic achievement and closing the racial achievement gap. School-based policy and intervention work, however, is getting ahead of the grit research. Specifically, it is unclear to what extent grit overlaps with existing noncognitive variables as a construct and measure. It is also unclear whether grit predicts later achievement when accounting for other noncognitive variables, and if grit and other noncognitive variables predict achievement differently for students from different demographic backgrounds. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis within a self-regulation framework, I evaluated grit’s conceptual and operational overlap with similar noncognitive factors of engagement, emotion regulation, and growth mindset in an ethnically diverse 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade student sample (N = 192). Using structural equation modeling, I tested if grit predicted literacy achievement 1-3 months later, in a model also adjusting for similar noncognitive factors and for previous (Time 1) literacy achievement. Finally, I compared the predictive model by age, ethnic group, and bilingual status to determine which noncognitive factors predicted literacy outcomes for which groups of students. Results indicated that, among diverse elementary school students, grit and other noncognitive constructs are not lower-order factors of an overarching self-regulation construct. Grit was moderately related to, yet distinct from, growth mindset and emotion regulation, while it overlapped excessively with engagement. Grit and engagement as a joint construct did predict later literacy achievement, but not after controlling for previous literacy achievement. Relations among grit, engagement, and literacy achievement were different for ethnic and linguistic groups, but again these differences were eliminated after controlling for previous literacy achievement. Research lacks compelling evidence that grit, at least as it is currently measured, is a relevant predictor of diverse students’ short-term literacy outcomes. Researchers and educators are thus cautioned against focusing on grit as an assessment or academic intervention tool for improving ethnic minority or bilingual students’ reading; a focus on previous achievement and building literacy skills continues to be best practice for promoting future literacy achievement.Item A Replication and Extension of Psychometric Research on the Grit Scale(2014) Weston, Lynsey Carlene; O'Neal, Colleen R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Grit, a "perseverance and passion for long-term goals" (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007, p. 1087), is important for academic success, but the field has not fully explored how grit functions as a distinct construct within the motivational literature or across ethnically and socioeconomically diverse samples. This pilot study replicated and extended Duckworth's seminal grit studies (e.g., Duckworth et al., 2007; Duckworth & Quinn, 2009) by examining grit's psychometric properties, its relation to other predictors of achievement, and its predictive validity, above related constructs and demographics, for literacy achievement among 33 low-income, ethnic minority high school students. Participants completed online questionnaires assessing their grit, engagement, stress, conscientiousness, and self-control, and took a brief reading assessment. Results suggest that grit may function differently in low-income minority students facing barriers to long-term academic achievement, and that grit's relation to student achievement may not be as clear-cut as what has previously been claimed.