Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2759
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Item Dreams Deferred?-- Exploring the Relationship Between Early and Later Postsecondary Educational Aspirations among Racial/ethinc Groups(2006-04-27) Cooper, Michelle Asha; Perna, Laura W; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: DREAMS DEFERRED?-- EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EARLY AND LATER POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS AMONG RACIAL/ETHNIC GROUPS Michelle Asha Cooper, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Dissertation Directed By: Laura W. Perna, Ph.D. Department of Education Policy and Leadership This study uses data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002/04) to test a conceptual model that integrates aspects of sociological and econometric frameworks into a traditional status attainment model for educational aspirations. Using descriptive and logistic analyses, this study advances understanding of the patterns and stability of aspirations; characteristics of students who increase, decrease, and maintain aspirations; predictors of 12th grade aspirations; and variations in predictors of 12th grade aspirations by race/ethnicity. This study's findings confirm previous research (Kao & Tienda, 1998; Qian & Blair, 1999) and generate at least four new conclusions. First, comparing findings from this study with data from the previous NCES cohort (i.e., NELS:88) shows that students' 10th grade aspirations have increased over the last decade. However, aspirations fluctuate between 10th and 12th grades, with a notable decline among Black men and Latino men and women. Second, this study highlights characteristics of students according to the stability of their educational aspirations. The descriptive analyses illustrate the importance of background characteristics, academic measures, cultural and social capital, and economic constructs in illustrating whether students increase, decrease, or maintain aspirations between 10th and 12th grades. Third, the study shows that the status attainment model continues to be an appropriate theoretical framework for the study of aspirations, but its explanatory power is enhanced by adding cultural and social capital and economic measures. Applying social and cultural capital theory to the examination of significant others (e.g., parents, teachers) provides more insight into the role and effect these individuals have on students' aspirations. Fourth, the logistic regression analyses show that the predictors of aspirations vary by race/ethnicity, in particular for Latino/a and Multiracial students. Separate logistic regression analyses of Latino/a, Multiracial, and White students show that the predictability of the logistic regression model is lower for Latino/a students than for students of other groups. The study's findings have implications for policy, practice, and research. Specifically, the findings reinforce the need for policies and practices geared toward enhancing existing high school reform efforts. The study also identifies five recommendations for future research.Item PREDICTORS OF DELAYED COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND THE IMPACT OF SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS(2005-04-25) Rowan, Heather T.; Perna, Laura W.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study contributes to our understanding of the decision of students to delay enrollment in college by building on the work of Hearn (1992). This study uses constructs from models of traditional college student enrollment (Cabrera & LaNasa, 2001; Perna, 2000; St. John, 2003), and data from the NELS:88/2000 longitudinal study of 1992 high school graduates. Descriptive analyses are used to determine the appropriate break point between immediate and delayed enrollment, as well as compare differences in student characteristics based on timing of enrollment. Multinomial logit regression is used to determine the predictors of delaying college enrollment rather than enrolling in college immediately after high school or not enrolling, and to explore if socioeconomic status is related to timing of college enrollment after controlling for other variables. At least six conclusions may be drawn from this study. First, the appropriate break point between immediate and delayed enrollment is the end of the calendar year that a student graduated from high school. This study also reveals the value of looking at a delayed group in comparison to immediate enrollment and no enrollment, since there are differences among all three groups for measures such as background characteristics, academic preparation and achievement, and social and cultural capital. Third, a combined model of college access based on traditional students (Cabrera & La Nasa, 2001; Perna, 2000; St. John, 2003) is appropriate for examining the predictors of both immediate and delayed enrollment in college relative to no enrollment. Fourth, measures of social and cultural capital are related to the timing of college enrollment but seem to be relatively more important in the decision to enroll immediately than in the decision to delay enrollment. Fifth, graduates who delay enrollment average fewer resources and weaker preparation than graduates who enroll immediately, but average more resources and better preparation than graduates who do not enroll. Finally, even after controlling for other variables, socioeconomic status is related to timing of college enrollment. Students who enroll immediately as well as those who delay enrollment have higher socioeconomic status than those who do not enroll, with those who enroll immediately having higher socioeconomic status than those who delay enrollment.