The Standard Deviants

University of California, Riverside

*We would like to thank the Southern California Academic Center of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Math Achievement U.S. ranked 24th in math scores across 29

nations

Math achievement scores have been linked to Adult wages Subsequent educational attainment Problem behaviors Dropping out

26. Italy27. Greece28. Turkey29. Mexico

21. Poland22. Hungary23. Spain24. United States25. Portugal

High School Dropout

Dropout Rates

In California, the statewide dropout rate is 20.1%. For the Los Angeles Unified School District, the

dropout rate was 34.9%.

Dropping has been linked to Lower income level Poor health Higher risk for unemployment Prison and death row

Ecological FrameworkIndividual:•School Enjoyment•Importance of Grades

IndividualIndividual

Ecological FrameworkPeer:•Peer Values•Peer Dropout

IndividualIndividual

Peer

Ecological FrameworkSchool:•School Climate

IndividualIndividual

Peer

School

Research Questions Do individual, peer, and school

factors have an influence on math achievement and high school dropout? Each of the factors will be related to math

achievement and high school dropout

Research Questions Which factor has the strongest effect on

math achievement and high school dropout? Proximal factors will have stronger effects on the

outcomes than distal factors

Data

Educational Longitudinal Study 2002 Nationally represented longitudinal

study Base year: 10th grade Follow-up year: 12th grade

Multilevel study

Participants N = 6988 Gender

Females: 53% Males: 47%

Ethnicity Asian American: 11% African American: 9% Latino: 12% European American: 68%

Measures

Individual Factors School Enjoyment

How much do you like school?

Importance of Grades How important are good grades to you?

Peer Factors Peer Values

Among your close friends, how important is: Attending classes regularly, studying, getting good grades, finishing high school, continuing their education past high school

Alpha = .84

Peer Dropout Altogether, how many of your close friends have

dropped out of high school before graduating

School Factor School Climate

14 item scale Alpha = .77 Example items: Students get along well with

teachers, There is real school spirit, Teachers are interested in students

Outcomes Math Achievement

Cognitive Test Dropout

Ever drop out of school?

Results

Math Achievement

High School Dropout

Building an Ecology of School Success Primary Prevention

Same factors influence multiple outcomes General prevention program

Secondary Prevention Target peer influence