▪ Abstract Socioeconomic status (SES) is one of the most widely studied constructs in the social sciences. Several ways of measuring SES have been proposed, but most include some quantification of family income, parental education, and occupational status. Research shows that SES is associated with a wide array of health, cognitive, and socioemotional outcomes in children, with effects beginning prior to birth and continuing into adulthood. A variety of mechanisms linking SES to child well-being have been proposed, with most involving differences in access to material and social resources or reactions to stress-inducing conditions by both the children themselves and their parents. For children, SES impacts well-being at multiple levels, including both family and neighborhood. Its effects are moderated by children's own characteristics, family characteristics, and external support systems.

Socioeconomic status and child development.

http://www.realtutoring.com/phd/sem1efficacy.pdf

Teachers' self-efficacy beliefs as determinants of job satisfaction and students' academic achievement: a study at the school level

We present a conceptualization of student engagement based on the culmination of concentration, interest, and enjoyment (i.e., flow). Using a longitudinal sample of 526 high school students across the U.S., we investigated how adolescents spent their time in high school and the conditions under which they reported being engaged. Participants experienced increased engagement when the perceived challenge of the task and their own skills were high and in balance, the instruction was relevant, and the learning environment was under their control. Participants were also more engaged in individual and group work versus listening to lectures, watching videos, or taking exams. Suggestions to increase engagement, such as focusing on learning activities that support students’ autonomy and provide an appropriate level of challenge for students’ skills, conclude the article.

Student engagement in high school classrooms from the perspective of flow theory.

Measuring student relationships to school: attachment, bonding, connectedness, and engagement.

Summary of Etiological Analyses. T his analysis confirm ed the im portance of school bonding to child devel-opm ent. V arious techniques w ere used to exam ine the rela-tionship betw een school bonding and positive and problembehavior, and these relationships w ere found during child-h o o d and ad o lescen ce. S chool b o n d in g in elem en taryschool w as related to initiation of drinking, sm oking, andalcohol abuse and dependence at age 2 1 . It also related tolow er likelihood of becom ing serious offenders in m iddleschool and joining a gang in adolescence. E lem entary andm iddle school bonding had a negative effect on violence inm iddle school through age 2 1 . It also reduced the chance ofschool m isbehavior, grade repetition , and dropout. S choolbonding also affected positive developm ent. S chool bond-ing w as associated w ith increases in academ ic achievem entand social skills . S chool bonding effects extended to high -risk groups including aggressive boys, children w ith parent sw ho m odeled problem behaviors, and children from low -incom e fam ilies. S chool bonding in m iddle school w asrelated to desistance of serious delinquent behavior. T herelationship w as m aintained through age 2 1 , w ith studentsreporting greater school bonding in sevent h grade m orelikely to desist rather than escalate the seriousness of theiroffending. S chool bonding in m iddle school and the patternof bonding throughout m iddle and high school also relatedto reduced levels of substance use in 12th grade. T h u s,school bonding during elem entary and m iddle school w asconsistently related negatively to problem behaviors in thislongitudinal study.S everal com peting factors that m ight explain the rela-tionship betw een school bonding and problem behaviorsw ere controlle d in the analyses, lending credibilit y to thepotential causal effect of school bonding. H ow ever, w hilenonexperim ental, longitudinal studies establish tim e order,they do not establish cause. A stronger criterion for estab-lishing the causal effect of school bonding com es fromintervention studies aim ed at changing the levels of schoolbonding and exam ining the effects on positive and problembehavior. S tatistically significant results of the preventionexperim ent em bedded w ithin S S D P are described below .

The importance of bonding to school for healthy development: findings from the Social Development Research Group.

This study compared the adequacy of 5 theories to predict dropping out of high school before the 10th grade. These theories include full mediation by academic achievement and direct effects related to general deviance, deviant affiliation, family socialization, and structural strains. Nested latent variable models were used to test these theories on prospective data from an ethnically diverse urban sample. Poor academic achievement mediated the effect of all independent factors on school dropout, although general deviance, bonding to antisocial peers, and socioeconomic status also retained direct effects on dropping out. Therefore, none of the theories tested was fully adequate to explain the data, although partial support was obtained for each theory. Implications for prevention of early high school dropout are discussed.

Predictors of Early High School Dropout: A Test of Five Theories.

Adolescents who join gangs are more frequently involved in serious delinquency compared with those who do not, yet few studies have conducted a prospective examination of risk factors for gang membership. The present study uses longitudinal data to predict gang membership in adolescence from factors measured in childhood. Data were from the Seattle Social Development Project, an ethnically diverse, gender-balanced sample (n = 808) followed prospectively from age 10 to 18. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors at ages 10 through 12 predictive of joining a gang between the ages of 13 and 18. Neighborhood, family, school, peer, and individual factors significantly predicted joining a gang in adolescence. Youth exposed to multiple factors were much more likely to join a gang. Implications for the development of gang prevention interventions are discussed.

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Childhood Risk Factors for Adolescent Gang Membership: Results from the Seattle Social Development Project:

Bonding to school has been shown to be a protective factor against many problem behaviors. This study examines the effects of intervention during the elementary grades on changes in school bonding from middle school through high school, using hierarchical linear modeling. A full intervention group (Grades 1-6), a late intervention group (interventions in Grades 5 and 6 only), and a control group offered no special intervention were compared. The full intervention group was significantly more bonded to school than the control group at ages 13 and 18. Moreover, the full intervention group showed a curvilinear change in school bonding over time, decreasing to age 16 and then increasing to age 18, whereas bonding to school in both the control and late intervention groups continued to decline from age 13 to age 18. These findings suggest that social development interventions through elementary school can have positive long-term effects on school bonding and demonstrate the importance of long-term follow-up stu...

Long-Term Effects of the Seattle Social Development Intervention on School Bonding Trajectories

Understanding and preventing high school failure is a national priority. Structural strain and general deviance theories attempt to explain late high school failure. The authors tested the hypotheses that general (vs. specific) deviance and academic competence mediate the relationships between structural strain factors (gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status [SES]) and 12th-grade high school failure. Independent variables of structural strain and mediational variables of drug use, sexual involvement, school trouble, delinquency, and academic performance were assessed in a sample of 754 8th graders and used to predict 12th-grade high school dropout and number of missed months of school (reflecting a latent construct of High School Failure) in the 12th grade. High school failure was directly predicted by earlier General Deviance, poor Academic Competence, low Family SES, and tobacco use. All ethnic and gender differences in high school failure were mediated by deviance and academic ability or accounted for by Family SES discrepancies.

Mediational and deviance theories of late high school failure: Process roles of structural strains, academic competence, and general versus specific problem behavior.

Sara Battin-Pearson

Papers

Predictors of Early High School Dropout: A Test of Five Theories.

Childhood Risk Factors for Adolescent Gang Membership: Results from the Seattle Social Development Project:

Long-Term Effects of the Seattle Social Development Intervention on School Bonding Trajectories

Mediational and deviance theories of late high school failure: Process roles of structural strains, academic competence, and general versus specific problem behavior.

School and Community Risk Factors and Interventions