{"id":886,"date":"2020-05-04T20:28:49","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T20:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/adolescent\/?post_type=chapter&p=886"},"modified":"2021-07-02T18:35:24","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T18:35:24","slug":"academic-achievement","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/adolescent\/chapter\/academic-achievement\/","title":{"raw":"Academic Achievement","rendered":"Academic Achievement"},"content":{"raw":"Academic achievement during adolescence is predicted by interpersonal (e.g., parental engagement in adolescents\u2019 education), intrapersonal (e.g., intrinsic motivation), and institutional (e.g., school quality) factors. Academic achievement is important in its own right as a marker of positive adjustment during adolescence but also because academic achievement sets the stage for future educational and occupational opportunities. The most serious consequence of school failure, particularly dropping out of school, is the high risk of unemployment or underemployment in adulthood that follows. High achievement can set the stage for college or future vocational training and opportunities.\r\n
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Parental Engagement with School<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\nAs adolescents become more independent in managing their academic roles, they still may need parental support to be successful in school. Parents vary in their level of involvement with their children\u2019s schools. Teachers often complain that they have difficulty getting parents to participate in their child\u2019s education and devise a variety of techniques to keep parents in touch with daily and overall progress. For example, parents may be required to sign a behavior chart each evening to be returned to school or may be given information about the school\u2019s events through websites and newsletters. There are other factors that need to be considered when looking at parental involvement. To explore these, first, ask yourself if all parents who enter the school with concerns about their child be received in the same way?\r\n\r\nHorvat (2004) found that teachers seek a particular type of involvement from particular types of parents. While teachers thought they were open and neutral in their responses to parental involvement, in reality, teachers were most receptive to support, praise, and agreement coming from parents who were most similar in race and social class with the teachers. Parents who criticized the school or its policies were less likely to be given a voice. Parents who have higher levels of income, occupational status, and other qualities favored in society have family capital. <\/strong>This is a form of power that can be used to improve a child\u2019s education. Parents who do not have these qualities may find it more difficult to be effectively involved. The authors suggest that teachers closely examine their biases against parents. Schools may also need to examine their ability to dialogue with parents about school policies in more open ways. Any efforts to improve effective parental involvement should address these concerns.\r\n
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Motivation to Achieve<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\nMotivation varies and is demonstrated by the kind of goals that students set for themselves, and by how the goals support students\u2019 academic achievement. As you might suspect, some goals encourage academic achievement more than others, but even motives that do not concern academics explicitly tend to affect learning indirectly.\r\n\r\nWhat kinds of achievement goals do students hold? Some students\u2019 goal may be to learn the material as well as possible because they find it interesting and because they believe it will be useful later\u2014this is a mastery goal because they want primarily to learn or master the material. Other students are concerned less about learning the content than about getting high grades in the course\u2014this is a performance goal because the focus is primarily on looking successful by performing well in the eyes of peers and teachers. There may also be students that are primarily concerned about avoiding a poor or failing mark\u2014this is a performance-avoidance goal because they are not really as concerned about learning or about competitive success but is simply intending to avoid failure.\r\n\r\nAs you might imagine, mastery, performance, and performance-avoidance goals often are not experienced in pure form, but in combinations. If you play the clarinet in the school band, you might want to improve your technique simply because you enjoy playing as well as possible\u2014essentially a mastery orientation. But you might also want to look talented in the eyes of classmates\u2014a performance orientation. Another part of what you may wish, at least privately, is to avoid looking like a complete failure at playing the clarinet. One of these motives may predominate over the others, but they all may be present.\r\n\r\nMastery goals tend to be associated with the enjoyment of learning the material at hand, and in this sense, represent an outcome that teachers often seek for students. By definition, therefore, they are a form of intrinsic motivation<\/strong>. As such, mastery goals have been found to be better than performance goals at sustaining students\u2019 interest in a subject. In one review of research about learning goals, for example, students with primarily mastery orientations toward a course they were taking not only tended to express greater interest in the course, but also continued to express interest well beyond the official end of the course, and to enroll in further courses in the same subject (Harackiewicz, et al., 2002; Wolters, 2004).\r\n\r\n[embed]https:\/\/youtu.be\/LHnHXS51J4E[\/embed]\r\n\r\nVideo 7.3.1.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Instincts, Arousal, Needs, and Drives: Drive-Reduction and Cognitive Theories<\/em> explain some intrinsic motivations.\r\n\r\nPerformance goals, on the other hand, imply extrinsic motivation<\/strong> and tend to show the mixed effects of this orientation. A positive effect is that students with a performance orientation do tend to get higher grades than those who express primarily a mastery orientation. The advantage in grades occurs both in the short term (with individual assignments) and in the long term (with overall grade point average when graduating). But there is evidence that performance-oriented students do not actually learn the material as deeply or permanently as students who are more mastery-oriented (Midgley, Kaplan, & Middleton, 2001). A possible reason is that measures of performance\u2014such as test scores\u2014often reward relatively shallow memorization of information and therefore guide performance-oriented students away from processing the information thoughtfully or deeply. Another possible reason is that a performance orientation, by focusing on gaining recognition as the best among peers, encourages competition among peers. Giving and receiving help from classmates is thus not in the self-interest of a performance-oriented student, and the resulting isolation limits the student\u2019s learning.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/vr9k-TO1_Zc\r\n\r\nVideo 7.3.2.\u00a0<\/strong>Incentive Theory<\/em> explains extrinsic motivation.\r\n\r\nAs we mentioned, failure-avoidant goals by nature undermine academic achievement. Often they are a negative byproduct of the competitiveness of performance goals (Urdan, 2004). If a teacher (and sometimes also fellow students) put too much emphasis on being the best in the class, and if interest in learning the material as such therefore suffers, then some students may decide that success is beyond their reach or may not be desirable in any case. The alternative\u2014simply avoiding failure\u2014may seem wiser as well as more feasible. Once a student adopts this attitude, he or she may underachieve more or less deliberately, doing only the minimum work necessary to avoid looking foolish or to avoid serious conflict with the teacher. Avoiding failure in this way is an example of self-handicapping<\/strong>\u2014deliberate actions and choices that reduce the chances of success. Students may self-handicap in a number of ways; in addition to not working hard, they may procrastinate about completing assignments, for example, or set goals that are unrealistically high.\r\n
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The Wold of School<\/h2>\r\nRemember Urie Brofenbrenner's\u00a0ecological systems model<\/strong> we learned about when we first examined theories of development?\u00a0This model helps us understand an individual by examining the contexts in which the person lives and the direct and indirect influences on that person's life.\u00a0School becomes a very important component of children's lives during middle childhood and one way to understand children is to look at the world of school.\u00a0We have discussed educational policies that impact the curriculum in schools above.\u00a0Now let's focus on the school experience from the standpoint of the student, the teacher and parent relationship, and the cultural messages or hidden curriculum taught in schools in the United States.\r\n\r\nParents vary in their level of involvement with their children's schools.\u00a0Teachers often complain that they have difficulty getting parents to participate in their child's education and devise a variety of techniques to keep parents in touch with daily and overall progress. For\u00a0example, parents may be required to sign a behavior chart each evening to be returned to school or may be given information about the school's events through websites and newsletters.\u00a0There are other factors that need to be considered when looking at parental involvement.\u00a0To explore these, first, ask yourself if all parents who enter the school with concerns about their child are received in the same way?\u00a0If not, what would make a teacher or principal more likely to consider the parent's concerns?\u00a0What would make this less likely?\r\n\r\nLareau and Horvat (2004) found that teachers seek a particular type of involvement from particular types of parents.\u00a0While teachers thought they were open and neutral in their responses to parental involvement, in reality, teachers were most receptive to support, praise, and agreement coming from parents who were most similar in race and social class with the teachers.\u00a0Parents who criticized the school or its policies were less likely to be given a voice.\u00a0Parents who have higher levels of income, occupational status, and other qualities favored in society have\u00a0family capital.\u00a0This is a form of power that can be used to improve a child's education.\u00a0Parents who do not have these qualities may find it more difficult to be effectively involved.\u00a0Lareau and Horvat (2004) offer three cases of African-American parents who were each concerned about discrimination in the schools.\u00a0Despite evidence that such discrimination existed, their children's white, middle-class teachers were reluctant to address the situation directly.\u00a0Note the variation in approaches and outcomes for these three families:\r\n
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  • The Williams family: This working-class, African-American couple, a minister and a hairstylist, voiced direct complaints about discrimination in the schools.\u00a0Their claims were thought to undermine the authority of the school and as a result, their daughter was kept in a lower reading class.\u00a0However, her grade was boosted to \"avoid a scene\" and the parents were not told of this grade change.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • The Irving family: This middle-class, African-American couple was concerned that the school was discriminating against black students.\u00a0They fought against it without using direct confrontation by staying actively involved in their daughter's schooling and making frequent visits to the school to make sure that discrimination could not occur.\u00a0They also talked with other African-American teachers and parents about their concerns.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Ms. Caldron:\u00a0This poor, single-parent was concerned about discrimination in the school.\u00a0She was a recovering drug addict receiving welfare.\u00a0She did not discuss her concerns with other parents because she did not know the other parents and did not monitor her child's progress or get involved with the school.\u00a0She felt that her concerns would not receive attention.\u00a0She requested spelling lists from the teacher on several occasions but did not receive them.\u00a0The\u00a0teacher complained that Ms. Caldron did not sign forms that were sent home for her signature.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWorking within the system without direct confrontation seemed to yield better results for the Irvings, although the issue of discrimination in the school was not completely addressed.\u00a0Ms. Caldron was the least involved and felt powerless in the school setting.\u00a0Her lack of family capital and lack of knowledge and confidence keep her from addressing her concerns with the teachers.\u00a0What do you think would happen if she directly addressed the teachers and complained about discrimination?\u00a0Chances are, she would be dismissed as undermining the authority of the school, just as the Masons, and might be thought to lack credibility because of her poverty and drug addiction.\u00a0The\u00a0authors of this study suggest that teachers closely examine their biases against parents.\u00a0Schools may also need to examine their ability to dialogue with parents about school policies in more open ways.\u00a0What happens when parents have concerns over school policy or view student problems as arising from flaws in the educational system?\u00a0How are parents who are critical of the school treated?\u00a0And are their children treated fairly even when the school is being criticized?\u00a0Certainly, any efforts to improve effective parental involvement should address these concerns.\r\n

    Student Perspectives<\/h3>\r\nImagine being a 3rd-grader for one day in public school.\u00a0What would the daily routine involve?\u00a0To what extent would the institution dictate the activities of the day and how much of the day would you spend on those activities?\u00a0Would you\u00a0always be on task?\u00a0What would you say if someone asked you how your day went? or \u201cWhat happened in school today?\u201d\u00a0Chances are, you would be more inclined to talk about whom you sat at lunch with or who brought a puppy to class than to describe how fractions are added.\r\n\r\nEthnographer and Professor of Education Peter McLaren (1999) describes the student\u2019s typical day as filled with constrictive and unnecessary ritual that has a damaging effect on the desire to learn.\u00a0Students\u00a0move between various states as they negotiate the demands of the school system and their own personal interests.\u00a0The\u00a0majority of the day (298 minutes) takes place in the\u00a0student state<\/strong>.\u00a0This state is one in which the student focuses on a task or tries to stay focused on a task, is passive, compliant, and often frustrated.\u00a0Long pauses before getting out the next book or finding materials sometimes indicate that frustration.\u00a0The\u00a0street corner\u00a0state<\/strong> is one in which the child is playful, energetic, excited, and expresses personal opinions, feelings, and beliefs.\u00a0About 66 minutes a day take place in this state.\u00a0Children try to maximize this by going slowly to assemblies or when getting a hall pass-always eager to say \u2018hello\u2019 to a friend or to wave if one of their classmates is in another room.\u00a0This is the state in which friends talk and play.\u00a0In fact, teachers sometimes reward students with opportunities to move freely or to talk or to be themselves.\u00a0But when students initiate the street corner state on their own, they risk losing recess time, getting extra homework, or being ridiculed in front of their peers.\u00a0The\u00a0home state<\/strong>\u00a0occurs when parents or siblings visit the school.\u00a0Children in this state may enjoy special privileges such as going home early or being exempt from certain school rules in the mother\u2019s presence, or it can be difficult if the parent is there to discuss trouble at school with a staff member.\u00a0The\u00a0sanctity state<\/strong>\u00a0is a time in which the child is contemplative, quiet, or prayerful. Typically the sanctity state is a very brief part of the day.\r\n\r\nSince students seem to have so much enthusiasm and energy in street corner states, what would happen if the student and street corner states could be combined?\u00a0Would it be possible?\u00a0Many\u00a0educators feel concerned about the level of stress children experience in school.\u00a0Some stress can be attributed to problems in friendship.\u00a0And some can be a result of the emphasis on testing and grades, as reflected in a Newsweek article entitled \u201cThe New First Grade: Are Kids Getting Pushed Too Fast Too Soon?\u201d (Tyre, 2006).\u00a0This article reports concerns of a principal who worries that students begin to burn out as early as 3rd\u00a0grade.\u00a0In the book,\u00a0The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing, Kohn (2006) argues that neither research nor experience support claims that homework reinforces learning and builds responsibility.\u00a0Why do schools assign homework so frequently?\u00a0A\u00a0look at cultural influences on education may provide some answers.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/16601\r\n

    Cultural Influences<\/h3>\r\nAnother way to examine the world of school is to look at the cultural values, concepts, behaviors and roles that are part of the school experience but are not part of the formal curriculum.\u00a0These are part of the\u00a0hidden curriculum<\/strong>\u00a0but are nevertheless very powerful messages.\u00a0The\u00a0hidden curriculum includes ideas of patriotism, gender roles, the ranking of occupations and classes, competition, and other values.\u00a0Teachers, counselors, and other students specify and make known what is considered appropriate for girls and boys.\u00a0The\u00a0gender curriculum continues into high school, college, and professional school.\u00a0Students\u00a0learn a ranking system of occupations and social classes as well.\u00a0Students\u00a0in gifted programs or those moving toward college preparation classes may be viewed as superior to those who are receiving tutoring.\r\n\r\nGracy (2004) suggests that cultural training occurs early.\u00a0Kindergarten is an \"academic boot camp\" in which students are prepared for their future student role-that of complying with an adult imposed structure and routine designed to produce docile, obedient, children who do not question meaningless tasks that will become so much of their future lives as students.\u00a0A\u00a0typical day is filled with structure, ritual, and routine that allows for little creativity or direct, hands-on contact. \"Kindergarten, therefore, can be seen as preparing children not only for participation in the bureaucratic organization of large modern school systems, but also for the large-scale occupational bureaucracies of modern society.\" (Gracy, 2004, p. 148)\r\n\r\nEmphasizing math and reading in preschool and kindergarten classes is becoming more common in some school districts.\u00a0It is not without controversy, however.\u00a0Some suggest that emphasis is warranted in order to help students learn math and reading skills that will be needed throughout school and in the world of work.\u00a0This will also help school districts improve their accountability through test performance.\u00a0Others argue that learning is becoming too structured to be enjoyable or effective and that students are being taught only to focus on performance and test-taking.\u00a0Students\u00a0learn\u00a0student incivility\u00a0or lack of sincere concern for politeness and consideration of others is taught in kindergarten through 12th grades through the \"what is on the test\" mentality modeled by teachers.\u00a0Students\u00a0are taught to accept routinized, meaningless information in order to perform well on tests.\u00a0And they are experiencing the stress felt by teachers and school districts focused on test scores and taught that their worth comes from their test scores.\u00a0Genuine interest, an appreciation of the process of learning, and valuing others are important components of success in the workplace that are not part of the hidden curriculum in today's schools.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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    What Happened to No child Left Behind?<\/h3>\r\n

    Children\u2019s academic performance is often measured with the use of standardized tests. Achievement tests <\/strong>are used to measure what a child has already learned. Achievement tests are often used as measures of teaching effectiveness within a school setting and as a method to make schools that receive tax dollars (such as public schools, charter schools, and private schools that receive vouchers) accountable to the government for their performance. In 2001, President Bush signed into effect Public Law 107-110, better known as the No Child Left Behind Act<\/strong> mandating that schools administer achievement tests to students and publish those results so that parents have an idea of their children\u2019s performance. Additionally, the government would have information on the gaps in educational achievement between children from various social class, racial, and ethnic groups. Schools that showed significant gaps in these levels of performance were mandated to work toward narrowing these gaps. Educators criticized the policy for focusing too much on testing as the only indication of student performance. Target goals were considered unrealistic and set by the federal government rather than individual states. Because these requirements became increasingly unworkable for schools, changes to the law were requested. On December 12, 2015 President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act<\/strong> (ESSA). This law is state driven and focuses on expanding educational opportunities and improving student outcomes, including in the areas of high school graduation, drop-out rates, and college attendance.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

    Middle School<\/h3>\r\nAdolescents spend more waking time in school than in any other context (Eccles & Roeser, 2011).\u00a0Secondary education<\/strong>\u00a0is traditionally grades 7-12 and denotes the school years after elementary school (known as primary education) and before college or university (known as tertiary education). Adolescents\u00a0who complete primary education (learning to read and write)\u00a0and continue on through secondary and tertiary education tend to also have\u00a0better health, wealth, and family life (Rieff, 1998).\u00a0Because the average age of puberty has declined over the years,\u00a0middle schools<\/strong>\u00a0were created for grades 5 or 6 through 8 as a way to distinguish between early adolescence and late adolescence, especially because these adolescents different biologically, cognitively, and emotionally and definitely have different needs.\r\n\r\nTransition to middle school is stressful, and the\u00a0transition is often complex.\u00a0When students transition from elementary to middle school, many students are undergoing physical, intellectual, social, emotional, and moral changes (Parker, 2013).\u00a0Research suggests that early adolescence is an especially sensitive developmental period (McGill et al., 2012).\u00a0Some students mature faster than others. Students who are developmentally behind typically experience more stress than their counterparts (U.S. Department of Education, 2008).\u00a0Consequently, they may earn lower grades and display decreased academic motivation, which may increase the rate of dropping out of school (U.S. Department of Education, 2008). For many middle school students, academic achievement slows down, and behavioral problems can increase.\r\n\r\nWhile young adolescents seem to desire independence, they also need protection, security, and structure (Brighton, 2007). Baly, Cornell, & Lovegrove (2014) found that bullying increases in middle school, particularly in the first year.\u00a0Additionally, unlike elementary school,\u00a0concerns arise regarding procedural changes. Just when egocentrism is at its height, students are worried about being thrown into an environment of independence and responsibility. They are expected to get to and from classes on their own, manage time wisely, organize and keep up with materials for multiple classes, be responsible for all classwork and homework from multiple teachers, and at the same time develop and maintain a social life (Meece & Eccles, 2010).\u00a0Students are trying to build new friendships and maintain the ones they already have. As noted throughout this module, peer acceptance is particularly important.\r\n\r\nAnother aspect to consider is technology. Typically, adolescents get their first cell phone at about age 11, and, simultaneously, they are also expected to research items on the Internet. Social media use and texting increase dramatically, and the research finds both harm and benefits to this use (Coyne et al., 2018).\r\n
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    High School<\/h3>\r\n<\/div>\r\nAs adolescents enter high school, their continued cognitive development allows them to think abstractly, analytically, hypothetically, and logically, which is all formal operational thought. High school emphasizes formal thinking in an attempt to prepare graduates for college where analysis is required. Overall, high school graduation rates in the United States have increased steadily over the past decade, reaching 83.2% in 2016 after four years in high school (Gewertz, 2017). Additionally, many students in the United States do attend college. Unfortunately, though, about half of those who go to college leave without a degree (Kena et al., 2016).\u00a0Those that do earn a degree, however, do make more money and have an easier time finding employment. The key here is understanding adolescent development and supporting teens in making decisions about college or alternatives to college after high school.\r\n
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    High School Dropouts<\/h4>\r\n<\/div>\r\nThe status dropout rate <\/strong>refers to the percentage of 16 to 24 year-olds who are not enrolled in school and do not have high school credentials (either a diploma or an equivalency credential such as a General Educational Development [GED] certificate). The dropout rate is based on sample surveys of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population, which excludes persons in prisons, persons in the military, and other persons not living in households. The dropout rate among high school students has declined from a rate of 12% in 1990 to 7% in 2013 (U.S. Department of Education, 2015). The rate is lower for Whites than for Blacks, and the rates for both Whites and Blacks are lower than the rate for Hispanics. However, the gap between Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics have narrowed (see Figure 7.2).\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n

    Figure: 7.3.1.<\/strong> Status dropout rates of 16- through 24-year-olds, by race\/ethnicity: 1990 through 2013<\/p>\r\nThe dropout rate for males in 1990 was 12%, where it stayed until 2000. Thereafter the rate dropped to 7% in 2013. The dropout rate for females in 1990 was 12%, where it dropped to 10% in 2000, and in 2013 was 6%. From 1997 until 2012, the rate for males was appreciably higher than for females, while in 2013, the gender difference was minimal (U.S. Department of Education, 2015).\r\n

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    Higher Education<\/h3>\r\n<\/div>\r\nCollege is an important aspect of the lives of many young adults in the United States, with 36% of 18 to 24-year-olds (NCHEMS, 2016b). The rate of college attainment has grown more slowly in the United States than in a number of other nations in recent years (OCED, 2014). This may be due to the fact that the cost of attaining a degree is higher in the U.S. than in many other nations.\r\n\r\nAs the level of State funding of higher education declines, students are finding that the cost of college is outpacing the rate of inflation, Pell grant increases, and other student scholarships. One in six students are funding their education through personal loans (TICAS, 2015). With the rising costs of higher education, various news headlines have asked if a college education is worth the cost. One way to address this question is in terms of the earning potential associated with various levels of educational achievement. In 2016, the average earnings for Americans 25 and older with only a high school education was $35,615, compared with $65,482 for those with a bachelor\u2019s degree, compared with $92,525 for those with more advanced degrees. Average earnings vary by gender, race, and geographical location in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017).\r\n\r\nNonetheless, the benefits both to the individual and society outweigh the initial costs. As can be seen in Figure 7.3, those in America with the most advanced degrees earn the highest income and have the lowest unemployment.\r\n

    \"\"Figure 7.3.2.<\/strong> Earning and unemployment rate by education attainment, 2015.<\/p>\r\nWorldwide, over 80% of college-educated adults are employed, compared with just over 70% of those with a high school or equivalent diploma, and only 60% of those with no high school diploma (OECD, 2015). Those with a college degree will earn more over the course of their lifetime. Moreover, the benefits of a college education go beyond employment and finances. The OECD found that around the world, adults with higher educational attainment were more likely to volunteer, felt they had more control over their lives, and thus were more interested in the world around them. Studies of U.S. college students find that they gain a more distinct identity and become more socially competent, less dogmatic, and ethnocentric compared to those not in college (Pascarella, 2006).\r\n

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    Who is Going to College?<\/h4>\r\n<\/div>\r\nEach generation tends to earn (and perhaps need) increased levels of formal education. As we can see in Figure 7.4, approximately one-third of the American adult population has a bachelor\u2019s degree or higher, as compared with less than 5% in 1940. Educational attainment rates vary by gender and race. All races combined, women are slightly more likely to have graduated from college than men; that gap widens with graduate and professional degrees. However, wide racial disparities still exist. For example, 23% of African-Americans have a college degree, and only 16.4% of Hispanic Americans have a college degree, compared to 37% of non-Hispanic white Americans. The college graduation rates of African-Americans and Hispanic Americans have been growing in recent years. However, the rate has doubled since 1991 for African-Americans, and it has increased by 60% in the last two decades for Hispanic-Americans.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n

    Figure 7.3.3.<\/strong>\u00a0Higher education attainment for adults over age 25.<\/p>\r\nWhat about those young or emerging adults graduating high school today\u2014is the majority of that group going to college? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2017), 66.7% of youth ages 16-24 who graduated high school between January and October 2017 were enrolled in colleges or universities in October 2017. There were gender differences (71.7% of females vs. 61.1% of males) and racial differences (83% of Asians, 67.1% of non-Hispanic whites, 61% Hispanics, and 59.4% Blacks). Not all of these\u00a0students will persist and earn college degrees, however (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017).\r\n

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    Higher Education and Career Preparation<\/h4>\r\n<\/div>\r\nOf\u00a0concern in recent years is the relationship between higher education and the workplace. In 2005, American educator and then Harvard University President, Derek Bok, called for a closer alignment between the goals of educators and the demands of the economy.\u00a0Companies outsource much of their work, not only to save costs but to find workers with the skills they need.\u00a0What is required to do well in today\u2019s economy?\u00a0Colleges and universities, he argued, need to promote global awareness, critical thinking skills, the ability to communicate, moral reasoning, and responsibility in their students. Regional accrediting agencies and state organizations provide similar guidelines for educators.\u00a0Workers need skills in listening, reading, writing, speaking, global awareness, critical thinking, civility, and computer literacy\u2014all skills that enhance success in the workplace.\r\n\r\nMore than a decade later, the question remains: does formal education prepare young adults for the workplace? It depends on whom you ask. In an article referring to information from the National Association of Colleges and Employers\u2019 2018 Job Outlook Survey, Bauer-Wolf (2018) explains that employers perceive gaps in students\u2019 competencies, but many graduating college seniors are overly confident. The biggest difference was in perceived professionalism and work ethic (only 43% of employers thought that students are competent in this area compared to 90% of the students) (Bauer-Wolf, 2018). Similar differences were also found in terms of oral communication, written communication, and critical thinking skills. Only in terms of digital technology skills were more employers confident about students\u2019 competencies than were the students (66% compared to 60%).\r\n\r\nIt appears that students need to learn what some call \u201csoft skills,\u201d as well as the particular knowledge and skills within their college major. As education researcher Loni Bordoloi Pazich (2018) noted, most American college students today are enrolling in business or other pre-professional programs and to be effective and successful workers and leaders, they would benefit from the communication, teamwork, and critical thinking skills, as well as the content knowledge, gained from liberal arts education (Bordoloi Pazich, 2018). In fact, two-thirds of children starting primary school now will be employed in jobs in the future that currently do not exist. Therefore, students cannot learn every single skill or fact that they may need to know, but they can learn how to learn, think, research, and communicate well so that they are prepared to continually learn new things and adapt effectively in their careers and lives since the economy, technology, and global markets will continue to evolve (Henseler, 2017).","rendered":"

    Academic achievement during adolescence is predicted by interpersonal (e.g., parental engagement in adolescents\u2019 education), intrapersonal (e.g., intrinsic motivation), and institutional (e.g., school quality) factors. Academic achievement is important in its own right as a marker of positive adjustment during adolescence but also because academic achievement sets the stage for future educational and occupational opportunities. The most serious consequence of school failure, particularly dropping out of school, is the high risk of unemployment or underemployment in adulthood that follows. High achievement can set the stage for college or future vocational training and opportunities.<\/p>\n

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    Parental Engagement with School<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

    As adolescents become more independent in managing their academic roles, they still may need parental support to be successful in school. Parents vary in their level of involvement with their children\u2019s schools. Teachers often complain that they have difficulty getting parents to participate in their child\u2019s education and devise a variety of techniques to keep parents in touch with daily and overall progress. For example, parents may be required to sign a behavior chart each evening to be returned to school or may be given information about the school\u2019s events through websites and newsletters. There are other factors that need to be considered when looking at parental involvement. To explore these, first, ask yourself if all parents who enter the school with concerns about their child be received in the same way?<\/p>\n

    Horvat (2004) found that teachers seek a particular type of involvement from particular types of parents. While teachers thought they were open and neutral in their responses to parental involvement, in reality, teachers were most receptive to support, praise, and agreement coming from parents who were most similar in race and social class with the teachers. Parents who criticized the school or its policies were less likely to be given a voice. Parents who have higher levels of income, occupational status, and other qualities favored in society have family capital. <\/strong>This is a form of power that can be used to improve a child\u2019s education. Parents who do not have these qualities may find it more difficult to be effectively involved. The authors suggest that teachers closely examine their biases against parents. Schools may also need to examine their ability to dialogue with parents about school policies in more open ways. Any efforts to improve effective parental involvement should address these concerns.<\/p>\n

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    Motivation to Achieve<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

    Motivation varies and is demonstrated by the kind of goals that students set for themselves, and by how the goals support students\u2019 academic achievement. As you might suspect, some goals encourage academic achievement more than others, but even motives that do not concern academics explicitly tend to affect learning indirectly.<\/p>\n

    What kinds of achievement goals do students hold? Some students\u2019 goal may be to learn the material as well as possible because they find it interesting and because they believe it will be useful later\u2014this is a mastery goal because they want primarily to learn or master the material. Other students are concerned less about learning the content than about getting high grades in the course\u2014this is a performance goal because the focus is primarily on looking successful by performing well in the eyes of peers and teachers. There may also be students that are primarily concerned about avoiding a poor or failing mark\u2014this is a performance-avoidance goal because they are not really as concerned about learning or about competitive success but is simply intending to avoid failure.<\/p>\n

    As you might imagine, mastery, performance, and performance-avoidance goals often are not experienced in pure form, but in combinations. If you play the clarinet in the school band, you might want to improve your technique simply because you enjoy playing as well as possible\u2014essentially a mastery orientation. But you might also want to look talented in the eyes of classmates\u2014a performance orientation. Another part of what you may wish, at least privately, is to avoid looking like a complete failure at playing the clarinet. One of these motives may predominate over the others, but they all may be present.<\/p>\n

    Mastery goals tend to be associated with the enjoyment of learning the material at hand, and in this sense, represent an outcome that teachers often seek for students. By definition, therefore, they are a form of intrinsic motivation<\/strong>. As such, mastery goals have been found to be better than performance goals at sustaining students\u2019 interest in a subject. In one review of research about learning goals, for example, students with primarily mastery orientations toward a course they were taking not only tended to express greater interest in the course, but also continued to express interest well beyond the official end of the course, and to enroll in further courses in the same subject (Harackiewicz, et al., 2002; Wolters, 2004).<\/p>\n