Citation
Taylor, Lisa Ann (2016). An analysis of social and demographic variables and student graduation success.
Abstract
The dropout population does not reflect an equal representation of all student subgroups (Kena et al., 2015). There are many negative outcomes that often coincide with the decision to drop out, such as lower overall lifetime income as well as emotional and physical fitness (Chapman, Laird, Ifill, & KewalRamani, 2011). This dissertation examines how graduation success varies by the social variables of school engagement, students’ closeness to parents, and self-esteem and the demographic variable of race through the lenses of the social development model (Hawkins & Weis, 1985), the school membership theory (Wehlage, 1989), and the self-determination theory (Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991). Ex post facto data from the nationally representative public use data set from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) was used (Harris, 2009). The purpose of this correlational study was to discover the relationship between social factors and the demographic factor of race for participants of the Add Health study. Simple logistic regression analysis was used to test if there was a relationship between each factor, school engagement, self-esteem, closeness to parents, or race and graduation success. A relationship was found for school engagement and graduation success; however, all other null hypotheses were rejected. Implications for this study, limitations, and recommendations for future research were discussed.
URL
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2247&context=doctoralReference Type
Thesis/Dissertation
Book Title
Education
Author(s)
Taylor, Lisa Ann
Year Published
2016
Volume Number
Ed.D
Publisher
Liberty University
Reference ID
8022
