Edward L. McDill

The Changing Nature of the Disadvantaged Population Current Dimensions and Future Trends

In this paper we identify the current state of the educationally disadvantaged population in the United States and consider their changing conditions and the implications for U.S. education. We also examine the likely course of sociodemographic changes in the disadvantaged population over the 35-year period between 1986 and 2020, that is, during the course of the working career of the average 35-year-old today. Finally, we consider the challenges likely to be presented to U.S. schools during this period.

A Population at Risk: Potential Consequences of Tougher School Standards for Student Dropouts

This paper considers the potential impact of the recent recommendations for raising standards in American schools on a population at risk, that is, those students likely to leave school prior to high school graduation. The paper proceeds by (1) presenting a systematic review of the empirical evidence on factors that predict dropping out, (2) synthesizing and explicating the recent recommendations for raising standards in American schools, (3) considering the likely positive and negative effects of higher standards on the population at risk in the absence of any other changes in the structure of schools, (4) identifying the school characteristics that can be altered to minimize the adverse effects of changes in academic standards on potential dropouts, and (5) proposing recommendations to raise academic standards and mitigate the dropout problem simultaneously.

Raising Standards and Retaining Students: The Impact of the Reform Recommendations on Potential Dropouts

This paper examines the potential influence of school reform policies on the high school dropout rate. We summarize a diverse set of reports on American education that recommend increasing academic standards in schools as a means for improving secondary school performance. We also describe our understanding of the processes by which youngsters drop out of school. In light of these diverse literatures, we show that raising standards may have both positive and negative consequences for potential dropouts. On the positive side, raising standards may encourage greater student effort and time on schoolwork, and thus lead to higher levels of achievement. On the negative side, raising standards may increase academic stratification in schools and cause more school failure, with no apparent remedies. We propose an agenda for further research designed to clarify the impact of the higher standards.

Adolescent peer influence processes: Conceptualization and measurement☆

Starting from the theoretical literature on interpersonal influence, this paper raises questions regarding what measurement strategies can be usefully employed to assess the import of peer influence processes on scholastic behavior of high school students. Distinction is made between peer influences and those of normative climates of schools. Using several alternative measures of peer influences, it is shown that ones substantive conclusions about the impact of peer influences on scholastic performance and about the relationships between peer influences and normative climates of schools are very much dependent on what measure of peer influence one employs.