James M. McPartland

The Concept and Measurement of the Quality of School Life

The Quality of School Life (QSL) is defined by three dimensions of student reactions: (1) satisfaction with school in general, (2) commitment to school work, and (3) attitudes toward teachers. A 27-item QSL scale is presented that shows reliability and validity across educational levels (elementary, middle and high school) based on 4,266 student survey responses. Concurrent and discriminative validity is demonstrated using measures of academic achievement, participation, personality, family background, and sociometric data from peers and teachers. Scaling techniques, factor analysis, and an extension of Sechrest’s test for incremental validity document the multi-dimensional design of the scale.

Exploring the Causes of Early Dropout among Race-Ethnic and Gender Groups

This study uses nationally representative high school student data to show raceethnicity and gender differences in reasons for early school dropout and plans for dropouts to resume their education. Factor analyses show that separate reasons for dropping out include school-related, family-related, and job-related causes, as well as influences from peers and residential mobility. White dropouts cited alienation from school more often than either African Americans or Hispanics of both sexes. African American males reported being suspended or expelled from school more than the other groups. Hispanic and African American females cited family-related reasons more often than did White females. The overwhelming majority of dropouts did have plans for resuming their education, which differed across race-ethnicity and gender. Male and female White dropouts planned to take equivalency tests; Hispanic adolescents favored attending alternative high schools; and African American adolescents planned to return to a regular high school to earn their diplomas. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Social-Psychological Processes That Perpetuate Racial Segregation: The Relationship Between School and Employment Desegregation

A few diverse studies show that racial segregation tends to be perpetuated over stages of the life cycle and across institutional settings (Braddock, 1980; Braddock and McPartland, 1982; Crain, 1970; McPartland and Crain, 1980; McPartland and Braddock, 1981; U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1967: App. C5). Blacks who grow up in a largely segregated environment are more likely to lead their adult lives in segregated situations. And, at any given age, Blacks who are segregated in one institutional sphere-be it in education, residential location, employment, or informal social contacts-are also likely to have mostly segregated experiences in other institutional environments.

Applying an Occupational Classification to the Work Histories of Young Men and Women.

Abstract Hollands occupational classification was used to analyze the work histories of a national representative sample of young men and women ages 14 through 24. Hypotheses tested were concerned with the psychological orderliness of occupational changes, the relationship between occupational experiences and aspirations, and the relationship between consistent occupational codes and the stability of work histories. The analyses supported the usefulness of the occupational classification for organizing the work histories of both young men and young women. For both sexes, the classification reflected regular patterns of job changes. The category of a persons earlier job was an efficient predictor of a persons subsequent jobs; likewise, the category of a persons current job forecasted the category of his vocational aspiration. The consistency of an occupational code was also related to job stability for whites but not for blacks.

High School Reform and Student Engagement

This chapter describes how internal high school reforms can be aimed at six different dimensions of student motivation and engagement. Students will respond to more accessible immediate rewards such as good grades and teacher praise when high schools improve with focused extra help for needy students and other interventions to narrow skill gaps or recognize individual progress. Students will benefit from embedded intrinsic interest in their school program when innovations are introduced to challenge their minds and creativity. Students will find more functional relevance in their studies when high schools integrate academic and career education. Students will enjoy a more positive interpersonal climate for learning when high schools use smaller learning communities with teacher teams and advisors. Students will find opportunities to exercise their own personal nonacademic talents when schools provide more diverse electives and extracurricular activities. Students will feel more connected to shared communal norms when high schools practice fair disciplinary procedures and provide for some shared decision-making. Different combinations and sequences of high school reforms are discussed in terms of implementation strategies and the interactions of the six dimensions of student motivation and engagement. High school reform can be aimed at either the external constraints and incentives for school improvement or the internal conditions for student engagement and learning. This chapter puts reforms of the internal conditions in the context of alternative strategies for improving American high schools and examines six different aspects of student engagement in high school and how specific internal reform efforts can activate and maximize each component.

Desegregation as National Policy: Correlates of Racial Attitudes

To appropriately evaluate the effects of the national policy of desegregation on racial attitudes, data from a national probability sample of 9-, 13-, and 17-year olds were analyzed. From this analysis we conclude that for both whites and blacks desegregation is related positively to racial tolerance even for those areas and age-race groups in which the least tolerance is exhibited. The possibility of ceiling effects and social desirability confounding this analysis is discussed briefly.

Chapter 4: Education of Early Adolescents

For many youth 10 to 15 years old, early adolescence offers opportunities to choose a path toward a productive and fulfilling life. For many others, it represents their last best chance to avoid a diminished future. (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 1989)

Racial and Regional Inequalities in School Resources Relative to Their Educational Outcomes.

A definition of inequalities in school inputs weighted according to their importance for educational and outputs is applied to the data from the 1966 Educational Opportunities Survey. The extent and source of inequalities due to race and region are examined. The results are discussed in terms of findings from more restricted definitions of inequalities, and practical policy considerations.

Evaluating the Trade-offs in Student Outcomes from Alternative School Organization Policies

At a few key points in the history of American public schools, tensions have surfaced between the goal of educational equity—providing egalitarian access to all levels of education—and the goal of educational quality—maintaining high standards of student performance. These occasions include the debate over a common curriculum prompted by the report of the Committee of Ten in 1893, the emergence of vocational course offerings that accompanied the 1918 NEA Commission’s “Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education” and curriculum proposals to improve the comprehensive high school and upgrade instruction in mathematics and science beginning in the 1950s following the Conant reports and in reaction to Sputnik. But usually Americans ignore dilemmas between equity and quality in their debates about school policy, apparently assuming that schools can progress on both fronts without making trade-offs between them and without making difficult decisions about resource allocations and cost efficiencies.

The Effects of Coaching on English Teachers' Reading Instruction Practices and Adolescent Students' Reading Comprehension.

ABSTRACT Although the use of literacy coaches is becoming more common, few research studies have shown positive effects of coaching on teacher practices and student achievement. In the current study, a cluster randomized design was used to evaluate usefulness of coaches for teachers of struggling high school students. High schools were randomly assigned across three experimental conditions: professional development workshops, workshops with written lesson materials, and workshops with lesson materials and coaching. Participants in this three-year study included 130 ninth-grade teachers and 3,160 ninth grade students. Recommended literacy practices included teacher modeling, student team discussions, and self-selected reading. Findings indicated that coaching improved teachers’ use and quality of recommended literacy practices and increased student reading achievement over the period of a year.