Michael Hull

Creative Personality and Anticreative Environment for High School Dropouts

The study examined the possible roles that creativity plays in students dropping out of high school. It used data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS: 88), the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS: 2002), and 87 high school students from a low income area in southeastern Michigan. NELS and ELS questions related to creative personality and anticreative school environment were selected and asked of students. The students’ responses were compared to their scores on measures of creativity (Runco Ideational Behavior Scale, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, & Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students). The NELS respondents who showed creative personality were identified and examined whether their creativity related to dropping out. The results of logistic regression analyses indicated that the questions selected from NELS and ELS that showed anticreative school environment have a negative correlation with the scores on the creativity measures, which affect students’ dropping out. An understanding of these students and their behavior will help promote creative students’ academic and lifelong success through appropriate classroom restructuring.

Are School Counselors Impacting Underrepresented Students' Thinking about Postsecondary Education? A Nationally Representative Study.

Using the HSLS:09 data set and social capital theory as a framework, the authors examined which student and school characteristics predicted students’ identification of their school counselor as the person who had the most influence in their thinking about postsecondary education (N = 3,239,560). Results indicated that African American, first-generation, and private school students were more likely to name their counselor as having had the greatest influence. The article discusses future research and implications for policy, practice and training.

Model Invariance Across Genders of the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire

ASD is one of the most heritable neuropsychiatric disorders, though comprehensive genetic liability remains elusive. To facilitate genetic research, researchers employ the concept of the broad autism phenotype (BAP), a milder presentation of traits in undiagnosed relatives. Research suggests that the BAP Questionnaire (BAPQ) demonstrates psychometric properties superior to other self-report measures. To examine evidence regarding validity of the BAPQ, the current study used confirmatory factor analysis to test the assumption of model invariance across genders. Results of the current study upheld model invariance at each level of parameter constraint; however, model fit indices suggested limited goodness-of-fit between the proposed model and the sample. Exploratory analyses investigated alternate factor structure models but ultimately supported the proposed three-factor structure model.

Knowledge of performance feedback among boys with ADHD

BACKGROUND Children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience delays in acquiring competence completing fundamental motor skills. The effects of augmented prescriptive knowledge of performance feedback (PKP) have not been explored as a possible component solution. AIMS The purpose of this study was to test the motor learning effects of KP among boys with ADHD. METHODS AND PROCEDURES Thirty-one boys with ADHD, randomly selected into either a treatment or a control group, completed a series of cornhole games. It was hypothesized that PKP feedback administered to treatment group participants would increase motor learning. Dependent variables included cornhole scores and quality of performance measures. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS Both groups improved in cornhole scores and improvement was not dependent upon KP. Treatment group participants performed significantly better in quality of performance of the underhand toss compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS PKP feedback improves motor skill performance learning among children with ADHD above knowledge of results feedback only. Recreational program directors should consider using KP feedback when teaching motor skills to boys with ADHD.

Longitudinal Model Building Using Latent Transition Analysis: An Example Using School Bullying Data

Applications of latent transition analysis (LTA) have emerged since the early 1990s, with numerous scientific findings being published in many areas, including social and behavioral sciences, education, and public health. Although LTA is effective as a statistical analytic tool for a person-centered model using longitudinal data, model building in LTA has often been subjective and confusing for applied researchers. To fill this gap in the literature, we review the components of LTA, recommend a framework of fitting LTA, and summarize what acceptable model evaluation tools should be used in practice. The proposed framework of fitting LTA consists of six steps depicted in Figure 1 from step 0 (exploring data) to step 5 (fitting distal variables). We also illustrate the framework of fitting LTA with data on concerns about school bullying from a sample of 1,180 students ranging from 5th to 9th grade (mean age = 12.2 years, SD = 1.29 years at Time 1) over three semesters. We identified four groups of students with distinct patterns of bullying concerns, and found that their concerns about bullying decreased and narrowed to specific concerns about rumors, gossip, and social exclusion over time. The data and command (syntax) files needed for reproducing the results using SAS PROC LCA and PROC LTA (Version 1.3.2) (2015) and Mplus 7.4 (Muthén and Muthén, 1998–2015) are provided as online supplementary materials.

Predictors and Academic Outcomes Associated with In-School Suspension.

The negative consequences associated with out-of-school suspension (OSS) are widely recognized, yet its commonly utilized counterpart, in-school suspension (ISS), has received little attention. This study examined school and student characteristics that predicted ISS and its links to academic outcomes, using the nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. The sample included 11,860 public high school students, equating to a nationally representative sample of 2,993,918 students upon the application of primary sampling weights for each student and balanced repeated replicate weights to account for students nested in schools. Students who were Black, male, of lower socioeconomic status (SES), or placed in special education were significantly more likely to receive ISS. Further, ISS was associated with lower grade point averages and increased likelihood of high school dropout. These findings raise caution about the use of ISS, particularly as schools consider using ISS as an alternative to OSS.

Building on What Works: Supporting Underprepared Students through a Low-Cost Counseling Intervention

Higher education institutions are often concerned about retention rates, particularly among underprepared students. This study examines the effects of Counselors providing Resources, Integration, Skill Development, and Psychosocial Support (CRISP), which is a low-cost counseling model focused on increasing the academic success and retention of underprepared undergraduates (n = 273). Results indicated participation in CRISP was significantly related to higher first-year grade point average and retention to the second and third years of college.