Keywords

Academic achievement, African Americans -- Education (Secondary), Hispanic Americans -- Education (Secondary), Social capital (Sociology)

Abstract

The underachievement of African American and Hispanic students has been an ongoing problem for schools in the United States. The purpose of this investigation was to add to the existing body of knowledge concerning social capital of African American and Hispanic high school students’ academic achievement. Using a nationally representative sample from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002), base year through the first follow-up year database, 551 high school students, the researcher assessed indicators (school-sponsored activities, out-of-school activities, and parental involvement) within the construct of social capital, to see whether social capital could serve as a predictor of academic achievement among African American and Hispanic high school students. Data were analyzed through Repeated Measures analysis and Multiple Regression analysis controlling for gender, race, and socioeconomic status. The main effects revealed a statistically significant difference between the social capital factors in school-sponsored activities, out-of- school activities, and parent involvement. The results showed an increase in the first follow-up year. Socio-economic status, race and gender were statistically significant social capital factors. Females and African Americans were found to have higher levels of social capital in school-sponsored activities. Out-of- school activities revealed males had higher levels of social capital. Parent involvement indicators showed that female and Hispanic students were affected by social capital. Differences in math scores revealed an increase in the first follow-up year, showing males outscored iv females. Also, Hispanic students’ scores were higher than African American students. Finally, the strongest predictors for academic achievement were gender, race, and participation in school sponsored activity in the base year and first follow-up year. In addition, parent involvement was also found to be a strong predictor of achievement in the follow-up year.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2009

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Hutchinson, Cynthia

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Education

Department

Educational Studies

Degree Program

Educational Studies

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0002673

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0002673

Language

English

Release Date

September 2009

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Education, Education -- Dissertations, Academic

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