A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Appendix A - Glossary

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This glossary describes the variables used in this report. The items were taken from the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88/94). The variables used in this analysis were either items taken directly from the NELS surveys or they were derived by combining one or more items in these surveys. Variable names beginning with "BY" were collected in the base year (1988), "F1" variables were collected in the first follow-up (1990), F2 in the second follow-up (1992), and F3 in the third (1994).

The variables listed in the index below are in the order they appear in the report; the glossary is in alphabetical order by variable name (displayed along the right-hand column).

Glossary Index

Amount of aid Information used by student

AIDINFO1

This variable is a composite of several items asking students whether they had ever read any information from the U.S. Department of Education or postsecondary institutions to learn more about obtaining financial aid (Yes/No).

A composite of several items asking students about individuals they talked to in order to learn more about financial aid. The composite represents the number of people students talked with about financial aid.

This variable indicates the type of postsecondary institution first attended by the student. If student did not attend any postsecondary education, the value is zero.

Describes the family or household composition. It was constructed from the student responses to items BYS8A-I, taken from the 1988 survey. For this analysis the responses were aggregated as follows:

Average grades C’s or lower from 6th to 8th grade.

BYGRD68

Constructed from deciles of grade point averages categorized according to letter grades. For this analysis, the variable was aggregated as follows:

Changed schools two or more times from 1st to 8th grade

BYP40

In the 1988 survey, parents were asked how many times their 8th-grader had changed schools since he or she entered 1st grade. Changes that occurred as a result of promotion to one grade or level or a move from one elementary school to a middle school in the same district were not counted. This analysis aggregated the number of school changes as follows:

Number of risk factors

BYRISK2

The sum of six possible risk factors that increase students’ odds of dropping out of high school including:

1. Lowest SES quartile (BYSES)
2. Single parent family (BYFCOMP)
3. Older sibling dropped out of high school (F1S94)
4. Changed schools two or more times (reported by the parent) (BYP40)
5. Average grades of C’s or lower from 6th to 8th grades (BYGRD68)
6. Repeated an earlier grade (BYS74)

All of the risk factors were identified as of the 8th grade with the exception of students having older siblings who dropped out of high school, which was asked in the 10th grade. If a student had missing data for two or more risk items, the variable was set to missing. Students with two or more risk factors were considered at moderate- to high-risk and were included in this analysis.

Held back one or more grades by 1988

BYS74

A direct question asked of the 1988 8th-grader: Were you ever held back (made to repeat) a grade in school?

Lowest socioeconomic quartile

BYSES

A composite measure of socioeconomic status constructed using the following parent questionnaire data:

Father’s education level
Mother’s education level
Father’s occupation
Mother’s occupation
Family income

For cases where all parent data components were missing (8.1 percent of the participants), student data were used to compute the socioeconomic status percentile. The variable was aggregated to quartiles for this analysis.

Lowest quartile	Socioeconomic status fell at or below the lowest 25th percentile.
Middle quartiles	Socioeconomic status fell between the 25th percentile and the 75th percentile.
Highest quartile	Socioeconomic status fell at or above the 75th percentile.

Enrolled in a 4-year college

COLL4YR

This variable is based on the type of first postsecondary institution (F3SEC2A1) attended by the student, and indicates whether or not a student first enrolled in a 4-year college. In about 5 percent of cases, F3SEC2A1 was missing, and for these students, their enrollment status as of October 1992 was used (ENST1092).

Students’ class attendance

F1ATTEND

A measure of students’ school attendance, asked in 1990. The variable is based on a factor analysis with a standardized factor score (mean=0 and standard deviation=1) on the following items asked of the student:

How many times they were late for school (F1S10A)
How many times they skipped school (F1S10B)
How many days they were absent (F1S13)

The index was aggregated quartiles as follows:

Students’ extracurricular activities

F1EXCUR

Number of extracurricular activities in a variety of areas reported by the student in 1990. Includes sports, band, theater, student government, academic societies, yearbook, service clubs, and hobby clubs. The variable was aggregated as follows:

Friends think learning is important

F1FRSTUD

A composite measure of students’ peer engagement with respect to the importance of learning activities. Based on a factor analysis with a standardized factor score (mean=0 and standard deviation=1) of the following variables where students indicated how important (not important, somewhat important, very important) friends thought it was to:

Not very important	Students’ friends’ index of importance for learning fell below the 25th percentile.
Moderately important	Students’ friends’ index of importance for learning fell between the 25th and 75th percentile.
Highly important	Students’ friends’ index of importance for learning fell above the 75th percentile.

Parents’ educational expectations

F1PAREXP

Variable was based on the highest educational expectations reported by either the student’s father or mother in 1990. For this analysis, the variable was aggregated as follows:

Older siblings dropped out of high school

F1S94

In the 1990 survey, students were asked how many brothers or sisters (including adopted, step-, or half-siblings) left high school before graduating. For this analysis, the variable was aggregated to:

Number of friends who plan to attend a 4-year college

F2FRCOLL

Based on an item: "How many of your friends plan to attend a 4-year college?" asked on the 1992 survey.

Parents’ highest education level

F2PARED

This composite variable characterizes the level of education attained by the student’s parent with the highest reported education level. It was constructed using the second follow-up parent questionnaire data. New student supplement data were used if parent data were missing. For this analysis, the variable was aggregated as follows:

Entrance exam preparation

F2S45

A composite measure based on a positive student response to the following concerning their preparation activities for taking entrance exams (asked in 1992) (Yes/No):

Received help with postsecondary application process

F2S57

A composite measure based on a positive student response to several items asked in 1992 concerning whether or not students received help from their high school in the following areas (Yes/No):

Parents discuss school-related matters with child

F2PTALK

A composite measure of parent engagement determining how frequently parents discussed school matters with their child. It is based on a factor analysis with a standardized factor score (mean=0 and standard deviation=1) of the following variables: How frequently during the past two years have you and/or your spouse/partner talked about the following with your teenager?

The index was coded into quartiles as follows:

Race–ethnicity

F3RACE

Based on the 1992 identification unless it was missing or incorrect. In addition, if it became apparent from responses to other questions that the preloaded 1992 value was incorrect, the value was corrected in 1994. Sample members with the value of "Other" were assigned as missing.

Asian/Pacific Islander	A person having origins in any of the Pacific Islander peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or Pacific Islands. This includes people from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, Samoa, India, and Vietnam.
Hispanic	A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
Black, non-Hispanic	A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa, not of Hispanic origin.
White, non-Hispanic	A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East (except those of Hispanic origin).
American Indian/Alaskan Native	A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America and who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.

Highest level math courses completed

MTHQUAL8

This variable describes the highest sequence of math courses student completed in high school. It is based on high school transcripts.

Participated in any high school outreach program

OUTREACH

Based on the series of questions asking students about their year-to-year participation in any special outreach programs, such as Upward Bound or Talent Search. If they answered yes to participating in any year for any special program they were coded yes.

8th-grade achievement

PREACH

Composite test score based on the mean of 1988 math, science, reading, and social studies test scores.

Indicator of postsecondary persistence

PSEINDX

For students who enrolled in postsecondary education, this variable indicates whether or not they enrolled full time within one year after high school graduation and attended continuously from first enrollment (other than summer months).

[References]

[Appendix B - Technical Notes and Methodology]