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Many of the engagement variables measuring student involvement, parent involvement, parent expectations, and peer association had a significant effect on the enrollment outcome measures. These engagement variables, originally found to be important for reducing at-risk students’ odds of dropping out of high school, were also important for increasing the odds of at-risk high school graduates advancing from high school graduation to postsecondary enrollment.
To begin the analysis, the effect of each engagement variable on the three outcome measures was determined separately after controlling for the six risk factors and two measures of students’ achievement. The results for the individual variables are shown in table 6. Asterisks indicate statistical significance, meaning those behaviors or characteristics with one or two asterisks had a significant effect on the outcome measure.
To interpret the results, consider the first odds ratio with asterisks that appears in table 6, column 1. It is the odds ratio for participating in two or more extracurricular activities (2.09). This number means that among moderate- to high-risk students, the odds of enrolling in a 4-year college for students who participated in two or more extracurricular activities were 2.09 times higher than those who participated in no extracurricular activities. This was true even when controlling for the six risk factors and two student achievement measures. Students who participated in only one extracurricular activity, however, did not have significantly higher odds in enrolling in a 4-year college than their counterparts who participated in no activities (i.e., the result was not statistically significant). Similar results were found for the odds of enrolling in any postsecondary education versus not enrolling: two or more extracurricular activities increased the odds of enrolling in any postsecondary education by about 59 percent over not participating in any activities (odds ratio=1.59).
The other student engagement indicator (attendance patterns) did not have a significant effect on enrollment outcomes, but did have an effect on whether students exhibited strong persistence patterns once enrolled in postsecondary education. Those who reported either moderate or high secondary school attendance levels were more likely to show indications of strong persistence in postsecondary education than those who reported low levels of high school attendance. The odds ratios were 1.62 and 1.74, respectively.
Indicators of parent involvement had some of the strongest effects on increasing the odds of enrolling in postsecondary education. Certainly as a predictor for enrolling in any type of postsecondary education, parents' educational expectations for their children greatly increased the odds of attending. Students whose parents had expectations of even "some college" had nearly three times greater odds of attending some form of postsecondary education (odds ratio=2.99) than those whose parents had expectations for no more than high school graduation. Unlike enrollment in any postsecondary education, however, parents' educational expectations did not have a significant effect on the odds of attending a 4-year college once the six risk factors and achievement levels were held constant.[4] One explanation for this result might be that most high-achieving students enroll in a 4-year college, and nearly all their parents expect them to attain at least a bachelor's degree. Therefore, there is little variation for levels of parental expectations relative to college enrollment. The results taken together may also mean that parents have a strong influence in getting their children into some form of postsecondary education, as evidenced by the significant effect for enrollment in any postsecondary education, but they have minimal influence on the level of postsecondary education in which their children enroll.
Students whose parents frequently discussed school-related matters with them had more than double the odds of enrolling in a 4-year college (odds ratio=2.17) than students whose parents had little to no discussion with them. Parent discussions--even some discussion--also had a strong effect on increasing the odds of a student attending any postsecondary education (odds ratios 1.57 and 2.45, respectively, for some and much discussion).
Students who reported that their peers were strongly involved in school also had higher odds of enrolling in a 4-year college, as well as attending any postsecondary education, compared to those whose peers were less involved. For example, students who reported that their friends considered learning activities highly important had about 70 percent higher odds of enrolling in a 4-year college (odds ratio=1.71) and almost two and a half times the odds of enrolling in any postsecondary education (odds ratio=2.4) than students whose friends considered such activities unimportant. Not surprisingly, students who reported that most or all of their friends intended to enroll in a 4-year college were highly likely do so themselves. In fact, friends’ plans for college was the strongest predictor for 4-year college enrollment; students had six times higher odds of attending if most or all of their friends had similar plans (odds ratio=6.01). Likewise, compared with students with no friends planning to attend a 4-year college, if most or all of their friends had college plans, students had nearly three times higher odds of enrolling in any postsecondary education (odds ratio=2.8).
Finally, nearly all of the special college preparation activities increased the odds of moderate- to high-risk students attending a 4-year college, as well as attending any postsecondary education. Some were also important for increasing students’ chances of exhibiting strong persistence indicators. For example, talking to at least two people about financial aid, getting help preparing for entrance exams, and getting help in the college application process were associated with strong persistence indicators. Participating in a high school outreach program, however, appeared to affect only 4-year college enrollment (odds ratio=2.88), but not enrollment in any postsecondary education, nor predicting strong persistence indicators.
In summary, once the six risk factors and two achievement measures were held constant, when the engagement variables were analyzed individually, most increased the odds of moderate- to high-risk students enrolling in a 4-year college and in any postsecondary education. The results were especially strong and consistent for parent involvement measures and peer plans for college. Whether or not students exhibited strong indicators of postsecondary education persistence, on the other hand, was affected only by levels of high school attendance and some of the special college preparation activities.
While most of the engagement measures, when analyzed separately, had beneficial effects on college or postsecondary education enrollment, it is also true that many may be interrelated. For example, students whose parents have high educational expectations for them are probably more engaged in school, which in turn increases their chances of postsecondary enrollment. In order to take such associations into account, we expanded the logistic regression models to control for all the engagement variables in addition to controlling for the six risk factors and student achievement. Moreover, we entered the sets of engagement variables hierarchically, beginning with parent engagement (step 1), then student engagement (step 2), then peer association (step 3). Finally, the full model also included the set of college preparation activities (step 4). This procedure allows for the examination of how the effects of one particular engagement variable changes as other engagement variables are introduced into the model. The results for the three outcome measures are presented in tables 7–9.
Table 7 displays the odds ratios for moderate- to high-risk students attending a 4-year college versus those who attended less-than-4-year institutions or who did not enroll in any postsecondary education, as predicted by the engagement variables and college preparation activities. As shown in the "step 4" column, even when all other engagement variables are held constant, the positive effect of parents having frequent school-related conversations with their teen remained an important factor for increasing the odds of enrolling in a 4-year college.
Likewise, having friends with college plans remained a very strong predictor for 4-year college enrollment. In fact, holding all other engagement variables and college preparation variables constant, compared with students who reported that none of their friends had plans for a 4-year college, if most or all of their friends had college plans, the odds of moderate- to high-risk students attending were four times higher.[5]
College preparation activities also remained important in predicting 4-year college enrollment in the full model, especially if students participated in high school outreach programs. After all engagement variables were controlled for, students who reported participating in an outreach program had nearly twice the odds of enrolling in a 4-year college as those who did not. Similarly, getting help with college applications and preparing for entrance exams also remained important predictors of enrollment.
Table 8 displays the odds ratios for moderate- to high-risk students attending any form of postsecondary education versus those who never enrolled. The variables importance for predicting enrollment in any postsecondary education were slightly different from those for 4-year college enrollment. Controlling for all other engagement variables, both parent engagement variables—educational expectations and school-related discussions—were very strong predictors of enrollment. Likewise, both peer involvement variables had a significant effect on increasing the odds of enrolling in any postsecondary education. Among the college preparation activities, unlike 4-year college enrollment, obtaining financial aid information and talking to people about aid remained significant predictors of enrollment, but participating in high school outreach programs, preparing for entrance exams, and getting help with the application process did not.
Table 9 displays the results for whether or not students exhibited strong persistence indicators once they enrolled in postsecondary education. It is clear that once all the student, parent, and peer engagement variables were introduced in the model, none had a net independent effect on persistence indicators. Only the college preparation activity of obtaining help with the application process had an independent effect on increasing the odds of strong persistence. Thus, it appears that although the student, parent, and peer engagement variables examined in this analysis were important for predicting postsecondary and college enrollment, they had minimal effect on increasing the odds of strong persistence in postsecondary education among moderate- to high-risk students.
5 The significant effect for students who had missing data for peer involvement probably indicates that these students likely had many peers with college plans but there is no way of determining this.
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[Summary and Conclusions]