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Examining relational engagement across the transition to high schools in three US high schools reformed to improve relationship quality

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in students’ relational engagement across the transition to high school in three schools reformed to improve the quality of student–teacher relationships. In order to analyze this data we employed latent growth curve (LGC) modeling techniques (n = 637). We ran three LGC models on three indicators of relational engagement: perceived teacher press (Middleton and Midgley in Contemp Educat Psychol 27:373–391, 2002), perceived teacher support (Goodenow in Psychol Sch 30:79–90, 1993a), and perceived school belonging (Goodenow in J Early Adolesc 13, 21–43, 1993b). For each model we estimated the latent means of the observed variables, the intercept, and the slope. Our hypothesized model for each of the variables included estimates for the contribution of team status (no team, cross-team, pure teamed), total absences in 8th grade, race (white/non-white), gender, gifted status, and socio-economic status. Alternate models were run dropping non-significant exogenous variables from the model one at a time. In each case, the hypothesized models, including five exogenous predictors, evidenced poor fit. However, alternate models including fewer exogenous predictors evidenced better fit, allowed for the estimation of intercept differences and rate of change, and accounted for significant amounts of variance in relational engagement. Findings are situated within the context of school reform designed to improve relational engagement.

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Notes

  1. For this project, we used latent variable imputation methods. Therefore we included cases in the analysis for which we did not have complete data across all data collection points.

  2. In Davis et al. (2010) we provide detailed demographic data regarding the ethnic make-up of our sample. While Hispanic, Asian, and multi-racial populations were represented in the district, sample sizes were too small to disaggregate for each ethnic group. In this school, non-White students were among the minority, though not all non-White students were from low-income families. Thus, in this project we make an attempt to disentangle the effects of racial status with economic privilege. We strongly encourage researchers working in more ethnically diverse districts to explore these effects for different ethnic groups.

  3. Reviewing findings from several reports on SLC implementation, Jerald (2006) reported students’ academic rigor differentially depended on academic track (inclusion, general education, honors) and content area. Part of the district’s evaluation included understanding how de-tracking students in social studies shaped their academic motivation. Thus, in lieu of a global indicator of teacher press, we asked students to report on their perceptions of teacher press for both math (the most rigidly tracked subject area in the district) and social studies (a less tracked subject area in two of the schools and non-tracked in the third). This decision affected our overall design of the evaluation, and there were some content-specific differences, however those findings fall outside the scope of this paper. In this paper we used indicators of perceived press in math and global studies as observed indicators of a latent variable “press at the end of 9th grade”.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of the administrators, faculty, and staff at the participating district. Without their support and passion for serving their students this project would not have been possible. We would also like to acknowledge the contributions of Steve Dackin, Mike Neubig, and Mary Alice Turner to the design of the project; and Evan T. Straub, Sarah Kozel, Mike Yough, Paige Shalter Bruening, Heather Dawson, Ann Bischoff, Anthony Durr, Jessica Emrick, and Marissa Hartwig for their assistance with data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Counselor Education, North Carolina State University, College of Education Box 7801, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7801, USA

    Heather A. Davis

  2. Department of Secondary and Middle Grades Education, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Road #0122, Kennesaw, GA, 30144-5591, USA

    Mei-Lin Chang

  3. Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Carey E. Andrzejewski

  4. Strayer University, 1133 15th St., NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20005, USA

    Ryan R. Poirier

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  1. Heather A. Davis
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Correspondence to Heather A. Davis.

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Davis, H.A., Chang, ML., Andrzejewski, C.E. et al. Examining relational engagement across the transition to high schools in three US high schools reformed to improve relationship quality. Learning Environ Res 17, 263–286 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-013-9148-4

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