Three essays on adolescent behavior in an urban high school context: Black-white differences in school experiences and smoking; A multifaceted approach to school engagement and dropout; Black-White differences in evidence of opposition to school.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Stoner-Eby, Scott Lamar.

Contributor:

Furstenberg, Frank F., Jr., advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Demography.

Ethnology--Research.

Ethnology.

Educational counseling.

Psychology.

Educational sociology.

Black people--Research.

Black people.

0325.

0340.

0384.

0519.

0631.

0938.

Penn dissertations--Sociology.

Sociology--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--Sociology.

Sociology--Penn dissertations.

0325.

0340.

0384.

0519.

0631.

0938.

Physical Description:

149 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 63-02A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

In Chapter One, I look at smoking as a developmental behavior occurring in the school context and investigate whether differences in school experiences explain the much lower rates of smoking among African-American (black) adolescents compared to European-American (white) adolescents. Data are from ninth-graders in the Philadelphia Educational Longitudinal Study (PELS) (n = 959). I find better school performance and psychosocial experiences are associated with lower odds of current smoking. In logistic regression models, black-white smoking differences decrease when school psychosocial experiences are controlled, but differences increase when performance in school is controlled. When both psychosocial and performance variables are controlled, the black-white difference increases. In sum, differences in school experiences do not appear to explain black-white differences in adolescent smoking.

In Chapter Two, I investigate how multiple aspects of school engagement in ninth grade are associated with high school dropout in the next four years. I again use PELS (n = 919). I estimate logistic regression models predicting dropout, comparing relative effects of the engagement measures, controlling for family background, school type, and academic performance before high school. School engagement with students has the strongest effect on dropout, followed by student engagement with learning. My findings support school efforts to engage students by providing quality instruction, organization, and resources.

In Chapter Three, I test hypotheses from Ogbu's theoretical and qualitative work suggesting a unique oppositional culture towards education among black students, again using PELS (n's = 794 to 902). My findings are mixed. Both black and white students are optimistic about future economic prospects and report high engagement with school, and this does not support Ogbu. Regression models comparing for black and white students how peer belief that good grades lead to a good job affects individual school attitudes, behaviors, and performance do not support Ogbu that for blacks there is a unique basis in economic outlook for oppositional attitudes and behaviors. However, regression models testing whether peer desire for popularity is opposed to individual pro-school attitudes, behavior, and performance suggest that black students face unique peer sanctions for pro-school behavior in this urban public school setting, supporting this part of Ogbu's theory.

Notes:

Thesis (Ph.D. in Sociology) -- University of Pennsylvania, 2002.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 63-02, Section: A, page: 0766.

Supervisor: Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

ISBN:

9780493578576

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.