University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Graduate School Professional Papers 2007 The Influence of Neighborhood, Family, School, and Student Dimensions of Social Capital on Academic Achievement: An Integrated Theoretical Framework Floy O. Scott The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Scott, Floy O., "The Influence of Neighborhood, Family, School, and Student Dimensions of Social Capital on Academic Achievement: An Integrated Theoretical Framework" (2007). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers.edu/etd/1030 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana.
It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact scholarworks@mso. THE INFLUENCE OF NEIGHBORHOOD, FAMILY, SCHOOL, AND STUDENT DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL CAPITAL ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: AN INTEGRATED THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK By Floy Odetta Scott B., The University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 2004 Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology The University of Montana Missoula, MT Spring 2007 Approved by: Dr. Strobel, Dean Graduate School Dr.
Dusten Hollist, Chairperson Sociology Dr. Kathy Kuipers Sociology Dr. June Ellestad Sociology Dr. Stephanie Wasta Curriculum and Instruction, School of Education Scott, Floy, Master of Arts, Spring 2007 Sociology The Influence of Neighborhood, Family, School, and Student Dimensions of Social Capital on Academic Achievement: An Integrated Theoretical Framework Chairperson: Dusten Hollist, Ph.
Current federal education law places the responsibility of the academic achievement of students with schools while ignoring other social factors that might influence the educational outcomes of students. Students are part of a complex social system that both enable and constrain their development and behavior. If we are to look at ways to improve academic programs, it is imperative we examine the different social systems to which students are exposed, including neighborhood, family, peer groups, and educational systems, in order to understand their role in assessing school accountability efforts. This study uses an integrated framework of social disorganization theory and social capital theory as the theoretical basis for examining the influence of a broader social system, such as neighborhoods, on the academic development and success of students, while accounting for how the interrelationships between schools, families, and peer groups contribute to that success.
The data for this analysis is taken from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002/2004 (ELS:2002), a national longitudinal study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The ELS:2002 dataset is comprised of tenth graders first surveyed in 2002 with a follow-up survey of those same students in the twelfth grade conducted in 2004. It also contains information gathered from parents, teachers, and principals.
Ordinary least squares regression is used to evaluate the ability of the measures of neighborhood, family, school, and student social capital in predicting the variations in scores on academic achievement as measured by standardized math tests. The results of this study indicate that without the consideration of both structural and individual-level factors and their relationship to one another, our understanding of the educational process is incomplete. In assessing school accountability efforts, it is important to adopt a holistic approach in examining all factors that influence the educational outcomes for students. Limitations of the current study and recommendations for future studies are discussed.
ii Dedication In memory of my son, Timothy Edward Scott and my mother, Phyllis Saxbury iii Acknowledgements Many individuals have contributed to the development of this thesis through their support and guidance throughout my educational journey, and thus, deserve acknowledgement. I want to thank the staff in the Division of Special Education at the Montana Office of Public Instruction for their flexibility, as well as Timm Vogelsburg and Gail McGregor of the University of Montana Rural Institute for providing the office space. Their support allowed me to work while pursuing my degree. I would like to thank each of my committee members, Dusten Hollist, Kathy Kuipers, June Ellestad, and Stephanie Wasta, for their comments and encouragement.
In particular, I want to acknowledge the contribution of Dusten Hollist, my thesis advisor. He provided countless hours of support, advice, and encouragement. His efforts made it possible for me to complete this thesis. Much gratitude goes to members of the Department of Sociology at the University of Montana that helped shape my educational experience.
Of particular importance in assisting me along the way are Shari Linjala, Robert Balch, Paul Miller, Celia Winkler, Rebecca Richards, Kathy Kuipers, Teresa Sobieszczyk, Dusten Hollist, and June Ellestad, my mentor and friend. I want to thank all of my friends and family, who have celebrated my accomplishments with me and supported me when times were tough. Finally, a special thanks to my daughter Amy Scott Smith, and her husband Matt, for their love and support, and to my husband, Ed Scott, for following along as I chased my dream. iv Contents 1 INTRODUCTION.
Significance of Study.1 Ecological-Development Theory .2 Social Disorganization Theory .1 Traditional Model of Social Disorganization .2 Systemic Model of Social Disorganization.3 Contemporary Model of Social Disorganization .3 Social Capital Theory .4 Integrated Theoretical Framework.5 Review of Existing Literature.6 Contribution to Existing Literature.1 Measures of Neighborhood Social Capital .2 Measures of Family Social Capital.3 Measures of School Social Capital.4 Measures of Student Social Capital. 41 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION. Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations. The Effects of Measures of Neighborhood Social Capital on Academic Achievement.
The Effects of Measures of Family Social Capital on Academic Achievement 36 Table 4. The Effects of Measures of School Social Capital on Academic Achievement. The Effects of Measures of Student Social Capital on Academic Achievement. Combined Effects of Measures of Neighborhood, Family, School, and Student Social Capital on Academic Achievement.
42 vi 1 INTRODUCTION Citizens and policymakers recognize the importance of a good educational system to the success of our nation's future as a world leader (Hirschland and Steinmo 2003). Education provides our youth with the skills, knowledge, values, and behavior necessary to become productive citizens and to achieve success in the material, social, and civic aspects of American life. The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001 (U. Congress 2002) holds schools accountable for the academic success of our children.
The new law creates a high-stakes accountability system for all schools mandating high academic and teacher quality standards and assessment of student achievement through annual standardized tests. However, Dworkin (2005:173) argues that the NCLB is "piecemeal social engineering" that does not address external factors that may affect student achievement. He suggests that there may be serious unintended consequences for schools attempting to meet the requirements of NCLB if models measuring academic achievement do not consider these external factors. NCLB posits that schools are accountable for the academic success of our children.
Underlying this view are the assumptions that the academic success of children is the sole responsibility of schools who have failed to provide students with opportunities to be successful. These assumptions seem to reflect a belief that the education of our youth is conducted in hermetically-sealed school buildings free from the pollution of external social forces that might influence a child's ability to learn. Further, NCLB assumes that students are empty vessels, passively waiting for teachers to "fill" them with the appropriate knowledge necessary to succeed. In reality, students are part of a much larger social system that both enable and constrain their development.
If we 1 are to look at ways to improve education programs for our youth, then it is important to consider additional factors that influence the ability of students to achieve academic success. This study uses an integrated framework of social disorganization theory and social capital theory as the theoretical basis for examining the influence of interpersonal relationships between neighborhood, family, school, and students and their effects on academic achievement in order to understand their role in assessing school accountability efforts. The following research questions are addressed: Are current school accountability efforts sufficient to improve the academic achievement of students or does it “take a village” to ensure the academic success of our youth (Ainsworth 2002)? What are the individual contributions of neighborhood, family, school, and student interpersonal relationships to the academic achievement of students? What are the combined effects of neighborhood, family, school, and student interpersonal relationships in the academic achievement of students? These questions will be addressed by way of the following hypotheses: H1 Neighborhood social capital measures have independent effects on academic achievement, net the effects of the control variables. H2: Family social capital measures have independent effects on academic achievement, net the effects of the control variables.
H3: School social capital measures have independent effects on academic achievement, net the effects of the control variables. H4: Student social capital measures have independent effects on academic achievement, net the effects of the control variables. H5: Neighborhood, family, school, and student social capital measures have combined effects on academic achievement, net the effects of the control variables. Significance of Study The NCLB links the performance of schools, as measured by student performance on standardized tests, to not only the receipt of federal funds, but also to a school's ability to meet their adequate yearly progress (AYP) student achievement targets.
The goal of setting student achievement targets, according to the requirements of NCLB, is to have all students performing at a "proficient" level on standardized tests by the year 2014. This includes the performance of subgroups of students based on racial/ethnic, special education, limited English proficiency (LEP), and low-income categories. NCLB applies multi-layered sanctions for schools that do not meet AYP targets. Initially, schools receive a warning and the state provides professional development opportunities, and allows students to transfer to higher performing schools.
Continued failure in meeting AYP could result in a state takeover of the school, firing teaching and administrative staff, and contracting with a private company to provide all administrative and teaching functions. Schools typically use standardized tests as one measure of the student's comprehension of the curriculum content presented. However, NCLB uses student performance on standardized tests as a measure of the school's ability to present the curriculum content effectively. Thus, NCLB has changed the original meaning of standardized tests.
Testing is no longer an evaluation tool to measure the student's ability to learn, but becomes an evaluation tool to measure the school's ability to teach. By focusing only on schools, NCLB provides a rather narrow view of factors that contribute to the academic success of students, by dismissing other social factors that might influence the education of our youth. 3 If neighborhood, family, and student factors also influence the academic performance of students, then the goal should be to design school accountability models that include “home, school, and community covariates in value-added models to assess AYP” (Dworkin 2005, p. Failure to do so will certainly set the stage for all schools and students to fail by 2014.
The following section offers a review of the theoretical framework used in this study and a review of existing literature examining the influence of neighborhood, family, school, and student factors on student educational outcomes.1 Ecological-Development Theory This study employs an ecological-development perspective to examine the many factors that influence a student's educational outcomes. Human ecology is similar, in principle, to both plant and animal ecology, in that all living organisms are bound together in a complex system of interlinked and interdependent relationships (Park [1936] 2004). Students are part of this complex social system that both enable and constrain their development and behavior. In order to identify factors that influence positive educational outcomes for a student, it is important to examine the different social systems to which students are exposed, including neighborhood, family, and educational systems.