What are the major contributing factors to a high school graduate ?

What are the major contributing factors to a High school graduate ?

Brandon Garcia

Los Angeles Leadership Academy High school

What are the major contributing factors to a high school graduate ? 2

Abstract

This following research paper will discuss the contributing factors of High school

students willing to graduate. Through all the research completed the recurring factors for high

school students and their opportunity to graduate involves; family influences and how involved

family members are to their school life, school motivation and how the individuals school helps

follow through and complete school to eventually graduate, as well as how the student feels he or

she should go about high school which falls under personal motivation. Research has proven

that although graduation rates have changed over time, the factors that influence high school

graduates have remained the same.

What are the major contributing factors to a high school graduate ? 3

What are the major contributing factors to a High school graduate ?

Throughout life we wonder what motivates or contributes the most to a student who is

willing to graduate or not. Is it self motivation? Is it family motivation? Or is it the school that

pushes and motivates their students to reach the full academic potential and finish high school?

Depending on the answer does this apply to every student or just the few that are blessed with

families with good household income, good scholarly like characteristics such as good study

habits and being allowed to focus, or the students that take advantage of after school tutoring and

office hours.

Method

Factor #1: Family Influence of Student Success

Economic

First, one of the contributing factors to high school students is family influences and with

that involves economic situations such as low income households, single mothers/fathers,

socioeconomic status, family structure, family stress (death, divorce, family moves), and the

mother's age according to Barbara Ritter author of Factors Influencing High School Graduation

(year). Income influences who does and does not graduate on time because of family economic

disparity (Ritter, 2015); meaning that students who come from households with low income can

have a chance of not graduating on time. As for students that are fortunate enough to have a good

household income they have a higher chance of graduating on time. According to Ritter, low-

income students in eighth grade score lower than non-low-income students on the National

Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics, reading, and science tests because these

students with non low income families can afford to pay for tutors or extra help to improve their
What are the major contributing factors to a high school graduate ? 4

childs academic levels in the subjects needed. As for the student who are not in a household with

non low income he/she has to work extra hard and do their best to get their academic level higher

on their own. The following chart below shows examples of characteristics some of the students

face and the possible performance outcome.

( Burrs & Roberts, p.4, 2012)

Demographic

Second, author Barbara Ritter states In Washington, males drop out more frequently than

females. American Indian students have the highest dropout rate of all race/ethnicities, followed

by Pacific Islander students, Hispanic students, and Black students Students who are in foster

care, special education, with limited English, and students who are homeless are also within the
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high dropout rate as well ( Ritter, 2015). The chart below shows a graph that keeps track of

students who drop out and the data is separated through student groups/ethnicities.

School Involvement

Third, parents involvement is a crucial factor to students who graduate school. According

to Healthychildren.org, an organization based on pediatricians stated, it is more important than

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ever to attend parent-teacher conferences and to contact individual instructors, even if there are

no apparent problems. Youngsters perform better in school when their families are kept apprised

of their progress(healthychildren.org, 2015). This is a significant fact because the parents of

students failing classes and doing poorly will not be notified and therefore will not help the

student personally or provide a tutor. By providing information to the parent about the son or

daughters strengths and weaknesses the parent themselves can encourage their child to study

more or seek further assistance. When parents show a lot of involvement into their childs

education the teachers take that into consideration and provide further information and help the

child one on one.

Factor #2: School Motivation

Extracurricular activities:

When it comes to school motivation and how it plays a role in student graduation rates

extracurricular activities are a big role especially for students seeking a different route in life. For

students who dont find traditional jobs such as doctors, teachers, engineers,etc. Students then

look for sports, art programs and culinary arts, extra curricular activities as their way out.

Children's after-school hours have been identified as an important part of their day (Bryant,

1989; Carpenter, Huston, & Spera, 1989; Larson & Richards, 1989; Medrich, Roizen, Rubin, &

Buckley, 1982; Miller, 1995; Pettit, Laird, Bates, & Dodge, 1997). This is significant especially

to students who come from low income households and cant afford these extra activities. It is

then that children have an opportunity to play, socialize, do homework, participate in sports, take

music and other enrichment lessons, and simply relax ( Posner and Vandell,1999). As they
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embark on adolescence some of the children maintain good grades, appear well-adjusted and

happy, and display few behavior problems (Burton et al., 1995; Patterson, Vaden, Griesler, &

Kupersmidt, 1991).

Teachers

In every high school there is always a teacher that is willing to give up everything for his

or her students whether it be their personal life, time to prepare for classes, time to get home on

time and things of that matter. These teachers are a big part of graduating high school students

because they engage on a personal level to help the student succeed in the class and for the

future. According to authors Adena M. Klem and James P. Connell, An emerging consensus

exists in the school reform literature about what conditions contribute to student success.

Conditions include high standards for academic learning and conduct, meaningful and engaging

pedagogy and curriculum, professional learning communities among staff, and personalized

learning environments. They then continue and state Schools providing support are more

likely to have students who are engaged in and connected to school which is significant because

the more students that are involved the more the students will seek help or will feel comfortable

talking to teachers about the class and how theyre performing.

Academic Counseling

When students have access to school counselors, report cards every five weeks to keep

parents informed about their students grades and how theyre doing in their classes, and

anything that allows their students to have access to know what theyre missing is all beneficial

to a student willing to graduate.

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Factor #3: Self Motivation

Personal factors

High school students don't realize that when it comes to education and completing

school, most of it has to do with self motivation and personal factors such as doing it for

yourself, dedication, ambition, and just pushing yourself to do the best you can do. A survey of

research on high school dropout reveals that one factor in a student's decision to drop out of

school may be motivation (see Bean, 1985; Rumberger, 1987; Tidwell, 1988; Tinto, 1975) by

allowing the students to lose motivation in school the higher the dropout rates increase. Students

willing to learn are motivated don't see school as a waste of time but an investment into their

education knowing that with higher education comes and easier life. According to Deci,

Vallerand, Pelletier, and Ryan authors of Motivation and Education: The Self-Determination

Perspective state Self-determination theory makes an important additional distinction that falls

within the class of behaviors that are intentional or motivated which means that the student with

self determination listens and follows along in the classroom because his/her motivation allows

the student to find ease and learn.

Social circles

Having friends is a big part of high school. Depending on who your friends are and how

their views on school can affect how the student performs in school. According to Michele

Meleen author of Factors in High School Students Success states, Friendships and social life

are at the forefront of the teenage mind. Peer influences can be positive or negative and impact

academics along with attitudes and behaviors. If your teen has one friend who displays negative

behaviors, this may not be as big a problem as teens whose circle of friends have a lackadaisical
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attitude toward educational achievement. Dr. Wilda Heard, an expert on educational leadership,

suggests social circles are susceptible to a "social contagion." Like spreading germs, teens can

spread positive or negative behaviors throughout their group of friends very rapidly. Students

whose friends have a higher average GPA are more likely to improve grades. Students with

scholar like friends tend to follow their style and become scholars themselves and create this

positive engagement in school.

Personality

The biggest sub factor in self motivation would be personality, this is because this topic

is specifically how the student themselves relating to study habits, learning techniques, etc.

Author Michele Meleen states, Measurements of intelligence have been widely used to predict

academic success. Recent research now suggests that personality traits may better indicate

academic achievement. Leading Psychologist, Arthur E. Poropat, suggests conscientiousness,

being open, and having emotional stability better predict high school success than intelligence

tests. To foster these specific traits, adults can: Teach and encourage persistence and follow-

through, Challenge students to beat previous test scores and offer incentives, Assign projects

that require imagination and discovery, Create an environment where teens feel comfortable

sharing emotions, Use these moments to teach skills in emotional control, and Engage students in

discovering new topics and ideas through fun hands-on learning experiences.

Conclusion
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Throughout this topic the three major factors contributing which are Family Influence,

School motivation, and Self motivation. Students all have their own contributing factors but

these were the repetitive factors that affected the majority. Family influence and how the students

economic background affects the students school life and possible outcome. School motivation

was the second common factor and how it prepared its students for further education or just

finishing high school. The last common factor was self motivation and how the student

personally felt he or she could perform in high school. Students

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References

http://www.wsac.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2015.12.3.Ritter.Graduation.Issue.Brief.pdf

Dropping Out of High School: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Remediation Strategies By

Jeremy Burrus and Richard D. Roberts No. 18 February 2012

https://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/RD_Connections18.pdf

Factors in High School Students Success Michele Meelen

http://teens.lovetoknow.com/teens-school/factors-high-school-students-success

After-School Activities and the Development of Low-Income Urban Children: A Longitudinal

Study Jill K. Posner and Deborah Lowe Vandell University of WisconsinMadison

http://joygreenberg.typepad.com/files/after-school-activities-and-low-income-children-1.pdf

Zimmerman, B. J., Bandura, A., & Martinez-Pons, M. (1992). Self-motivation for academic

attainment: The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goal setting. American educational

research journal, 29(3), 663-676.

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Deci, E. L., Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G., & Ryan, R. M. (1991). Motivation and education:

The self-determination perspective. Educational psychologist, 26(3-4), 325-346.

http://sdtheory.s3.amazonaws.com/SDT/documents/1991_DeciVallerandPelletierRyan_EP.pdf