Judith L. Meece NRCRES University of North Carolina-CH

1. Rural High SchoolAspirations Study Judith L. Meece NRCRES University of North Carolina-CH U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Educational Sciences Research and Development Center Grant R305A040056-06

2. National Research Center on Rural Education Support • Established in 2004 with funding from the Institute of Education Sciences of U.S. Department of Education; • Based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; • Mission to provide professional development and research development activities to address significant issues facing rural schools, educators, and communities.

3. Projects of NRCRES • Targeted Reading Intervention • Rural Early Adolescent Learning Program • Enhanced Rural Online Learning • Rural High School Aspirations Study • Supplemental Studies • Special Education Surveys • Rural Teacher Retention and Recruitment • Annual Yearly Progress of Rural Schools

4. Rationale for RHSA Study • Approximately 19% of America’s youth attend public schools in rural communities; • Significant changes have occurred in rural communities over the last three decades and continue; • With advances in technology and internet services to rural communities, rural youth have greater access to information about careers, lifestyles, and educational opportunities than ever before.

5. Rationale for RHSA Study • Most rural youth now face restricted adult employment opportunities in their home communities; • Over the last 30 years there has been a steady migration of rural youth to urban areas; • Lack of job opportunities is a major driving force behind the outmigration of rural youth.

6. Limited Research on Rural Youth • Very limited research on rural youth as they prepare for the transition to postsecondary education or careers. • National reports indicate that rural youth today are less likely than urban and suburban youth to attend and complete college. • Rural youth face a number of unique challenges when planning for the future, not address in research.

9. Other Important Challengesfor Rural Youth • Rural schools have difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers who are qualified to teach advanced coursework; • Rural youth have a higher likelihood than urban youth to experience a narrow school curriculum.

11. Percent of Public Schools Offering Advanced Courses by LocaleSource: Status of Education in Rural America (2007)

12. Other Important Challenges • Rural youth have limited access to counseling and career/college preparation activities. • By definition, rural communities are removed from metropolitan areas; geographical isolation is an added challenge for rural youth seeking access to postsecondary education. • Rural youth in remote areas must leave their home communities to seek educational or vocational opportunities elsewhere.

13. Unique Assets of Rural Schools Unique Assets of Rural High Schools: • Close community-school relations; • Curricular tracking less prevalent • Close Supportive student-teacher relations; • Small size • Greater participation in extracurricular activities; • Greater sense of belonging; • Stable peer relations; • Higher satisfaction with school; • Lower drug and alcohol use.

14. Purpose of RHSA Study To generate new information about rural high school students’ educational, vocational, and residential plans and aspirations for the future. To assess rural high school students’ preparatory activities and planning for postsecondary education, work, and adult life. To examine the impact of school experiences, geographical location, economic status, cultural or ethnic origins, family background, peer relations, and community characteristics on rural students’ aspirations and preparatory activities.

15. Rural HSA Sample Selection • Sampling frame was 101,104 public schools in the 2004-05 Common Core of Data; • Schools with one or more students in 9th grade or above were included; • Schools were classified according to subtypes based on locale designations; and eligibility for Rural Education Achievement Programs (RLIS & SRSA); • Sample currently includes 73 randomly selected schools across these school types.

16. Rural HSA Sample

17. Rural High School Aspiration Sitesby Type of School Locale 6, 7, 8 RLIS Rural Remote SRSA

18. Data Collection • Student Surveys • Over 8000 students from rural remote, rural distant, rural fringe, and small town urban- centric locations • Teacher Surveys • 625 high school teachers • Administrators’ Surveys (phone interviews) • 69 school administrators • Parent Surveys (phone interviews) • 800 parent interviews

19. Educational Aspirations of Rural Youth Totals vs. Rural Remote

22. Required Educational Levels of Reported Career Choices : Total Sample vs. Rural Remote

23. High School Programs by Grade Level

24. Postsecondary Education Exploration

25. Frequency of Career Exploration Activities

26. Conclusions: Postsecondary Plans • Only a small percent (10%) of RHSA youth expected to discontinue their education right after high school (work-bound). • Another 34% planned to work and continue their education either concurrently or at a later time (work-to-college). • Over 70% of the RHSA students planned to complete college or an advanced degree. • A majority of the students also aspired to adult jobs and careers that require college and postgraduate degrees.

27. Conclusions:College- and Career-Readiness • Approximately 16% of the RHSA youth indicated they were enrolled in a college preparatory program. • Only 20% of the college-bound students reported that they were enrolled in advanced science and mathematics courses. • Participation in traditional postsecondary transition activities was very limited for the RHSA sample as a whole. • Rural students with disabilities were less likely than nondisabled to receive services to prepare for the postsecondary transitions for education or workforce participation.

28. Do Rural Youth Achieve their College Aspirations? Source: National Educational Longitudinal Study 1988-2000

29. Analyses of Other National Data Sets • Steady increase of rural youth attending and completing four-year colleges. • College attendance rates tend to be lower for rural than metropolitan youth. • Rural youth are more likely than metropolitan youth to attend public colleges and universities.

30. Characteristics of Rural Youth Obtaining College Degrees • Lower family income than suburban and urban youth; • Higher percent of White than African American, Latino, or Native American rural youth attend and complete college. • Most likely to be first-generation college students.

31. Predictors of College Completion • Parental educational expectations; • First year GPA strong predictor of college completion; • Completion of rigorous high school courses; • Involvement in intramural athletics, student government, social clubs, etc.

32. Implications • Educational aspirations and college attendance rates of rural youth are increasing; • Rural youth who attend college face numerous challenges that need to be addressed by secondary and tertiary institutions.

33. Implications • Results of the RHSA study indicates that rural youth have limited access to information about postsecondary options. • Numerous reports and studies indicate that rural youth are preparing to leave their rural towns and communities. • Regardless of what takes place in rural high schools, these patterns are likely to continue without greater focus on rural economic development at state and federal levels.

34. Collaborators Thomas W. Farmer, Co-Principal Investigator Soo-yongByun, Postdoctoral Scholar Matthew J. Irvin, Investigator Bryan Hutchins, Social Research Associate Kai Schafft, Investigator Robert Petrin, Investigator Kimberly Dadisman, Investigator Dylan Robertson, Investigator Glen Elder, Investigator VonnieMcLoyd, Investigator