Pathways to High School Completion in a Multiethnic Sample:Opportunities & Risks

University Of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

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Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract The purpose of this project is to examine pathways to high school completion in a sample of 6000 students who are currently being followed across the three years of middle school. The large sample is very ethnically diverse: about 30% Latino, 20% White, with the remaining 50% approximately evenly divided between African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, and youth who identify as multiethnic. The sample was recruited in three cohorts from 26 middle schools in southern and northern California that systematically varied in ethnic diversity. Longitudinal data from 6th-8th grade are being gathered on students' social and academic adjustment to test hypotheses about the psychosocial benefits and challenges of ethnic diversity in urban middle schools. It is anticipated that the students will transition to close to 100 high schools that also vary in ethnic diversity. Using the rich middle school data as a starting point, this application will examine the high school transition and pathways to high school completion as a developmental process. Data assessing constructs studied during middle school and new constructs more unique to the high school years will be gathered on the same students from 9th-12th grade and one year beyond.