Differentiated Effects of Adolescents’ Demographic Characteristics and School Experiences on Their Engagement and Academic Outcomes

• In Event: Roundtable Session 90
  In Roundtable Session: Improving the Landscape: Avenues Toward Student Achievement

Abstract

Using the comprehensive 2006 Student Census data and other longitudinal information from Canada’s largest school board, this “Use-Inspired Research” study employs a heuristic model to examine the differentiated effects of Grade 9-12 students’ demographic characteristics, such as gender, racial background, birth place, parent presence at home, parent education, sexual orientation and family socio-economic status, and school experiences on their school engagement and academic outcomes. In this large-scale cohort tracking study the Hierarchical Linear Modeling method and an associational approach based on quantitative methods and inferential statistics have been used to make predictions and to estimate the effects of certain student and school level factors, such as school type, internal and external challenges, and instructional intervention programs, on student learning.

Authors

• Samuel M. Zheng, Toronto District School Board

• Erhan Sinay, Toronto District School Board

• Roula Anastasakos, Toronto District School Board