Can Ogbu's Cultural Ecological Model Illuminate the Risks of Dropping Out of High School?

• In Event: 66.058 - Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: 66.058-10 - Preparing Youth for College and Career

Abstract

Reducing the risk of dropping out of secondary school has been the focus of scholarly inquiry and policy reforms for decades. Although high school dropout rates are declining, discrepancies remain between demographic groups. Poor youth and disadvantaged students of color are the most at risk. Using longitudinal quantitative data we analyze the risk of dropping out of high school in a large urban district using Ogbu’s Cultural Ecological Model (CEM). Results contribute to a) our understanding of the sources of the risk of dropping out, b) demonstrate the power of Ogbu’s model for illuminating sources of race differences in educational outcomes, and c) suggest the imperative of methodological rigor when testing complex theories like Ogbu’s cultural ecological model.

Authors

• Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Argun Saatcioglu, The University of Kansas