Individual and school-level effects of academic preparation and socioeconomic factors on retention of university students in Puerto Rico Sandra L. Dika, PhD, Assistant Professor David R. González-Barreto, PhD, Professor Office of Institutional Research and Planning University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez 2009 Association for Institutional Research Forum, Atlanta, GA June 1, 2009 Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Introduction Over two decades of research in United States on factors associated with retention in college Previous academic achievement High school GPA Standardized test scores, e.g., SAT Socioeconomic factors Family income Parental education attainment (first generation) Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Introduction Research in K-12 education indicates effects of school culture and environment on: High school achievement High school completion College attendance Some studies looking at the effects of social and cultural capital on college attendance, retention, and achievement model “quality of school” (e.g., Perna, 2000; Wells, 2008) Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Introduction Research on college retention outside the US – in different social, cultural, and economic contexts - is limited No published research on factors that influence retention in Puerto Rico, however, institutional research at largest public institution points to possible relationships Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico: Dimensions: 180 km x 65 km Population: 3.8 millions Pop. Density: 325 p/km 2 N Population densities: US: 31 p/km 2 Mexico: 54.5 p/km 2 Canada: 3.3 p/km 2

Family Income in Puerto Rico Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Connection Between UPR Admission Index and Income Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Connection Between Retention and Income (UPRM) Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Performance based on High School of Origin Five college level indicators (CI) to provide feedback to high school personnel on the performance of their students at our institution First year retention rate GPA in math, Spanish, and English courses Graduation rate Some surprises that counter common perceptions about students from local high schools Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Filling the Gap Need for a study to examine which academic achievement and socioeconomic factors play a role in retention for Puerto Rican college students Need for additional exploration of school level factors (as social and cultural capital) in college retention Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Research Question How well do individual and school-level academic achievement and socioeconomic factors predict retention of public college students in Puerto Rico? Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Part of UPR system (11 campuses) Over 12,000 students Bilingual Hispanic Serving Institution STEM focused (60% of undergraduates) High female participation in STEM 71% receive financial aid 22% “first generation” Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Sample and Instrumentation All first-year, first time students entering UPRM between 2000 and 2007 in two income categories representing income extremes for our population (N=5,408): $15,000 and below $40,000 and above All variables obtained or created from data available in institutional student information system – admissions and enrollment data Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Measuring Family Income Family income measurement restricted due to data available from UPR admissions form Nine (9) categories from less than $7,500 to $50,000 or higher We chose to include income “extremes” (bottom 2 and top 2 categories) to approximate low-income and high-income families in the context of Puerto Rican society (based on census data; median income for family of four: $26,822) Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Measuring “First Generation” Most research operationalizes “First Generation” college students as those for whom neither parent has completed a four-year college degree Our operationalization of “First Generation” is slightly different based on local context: students for whom neither parent has completed studies after high school Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Measuring School Level Effects PR Department of Education and UPR in process of developing comprehensive K-16 database for public education School level variables in this study are averages or proportions for students admitted to UPRM and are not representative of the entire high school student body from those schools May consider that these represent social and cultural capital among peer groups of “college goers” Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Independent Variables – Individual Level VariableSourcePossible Values High school GPAAdmissions Standardized English achievement (PEAU) Admissions Standardized math aptitude (PEAU) Admissions Family income and education or FIE (dummy) AdmissionsLow-income, First Generation (reference category) Low-income, Not First Generation High-income, First Generation High-income, Not First Generation Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Independent Variables – School Level VariableSourcePossible Values Average standardized English achievement (PEAU) Admissions Proportion first generationAdmissions Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Dependent Variable Retention Full-time enrollment in second year of studies at institution Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Data Analysis Descriptive statistics and correlations among variables Logistic regression All statistical tests evaluated at the α=.05 level All analyses conducted using Minitab Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Descriptive Statistics LevelVariableMeanSD Individual High school GPA Standardized English achievement (PEAU) Standardized math aptitude (PEAU) School Average standardized English achievement (PEAU) Proportion first generation Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Differences between Family Income-Education Groups Ran an ANOVA to determine if differences in academic achievement among the four FIE groups HSGPA: Significantly higher for low income students, regardless of parent education level – GPA higher for public school students English achievement: Significantly higher for high income students, regardless of parent education level; and low income/not First Generation significantly higher than low income/First Generation Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Differences between Family Income-Education Groups For academic achievement (first year GPA) Significantly higher for high income/not First Generation students; no differences among the other 3 groups FIE clearly seems to be a factor in college academic achievement for this sample Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Family Income and Education Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum Total FG = 22.5% Total low income = 33.4%

Correlations Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum LevelVariableHSGPAENGMATHAVENGPFG Individual HSGPA 1.00 English (ENG) 0.11***1.00 Math (MATH) 0.23***0.46***1.00 School Average English (AVENG) -0.11***0.54***0.40***1.00 Proportion first generation (PFG) 0.07***-0.46***-0.37***-0.83***1.00 ***p<.001 Results of particular interest: HSGPA and PFG – explain this as higher GPAs for public school students PFG and AVENG – shows marked school types, which we trace to public/private differences

GPA lower for private school students, particularly for high income Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

English achievement higher for private school students, regardless of income Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Math achievement higher for private school students, regardless of income Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Individual Level Predictors of Retention Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum Three individual level factors were significant for predicting retention High school GPA (z=14.30, p<.001) Family income and education High-income/not First Generation students more likely to persist to second year than low-income/First Generation students (z=4.01, p<.001) Standardized math aptitude (z=3.37, p<.01)

School Level Predictors of Retention Neither of the school level factors were significant for predicting retention Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Follow-Up Analysis - Achievement After running the logistic regression for retention, we decided to explore the predictive value of these variables on achievement using stepwise regression College GPA – First year GPA Alpha to enter and remove =.15 Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Predictors of Achievement Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum Final model explains 35% variance in college GPA High school GPA (25%) Average standardized English achievement in school of origin (8%) Standardized math aptitude (1%) Standardized English achievement (.5%) Family income and education (each less than.25%) HI-NFG> LI-FG students HI-FG< LI-FG students

Interpretation and Discussion of Results - Retention High school GPA emerged as the most important predictor (by far), and math aptitude was also significant These elements compose 75% of the UPR admission index (HSGPA=50%, math aptitude=25%) – verbal aptitude in Spanish composes the other 25% Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Interpretation and Discussion of Results - Retention Both family income and education level appear to play a role in retention – the combination of low- income and first generation puts students at a disadvantage when compared to peers from higher income homes where at least one parent has an associate degree None of the school level factors predict retention Relative socioeconomic homogeneity of schools may account for this Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Interpretation and Discussion of Results – Achievement While the significance of high school GPA and math aptitude not surprising given results for retention, standardized English achievement – both individual and school level - emerged as factors English achievement be acting as a proxy for income Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Interpretation and Discussion of Results – Achievement Result that students from high income, First Generation families perform significantly worse than students from low income, First Generation families suggest that parent education level may be more important than income in predicting achievement Need to look closer at other characteristics of the sub-group of high income, First Generation – who are they? Do they come from particular schools or neighborhoods? Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Implications for Institutional Practices Institutions can create programs or target additional resources toward students who might be at risk of leaving after the first year or for poor academic performance Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Conclusions Preliminary study indicates that certain academic achievement and socioeconomic factors may be important predictors of retention and academic achievement for public college students in Puerto Rico Certain school level factors may influence retention and achievement – more research must be conducted Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Limitations Students at UPRM not representative of Puerto Rican college students in general Significantly higher retention and graduation rates than all private four-year institutions; however, most selective institution on island Model not inclusive of important variables that may predict retention Measurement of income restricted by data available from admissions process Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Continuing Research Continue refining measures of income at individual and school levels Include variables on high school course-taking - e.g., advanced courses, number of math credits Develop models to test school level effects using global school data available from PR Department of Education (limitation – public schools only) Test model with other dependent variables – e.g., number of approved credits in first year Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum

Contact information: Sandra Dika - David González-Barreto – Paper and presentation available for download at Dika & González-Barreto, 2009 AIR Forum