Little is known about the mechanisms by which extracurricular participation in high school influences educational attainment in young adulthood. Also limited is an understanding of the different types of extracurricular participation and how various activities may manifest within the relationship. The purpose of this study was to examine the link between high school extracurricular participation and educational attainment, with social capital, parental expectations, and academic achievement presented as mediators. Additionally, the present study will explore socioeconomic differences in the proposed relationships. The sample consisted of 5,239 ninth through twelfth graders from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and multiple-group SEM were used to test pathways. Extracurricular participation was categorized into sports participation, non-sport participation, mixed participation (including both sport and non-sport), and no participation. Social capital, a latent factor, was measured by the latent variables of family and school capital. Various indicators of family closeness and inclusion of school culture from survey items operationalize social capital. Parental expectations, another latent factor, was measured by one survey indicator using the question of how disappointed would your resident father and mother be if you did not graduate from college. Academic achievement was measured by grade point average and calculated by the average of self-reported grades in four subjects: English, math, social studies, and science. Educational level attained used seven levels ranging from less than 8th grade to beyond a Bachelor degree. Gender, race, and parent education were also included as covariates. Social capital, parental expectations, and high school academic achievement were all shown to be mediators between high school extracurricular participation and educational attainment. However, social capital's impact on educational attainment was indirect through GPA rather than direct. Sport showed better capacity to strengthen social capital than non-sport. However, non-sport participants achieved higher high school GPA than sport participants. On average, students involved in both sport and non-sport activities had more positive effects on all model variables than students involved in sports only. Results for socioeconomic comparison showed some evidence for the benefit of sport participation directly on educational level for low-income students. Practically speaking, the conclusion of the study is that students need to participate in a combination of activities that include both sport and non-sport to improve their chances of educational attainment.

The primary purpose of the study was to explore the potential impact of voluntary remediation on success in ENC1101 and MAT1033 (gateway courses) and on minority or low-income students in Florida. The study was prompted in 2013 when the Florida Senate exempted most students entering the Florida College System from placement testing or developmental education regardless of their skill level. A quantitative design compared the gateway course success of 10,703 exempt students in 2014 and 2015 to the success of 8,644 students who would have been exempt had the law been in effect when they completed their gateway courses in 2012 and 2013. Data were collected from three FCS institutions. Using Astin and Astin's 1992 Input-Environment-Outcome model (Astin & Astin, 1992), independent variables included demographics, such as race and Pell grant eligibility, and prior academic performance, as well as enrollment status and remedial course decisions and perf ormance. The study found the policy to have a statistically significant (α = .05) negative effect on student success in the gateway courses. The voluntary remediation policy that was in part enacted to improve college completion rates threatens to have the opposite effect. The results show that fewer proportions of students were successful (grade of C or higher) in both courses once remediation became voluntary (12.8% decrease for English; 19.3% decrease in math). The study revealed a need for further research to investigate the degree of this impact on minority and low-income students. The results also suggested a need for more research to learn which students are likely to benefit, or not, by taking a remedial course. Of the students in the study who voluntarily took a placement test and scored below credit level, 11.3% chose remediation before taking ENC1101 and 24.5% chose remediation before taking MAT1033. Of those students, most who earned an A or B in the remedial course were successful in the credit courses; most who did not earn at least a B in the remedial course were unsuccessful at the credit level. Results were significant (α = .05), and effect sizes were moderate (.344 for English; .430 for math). / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Determining the effects of military service on those who volunteer is of vital importance in an age when service may lead to the loss of bodily function or life. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of military service with consideration for the demographic statuses of race, gender, and educational attainment on economic outcomes. Data for this study came from the Current Population Survey July 2010 with Veterans Supplement (N=83,000). Results from this study suggest that some veterans, namely those of minority racial status and lower educational attainment benefit from their military serve by achieving increased levels of household income as compared to similar non-veterans. Conversely, non-Hispanic White veterans and those with higher levels of educational attainment suffer negative consequences to levels of household income. Furthermore, differences among veterans were assessed. These results provide further insight into the experiences of veterans in the United States.