- 62% of teens with a high sense of self report that their
relationship with their parents helps make them feel good
about themselves, while only about one-third of low sense of
self teen report the same.
- Only 30% of high school teens whose parents provide a
strong level of guidance have used drugs, compared to 48% of
high school teens whose parents do not provide strong
guidance.
- Less than half (47%) of high school teens whose parents
provide a strong level of guidance have used alcohol,
compared to 80% of high school teens whose parents do not
provide strong guidance.
- Teens with a high sense of self report overwhelmingly
that they feel respected by their parents (93%) and close to
their parents (85%), while teens with a low sense of self
report lower levels of respect from their parents (8%) and
closeness to their parents (12%).
- Nearly two-thirds (64%) of teens believe it is very
likely they will lose their parents trust if caught drinking
alcohol; two-thirds (67%) report the same with respect to
drug use.
- The quality of parent-teen relationships is likely to
play a critical role in determining teens' mood and, thus,
their susceptibility to destructive decision-making.
- High sense of self teens are more likely than other
teens to communicate openly and honestly with their parents
and to describe themselves as close to their parents.
- Teens who avoid drinking and drugs are more likely to
have positive relationships with their parents.
High School and College Prep
- High school curriculum reflects 41% of the academic
resources students bring to higher education; test
scores, 30%; and class rank/academic GPA, 29%. No matter
how one divides the universe of students, the curriculum
measure produces a higher percent earning bachelor's
degrees than either of the other measures. The
correlation of curriculum with bachelor's degree
attainment is also higher (.54) than test scores (.48)
or class rank/GPA (.44).
- The impact of a high school curriculum of high
academic intensity and quality on degree completion is
far more pronounced and positively-for African-American
and Latino students than any other pre-college indicator
of academic resources. The impact for African-American
and Latino students is also much greater than it is for
white students.
- Off all pre-college curricula, the highest level of
mathematics one studies in secondary school has the
strongest continuing influence on bachelor's degree
completion. Finishing a course beyond the level of
Algebra 2 (for example, trigonometry or pre-calculus)
more than doubles the odds that a student who enters
postsecondary will complete a bachelor's degree.
- Academic Resources (the composite of high school
curricula, test scores, and class rank) produces a much
steeper curve toward bachelor's degree completion than
does socioeconomic status. Students from the lowest two
SES quintiles who are also in the highest Academic
Resources quintile earn bachelor's degrees at a higher
rate than a majority of students from the top SES
quintile.
- Advanced Placement course taking is more strongly
correlated with bachelor's degree completion that it is
with college access.
Degree Completion
- While only 26% of students who began their
undergraduate careers in community colleges formally
transferred to 4-year institutions, their bachelor's
degree completion rate was over 70%. The classic
form of transfer, in which the student earns at
least a semester's worth of credits before moving to
the 4-year college, produces a very high likelihood
of bachelor's degree completion.
- Students who attend 4-year colleges and who earn
fewer than 20 credits in their first calendar year
of postsecondary experience severely damage their
chances of completing a bachelor's degree.
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