| Best
bets for improving school grades, according to quasi-experimental evaluations:
-
High-quality mentoring and academic tutoring and
educational assistance.
- Strongly academic-focused after school programs
providing homework assistance, recreational tutoring,
sports, and cultural activities and trips.
-
Academic-oriented programs lasting for two years.
Multivariate,
longitudinal studies suggest the following are
positively related to school grades and test scores:
(click
here for findings from the American Teens
research)
-
Prior achievement, ability levels
-
School engagement
-
Academic self-concept, global self-esteem
-
For adolescents who work- participating in the labor
force during the summer months or working no more than
20 hours per week during the school year
-
Parent involvement, especially communicating directly
with children and participating in their activities
-
Adolescents' involvement with high achieving peers
-
Educational attainment of adults, parents
-
Not hanging out with peers without parental supervision
for long periods of time
-
Participation in structured, supervised extracurricular
activities
-
Taking academic-track or other higher-track courses
-
Early attendance at high-quality childcare center,
especially among disadvantaged, low-income children
|
