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In this 3-year prospective study, we explored antecedents of school-based adjustment among 134 inner-city high-school students. We examined the role of freshman-year risk and protective factors in relation to dropout status and senior-year adjustment indices among those who remained in school, including academic performance, psychological symptoms, and drug use. Although each single attribute included in this study has been linked to poor academic performance in previous investigations, the primary goal in this study was to determine which attributes were strongly related to academic problems when considered together. In addition, we sought to establish whether risk factors associated with dropout were the same as those that predicted academic problems among students who remained in school. Findings indicated that freshman-year attendance and demographic indices were most strongly predictive of dropout. Among adolescents who remained in school, freshman academic success was robustly linked to senior-year competence. Implications for identifying inner-city high-school students at high risk for academic problems are discussed. KeywordsRisk; Adolescence; Dropout; Ethnicity; Low SES; Academic adjustment Current trends among economically disadvantaged high-school students reflect academic improvements in some areas. For example, the dropout rate among African Americans is declining to the levels of non-Hispanic whites (McMillen & Kaufman, 1997). However, there are also areas of growing concern, such as persistently high dropout rates among specific subgroups, poor academic achievement, and drug use in many inner-city schools.Strong links between low socioeconomic status (SES) and low academic performance and dropout (McLoyd, 1998) help to explain the clustering of negative academic outcomes among low-income inner-city adolescents. But beyond associations involving SES and ethnicity with variations in academic adjustment (McDermott, 1995) NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript degree of variability in outcomes among groups of low-income minority students. What differentiates between low-SES students who succeed academically from those who do not?Whereas academic success is a complex and multidetermined construct (Walberg & Tsai, 1985), this article focuses on the role of personal attributes in predicting academic success among low-income teens. Individual characteristics have been established as strong predictors of dropout, more so than, for example, neighborhood variables (Ensminger, Lamkin, & Jacobson, 1996). Although we will concentrate on this one domain of risk-we will not include other salient influences such as school quality, peer and family relationships, and neighborhood/community effects-this investigation will add to the literature by exploring risk within a group of low-income inner-city high-school students. We followed these teens from their freshman to senior year, a time frame that we selected primarily because high-school administrators expressed concern a...

Many researchers and policymakers recognize the importance of preschool education, particularly for low-income children, and the role of state governments has become increasingly prominent in providing services. At the same time, some policy analysts have urged that Head Start should be shifted from federal to state control. Others, however, believe this is inadvisable. We sought to inform the debate over whether entrusting Head Start to the states would be a sound policy decision by examining extant state preschool programs. Our survey of 31 programs that matched our criteria suggested that state-funded initiatives vary widely in design, implementation, and quality. There are some common areas of strength and weakness: States tend to be strong in domains such as classroom quality, but are weak on providing comprehensive services. Overall, we find reason for serious concern regarding Head Start devolution from federal to state control at this time.

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