Rural Students at Risk in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas
Variables Associated with Risk
Numerous variables have been suspected of or "blamed" for contributing to students dropping out of school or being ill-prepared for life and responsibilities after graduation. Many of these factors have been studied and categorized in various ways. For the purposes of this synthesis, four categories are proposed: family and student background characteristics, student behaviors, school practices, and contextual variables. Where issues and/or research specifically addressing rural at-risk students exist, they will also be discussed.
Taken together, the following discussion of these factors addresses three of the questions, proposed in the introduction, that are of interest in this synthesis.
- What does demographic information of rural families, communities, and schools suggest about the nature and incidence of at-risk students in rural schools?
- What do studies about student characteristics and behaviors suggest?
- What does social theory suggest?
However, before addressing them, it is important to emphasize that lists of at-risk predictors are never all-inclusive. Some students who exhibit none of the identified factors will still drop out of school, while others who are characterized by several predictors succeed quite well in school with little or no targeted intervention.
The reader is further reminded that it is often easy to misinterpret predictors of risk as causes. When teaching methodologies, contents, etc. do not foster student success, it is sometimes convenient for school practitioners to "blame" the home or child for the lack of satisfactory progress. This "blame-the-victim" mindset, in turn, fosters low expectations and a tendency for both teachers and students to "give up." The reader is therefore reminded that the following factors are variables associated with, but not necessarily linked causally, to students who are at higher risk.
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