Student perceptions of 'combined' academic and social-emotional support and student performance

In an effort to increase academic achievement outcomes among underperforming groups, the federally legislated No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) provides for the comprehensive reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-10), and the setting aside of special funds and grants for "compensatory" elementary and secondary school programs for schools and families situated in districts having high concentrations of students from impoverished backgrounds. The new legislation trains attention on teachers and principals through its accountability and choice measures and promises serious funding repercussions for participating schools and districts if lower-performing groups do not show real improvement. Some benefits have been shown to attach to the policy however academic underachievement among poor, historically underserved groups continues to be a problem of major concern at both the local community and national levels. A social support/social capital framework as proposed by Coleman (1988) and others can be helpful in further understanding and explaining the lower achievement outcomes traditionally experienced by these student groups. The development of both within-school and out-of-school social support networks and resources available to historically underserved students can have a significant positive impact on students' school outcomes. For this study, a secondary analysis of student survey and test data utilizing standard multiple regression was used in examining the posited links between student perceptions of "combined" within-school and out-of-school social support obtained from significant adults in their environment for their personal and academic development, student improvement in reading as measured on standardized achievement tests, and student engagement for a sample/population of 3,887 youth enrolled in seventh-grade classes at ninety predominantly African-American, low-income, traditional neighborhood public schools in Chicago. Results of analyses indicate a positive association between students' perceptions of combined social support and annual growth in reading, and between social support and student engagement. Furthermore, modified regressions and a hierarchical F-test conducted to test for the possibility of significant "interaction" effects occurring between independent variables and the possible influences of out-of-school variables on in-school ones indicated the presence of significant interaction between support variables in the prediction of the dependent engagement variable.