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The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of self-efficacy on academic success of first-generation college sophomore students. The participants in the study consisted of college sophomores from 5 of the 23 California State University campuses. An online College Self-Efficacy Inventory was employed to measure participants' self-efficacy levels. The study explored four areas: the relationship between self-efficacy scores and academic success as defined by GPA and persistence rates, the academic success and persistence rates between first-generation and second-and-beyond-generation college sophomore students, the effects of the demographic factors of gender and ethnicity on self-efficacy, and the relationship between institution size and self-efficacy. Findings show that self-efficacy beliefs affect GPA and persistence rates of sophomore students and second-generation college sophomores outperform their first-generation peers. (Contains 7 tables.)

Many rural California high schools are impacted by the disadvantages of poverty, non-English speaking students, limited resources, changing demographics, and challenges of the rural context. Focusing on contemporary leadership theories and school-community interrelationships, this qualitative study examines the practices of educational leaders in three high-performing, high-poverty, rural California high schools. The authors employed case study methodology using a variety of data sources including document analysis, interviews, and observations. Cross-case findings revealed that the local educational leadership had effectively employed multiple instructional, distributed, and transformational practices to improve student outcomes, and had established multiple formal and informal linkages with institutional entities outside of the school to accomplish their missions. Contributors to school-wide success in each case included: focus on instruction, standards, and expectations; strengths of teachers, and; development of multiple support systems for students with varying needs. Educational leaders in the schools studied with the highest poverty rates and highest percentages of English Language Learners made significant improvements in student achievement through active involvement of parents and the mobilization of other external and community resources. (Contains 3 footnotes and 2 tables.)

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of self-efficacy on academic success of first-generation college sophomore students. The participants in the study consisted of college sophomores from 5 of the 23 California State University campuses. An online College Self-Efficacy Inventory was employed to measure participants' self-efficacy levels. The study explored four areas: the relationship between self-efficacy scores and academic success as defined by GPA and persistence rates, the academic success and persistence rates between first-generation and second-and-beyond-generation college sophomore students, the effects of the demographic factors of gender and ethnicity on self-efficacy, and the relationship between institution size and self-efficacy. Findings show that self-efficacy beliefs affect GPA and persistence rates of sophomore students and second-generation college sophomores outperform their first-generation peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many rural California high schools are impacted by the disadvantages of poverty, non-English speaking students, limited resources, changing demographics, and challenges of the rural context. Focusing on contemporary leadership theories and school-community interrelationships, this qualitative study examines the practices of educational leaders in three high-performing, high-poverty, rural California high schools. The authors employed case study methodology using a variety of data sources including document analysis, interviews, and observations. Cross-case findings revealed that the local educational leadership had effectively employed multiple instructional, distributed, and transformational practices to improve student outcomes, and had established multiple formal and informal linkages with institutional entities outside of the school to accomplish their missions. Contributors to school-wide success in each case included: focus on instruction, standards, and expectations; strengths of teachers, and; development of multiple support systems for students with varying needs. Educational leaders in the schools studied with the highest poverty rates and highest percentages of English Language Learners made significant improvements in student achievement through active involvement of parents and the mobilization of other external and community resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]