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In-Depth Information
Chapter 7
Ethnic Differences on Students' Approaches
to Learning: Self-Regulatory Cognitive
and Motivational Predictors of Academic
Achievement for Latino/a and White College
Students
Robert Rueda
1
,HyoJinLim
1
, Harold F. O'Neil
1
, Noelle Griffin
2
,
Shel Bockman
3
, and Barbara Sirotnik
3
1
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
3
California State University, San Bernardino, CA, USA
The national move toward accountability, primarily focused on K-12 schools, has
begun to focus on postsecondary education as well. Accountability demands for stu-
dent academic performance and persistence rates are growing (Carey, 2004, 2005;
Hearn & Holdsworth, 2002). In addition, postsecondary education is widely seen
as only a minimum goal in education, as a high-school diploma is no longer seen
as sufficient preparation for contemporary workforce demands. However, there are
wide disparities in the success rates among groups in the country. In 2007-2008, for
example, there were 2,757 4-year postsecondary institutions in the United States,
and one third of these (33.1%) were public institutions. Within these institutions,
67% of the degrees conferred were awarded to White, non-Hispanic students. In
contrast, 8.5 and 7.1% of the degrees were awarded to Black, non-Hispanic and
Hispanic students, respectively (Knapp, Kelly-Reid, & Ginder, 2008). These data
belie significant differences in other college-related outcomes between Latino and
other students in the United States.
Latinos have been found to lag every other population group in attaining college
degrees, especially bachelor's degrees. To better understand that problem and help
identify policy responses, the Pew Hispanic Center conducted a new analysis of
the educational performance of Latino high-school graduates. This analysis is based
on Current Population Survey data collected by the US Census Bureau from 1997
to 2000. The data were combined and averaged to create a solid statistical basis
for assessing different forms of college attendance for Latinos as compared with
other groups and for making important distinctions among sub-groups of the Latino
