The Adolescent Academic Context Study (AACS) is a collaborative project between Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and Lakeport* school district. It has been partially sponsored by the Spencer Foundation, in addition to several university institutional research grants. AACS is a mixed-methods, longitudinal study consisting of two major time periods for data collection.

 

TIME 1: AACS Middle and High School Data Collection.

This involved four years (2009-2013) of longitudinal study conducted by researchers at Bowling Green State University collaboratively with educators from Lakeport. Quantitative and qualitative data from students, parents, and teachers have been collected from this school district located in Northern Ohio.

 

Quantitative data sets from the study include:

 

1. Student survey data collected each fall and spring semester for four years (fall 2009-spring 2013), generating eight waves of quantitative data. Original fall 2009 participants included a total of 1,044 students in grades 7, 8, 9, and 10 from Lakeport. These biannual surveys investigated several avenues of inquiry including the relationships between school climate, student perceptions of learning environment, student attitudes toward school, ethnic identity development, family influence, student mental health, and academic achievement. 

2. Teacher survey data collected simultaneously with student surveys. Original 2009 sample included a total of 62 teachers.   

3. Parent survey data collected once in 2009 (n=164) and again in 2013 (n=120). 

 

Qualitative data sets from the study include:

 

1. Annual one-on-one semi-structured student interviews with subsample of students from each grade level. Original 2009 sample included a total of 53 students. This resulted in four waves of data.

2. One year of a small sample teacher interviews.

3. Annual student focus groups from a school based mentoring program. Focus groups included participating student mentees and community-based mentors.

 

TIME 2. National Student Clearinghouse Higher Education data.

This includes all higher education enrollment data from 2012 to 2020 for all original adolescents in the AACS study. Enrollment data tracks the original adolescent group’s participation in higher education for every term during this period, indicating: first time enrollment, stopping out, graduation, and institution of enrolment (anywhere in the US).

 

For more information about Lakeport demographic characteristics see the Publications or AACS Conference pages.

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*Lakeport is a pseudonym for the participating school district in order to assure the confidentiality of all participants.