dispositional variables predictingthe persistenceof（秉性变量预测却发现）.docVIP

Self-Beliefs: Predicting Persistence of Families First Participants in Adult Basic Education Dr. Mary Ziegler Dr. Sherry Bain Dr. Sherry Bell Dr. Steve McCallum Dr. Donna Brian Center for Literacy Studies University of Tennessee, Knoxville 600 Henley St., Suite 312 Knoxville, TN 37996-4135 Executive Summary Although Families First provides adult education classes for participants without a high school credential, the program has yielded mixed results, in part because many welfare recipients who choose to enroll do not persist long enough to increase their basic skills or earn a General Educational Development (GED) certificate. The purpose of this study was to identify self-beliefs of Families First participants that are capable of predicting persistence in adult basic education. The self-beliefs or dispositional variables that welfare recipients develop and hold to be true may be powerful forces in their success or failure in educational or employment activities. Four dispositional variables are associated with persistence. Attitudes toward school stem from past schooling experiences that helped shape adults’ perceptions including beliefs about the efficacy of attending school. Self-efficacy is the belief about one’s abilities: an estimate of one’s confidence for successfully accomplishing a particular task such as mathematics or reading. Resilience is the ability to manage or cope with adversity or stress in effective ways; resilient people bounce back from adversity. Attribution is the belief about the cause of one’s success or failure. The study addressed the question: To what extent do dispositional factors predict whether welfare recipients who enroll in adult basic education persist in the program? Study participants were 254 Families First clients who enrolled in Adult Education from ten different counties in Tennessee. Their attendance was tracked for 90 days from the time of their enrollment. All participants were administer