The influence of social capital on economically disadvantaged students’ enrollment in advanced mathematics courses

An indicator of college readiness is the participation in advanced courses in junior high school. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to examine the social capital of 7th and 8th grade students enrolled in advanced mathematics courses. This study examined junior high student perspectives in the areas of attitude toward college, teacher expectations and interactions, college readiness, school-wide support, and parental engagement. Additionally, interviews were conducted to examine the impact of social capital on their advanced mathematics course experience related to post-secondary readiness and support from school faculty. Data were collected from a purposefully matched sample of 7th and 8th grade students enrolled in advanced mathematics. The participants were individually matched by economic status, gender, and ethnicity. The matched sample consisted of 66 economically disadvantaged students in advanced mathematics courses and 66 non-economically disadvantaged students in advanced mathematics courses. Twenty-four students participated in a focus group session to better understand junior high school experiences. The findings in this study indicate that, overall, advanced mathematics students in both socioeconomic groups have comparable perspectives of their junior high school experiences related to attitude towards college, teacher expectations and interactions, college readiness, school-wide support, and parental engagement. Economically disadvantaged students do not feel less prepared than their counterparts enrolled in AP courses. The focus group data revealed students felt their teachers were instrumental in assisting them with the course selection process. The students in the focus group spoke about the influence of their peers in selecting courses. The students also pointed to the importance of participating in extracurricular activities as a way to round out their junior high school experiences.