A step toward measuring children's college-bound identity in children's savings accounts programs: The case of promise scholars

William Elliott*, Haotian Zheng, Terri Sabol, Megan O'Brien

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Research indicates that children's college expectations are an important predictor of children's school outcomes and Children's Savings Accounts (CSAs) are a predictor of children's educational expectations. Typically measured with a single question, children's college expectations have been used as s proxy for college-bound identity. Building on Identity-Based Motivation theory, we take a step toward creating a scale for measuring college-bound identity. This scale consists of 22items with three first-order identity factors: salience, group congruence, and interpretation of difficulty as normal. Findings indicate that a second-order identity latent named college-bound identity may be reflected in the data. We then test the association between Promise Early Award Scholarship (Promise Scholars), a CSA and early award scholarship program, and college-bound identity. Promise Scholars participants’ college-bound identity is predicted to be 0.02 higher than that of non-Promise Scholars participants. The authors offer potential next steps in the attempt to better measure children's college-bound identity.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number105791
JournalChildren and Youth Services Review
Volume121
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2021

Funding

This research was supported by funding from the Wabash County Foundation, the Charles Steward Mott Foundation, and Poverty Solutions. These organizations are not responsible for the quality or accuracy of the paper, which is the sole responsibility of the authors, nor do they necessarily agree with any or all the paper’s findings and recommendations.

Keywords

  • Assets
  • Children's savings accounts
  • College expectations
  • College-bound identity
  • Identity-based motivation theory
  • Math achievement
  • Promise scholars

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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