Aboriginal Students and School Mobility in British Columbia Public Schools

University of Alberta, Faculty of Education. 845 Education Centre South, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G5, Canada. Tel: 780-492-7941; Fax: 780-492-0236; Web site: http://www.education.ualberta.ca/educ/journals/ajer.html

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13

Public Schools; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Student Mobility; Canada Natives; Graduation Rate; Longitudinal Studies; Secondary School Students; Correlation; Transfer Students

0002-4805

In British Columbia, K-12 school Aboriginal students' completion rates are far from equivalent to those of their non-Aboriginal peers. In addition, there is a high degree of variability in Aboriginal students' school completion rates across schools and communities. Administrative data associating approximately 1.5 million school census records of students enrolled in public schools province-wide over 13 years were examined. A longitudinal cohort design was employed to examine individual-level and school-level differences in the school completion outcomes of Aboriginal students. Findings indicate that school change, or student mobility, of secondary Aboriginal students was a prevalent feature in Aboriginal high school trajectories. A negative relationship exists between the frequency of school change during the high school years and Aboriginal students' school completion.

As Provided

2009

EJ845799