High School Dance Education: Academic Achievement and Commitment among Hispanic Adolescents in an Urban School District

For decades, adolescents living in the United States have had limited accessibility to dance education programs in public high schools. However, empirical evidence has emerged that suggests dance education programs in K-12 contexts can increase adolescents’ school engagement and academic performance. In addition, the reasons why adolescents commit to school-based dance programs have received sparse attention in the sport psychology and dance education literature. The purpose of this dissertation is to expand our knowledge of school-based dance education programs within the two domains of academic achievement and commitment. I investigate this issue within a large, urban school district in southern California serving a majority population of Hispanic adolescents, many of whom live in poverty. This two-study dissertation examines the impact of public school-based dance education programs on adolescents’ suspension, attendance, and academic achievement, and the reasons that motivate a select group to commit to a pre-professional, high-school dance conservatory program. Employing a quasi-experimental design using a series of comparison groups and seven years of archival data provided by the school district (N = 23,010), I address the following research question in study one: What is the association between enrollment in a high school dance elective and adolescents’ school suspension, attendance, and academic achievement (i.e., AP course enrollment, GPA, proficiency on statewide English language arts (ELA) and math assessments, and high school graduation) in high school? Adolescents were in grades 8 to 12 during the 2012-2013 to 2018-2019 academic years; 96% were Hispanic and 92% received free or reduced-priced school meals. Estimation procedures included descriptive statistics and multiple linear regressions controlling for adolescents’ demographics, school suspension, school attendance, dance elective enrollment, and academic achievement in 8th grade. Cohort-level covariates, school-level fixed effects, and the Bonferroni correction for adjusted alpha levels were also accounted for in regression models. Six comparison groups were employed to investigate the benefits of dance elective enrollment across the district and at the school level. Findings indicated that enrollment in a high school dance elective was associated with (a) three to four more days of school attendance; (b) slightly higher GPA levels, particularly among low-scoring students; (c) lower marks on statewide English language arts and math assessments in 11th grade; (d) enrolling in fewer AP courses in high school. The largest effect sizes were observed for enrollment in the pre-professional dance conservatory which was significantly associated with taking more AP courses and scoring higher marks on statewide ELA assessments in 11th grade. Policymakers can use public high school dance programs to promote adolescents’ school attendance. However, I found little evidence that enrollment in high school dance electives is advantageous to adolescents’ academic performance, unless the program is of strong rigor. More research is needed to further test these positive associations. The second study used a mixed-methods case study design to investigate the competence-related beliefs, psychological factors (i.e., enjoyment and interest values), and immediate contextual factors that influence adolescents’ decision to commit a pre-professional, high-school dance conservatory program (N = 15; 100% female 100% Hispanic; 100% received free or reduced-price meal). Sources of data included (a) structured interviews using the Scanlan Collaborative Interview Method with the Eccles et al. Expectancy-Value Theory of Motivation as an interpretative framework, and (b) online surveys to obtain adolescents’ demographic information, college and career plans, and quantitative ratings of their perceived competence in dance. I found that the majority of adolescents’ commitment was driven by enjoyment and interest factors rather than perceived competence in dance. The highest self-ratings of competence in dance were most prevalent among dancers whose perceived ability strengthened their commitment to the conservatory. However, a low perception of ability also served as a positive motivator for some dancers. Goal orientations (e.g., mastery vs. ego) played a large role in how adolescents perceived their competence levels in relation to their commitment – with mastery orientations having the most positive impact on commitment. In addition, adolescents valued contexts where they could showcase their work, improve their technique, receive constructive feedback, and have positive interactions with their teammates. Factors that weakened adolescents’ commitment included negative interactions with teammates, beliefs of an inability to improve, lack of perceived challenge, and loss of valued academic alternatives. Several enjoyment, interest, and contextual factors emerged that were unique to dance. Most dancers reported college and career plans outside of the scope of the dance profession and reported that their interest in and the importance of dance would diminish overtime. Yet, these dancers reported learning skills that would help them succeed in the future. For other adolescents who aspired to pursue a career in dance, the dance conservatory was critical to their talent development during high school. These findings help to advance dance educators’ knowledge of student experiences in dance and best practices for designing school-based dance programs. In addition, these findings further our theoretical understanding of motivation and commitment to dance. Future research, policy recommendations, and implications are discussed