David M. Quinn

Kindergarten Black-White Test Score Gaps: Re- examining the Roles of Socioeconomic Status and School Quality with New Data

Black–white test score gaps form in early childhood and widen over elementary school. Sociologists have debated the roles that socioeconomic status (SES) and school quality play in explaining these patterns. In this study, I replicate and extend past research using new nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011. I find black–white test score gaps at kindergarten entry in 2010 in reading (SD = .32), math (SD = .54), and working memory (SD = .52 among children with valid scores). Math and reading gaps widened by approximately .06 standard deviations over kindergarten, but the working memory gap was constant. Multivariate regressions show that student SES explained the reading gap at school entry, but gap decompositions suggest that school quality differences were responsible for the widening of the reading gap over kindergarten. SES explained much of the math gap at school entry, but the widening of the math gap could not be explained by SES, school quality, or other hypotheses.

Science Achievement Gaps by Gender and Race/Ethnicity in Elementary and Middle School Trends and Predictors

Research on science achievement disparities by gender and race/ethnicity often neglects the beginning of the pipeline in the early grades. We address this limitation using nationally representative data following students from Grades 3 to 8. We find that the Black–White science test score gap (–1.07 SD in Grade 3) remains stable over these years, the Hispanic–White gap narrows (–.85 to –.65 SD), and the Asian–White Grade 3 gap (–.31 SD) closes by Grade 8. The female–male Grade 3 gap (–.23 SD) may narrow slightly by eighth grade. Accounting for prior math and reading achievement, socioeconomic status, and classroom fixed effects, Grade 8 racial/ethnic gaps are not statistically significant. The Grade 8 science gender gap disappears after controlling for prior math achievement.

Legal Issues in Educational Technology: Implications for School Leaders

New technologies have the potential to revolutionize the educational system. Advancements in educational technology are taking place so swiftly that statutory and case law are continually developing and striving to keep the pace. Repercussions for school leaders are significant and include technology-related issues involving freedom of speech, harassment, privacy, special education, plagiarism, and copyright concerns. School leaders need to be mindful of these emerging legal conditions and understand the importance of professional development training for educators on technology and the law. With this in mind, the school law researcher and professor’s role should be to communicate frequently with educators about new statutes and how to apply legal concepts and frameworks to these developing situations.

Delayed Effects of a Low-Cost and Large-Scale Summer Reading Intervention on Elementary School Children's Reading Comprehension

ABSTRACT To improve the reading comprehension outcomes of children in high-poverty schools, policymakers need to identify reading interventions that show promise of effectiveness at scale. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a low-cost and large-scale summer reading intervention that provided comprehension lessons at the end of the school year and stimulated home-based summer reading routines with narrative and informational books. We conducted a randomized controlled trial involving 59 elementary schools, 463 classrooms, and 6,383 second and third graders and examined outcomes on the North Carolina End-of-Grade (EOG) reading comprehension test administered nine months after the intervention, in the childrens third- or fourth-grade year. We found that on this delayed outcome, the treatment had a statistically significant impact on childrens reading comprehension, improving performance by .04 SD (standard deviation) overall and .05 SD in high-poverty schools. We also found, in estimates from an instrumental variables analysis, that childrens participation in home-based summer book reading routines improved reading comprehension. The cost-effectiveness ratio for the intervention compared favorably to existing compensatory education programs that target high-poverty schools.

Seasonal Dynamics of Academic Achievement Inequality by Socioeconomic Status and Race/Ethnicity Updating and Extending Past Research With New National Data

Early studies examining seasonal variation in academic achievement inequality generally concluded that socioeconomic test score gaps grew more over the summer than the school year, suggesting schools served as “equalizers.” In this study, we analyze seasonal trends in socioeconomic status (SES) and racial/ethnic test score gaps using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 (ECLS-K:2011), which includes more school-year and summer rounds than previous national studies. We further examine how inequality dynamics are influenced by the operationalization of inequality. Findings are consistent with a story in which schools initially accelerate relatively lower-achieving groups’ learning more so than higher-achieving groups; however, this school-year equalizing is not consistently maintained and sometimes reverses. When operationalizing inequality as changes in relative position, the reversal of school-year equalizing is more pronounced.

Black–White Summer Learning Gaps Interpreting the Variability of Estimates Across Representations

The estimation of racial test score gap trends plays an important role in monitoring educational equality. Documenting gap trends is complex, however, and estimates can differ depending on the metric, modeling strategy, and psychometric assumptions. The sensitivity of summer learning gap estimates to these factors has been under-examined. Using national data, I find Black–White summer gap trends ranging from a significant relative disadvantage for Black students to a significant relative advantage. Preferred models show no overall gap change the summer after kindergarten, but Black students may make less summer math growth than White students with similar true spring scores. In estimating gap trends, researchers must recognize that different statistical models not only carry unique assumptions but also answer distinct descriptive questions.

Scaffolding Fidelity and Adaptation in Educational Program Implementation: Experimental Evidence From a Literacy Intervention:

In a common approach for scaling up effective educational practice, schools adopt evidence-based programs to be implemented with fidelity. An alternative approach assumes that programs should be adapted to local contexts. In this randomized trial of a reading intervention, we study a scaffolded sequence of implementation in which schools first develop proficiency by implementing the program with fidelity before implementing structured adaptations. We find evidence supporting the scaffolded sequence: A fidelity-focused approach promoted learning and instructional change more so for teachers inexperienced with the intervention, while a structured adaptive approach was more effective for teachers experienced with the intervention. Students benefited more from the structured adaptive approach but only when their teacher had prior experience with the fidelity-focused version.

Experimental Effects of Program Management Approach on Teachers’ Professional Ties and Social Capital:

Theory and empirical work suggest that teachers’ social capital influences school improvement efforts. Social ties are prerequisite for social capital, yet little causal evidence exists on how malleable factors, such as instructional management approaches, affect teachers’ ties. In this cluster-randomized trial, we apply a decision-making perspective to compare a literacy intervention managed under a “fidelity-focused” approach, in which teachers were expected to implement researcher-designed procedures faithfully, versus a “structured adaptive” approach, in which teachers collaboratively planned program adaptations. In the short term, the adaptive approach increased teachers’ accessing of intervention-related social capital, but decreased their accessing of social capital unrelated to the intervention. Short-term effects varied based on participants’ role in the intervention. No group differences were found on social capital measures one year later, suggesting that the structured adaptive approach did not make teachers more likely to form ties that would be useful outside of the intervention.

Racial Attitudes of PreK–12 and Postsecondary Educators: Descriptive Evidence From Nationally Representative Data

PreK–12 and postsecondary educators’ racial attitudes have important consequences for students’ learning and development, yet we know little about educators’ racial attitudes overall, how their attitudes might differ from those of noneducators, or how attitudes might be changing over time. I investigate these questions using the nationally representative General Social Survey. Some educators hold worrisome racial attitudes, yet compared to noneducators, educators are less opposed to governmental equalizing efforts, give more politically liberal explanations for racial inequalities, express less negative racial stereotypes, and report less social distance and collective resentments toward minoritized groups. Many educator/noneducator differences were explained by demographics, particularly education level. Time trends mostly show progress in Americans’ racial attitudes, with generally similar trends for educators and noneducators.