Dylan Conger

Effects of High School Course-Taking on Secondary and Postsecondary Success

Using panel data from a census of public school students in the state of Florida, the authors examine the associations between students’ high school course-taking in various subjects and their 10th-grade test scores, high school graduation, entry into postsecondary institutions, and postsecondary performance. The authors use propensity score matching (based on 8th-grade test scores, other student characteristics, and school effects) within groups of students matched on the composition of the students’ course-taking in other subjects to estimate the differences in outcomes for students who take rigorous courses in a variety of subjects. The authors find substantial significant differences in outcomes for those who take rigorous courses, and these estimated effects are often larger for disadvantaged youth and students attending disadvantaged schools.

Why Are Men Falling Behind? Gender Gaps in College Performance and Persistence

This article examines the male disadvantage in grade point average, credits earned, and persistence in college. Using data on enrollees in Florida and Texas four-year colleges to decompose gender differentials in the first semester, changes in the differentials between semesters, and persistence through college, we find that males earn lower GPAs and credits in their first semester of college largely because they arrive with lower high school grades. After the first semester, males fall further behind their female counterparts in grades and credits. Females’ better high school grades explain some of the widened gender disparity in performance but differences in college course-taking and majors also explain gender gaps in credits, grades, persistence, and graduation.

EXPLAINING GAPS IN READINESS FOR COLLEGE-LEVEL MATH: THE ROLE OF HIGH SCHOOL COURSES

Despite increased requirements for high school graduation, almost one-third of the nations college freshmen are unprepared for college-level math. The need for remediation is particularly high among students who are low income, Hispanic, and black. Female students are also less likely than males to be ready for college-level math. This article estimates how much of these gaps are determined by the courses that students take while in high school. Using data on students in Florida public postsecondary institutions, we find that differences among college-going students in the highest math course taken explain 2835 percent of black, Hispanic, and poverty gaps in readiness and over three-quarters of the Asian advantage. Courses fail to explain gender gaps in readiness. Low-income, black, and Asian students also receive lower returns to math courses, suggesting differential educational quality. This analysis is valuable to policy makers and educators seeking to reduce disparities in college readiness.

Determinants of High Schools' Advanced Course Offerings

This article examines the factors that determine a high schools probability of offering Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. The likelihood that a school offers advanced courses, and the number of sections that it offers, is largely driven by having a critical mass of students who enter high school with eighth-grade test scores that are far above average. The number and qualifications of the instructional staff, in contrast, play a very small role. The results suggest that the willingness of schools to offer advanced courses is driven by real, perceived, or created student demand and that there may be few resource constraints that prevent schools from supplying advanced courses.

Foster Care and School Mobility.

Foster children face numerous obstacles to academic achievement compared to their non-foster peers. In addition to having low educational attainment, they may also suffer from high rates of school mobility and experience long delays when transferring schools. Sources of these transfers and delays include numerous residential movements and a lack of coordination between child welfare and school professionals. Potential solutions currently being explored include reduced residential mobility, better communication between child welfare and school professionals on the frontline, and integrated child welfare and educational databases. There are over one-half million children in foster care homes in the United States. Most children enter foster care because of abuse or neglect, many live in poverty, and a disproportionate percentage are Black (48%) or Hispanic (15%; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 2002a). The majority of these children also reside in large urban areas, where school systems are often overcrowded and poorly funded (DHHS, 2002b). These disadvantaged backgrounds and troubled schools, combined with the trauma of being removed from home and the stigma of being in foster care, pose significant barriers to educational success for many foster children (Finkelstein, Wamsley, & Miranda, 2002; Jackson, 1994). Research indicates that, compared to the general student population, foster children have lower high school graduation rates, fewer years of schooling, lower levels of participation in college, and higher rates of participation in special education programs (for a review of this literature, see McDonald, Allen, Westerfelt, & Piliavin, 1996).1 FOSTER CARE AND SCHOOL MOBILITY Foster children may also be more likely to transfer schools and experience longer delays during these transfers than their non-foster peers, though there is limited research in this area, in part because many child welfare systems do not systematically monitor the school outcomes of children in care. Departing from this trend, New York City has begun to track the school mobility, attendance rates, and test scores of children involved in the child welfare and school systems. Through a unique data sharing agreement between the commissioners of New York Citys child welfare agency, the Administration for Childrens Services (ACS), and the Department of Education, ACS has developed a database that contains school information on cohorts of foster care entrants. The latest figures indicate that approximately 57% of children entering foster care between 1995 and 1999 transferred schools for noneducational reasons (other than graduating from the school, for example) in the year following foster care placement (Conger & Rebeck, 2001). This study also revealed differences in the school transfer rates of children according to their experiences in care. School transfers were more likely to occur for children who transferred to new foster care homes, ran away from their foster homes, and remained in care longer than other children. Given the link between residence and school placement2 and foster childrens residential instability-leaving home for foster care, moving to new placements while in care, and perhaps returning home upon leaving care-it is not surprising that some foster children experience frequent school transfers. School transfers are problematic for most children, often requiring large adjustments to new classmates, teachers, and curricula, as well as repeated or missed lessons. Yet, there is little agreement on whether these adjustments harm school performance. Most studies indicate that switching schools is associated with lower performance on standardized exams, measures of classroom adjustment, grades, and parent reports of student achievement (e.g., Felner, Primavera, & Cauce, 1981; Hanushek, Kain, & Rivkin, 2001; U.S. General Accounting Office, 1994). A few studies, however, have found positive or no effects of school transfers on performance (e. …

Within-School Segregation in an Urban School District

This article examines ethnic segregation, defined as segregation among racial groups as well as between native-born and immigrant students, across elementary school classrooms in New York City. Specifically, the study compares patterns in within-school segregation across ethnic groups, grades, boroughs, and years. Current levels of within-school segregation are also compared to levels of across-school segregation and to levels of segregation that result from three simulations where students are assigned to their classrooms: (a) randomly, (b) to achieve complete ethnic segregation, and (c) according to their prior year test scores. Results indicate that racial segregation across schools is far greater than racial segregation within schools, however the segregation of immigrants within-schools is equal to the segregation of immigrants across schools. Within-school segregation cannot be entirely attributed to random processes or to the use of ability grouping practices, particularly in the case of black and Hispanic segregation. Finally, segregation within-schools varies considerably across the five boroughs and declined during the second half of the 1990s.

UNDOCUMENTED COLLEGE STUDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES: IN-STATE TUITION NOT ENOUGH TO ENSURE FOUR-YEAR DEGREE COMPLETION

Using restricted-access data from one of the largest urban public university systems in the United States—where many undocumented students are eligible for in-state tuition—we review the literature on undocumented college students in the United States and provide a comparison of the performance of undocumented students to that of U.S. citizens and other legal migrants. Overall, undocumented students perform well in the short-term, earning higher grades and higher rates of course and associate degree completion than their U.S. citizen counterparts. But undocumented students are less likely to earn their bachelors degrees within four years. This finding suggests that, despite their earlier college successes and their access to in-state tuition rates, at some point after enrollment, undocumented students experience higher costs to completing their bachelors degrees than they had anticipated upon enrollment. We offer a number of policy considerations for university officials and policy makers who aim to help undocumented college students succeed in postsecondary institutions.

The effect of immigrant communities on foreign-born student achievement

This paper explores the effect of the human capital characteristics of co-ethnic immigrant communities on foreign-born students’ math achievement. We use data on New York City public school foreign-born students from 39 countries merged with census data on the characteristics of the immigrant household heads in the city from each nation of origin and estimate regressions of student achievement on co-ethnic immigrant community characteristics, controlling for student and school attributes. We find that the income and size of the co-ethnic immigrant community has no effect on immigrant student achievement, while the percent of college graduates may have a small positive effect. In addition, children in highly English proficient immigrant communities test slightly lower than children from less proficient communities. The results suggest that there may be some protective factors associated with immigrant community members’ education levels and use of native languages.

Gender Gaps in College Enrollment: The Role of Gender Sorting Across Public High Schools

This article uses Florida administrative data to evaluate the role that public high schools play in the growing female advantage in college enrollment. We first show evidence of gender sorting across public high schools that is beyond what one would observe if students were randomly assigned to their schools. Using regression and decomposition techniques, we then find that across-school gender sorting explains 12% and 16% of females’ higher rates of enrollment among Hispanic and Black students, respectively. This relatively large contribution of high schools to gender disparities in college enrollment among Black and Hispanic students has implications for educators at all levels.

Gender Sorting across K-12 Schools in the United States.

This article documents evidence of nonrandom gender sorting across K–12 schools in the United States. The sorting exists among coed schools and at all grade levels, and it is highest in the secondary school grades. We observe some gender sorting across school sectors and types: for instance, males are slightly underrepresented in private schools and charter schools and are substantially overrepresented in irregular public schools, a large share of which educates students with special needs and juvenile justice involvement. Gender sorting within sectors and types is also quite prevalent and appears to be highest within the private schools (where single-sex schools are more common) and irregular public schools. We find that gender sorting is higher in counties that have higher shares of enrollment in private and nonregular public schools. This sorting occurs even though parents have similar stated preferences for school attributes for their sons and daughters.