Sallie Keller

A New Lens on High School Dropout: Use of Correspondence Analysis and the Statewide Longitudinal Data System

ABSTRACT The combination of log-linear models and correspondence analysis have long been used to decompose contingency tables and aid in their interpretation. Until now, this approach has not been applied to the education Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS), which contains administrative school data at the student level. While some research has been conducted using the SLDS, its primary use is for state education administrative reporting. This article uses the combination of log-linear models and correspondence analysis to gain insight into high school dropouts in two discrete regions in Kentucky, Appalachia and non-Appalachia, defined by the American Community Survey. The individual student records from the SLDS were categorized into one of the two regions and a log-linear model was used to identify the interactions between the demographic characteristics and the dropout categories, push-out and pull-out. Correspondence analysis was then used to visualize the interactions with the expanded push-out categories, boredom, course selection, expulsion, failing grade, teacher conflict, and pull-out categories, employment, family problems, illness, marriage, and pregnancy to provide insights into the regional differences. In this article, we demonstrate that correspondence analysis can extend the insights gained from SDLS data and provide new perspectives on dropouts. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

Estimating individualized exposure impacts from ambient ozone levels: A synthetic information approach

Abstract There is ample evidence that short-term ozone exposure is associated with increased respiratory symptoms. Many studies, however, aggregate the population, activities, or concentration levels of the pollutant across space and/or time, failing to capture critical variations in the exposure levels. We couple spatiotemporal air quality estimates of ozone with a synthetic information model of the Houston Metropolitan Area, allowing us to attach exposure levels to individuals based on exact times, geo-locations, and microenvironments of activities. Several scenarios of the model are run at different levels of resolution. When we maintain the spatiotemporal resolution of the data, the proportion of the population that experiences sharp increases in short-term exposure increases substantially. This can be particularly important if experienced by sensitive populations given the increased risk for adverse health effects. We find that individuals in the same zip code, neighborhood, and even household have varying levels of exposure.