Examining the Effects of School Composition on North Carolina Student Achievement over Time

Abstract

This study explores the effects of school-level characteristics on North Carolina students' reading and math achievement from fourth through eighth grade, focusing on the relationships between achievement and the racial and poverty composition of schools. After creating race-by-poverty cohorts of schools, I use multilevel models to examine math and reading achievement for the same students in fourth, sixth, and eighth grades. The racial and poverty composition of schools affect student achievement after factoring in student, family, and other school influences. In addition, increasing teacher quality and school resources reduces but does not eliminate the effects of school racial and poverty composition on student achievement. Policies leading to reductions in racial and poverty isolation in schools and increases in teacher quality should be pursued to guarantee equality of educational opportunities to all children in North Carolina schools. Keywords: North Carolina; educational achievement; math; reading; poverty; segregation; multi-level models.Examinando los efectos de la demografía escolar a través del tiempo en el rendimiento de los estudiantes en Carolina del Norte Resumen: Este estudio explora los efectos de las características demográficas a nivel escolar en el rendimiento en matemáticas y lectura de los estudiantes en Carolina del Norte desde cuarto a octavo grado, centrándose en las relaciones entre el rendimiento académico y la composición racial y de la pobreza de las escuelas. Después de crear cohortes de escuelas según las variables demográficas de raza-por-pobreza, se utilizaron modelos multinivel para examinar el rendimiento en matemáticas y 1 Accepted under the editorship of Sherman Dorn. Education Policy Analysis Archives Vol. 18 No. 292 lectura para los mismos estudiantes en cuarto, sexto, y octavo grados. Después de considerar las influencias estudiantiles, familiares, y otras influencias escolares, se determinó que la composición racial y el nivel de pobreza de las escuelas impacta el rendimiento de los estudiantes. Además, el aumento en la calidad de los docentes y de los recursos escolares reduce pero no elimina los efectos de la composición racial y el nivel de pobreza de las escuelas en cuanto al rendimiento estudiantil. Deben aplicarse políticas orientadas a reducir el aislamiento racial y el nivel de pobreza en las escuelas y que aumenten la calidad de los docentes para garantizar la igualdad de oportunidades educativas para todos/as los/as estudiantes en las escuelas de Carolina del Norte. Palabras claves: Carolina del Norte; logro educativo; matemáticas; lectura; pobreza; segregación; modelos multinivel. Examinando os efeitos da demografia escolar ao longo do tempo no desempenho dos alunos na Carolina do NorteResumo Este estudo explora os efeitos das características demográficas a nível escolar em matemática e leitura do desempenho dos alunos na Carolina do Norte a partir de quarta até a oitava série, enfocando a relação entre desempenho acadêmico e da composição racial e d...

Excelência com equidade: fatores escolares para o sucesso educacional em circunstâncias desfavoráveis

“…introdução A pesquisa educacional indica que a vantagem da escola na composição socioeconômica dos seus alunos está associada positivamente com o desempenho escolar do estudante (PERRY;MCCONNEY, 2013MCCONNEY, , 2010COLLARES, 2006;SOUTHWORTH, 2010). Isso ocorre porque a concentração de alunos de elevado nível socioeconômico pode facilitar a instrução e o aprendizado e criar um contexto em que as normas e procedimentos sejam favoráveis ao desempenho (AIKENS; BARBARIN, 2008).…”

Achievement Gaps: Learning Disabilities, Community Capital, and School Composition

“…Conventional wisdom holds that differences in achievement across groups of students are a school problem, often defined as "disabilities" requiring special education, and the belief has fueled historical and current efforts to bring about reform in the American educational system (Evans, 2005;Southworth, 2010). Placing the blame by blaming the place has at its core the logic of equity and equality of opportunity: "All children are created equal, but all children are not performing equally in school; the gap typically worsens as children advance through the grades; the fault must therefore be the schools,'so the solution must lie in the school; the necessary knowledge and tools are available, and schools must be pressed to apply them."…”

“…1 The reasoning was that "educating all children together would increase the availability of high quality schools to all students" (Southworth, 2010, p. 3) but educators have struggled to achieve this goal (Aud, Hussar, Kena, Bianco, Frohlich, Kemp, & Tahan, 2011;Coleman, 1969;Evans, 2005;Frankenberg, Siegel-Hawley, & Wang, 2011;Goldsmith, 2011;Leithwood, 2010;Rumberger & Palardy, 2005). Rather than a systematic and productive effort resulting in reduced inequities associated with racially-segregated schools, "equal educational opportunity" has been a cobbled together plan that continues to fail in achieving promised and desired benefits (Ball, 2006;Boger & Orfield, 2005;Lyons & Chelsey, 2004;Mickelson & Bottia, 2010;Smith & Kozleski, 2005;Southworth, 2010).…”

Factores de contexto, entrada y proceso asociados al rendimiento en Matemática: un estudio multinivel/Factors of background, input and process associated with Mathematics performance: A Multilevel analyses

“…La segunda razón es el poder estadístico que esta metodología ofrece al integrar el análisis multivariado con la perspectiva de multinivel, lo que permite, por un lado, una mejor representación de la realidad educativa, con respecto a un modelo univariado o de nivel único (Paterson, 1998) y, por el otro, examinar las contribuciones de las características institucionales y del individuo en el logro académico (Southworth, 2010).…”