College Opportunity in Context:

1
College Opportunity in Context

• State College-Going Policy Orientation and
  Academic Preparation and Continuation at
  Different Types of High Schools
• Angela Bell
• University of Georgia
• SFARN 2007

2
Purpose of Study

• Assess the role that school context plays in
  mediating between college-going policy
  environment and college-going outcomes.

3
What we know

• Family background characteristics such as
  race/ethnicity, SES, and parental education
  impact student educational attainment (Kane,
  2001)
• Gaps in access persist despite decades of
  research and policy efforts at both the state and
  federal level
• Both within and between school districts,
  minority and low-income youth are increasingly
  segregated from their white and higher-income
  peers (Orfield and Lee, 2005)

4
What is missing

• Policy research acknowledging that students
• make decisions from the vantage point of a
• unique school and community context due to
• the very local nature of American secondary
• schooling.

5
Theoretical Model

• Pernas model (2006) nests college decision
  making within several layers of environmental
  context family, school, and community context
  higher education context and larger economic and
  policy context.

6
Research Questions

• How do the college-going policy environments in
  California and Georgia differ with regard to
  program components and population targeted?
• How do academic preparation and continuation
  outcomes differ in the two states for high
  schools serving different populations?

7
Question 1 Sample and Methods

• California and Georgia purposively selected
• Data from a variety of documents
• Created a database that classifies each policy in
  terms of multiple variables including program
  components and target population
• Developed a typology of state college enrollment
  policies
• Limitations funding measures are spotty and
  inconsistent, prohibited regression

8
Findings Program Components
9
Findings Target Population
10
Question 2 Methodology

• Unit of analysis universe of public high schools
  in CA, GA
• Data source State departments of education,
  state higher education coordinating agencies, CCD
• Descriptive analysis of changes from 1999 to 2004
  at high schools serving different populations of
  students in
• - students taking and passing AP courses
• - students taking SAT
• -College continuation rate of graduates
  at states
• 2-year and 4-year public institutions
• Limitations no private or out-of-state
  continuation

11
Taking AP Exams by Free/Reduced Lunch Quartiles
12
Taking AP Exams by Free/Reduced Lunch Quartiles
13
Passing AP Exams by Free/Reduced Lunch Quartiles
14
Passing AP Exams by Free/Reduced Lunch Quartiles
15
Taking SAT by Free/Reduced Lunch Quartiles
16
Taking SAT by Free/Reduced Lunch Quartiles
17
Two-year College Continuation Rates by
Free/Reduced Lunch Quartiles
18
Two-year College Continuation Rates by
Free/Reduced Lunch Quartiles
19
Public Four-year College Continuation Rates by
Free/Reduced Lunch Quartiles
20
Public Four-year College Continuation Rates by
Free/Reduced Lunch Quartiles
21
Taking AP Exams by Non-White Quartiles
22
Taking AP Exams by Non-White Quartiles
23
Passing AP Exams by Non-White Quartiles
24
Passing AP Exams by Non-White Quartiles
25
Taking SAT by Non-White Quartiles
26
Taking SAT by Non-White Quartiles
27
Two-year College Continuation Rates by Non-White
Quartiles
28
Two-year College Continuation Rates by Non-White
Quartiles
29
Public Four-year College Continuation Rates by
Non-White Quartiles
30
Public Four-year College Continuation Rates by
Non-White Quartiles
31
Conclusions Georgia

• Taking AP overall increase, income gaps persist
  but integrated schools making headway
• Pass AP income gaps recalcitrant, heaviest
  minority schools no increase
• 2-Year lower income and integrated send more,
  increase more
• 4-Year large income gaps grow, racial gaps
  smaller but also grow

32
Conclusions California

• Taking AP overall increase, income gaps persist,
  greatest increase by highest minority schools
• Pass AP gaps by income, race all groups
  increase but gaps grow slightly
• 2-Year little disparity and change
• 4-Year large gaps by income that grow, small
  gaps by race with little change

33
Implications

• It is necessary when conducting program
  evaluations to look at type of high school
  attended in addition to student demographics
• Some outcomes more responsive to policy
  interventions than others take vs. pass, 2-year
  vs. 4-year may require program modifications for
  specific school environments or more systemic
  school reform