How Social Capital Influences School Choice for At-Risk Students: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation

• In Event: 35.081 - Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: 35.081-21 - School Choice: Parental Information and Judgments

Abstract

Low-performing students’ ability to successfully navigate school choice policies is necessary for such policies to reduce educational inequality. Interventions that increase social capital at the school and student levels may reduce barriers to participation, including poor application strategies and limited adult support. The current study analyzes administrative and semi-structured interview data from a randomized control trial of Check & Connect at the student and school levels to understand how a mentor-based student-centered intervention to increase students’ social capital influences high-absence 8th-graders school choice participation in Chicago. Quantitative analysis suggests that students’ benefit from the intervention regardless of individual treatment status. Qualitative analysis, however, suggests variation in the degree to which mentors provide informational and decision-making support for these at-risk students.

Author

• Mary Clair Turner, Northwestern University