Is There Equity in Access to School Transportation? Exploring Busing in Rural Communities

• In Event: 15.030 - Exploring the Every Student Succeeds Act's Fifth Indicator: Addressing Absenteeism Issues for Diverse Youth

Abstract

When considering the causes of chronic absenteeism, it is also important to look at the logistical factors that could be at play. A major concern that affects students on a daily basis, but is largely out of their control is the availability of transportation from their home to their school (Safe Routes to School, n.d.). While students in dense urban areas often have access to a variety of public transportation options, and suburban students live in communities with high rates of car ownership, rural students are often an afterthought. Many students depend on the school bus as their link to school (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012: Gottfried, 2017) and this study looks to see how using the school bus uniquely affects rural students in comparison to non-rural students.

Using the nationally representative ECLS-K dataset, this study first provides descriptive statistics looking at students who take the school bus in both rural and non-rural settings, and compares them to classmates who do not take the bus in both settings. Additionally, the data disaggregated to look at how bus ridership looks for students of different races and ethnicities, students with and without Free and Reduced Lunch status, as well as for students with disabilities and students who are English Language Learners. Additionally, this paper uses both an OLS and a state fixed effects model to further demonstrate the strength of the relationship between bus ridership and attendance rates.

As many states are using chronic absenteeism to satisfy ESSA’s Fifth Indicator requirement (Jordan & Miller, 2017), school and district administrators and policymakers are looking for ways that they can positively impact their student population’s attendance rates. Evidence-based instructional practices are important in any conversation around student outcomes, but if students are not able to make it to school in the first place, the conversation needs to change. Rural students have different needs than urban students, and school busing specific to the rural context is an important area to consider as districts aim to differentiate their attendance interventions to meet their unique needs. Research in this area can give policymakers the information that they need to make informed decisions in how to use their resources to provide the best comprehensive services to their populations.

Authors

• Michael A. Gottfried, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Christopher Salem Ozuna, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Jacob Kirksey, University of California - Santa Barbara