Effects of Attending a Deeper Learning Network High School on Civic Engagement and Workforce Outcomes

• In Event: Deeper Learning in High Schools: Longer-Term Effects on Students' College, Civic Engagement, and Workforce Outcomes

Abstract

Introduction
In addition to preparing students academically for college, a focus on developing deeper learning (DL) competencies (e.g., self-efficacy, collaboration skills, self-management) is theorized to positively influence workforce outcomes as demand for these skills has increased over time. In addition, the DL focus on complex problem solving and applying knowledge to real-world problems is likely to translate into increased civic engagement among students who attend DL network high schools. For this analysis, we examine the impact of attending a DL network high school on students’ reported civic engagement and workforce outcomes between 5 and 6 years after expected high school graduation. We asked the following research questions:
1. Are students who attended DL network high schools more likely to engage in community service and political activities?
2. Do students who attended DL network high schools have more positive workforce outcomes?
Data and Methods
The sample includes a set of 11 DL network high schools and their matched comparison high schools. The two schools in each matched pair were located in the same geographic area and had similar incoming student populations based on student demographics and prior achievement. Starting in summer 2019, the study team administered a survey to 2,329 original study participants who entered grade 9 between 2009-10 and 2010-11. Overall, our analyses included 633 survey respondents (250 network school students, 383 comparison school students, overall response rate = 27.2%).
Using Grade 8 demographic and achievement characteristics, we calculated (1) propensity scores which estimate, within each school pair, students’ probability of enrolling in the DL network high school and (2) a survey response weight. We estimated weighted two-level hierarchical linear models (with students nested within school pairs and treatment status measured at the student level) to estimate impacts of attending a DL network school on reported civic engagement and workforce outcomes. Models also controlled for student background characteristics. The survey weight applied to statistical analyses is equal to the product of the propensity score weight and the survey response weight.
Results
As shown in Exhibit 7 (see Appendix), results show few impacts of attending a DL network school on civic engagement and workforce outcomes. Students who attended DL network high schools were significantly more likely to report volunteering at least once in the last year, and more likely to agree with statements about the importance of political engagement, than were similar students in comparison schools. However, they were also less likely to boycott a product because of the values of the company that made it, express negative opinions about a company on social media, and were less likely to be employed or enrolled in college at the time they took the survey. Impacts on other civic engagement and workforce outcomes were not statistically significant.
Significance
These findings highlight that longer-term impacts of attending a DL network school on civic engagement and workforce outcomes were not consistently positive across the outcomes we examined. These results raise questions regarding the long-term impact of high school DL experiences.

Author

• Elaine Yang, American Institutes for Research