Development of Causal Decomposition Analysis to Investigate Accumulating Racial Disparities in Student Achievement (Poster 11)

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

This study aims to develop an analytical method to identify mediators that explain disparity changes over time. Significant racial disparities in math achievement exist, but little attention has been given to the widening gap during high school. To reduce racial disparities and prevent this gap, investigators must identify factors that contribute to the racial disparities at a single point (before high school) and over time (during high school). One statistical framework enabling researchers to identify these mediators is causal decomposition analysis. However, this method is limited to addressing a mediator or an outcome measured at a one-time point and cannot provide a comprehensive understanding of mediating mechanisms. The specific project goals are to 1) develop a flexible estimation method leveraging repeated measures of mediators or outcomes and a sensitivity analysis assessing the robustness of findings to a possible violation of identification assumptions, 2) demonstrate the significance and applicability of the developed method using empirical data examining contributing factors to the widening disparity in math scores during high school, and 3) provide software (R package) to implement the estimation method and sensitivity analysis.

Author

• Soojin Park, University of California - Riverside
  Presenting Author