Defining and Measuring Advantage and Disadvantage in Education

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Issues of advantage and disadvantage are at the heart of education and educational research in the United States. Schools are tasked with serving the needs of students—academic, social, emotional, and otherwise—in the context of a highly unequal society. Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners have used a number of different terms to identify students as advantaged or disadvantaged as they seek to address issues of inequality. Useful, contextual, and theoretically-driven definitions and measures of advantage and disadvantage, however, are too often absent in education. This symposium offers a timely assessment of how we define and measure advantage and disadvantage in U.S. education. The presentations will advance the field’s thinking and offer recommendations for further research and implications for policy and practice.

Sub Unit

• Division L - Educational Policies and Politics / Division L - Section 7: Social Context and Structural Inequalities

Chairs

• Rachel L. Renbarger, FHI 360

• Jeremy L. Singer, Michigan State University

Papers

• The Persistence of Poverty: A Theoretical, Historical Review of Socioeconomic Status Measures - Rachel L. Renbarger, FHI 360; Kody Bryce Long, Oklahoma State University; Tracey N. Sulak, Baylor University

• Bending Over Backward: Flexible Resources, Parenting, and Child Engagement During Remote Learning - Alma N. Garza, University of Texas - Arlington

• The Availability of Measures of Advantage and Disadvantage in Administrative Data - Emily Gutierrez, Urban Institute

• Beyond Binary Indicators: Measuring Socioeconomic Status and Capturing Socioeconomic Heterogeneity in High-Poverty Contexts - Jeremy L. Singer, Michigan State University

Discussant

• Thurston Domina, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill