Links Between School Segregation and Children’s Academic Skills in Elementary School Across Geographic Levels

• In Event: Schools, Neighborhoods, and the Geography of Educational Opportunity

Abstract

Racial/ethnic and economic school segregation present pervasive threats to child development in the United States. This preliminary study uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 and Stanford Education Data Archive 4.1 to examine links between school segregation at the district, metro-area, and county levels and child-level reading, math, and science skills in a nationally representative sample of ≈15,000 children in kindergarten and fifth grade. Preliminary findings show negative links between school segregation and children’ academic skills, but effect sizes vary by geographic level, academic subject, and grade level. These initial findings warrant more research on how school segregation shapes children’s academic development in elementary school to inform equitable strategies for integrating U.S. schools.

Authors

• Lorraine Reese Blatt, University of Pittsburgh

• Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, University of Pittsburgh