Equitable Indicators? A State-Level Examination of How Well Ninth-Grade Status Measures Distinguish Educational Outcomes Across District- and School-Level Contexts (Poster 2)

• In Event: Division H Graduate Student Research Showcase

Abstract

To examine differences across district- and school-level contexts, this study will use data from the state of Maryland to addresses the following research questions: 1. To what extent do measures such as grade-point-averages, attendance rates, test scores, and suspensions, differ across districts and schools in their ability to distinguish 9th grade students who do and do not attain the following educational outcomes: on-time high school graduation, immediate college enrollment, college readiness? 2. For each of the measures examined, what are the empirically derived optimal thresholds that minimize error in the status measure for the various outcomes across districts and schools? 3. Based on these optimal values, how do the various status measures perform as classifiers (i.e., what is their true positive rate, false positive rate, positive predictive value, etc.)? 4. To what extent are district- and school-level differences in classifier performance related to district- and school-level contexts (i.e., geographic context-urban/suburban/rural; measure of concentrated disadvantage, school performance, enrollment size and composition, student-staff ratio)?

Author

• Juan B. Cortes, Washington University in St. Louis