High-School Conditions, College Matching, and Persistence of High-Achieving Students From Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds (Poster 33)

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

Abstract

"Previous research found that high-achieving, low-income youths tend to be underrepresented in selective four-year institutions and are more likely to be undermatched, meaning individuals tend to enroll in less competitive institutions than their level of pre-college academic achievement merits (Hoxby & Avery, 2013; Wyner et al., 2009).
Guided by a conceptual framework that addresses the importance of high school conditions for reducing postsecondary success gaps, this study aimed to examine the effects of high school conditions on high-achieving low-SES (HALS) students’ college matching and persistence. The matched samples from SDL and non-SDL schools were analyzed by linking the Studies on Deeper Learning (SDL) data to the National Student Clearinghouse and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
The preliminary results indicated that HALS in SDL schools were more likely to enroll in four-year institutions within two years of graduation, but there was no significant difference in college completion rates between HALS in SDL and non-SDL schools. As research is in progress, the findings from this study expect to contribute to exploring college matching from a broader perspective, including academic, affective, and cultural domains. The implications and discussions of these preliminary results will be discussed."

Author

• Jihee Hwang, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville