The Implications of Educational Change on Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 12:40 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Analysis of Policy and School Reform: Reimagining More Just Futures (Table 5)

Abstract

The implications of educational change on disadvantaged students have not been investigated widely. Considering this gap, this study explores the implications of an education large-scale change invention on socioeconomically disadvantaged students’ academic performance at K-12 level in Turkey. The study was designed as an explanatory mixed-method design. First, a longitudinal quantitative data set on 44.290 students’ GPA covering eight years to capture the trends before and after an educational reform was retrieved from provincial databases. Subsequently, interviews with participants representing different stakeholders were conducted. The quantitative data show a clear drop in academic performance of the students after the reform. The qualitative data suggest that the reform does not consider the vulnerable state of socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.

Authors

• Elif Erberk, Van Yuzuncu Yil University

• Yasar Kondakci, Middle East Technical University