Where Black Students Thrive—and Where They Don’t: A Dual-Axis Analysis of Achievement and Growth

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Racializing Social Contexts

Abstract

This study introduces a dual-axis framework to examine district-level variation in Black student academic outcomes across the United States. Using population-level data from the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA v5.0), we applied hierarchical linear modeling to estimate average achievement and learning rates for Black students in over 3,100 school districts (grades 3–8). Districts were classified into four categories—Exemplary, Wasted Opportunity, Investment Opportunity, and State of Emergency—based on national benchmarks for achievement and growth. We then analyzed 30 district-level demographic, socioeconomic, and segregation indicators to assess how contextual conditions vary across categories. Findings reveal systematic, monotonic patterns of advantages and disadvantages, highlighting how structural conditions shape outcomes and informing the need for targeted, equity-focused educational interventions.

Authors

• Darnell Leatherwood, University of Michigan

• Faeze Safari, University of Connecticut

• Jennifer Aracely Rodriguez, University of Michigan Ann Arbor