Towards Equity: The Relationship Between Opportunity Gaps and High School Graduation for Maryland Black Students

• In Event: Racializing and Spatializing Resistance: Contextual Equity Leadership and Policy

Abstract

We examined three cohorts of ninth-grade students to ascertain the extent to which opportunity gaps exist for Black students in Maryland public schools and their effect on high school graduation. We calculated opportunity gaps using the difference between Black and non-Black students passing Algebra1 before starting 10th grade, taking an AP/IB course in high school, and taking a dual enrollment class in a particular high school. Findings revealed no opportunity gaps regarding passing Algebra1, but significant opportunity gaps related to taking AP/IB and dual enrollment courses in high school. Using a multilevel analysis of students nested in high schools, we found that Black students who attended schools with lower opportunity gaps were more likely to complete their high school degree.

Authors

• Frim Ampaw, Morgan State University

• Sarah Williams, Grand Valley State University

• Robert Jerome Anderson, Morgan State University

• Jenai Johnson, Morgan State University