Pushing Out Persisting Students? A Study of Transfer Patterns Into Alternative Schools

• In Event: The Promise of Persistence: Expanding the Evidence on High School Completion

Abstract

Objectives/Purposes: Limited existing literature suggests that as compared to on-time high school graduates, persisting students are disproportionately male, Black students who live in poverty (Hill & Mirakhur, 2018). Furthermore, most of these persisting students are concentrated in a small subset of high schools (20 out of 400) based on a longitudinal study in New York City (Hill & Mirakhur, 2018). To deepen the understanding of persisting students’ school experiences, the current study examines school transfer patterns for persisting students and on-time graduates. In doing so, this study illuminates persisting students’ disproportionate year-to-year school transfer from traditional high schools to alternative schools. In addition, we discuss observed disparities not only for demographic characteristics of persisting students but also schools attended by persisting students.

Perspective(s)/Theoretical framework: Drawing upon the literature of educational tracking practices and school segregation based on critical race theory in education, this study documents potential pushing out of persisting students – who are disproportionately male, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous – from traditional high schools to alternative schools.

Methods: Using longitudinal data, the current study compared year-to-year school transfer patterns between persisting students and on-time graduates using chi-square tests. School transfer patterns were also compared between different racial/ethnic groups using chi-square tests. In addition, this study used descriptive and inferential statistics (t-test and chi-squares) to measure disparities in demographic and school characteristics of persisting students compared to on-time graduates.

Data sources: The current study utilizes longitudinal, administrative data from an urban school district in the Pacific Northwest. The final data include records on 2,263 students who entered as first-time 9th graders in Fall 2011 (on-time graduates: 2,005 and persisting students: 258). The administrative data include students’ demographic characteristics, academic outcomes, and school information.

Results: The results indicated different school transfer patterns between persisting students and on-time graduates: 1) the vast majority of on-time graduates (97-98%) stayed in the same school year-to-year as compared to 65% to 70% of persisting students, 2) most persisting students transferred from traditional high schools to alternative high schools (Refer Figure 1). There was also disproportionate school transfer into alternative schools for students of color (i.e., Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students). Not only are persisting students themselves disproportionately students of color, the schools that they attended also had more students of color. Moreover, a higher proportion of persisting students attended schools that served higher rates of students in poverty.

Significance: The findings of the study suggest that students at risk of not graduating on-time may be pushed out from traditional high schools to alternative schools. In combination with the observed disparities in persisting students’ demographic and school characteristics, the disproportionate school transfer patterns may indicate how social stratification is reinforced through educational practices that further marginalize students. The current findings may help us reevaluate current educational policies and practices and develop strategies to support persisting students.

Authors

• Hyuny Clark-Shim, Portland State University

• Mathew C Uretsky, Portland State University