Post-Secondary Outcomes of Newark (NJ) Public School Graduates (2004-2011): College Matriculation, Persistence, and Graduation

• In Event: 207 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 25. Opportunities to Develop Human Capital

Abstract

The Newark Public Schools is the largest school system in New Jersey, serving roughly 40,000 students from mostly low-income black and Latino backgrounds. It has been under state takeover since 1995 and the Newark School Advisory Board is contemplating suing the state for the return of local control. For the last three years the district has become what some have called a laboratory for neo-liberal educational reforms. These include closing low performing schools and replacing them with reconstituted district schools, operated by the district or Educational Management Organizations (EMO) or charter school management organization (CMO), such as KIPP and Uncommon Schools, co-locating charter schools with district school and a universal admissions system in which students will apply for both district and charter schools in the same application. All of this has resulted in considerable community conflict and significant opposition from many community leaders and organizations.
This paper analyzes one of the most significant problems in Newark: the number of its high school graduates going on to college and completing a degree. It reports findings from a longitudinal study of the postsecondary pathways of Newark Public School graduates, including their matriculation, retention and graduation from two and four year colleges. Based on a data base of all NPS graduates merged with data from the National Student Clearinghouse from 2004-2011, we examine numerous postsecondary pathways related to race, ethnicity and gender, economic disadvantage, type of high school. We relate these findings to the current reforms in the district.

Authors

• Alan R. Sadovnik, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers

• Jeffrey Backstrand, State University of New Jersey-Newark

• Allison Roda, Columbia University