Acclaiming Social-Emotional and Supplemental Support: A Study of 199 Underserved Students Provided Enhanced Education

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  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Roundtable 1: Education and Pedagogy

Abstract

Educational inequality perpetuates poverty. Due to limited funding, public schools in under-resourced communities cannot provide the same quality education as schools in affluent neighborhoods provide. The Pell Institute reports that only 11 percent of low-income, first-generation students earn four-year college degrees within six years of college enrollment, as compared with 55 percent of students from continuing generation families.

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of quality middle school education and personalized supplemental high school support on the percentage of underserved, potentially first-generation students who attain bachelor’s degrees. Two groups of students were examined: those who graduated eighth grade before 2012 and were provided a quality middle school education and those who graduated eighth grade in 2012 or later and were provided a quality middle school education and followed through high school for weekly academic and social-emotional support. The percentage of students from each eighth grade graduating class who eventually earned at least a four-year college degree was calculated. The resulting bar graph and analysis revealed instructive information.

The excellent middle school education more than doubled the percentage of low-income, first-generation students who went on to earn four-year college degrees relative to the control. The students who also had access to weekly high school support were four times as likely to graduate from college compared to controls. These results may fuel legislative efforts to increase funding for supplemental support in middle and high school education, including college guidance, academic assistance, and mentorship programs, in under-resourced communities.

Author

• Sarah Kocian, University of California-Berkeley