School Composition and Resources: Exploring Latinxs’ Learning Growth in Elementary Grades

• In Event: “Nice White Schools”: How Do We Understand the Possible Benefits of Integration for Latinx Children?

Abstract

Introduction
Recent literature has shown that Latinx kindergarteners became more racially/ethnically segregated. We also know that Latinx students, those with native- and foreign-born parents, display higher growth rates in math learning in elementary grades when attending schools with higher shares of White or middle-class peers. In this study, we explore one mechanism that may explain the association between school composition (White/middle-class peers) and learning: Access better-resourced schools (facilities, teacher quality and dual language-instruction). Using ECLS-K 2010-11 longitudinal data, we examine the school resources that Latinx students’ access and how these resources shape their math learning between kindergarten and fourth grade. We also examine whether the association between resources and learning varies as a function of parental nativity.

Hypothesis
Scholars have described two potential mechanisms explaining the association between school segregation and learning outcomes. First, students in less (more) segregated schools access more and better (less and worse) resources. Second, minority benefit from learning alongside White or middle-class peers, because predominantly White schools host a stronger school climate or “pro-academic culture”. In this study we explore the former. If the resource hypothesis holds, once we include resource variables in our estimations, we would expect to see a reduction in the magnitude of the association between Latinx learning trajectories and their exposure to White students.

Methods
We draw on individual student and school-level data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort, 2010-11. The study sample included 4,332 Latinx students (65% have foreign-born parents) who entered kindergarten within one of 664 public schools in fall, 2010. To account for resources in our models, we average across ECLS-K waves two types of school resources: standard resources (e.g., teachers, infrastructure, etc.) and English-language learners (ELL) specific resources (e.g., translators, bilingual teachers, etc.). To address research question 1 (RQ1), we conduct descriptive analyses of school resources and school composition (proportions of White and middle-class students) in schools attended by Latinx students. To address RQ2, we conduct bivariate analyses of the school resources and composition measures. To address RQ3, we use multilevel techniques within a three-level (level 1: time, level 2: students, and level 3: schools) growth curve framework to estimate the associations between school level measures and students’ growth trajectories.

Preliminary Results
Table 1 presents a comparison between Latinx students enrolled in schools with different levels of segregation, as defined by the proportion of White and middle-class students. We compared the levels of resources for schools in the top quartile (highest concentration of White, Hispanic, and middle-class students) versus those in the bottom quartile (lowest concentration of the same groups), and we examined whether the differences are statistically significant. As Table 1 shows, Latinx students enrolled in schools with higher proportion of White or middle-class students, on average, have access to higher levels of standard resources than their counterparts in schools with the lowest concentration of White or middle-class students. On the contrary, Latinx students in schools with lowest concentration of White or middle-class students have access to higher levels of ELL-specific resources.

Authors

• Francisco Lagos, University of Maryland - College Park
  Presenting Author

• Claudia Galindo, University of Maryland, College Park
  Non-Presenting Author