Impact of Transition to High School on Socioeconomic Integration

• In Event: Segregation in New York City Schools and Ongoing Challenges to the American Schooling Dream

Abstract

In NYC, elementary and middle schools tend to be segregated by race and income due in part to the racial and economic composition of school zones; research has established links between school segregation and racial achievement gaps (Owens, 2010; Carlson and Cowen, 2015). Since students are not limited to high schools in their home neighborhood, we examine economic mobility for students as they progress from middle to high school. We compare the income level of high schools attended by first-time ninth graders in 2013-14 with the income level of their middle schools in the year prior. We also look at students’ level of economic mobility by race.
This study uses student-level data, including students’ demographics and census tract of residence, obtained from the New York City Department of Education. Using the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), we obtain the median household income of students’ tract of residence. The census tract income of each student is then aggregated to the school s/he attends in order to calculate the average community income of each school. To examine patterns of socioeconomic mobility among first-time ninth graders and differing patterns for students by race, we divide schools’ average income into quartiles to make comparisons between first-time ninth graders’ middle school income level and the income level of the high school they attend.
When looking at all students, preliminary results indicate that there seems to be greatest economic mobility among students that came from middle schools in the lower (third) quartile of income: the majority attended high schools in the middle two quartiles, and they were almost equally as likely to attend high schools in the highest or lowest quartiles.
Preliminary analysis by student race shows some evidence of upward socioeconomic mobility among Asian and White students from poorer middle schools and downward socioeconomic mobility among Black and Hispanic students from higher-income middle schools. Fifty-seven to 80 percent of Asian and White students who came from middle schools in the bottom two quartiles of income attended high schools in the top two quartiles. Conversely, up to 29 percent of Black and Hispanic students from middle schools in the top two quartiles of income attended high schools in the bottom two quartiles. There was some upward economic mobility among Black and Hispanic students who attended middle schools in the bottom two quartiles of income: fourteen to 41 percent attended high schools in the top two quartiles, but this was less than among Asian and White students.
In 2013-14, there was some evidence of upward economic mobility among Black and Hispanic first-time ninth graders who attended middle schools in the bottom two quartiles of income, but less so than for Asian and White students. Perhaps programs aimed at promoting and preparing Black and Hispanic students who attend poorer middle schools for more selective high schools can increase students’ chances of socioeconomic mobility at the high school level.

Author

• Stephanie Kranes, NYC Independent Budget Office