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1999 - Organizational Context for Student Achievement: The Case of Student Racial Compositions

Attribution: Schiff, Jorden, Firestone, William, & Young, John
Researchers: John YoungJorden SchiffWilliam Firestone
University Affiliation: Readington Township Public Schools
Email: jschiff@readington.k12.nj.us
Research Question:
Exploring the relationship between school desegregation (race, SES, and school racial compostion) and student achievement and self-concept.
Published: 0
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: N/A
Journal Entry: Paper presented at American Educational Research Canada, April 1999
Year: 1999
Findings:
  • Student SES most powerful factor in explaining math and reading achievement
  • Self-concept scores of African American students are the highest in racially isolated schools
  • Schools with higher minority enrollment have lower the student achievement
  • Achievement does not begin to decline until the minority exceeds 20%.
  • School desegregation appears to help African American students without harming White students.
  • When controlling for other variables, school racial composition has an independent effect on reading and mathematics achievement. However, this effect is curvilinear for White students suggesting that desegregation can contribute to the achievement of African-American students without harming White students.
Keywords: Academic AchievementAchievement GapDesegregationMathRacial CompositionReadingSecond-generation SegregationSelf-EsteemTrackingRegions: NationalMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: Secondary Survey DataAnalysis Methods: ANOVA Sampling Frame:National
Sampling Types: RandomAnalysis Units: SchoolStudentData Types: Quantitative-Cross Sectional
Data Description:
  • Data from first wave of NELS 1988 (8th graders).
  • Sub sample of NELS 88 then smaller sample with certain characteristics (non-Hispanic, completed math and reading tests) answer self-concept questions, etc.
  • Used a two-stage stratified probability design.
  • Only African-American, non-Hispanic and White, non-Hispanic students were included in the study.
  • 17,598 within 1,000 schools remain. 16% African American and 84% White.
  • Variables: self-concept, student achievement in math and reading, school racial composition.
  • DV: Student achievement in math (40-item test) and in reading (21-item test), self-concept (composite of the self-concept items that appeared on the student survey: 1) I feel good about myself, 2) I feel I am a person of worth, the equal of other people, 3) I am able to do things as well as most other people, 4) on the whole I am satisfied with myself, 5) I certainly feel useless at times, 6)at times I think I am no good at all, 7) I feel I do not have much to be proud of
  • IV: SES, school racial composition
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-12 Integration, Desegregation, and Segregation Abstracts
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