December 2024 Research Rundown
By Madie Spartz
For December’s Research Rundown—our curated list of recent, relevant research we think is worth adding to the education equity conversation—we’re sharing articles about:
- A state legislature’s findings on how to improve school attendance
- New evidence on school segregation and achievement gaps
- An updated nationwide dataset on college enrollment and completion
Engaging Schools, Higher Attendance: A Systemic Approach
New Mexico Legislative Education Study Committee, September 2024
This policy brief, prepared by a legislative study commission in New Mexico, examines the issue of chronic absenteeism and provides recommendations to improve school attendance. In 2019, New Mexico’s legislature passed a bill that overhauled the statewide approach to addressing school attendance. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted their efforts and in the 2021-22 school year, New Mexico had the highest chronic absenteeism rate in the country with 40% of students missing 10% or more of school days. This brief dives into that harsh reality and offers a wide range of solutions.
First, the authors emphasize the importance of differentiating between attendance rates and absenteeism rates, because schools with high daily attendance can still have high chronic absenteeism. For example, even if 90% of kids come to school every day for a month, a strong attendance rate, the remaining 10% of students could never come to school a single time, and the school’s attendance rate would remain the same. This highlights the importance of robust data collection and analysis. Second, the authors highlight the need for holistic and system-wide approaches to improving school attendance. They point out that extreme cases of absenteeism require targeted interventions, whereas general efforts to improve school climate, foster positive relationships, and emphasize the value of school can help to improve attendance overall. They assert that school districts need to do both if attendance rates are going to improve.
Why This Matters in Minnesota
Currently, the Minnesota legislature has a similar effort underway called the Student Attendance and Truancy Legislative study group (SATL). Made up of legislators from both houses and both parties, the SATL was tasked with developing a robust understanding of chronic absenteeism in Minnesota and bringing policy solutions to the upcoming legislative session. The committee has spent the interim hearing from various experts like school staff, county social workers, and students themselves on the complex reasons behind the concerning trend on school attendance. While they have yet to release their final report, their recommendations will surely influence any legislative efforts to improve school attendance in the upcoming biennium. Sign up here to be notified when their final recommendations are published.
Is Separate Still Unequal? New Evidence on School Segregation and Racial Achievement Gaps
American Sociological Review, November 2024
This study offers valuable new insights into the persistence of racial segregation and achievement gaps in schools throughout the country. The authors use a large body of data to specifically analyze how racial segregation impacts student achievement. Furthermore, whereas most research to date looks exclusively at white-Black segregation and achievement gaps, this study examines white-Hispanic gaps as well.
Quite notably, the authors concluded that the association between racial segregation and achievement gaps is fully accounted for by differences in school poverty. Put another way: segregation impacts student achievement because it concentrates Black and Hispanic students in high-poverty schools. The authors explored other factors, and while some relationships do exist, none were as strong as differences in school poverty. For example, they concluded that segregation-related differences in teacher effectiveness do contribute to learning gaps, but that the most direct association by far is concentrated poverty. Within the present study, the authors cannot definitively say why this occurs, because the relationship between race and income level is informed by so many factors (political, historical, sociological, and more). Still, this article offers an important finding through which we should consider how to understand and address the impact of racial isolation
Why This Matters in Minnesota
Minnesota is home to stark racial achievement gaps, with many initiatives and investments focused on addressing the problem and connecting students to the resources they need to thrive, but there is still a long way to go. The years-long, ongoing Cruz-Guzman lawsuit filed in Hennepin County grapples with the issue of racial segregation and school quality. This study adds additional context as the case moves forward, and both the courts and policymakers consider the right next steps. If concentrated poverty is driving educational disparities, how do we address it? From resources stretched too thin, to teacher turnover, to local policies for assigning students, budgeting, and more—in addition to the intersection with other factors, from housing policy, to employment, to historical patterns and policies that have upheld racism—addressing this complex problem will require multifaceted solutions.
Yearly Progress and Completion: Postsecondary Attainment
National Student Clearinghouse, Updated December 2024
This data dashboard provides longitudinal data on nationwide college enrollment and completion rates. The publisher, National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), began collecting this data in the fall of 2007, so it tracks 12 cohorts of graduated high school students. This year saw the highest six-year completion rate since NSC started collecting data with 61% of the fall 2018 cohort completing their degree. They attribute this largely to increased enrollment in public two-year colleges, an important finding.
The data also show that students who begin college enrolled full-time are more likely to graduate and far less likely to stop out compared to those who enroll part-time, a consistent finding over time. Furthermore, students who participated in dual enrollment in high school were much more likely to complete college, echoing a finding we shared in last month’s research rundown and underscoring the importance of rigorous coursework opportunities.
Why This Matters in Minnesota
The dashboard provides state-by-state breakdowns and shows Minnesota’s college completion trends are largely unchanged from previous years. The promising findings related to dual enrollment extend to Minnesota as well, with prior dual enrollees being far more likely to complete college than their peers. This is true across all college types: private four-year, public four-year, and two-year colleges. We’ve written about the importance of rigorous coursework, like dual enrollment, especially in addressing Minnesota’s persistent race- and income-based achievement gaps.