Addition by Subtraction: The Relation Between Dropout Rates and School-Level Academic Achievement.

IF 1.3 4区 教育学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Teachers College Record Pub Date : 2012-01-01
Elizabeth Glennie, Kara Bonneau, Michelle Vandellen, Kenneth A Dodge
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background/context: Efforts to improve student achievement should increase graduation rates. However, work investigating the effects of student-level accountability has consistently demonstrated that increases in the standards for high school graduation are correlated with increases in dropout rates. The most favored explanation for this finding is that high-stakes testing policies that mandate grade repetition and high school exit exams may be the tipping point for students who are already struggling academically. These extra demands may, in fact, push students out of school.

Purpose/objective/focus: This article examines two hypotheses regarding the relation between school-level accountability and dropout rates. The first posits that improvements in school performance lead to improved success for everyone. If school-level accountability systems improve a school for all students, then the proportion of students performing at grade level increases, and the dropout rate decreases. The second hypothesis posits that schools facing pressure to improve their overall accountability score may pursue this increase at the cost of other student outcomes, including dropout rate.

Research design: Our approach focuses on the dynamic relation between school-level academic achievement and dropout rates over time-that is, between one year's achievement and the subsequent year's dropout rate, and vice versa. This article employs longitudinal data of records on all students in North Carolina public schools over an 8-year period. Analyses employ fixed-effects models clustering schools and districts within years and controls each year for school size, percentage of students who were free/reduced-price lunch eligible, percentage of students who are ethnic minorities, and locale.

Findings/results: This study finds partial evidence that improvements in school-level academic performance will lead to improvements (i.e., decreases) in school-level dropout rates. Schools with improved performance saw decreased dropout rates following these successes. However, we find more evidence of a negative side of the quest for improved academic performance. When dropout rates increase, the performance composites in subsequent years increase.

Conclusions/recommendations: Accountability systems need to remove any indirect benefit a school may receive from increasing its dropout rate. Schools should be held accountable for those who drop out of school. Given the personal and social costs of dropping out, accountability systems need to place more emphasis on dropout prevention. Such an emphasis could encompass increasing the dropout age and having the school's performance composite include scores of zero on end-of-grade tests for those who leave school.

减法加法:辍学率与校级学业成绩的关系。
背景/背景:努力提高学生成绩应该提高毕业率。然而,调查学生问责制的影响的工作一致表明,高中毕业标准的提高与辍学率的增加相关。对于这一发现,最受欢迎的解释是,强制留级和高中毕业考试的高风险考试政策,可能是那些已经在学业上挣扎的学生的引爆点。事实上,这些额外的要求可能会迫使学生离开学校。目的/目标/重点:本文考察了关于学校问责制与辍学率之间关系的两个假设。第一种假设是,学校表现的改善会导致每个人的成功。如果学校层面的问责制度为所有学生改善了一所学校,那么在年级水平上表现良好的学生比例就会增加,辍学率就会下降。第二种假设认为,面临提高总体责任分数压力的学校可能会以牺牲学生的其他成绩(包括辍学率)为代价来追求这种提高。研究设计:我们的方法侧重于校级学业成绩与辍学率之间随时间的动态关系,即一年的成绩与次年的辍学率之间,反之亦然。本文采用北卡罗莱纳州公立学校所有学生8年的纵向记录数据。分析采用固定效应模型,将学校和学区在几年内聚在一起,并对每年的学校规模、享受免费/减价午餐的学生比例、少数民族学生比例和地区进行控制。发现/结果:本研究发现部分证据表明,学校水平学业成绩的提高将导致学校水平辍学率的改善(即降低)。在这些成功之后,成绩提高的学校的辍学率下降了。然而,我们发现更多的证据表明追求提高学习成绩的负面影响。当辍学率增加时,随后几年的性能复合材料也会增加。结论/建议:问责制需要消除学校可能从增加辍学率中获得的任何间接利益。学校应该对那些辍学的人负责。鉴于辍学的个人和社会成本,问责制度需要更加重视预防辍学。这样的重点可以包括提高辍学年龄,并使学校的综合表现包括离校学生的期末考试得分为零。
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来源期刊
Teachers College Record
Teachers College Record EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH-
CiteScore
3.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
89
期刊介绍: Teachers College Record (TCR) publishes the very best scholarship in all areas of the field of education. Major articles include research, analysis, and commentary covering the full range of contemporary issues in education, education policy, and the history of education. The book section contains essay reviews of new books in a specific area as well as reviews of individual books. TCR takes a deliberately expansive view of education to keep readers informed of the study of education worldwide, both inside and outside of the classroom and across the lifespan.
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