Abstract
“Closing the achievement gap” (i.e. reducing differences in performance across racial and ethnic groups) has been the rallying cry and holy grail for reform efforts in American education for some time. In addition to influences associated with school and teacher factors, researchers have now turned their attention to characteristics in family backgrounds that may create or correlate with variation in academic and social outcomes at school. Previous research suggests that community capital, with its financial, human, and social features, is associated with school performance. In the present study, we examined relationships between community capital, student composition of schools, and student academic achievement measured by state standardized tests. Strongest associations were evident for community capital and academic outcomes. We discuss our findings in the context of equal educational opportunity, cultural and linguistic diversity, and the dream of achievement representing what you do at school more than where to go to do it.
References
Artiles, A. J., Klingner, J. K., & Tate, W. F. (2006). Representation of minority students in special education: Complicating traditional explanations. Educational Researcher, 35(6), 3–5.10.3102/0013189X035006003Search in Google Scholar
Ball, A. F. (Ed.). (2006). With more deliberate speed: Achieving equity and excellence in education – realizing the full potential of Brown v. Board of Education. Chicago, IL: National Society for the Study of Education.Search in Google Scholar
Berliner, D. C., & Glass, G. V. (2014). 50 myths and lies that threaten America’s public schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Search in Google Scholar
Blanchett, W. J. (2006). Disproportionate representation of African American students in special education: Acknowledging the role of white privilege and racism. Educational Researcher, 35(6), 24–28.10.3102/0013189X035006024Search in Google Scholar
Boger, J., & Orfield, G. (2005). School resegregation: Must the South turn back?Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.10.5149/uncp/9780807856130Search in Google Scholar
Borman, K. M., McNulty Eitle, T., Michael, D., Eitle, D. J., Lee, R., … Shircliffe, B. (2004). Accountability in a postdesegregation era: The continuing significance of racial segregation in Florida’s schools. American Education Research Journal, 41, 605–624.10.3102/00028312041003605Search in Google Scholar
Bracey, G. W. (2002). The 12th Bracey Report on the Condition of Public Education. Phi Delta Kappan, 84, 135–150.10.1177/003172170208400209Search in Google Scholar
Brooks-Gunn, J., & Duncan, G. J. (1997). The effects of poverty on children. The Future of Children, 7, 55–71.10.2307/1602387Search in Google Scholar
Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G. J., & Aber, J. L. (1997). Neighborhood poverty: Vol. 1. Context and consequences for children. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.Search in Google Scholar
Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G. J., Klebanov, P. K., & Sealand, N. (1993). Do neighborhoods influence child and adolescent development?American Journal of Sociology, 99, 353–395.10.1086/230268Search in Google Scholar
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 347 U.S. 483. (1954). Retrieved from http://www.nationalcenter.org/brown.htmlSearch in Google Scholar
Coladarci, T. (2006). School size, student achievement, and the “power rating” of poverty: Substantive finding or statistical artifact?Education Policy Analysis Archives, 14(28), 1–23.10.14507/epaa.v14n28.2006Search in Google Scholar
Duncan, G. J., & Murnane, R. J. (2014a). Growing income inequality threatens American education. Kappan, 95(6), 8–14.10.1177/003172171409500603Search in Google Scholar
Duncan, G. J., & Murnane, R. J. (2014b). Meeting the educational challenge of income inequality. Kappan, 95(7), 50–54.10.1177/003172171409500712Search in Google Scholar
Duncan, G. J., & Murnane, R. J. (2014c). Restoring opportunity: The crisis of inequality and the challenge for American education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.Search in Google Scholar
Evans, R. (2005). Reframing the achievement gap. Phi Delta Kappan, 86, 582–589.10.1177/003172170508600806Search in Google Scholar
Farkas, G. (2003). Racial disparities and discrimination in education: What we know, how do we know it, and what do we need to know?Teachers College Record, 105, 1119–1146.10.1111/1467-9620.00279Search in Google Scholar
Ferguson, R. F., & Mehta, J. (2004). An unfinished journey: The legacy of Brown and the narrowing of the achievement gap. Phi Delta Kappan, 85, 656–669.10.1177/003172170408500906Search in Google Scholar
Frankenberg, E., Siegel-Hawley, G., & Wang, J. (2011). Choice without equity: Charter school segregation. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 19(1). Retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/77910.14507/epaa.v19n1.2011Search in Google Scholar
Guisbond, L., Neill, M., & Schaeffer, B. (2012). NCLB’s lost decade for educational progress: What can we learn from this policy failure? Retrieved from http://fairtest.org/sites/default/files/NCLB_Report_Final_Layout.pdfSearch in Google Scholar
Hanushek, E. A., Kain, J. F., & Rivkin, S. G. (2009). New evidence about Brown v. Board of Education: The complex effects of school racial composition on achievement. Journal of Labor Economics, 27, 348–384.10.1086/600386Search in Google Scholar
Harry, B., & Klingner, J. (2014). Why are so many minority students in special education? (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Search in Google Scholar
Hess, D. E. (2005). Moving beyond celebration: Challenging curriculum orthodoxy in the teaching of “Brown” and its legacies. Teachers College Record, 107, 2004–2067.10.1177/016146810810700906Search in Google Scholar
Hoge, R. D., & Renzulli, J. S. (1993). Exploring the link between giftedness and self-concept. Review of Educational Research, 63, 449–465.10.3102/00346543063004449Search in Google Scholar
Hogrebe, M. C., & Tate, W. (2010). School composition and context factors that moderate and predict 10th-Grade science proficiency. Teachers College Record, 112, 1096–1136.10.1177/016146811011200407Search in Google Scholar
Jencks, C. (1972). Inequality: A reassessment of the effect of family and schooling in America. New York, NY: Basic Books.Search in Google Scholar
Jencks, C., & Mayer, S. (1990). The social consequences of growing up in a poor neighborhood. In L.Lynn & M.McGeary (Eds.), Inner-city poverty in the United States (pp. 111–186). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Search in Google Scholar
Johnson, S. M., Kraft, M. A., & Papay, J. P. (2012). How context matters in high-need schools: The effects of teachers’ working conditions on their professional satisfaction and their students’ achievement. Teachers College Record, 114, 1–39.10.1177/016146811211401004Search in Google Scholar
Jordan, W. J. (2010). Defining equity: Multiple perspectives to analyzing the performance of diverse learners. Review of Research in Education, 34, 142–178. doi:10.3102/0091732X09352898Search in Google Scholar
Kornhaber, M. L., Griffith, K., & Tyler, A. (2014). It’s not education by zip code anymore – but what is it? Conceptions of equity under the Common Core. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 22(4). Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v22n4.2014.10.14507/epaa.v22n4.2014Search in Google Scholar
Leventhal, T. & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: Effects of neighborhood residence upon child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 309–337.10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.309Search in Google Scholar
Leventhal, T. & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003). The early impacts of moving to opportunity on children and youth. In J.Goering & J. D.Feins (Eds.), Choosing a better life? Evaluating the moving to opportunity social experiment (Chapter 8). Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.Search in Google Scholar
Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2004). A randomized study of neighborhood effects on low-income children’s educational outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 40, 488–507.10.1037/0012-1649.40.4.488Search in Google Scholar
Leventhal, T., Fauth, R. C., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2005). Neighborhood poverty and public policy: A 5-year follow-up of children’s educational outcomes in the New York City Moving to Opportunity Demonstration. Developmental Psychology, 41, 933–952.10.1037/0012-1649.41.6.933Search in Google Scholar
Lyons, J. E., & Chelsey, J. (2004). Fifty years after Brown: The benefits and tradeoffs for African-American educators and students. The Journal of Negro Education, 73, 298–313.10.2307/4129613Search in Google Scholar
Mathis, W. J. (2005). Bridging the achievement gap: A bridge too far. Phi Delta Kappan, 86, 590–593.10.1177/003172170508600807Search in Google Scholar
McDermott, R., Goldman, S., & Varenne, H. (2006). The cultural work of learning disabilities. Educational Researcher, 35(6), 12–17.10.3102/0013189X035006012Search in Google Scholar
Mickelson, R. A., & Bottia, M. (2010). Integrated education and mathematics outcomes: A synthesis of social science research. North Carolina Law Review, 88, 993–1090.Search in Google Scholar
Mickelson, R. A., Bottia, M. C., & Lambert, R. (2013). Effects of racial composition on K-12 mathematics outcomes: A metaregression analysis. Review of Educational Research, 83, 121–158.10.3102/0034654312475322Search in Google Scholar
Mickelson, R. A., & Nkomo, M. (2012). Integrated schooling, life course outcomes, and social cohesion in multiethnic democratic societies. Review of Research in Education, 36, 197–238. doi:10.3102/0091732X11422667Search in Google Scholar
Morris, J. E., & Monroe, C. R. (2009). Why study the U.S. South? The nexus of race and place in investigating black student achievement. Educational Researcher, 38(1), 21–36.10.3102/0013189X08328876Search in Google Scholar
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. (2002). Pub. L. No. 107-110, § 115, Stat. 1425.Search in Google Scholar
O’Connor, C., & Fernandez, S. (2006). Race, class, and disproportionality: Reevaluating the relationship between poverty and special education placement. Educational Researcher, 35(6), 6–11.10.3102/0013189X035006006Search in Google Scholar
Reid, D., & Knight, M. G. (2006). Disability justifies exclusion of minority students: A critical history grounded in disability studies. Educational Researcher, 35(6), 18–23.10.3102/0013189X035006018Search in Google Scholar
Sable, J., & Hoffman, L. (2005). Characteristics of the 100 largest public elementary and secondary school districts in the United States: 2002–03 (NCES 2005–312). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Search in Google Scholar
Sable, J., Plotts, C., and Mitchell, L. (2010). Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States: 2008–09 (NCES 2011–301). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Search in Google Scholar
Sharma, A., Moss Joyner, A., & Osment, A. (2014). Adverse impact of racial isolation on student performance: A study in North Carolina. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 22(14), 1–20. doi:10.14507/epaa.v22n14.2014Search in Google Scholar
Sirin, S. R. (2005). Socioeconomic status and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review of research. Review of Educational Research, 75, 417–453.10.3102/00346543075003417Search in Google Scholar
Smith, A., & Kozleski, E. B. (2005). Witnessing Brown: Pursuit of an equity agenda in American education. Remedial and Special Education, 26, 270–280.10.1177/07419325050260050201Search in Google Scholar
Southworth, S. (2010). Examining the effects of school composition on North Carolina achievement over time. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 18, 1–42. Retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/84810.14507/epaa.v18n29.2010Search in Google Scholar
The Center for Civil Rights Remedies. (undated). A summary of new research closing the school discipline gap: Research to policy. Retrieved from http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/Search in Google Scholar
Willms, J. (2010). School composition and contextual effects on student outcomes. Teachers College Record, 112, 1008–1037.10.1177/016146811011200408Search in Google Scholar
Wraga, W. G. (2006). The heightened significance of Brown v. Board of Education in our time. Phi Delta Kappan, 87, 424–428.10.1177/003172170608700605Search in Google Scholar
©2015 by De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Executive Editors’ Comment
- Everything Has Everything to Do with Everything
- Voices of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Parents: The Case of Korean-American Parents
- Curriculum-Based Assessment, Socio-Demographic and Educational Measures as Predictors of Mathematics FCAT: Implications for Emancipatory Inquiry
- Physical Education Undergraduate Students’ Colorblind Racial Ideology and Multicultural Teaching Competence
- An Exploration of Community Capital, Student Composition of Schools, and Achievement Gaps
- Mentoring Experiences of Latina Graduate Students
- Understanding the Process of Contextualization
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Executive Editors’ Comment
- Everything Has Everything to Do with Everything
- Voices of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Parents: The Case of Korean-American Parents
- Curriculum-Based Assessment, Socio-Demographic and Educational Measures as Predictors of Mathematics FCAT: Implications for Emancipatory Inquiry
- Physical Education Undergraduate Students’ Colorblind Racial Ideology and Multicultural Teaching Competence
- An Exploration of Community Capital, Student Composition of Schools, and Achievement Gaps
- Mentoring Experiences of Latina Graduate Students
- Understanding the Process of Contextualization