"Middle and High School Skills, Behaviors, Attitudes, Curriculum Placement, and Their Consequences"
Professor George Farkas is delivering his paper, "Middle and High School Skills, Behaviors, Attitudes, Curriculum Placement, and Their Consequences," at the Brookings Institution Conference on Social Inequality and Educational Disadvantage in Washington, D.C. on November 19, 2009. Papers from this conference will appear in a volume jointly published by Brookings and the Russell Sage Foundation.
Abstract
This paper uses data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study to estimate a model of the determinants of educational and related outcomes in middle school, high school, and by age 26. Large disparities in educational outcomes are found across groups defined by social class background and race/ethnicity. These are already present in 8th grade test scores, teacher-judged learning-related behaviors, course grades, and student self-concepts. These 8th grade outcomes in turn strongly determine non-academic track placement and educational expectations in 10th grade. The 8th and 10th grade variables together determine 12th grade measures of high school dropout, ever arrested, and the student's grade point average measured in 12th grade. These outcomes in turn determine whether or not the student had attained a post-secondary degree, and the student's earnings by age 26.
On November 11-12 Professor Farkas will be participating as a panel member to review a proposal to the National Institute of Health in the area of social science and population studies. The panel will be meeting in San Francisco.
