Browsing by Subject "Graduation rates"
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Item Differences in dropout rates, General Education Development recipient rates, High school graduation rates as a function of school size for students in poverty: A Texas multiyear statewide study.(2017-04-03) Ambrose, Amy Renee; Moore, George W.; Slate, John R.; Martinez-Garcia, CynthiaArchival data from the Texas Education Agency Academic Performance Report were analyzed to examine the relationships between high school enrollment size and dropout rates, GED recipient rates, and graduation rates for students in poverty. Statistically significant differences were determined in dropout rates and graduation rates for students in poverty as a function of high school size. In both school years, high schools with lower student enrollment had higher dropout rates and lower graduation rates for student in poverty than high schools with higher numbers of students enrolled. Only for 2014, were the 4-year longitudinal GED recipient rates the highest in small size high schools when the UIL classifications were used. Implications of these results for policy and for practice are provided.Item Differences in Persistence and Graduation Rates of Hispanic Students in Texas Community Colleges: A Texas Statewide Study(2017-03-22) Stagg, Danielle R.; Slate, John R.; Harris, Anthony J.; Lunenburg, Frederick C.Purpose The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to examine the 1-year persistence rates of Hispanic community college students in Texas for the 2007-2008 through the 2013-2014 academic years. Specifically, the relationship of the 1-year persistence rates for Hispanic students as a function of their institutional status (i.e., stayed or transferred) was analyzed. The 2-year persistence rates of Hispanic community colleges in Texas were also analyzed for the 2006-2007 through the 2012-2013 academic years. In addition, the graduation rates of Hispanic and White students in Texas community colleges from the 2008-2009 through the 2014-2015 academic years were examined. Furthermore, the degree to which a trend might be present in the graduation rates of Hispanic and White students at Texas community colleges was also ascertained. Method In this investigation, archival data from the Texas Higher Education Board Interactive Accountability system were downloaded and analyzed in each of the three empirical studies. Specifically, archival data were obtained for the 1-year and 2-year persistence rates of Hispanic Texas community college students. Graduation data were obtained for Hispanic and White students attending Texas community colleges. Findings Inferential statistics revealed the presence of statistically significant differences in the 1-year persistence rates of Hispanic students in Texas community colleges by institutional status in the 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014 academic years. Additionally, inferential statistics revealed the presence of statistically significant differences in the 2-year persistence rates of Hispanic students in Texas community colleges by institutional status in the 2006-2007 through the 2012-2013 academic years. The 1-year and 2-year persistence rates of Hispanic Texas community college students were higher when Hispanic students stayed at the same community college rather than when they transferred to a different community college. In regard to graduation rates, inferential statistical analyses revealed statistically significant differences in the 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, and the 2012-2013 academic years. Although both Hispanic and White students had low graduation rates from Texas community colleges, the average graduation rates of Hispanic students were lower than the average graduation rates of White students. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research were provided.Item Essays on education, inequality and society(2013-12) Pechacek, Julie Ann; Black, Sandra E.This dissertation consists of three chapters on labor economics. The first two chapters focus on education, and the third examines inequality and incarceration. Chapter one explores whether college students strategically delay exiting college in response to poor labor market conditions. It exploits variation in U.S. state unemployment rates to identify the causal impact of unemployment rates on time to graduation. Strategic delay is observed among both men and women. Results indicate that students delay graduation by approximately 0.4 months for each percentage point increase in junior-year unemployment rates, implying the average student delays by approximately half a semester during a typical recession. Effects are greatest for men with freshman majors in education, professional and vocational technologies, the humanities, business, and the sciences, and for women in education, the sciences, or undeclared. Delays are robust to fluctuations in students’ in-school work hours, earnings, and job market conditions. Chapter two assesses the impact of over-the-counter access to emergency contraception on women’s educational attainment using variation in access produced by state legislation since 1998. Approximately 5% of American women of reproductive age experience an unintended pregnancy annually, indicating a significant unmet need for contraception. Results indicate that cohorts with greater access to emergency contraception are more likely to graduate from high school and attain the associate’s degree. Effects for high school graduation are most pronounced among black women, while increases in associate’s degree attainment are driven primarily by white and Hispanic women. Chapter three explores the relationship between incarceration and generational inequality. Using a calibrated OLG model of criminal behavior with race, inheritance and endogenous education, I calculate how much longer prison sentences, and a higher likelihood of capture and conviction contribute to income inequality. Results indicate that changes to criminal policy mirroring those of the “tough on crime” legislation of the 1980s and 1990s, including an 18% increase in criminal apprehension and a 68% increase in prison sentence length, have little impact on inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient. Instead, the model provides evidence that these enhanced enforcement measures deter crime and decrease incarceration rates.