Work

Ethnic studies increases longer-run academic engagement and attainment

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Increased interest in anti-racist education has motivated the rapidly growing but politically contentious adoption of ethnic studies (ES) courses in US public schools. A long-standing rationale for ES courses is that their emphasis on culturally relevant and critically engaged content (e.g., social justice, anti-racism, stereotypes, contemporary social movements) has potent effects on student engagement and outcomes. However, the quantitative evidence supporting this claim is limited. In this preregistered regression-discontinuity study, we examine the longer-run impact of a grade 9 ES course offered in the San Francisco Unified School District. Our key confirmatory finding is that assignment to this course significantly increased the probability of high school graduation among students near the grade 8 2.0 grade point average (GPA) threshold used for assigning students to the course. Our exploratory analyses also indicate that assignment increased measures of engagement throughout high school (e.g., attendance) as well as the probability of postsecondary matriculation.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2026386118

Authors: Sade Bonilla, Thomas S. Dee, Emily K. Penner

Institutions: University of Massachusetts Amherst, National Bureau of Economic Research, Stanford University, University of California, Irvine

Language: English

Topic: Critical Race Theory in Education

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Quality education, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: William T. Grant Foundation