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Labor Market and Social Services Linkages
Studies using Merged School District & Agency Data Sets
Merging school district data sets with data from other agencies – such as State Departments of Labor or Vital Statistics – allows new insights into the causes and consequences of educational outcomes. Researchers associated with the Everyone Graduates Center have conducted several projects involving merged data bases. A key partner in this effort has been the Kids Integrated Data System (KIDS), housed at the University of Pennsylvania. For more information about KIDS, visit http://cml.upenn.edu/.
Our projects that have drawn on merged datasets include:
Analysis of Dropout Trends and Characteristics in Philadelphia
Labor Market Outcomes of Graduates and Dropouts in Philadelphia
Parenting and High School Completion in Philadelphia
Analysis of Dropout Trends and Characteristics in Philadelphia
This study examined the landscape of high school dropout in Philadelphia public schools. One aspect of the analysis was an examination of the dropout rates for students who
- were in foster care during the high school years;
- had a substantiated case of abuse or neglect during the high school years;
- had an out-of-home juvenile justice placement; or
- for young women, had a baby within five years of starting high school.
A key finding was that most dropouts did not fall into one of the above categories. At the same time, among students who were in foster care, or who did have a substantiated abuse or neglect case or out-of-home juvenile justice placement, or who gave birth within five years of starting high school, dropout rates were extremely high. For example, of those who had an out-of-home juvenile justice placement, approximately 90 percent did not complete high school. The report does not draw causal links between involvement in social service agencies or the juvenile justice system but argues that students in these systems clearly receive inadequate support for finishing their high school diplomas.
Unfulfilled Promise: The Dimensions and Characteristics of Philadelphia's Dropout Crisis, 2000-2005. Ruth Curran Neild and Robert Balfanz. Philadelphia Youth
Transitions Collaborative and Project U-Turn. www.projectUturn.net
This project was funded by the Philadelphia Youth Network, with support from the William Penn Foundation.
Labor Market Outcomes of Graduates and Dropouts in Philadelphia
This current project examines Pennsylvania labor market outcomes for students who attended public high schools in Philadelphia. The Unfulfilled Promise report on dropouts in Philadelphia, produced by Everyone Graduates Center researchers Ruth Curran Neild and Robert Balfanz, showed that approximately 5,000 students drop out of high school in each entering cohort of freshmen. Noting the large number of students who left school without a diploma, one of the questions that community members wanted to know was whether, when, and how dropouts worked in the formal economy in Pennsylvania.
This project will provide descriptive data on labor market activity of dropouts and graduates from six cohorts (the Classes of 2000 through 2005). De-identified student data come from the School District of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Several education variables for each student – including the student's cohort in school, whether a high school diploma has been earned, gender, race/ethnicity, total credits earned in high school, proficiency level on the state assessment, and whether the student ever enrolled in postsecondary education – are merged with labor market variables such as quarterly wages, number of weeks worked, number of employers per quarter, and the industries in which the students worked. A report will be released in Spring 2009.
This project is funded by the Philadelphia Youth Network, with support from the William Penn Foundation.
Parenting and High School Completion in Philadelphia
The Unfulfilled Promise report on high school dropouts in Philadelphia showed that more than two-thirds of the young women who gave birth within five years of starting high school did not earn a diploma. The purpose of this project is to learn more about these teen mothers: what percentage dropped out before pregnancy and/or birth? What percentage left school afterward? How long did they remain in school after the birth of a child? How many credits had they earned at the time they left high school?
The purpose of this research is to provide information that will inform dropout prevention efforts and re-engagement activities. A report is planned for Spring 2009.
This project is funded by the Philadelphia Youth Network, with support from the William Penn Foundation.
Standards for What? The Economic Roots of K-16 Reform
Anthony P. Carnevale &
Donna M. Desrochers. 2003. Educational Testing Service. Visit their website here or view this document online here.