IU researchers share ideas at educational seminar

The sight of 13,000 faculty and graduate students walking the streets of New Orleans welcomed guests of the American Educational Research Association seminar.

Researchers submitted drafts of their papers to the seminar, some about their original work as well as some about pre-existing data.

The papers were reviewed and researchers were invited to attend the seminar, which took place April 8-12. This allowed researchers to collaborate before their work was published.

AMERICAN PERCEPTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
IU’s sociology research representatives Kristin Jordan and Oren Pizmony Levy were among the crowd at the annual conference.
 
Based on data conducted by Public Agenda and the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, Jordan and Pizmony Levy presented an analysis of American views on college applicants.

The paper focused on American perceptions of representation in higher education, specifically in regards to minority and low-income students.

“The Blind Side: Americans’ Perceptions of Inequalities in College Access” presents issues of what kinds of people apply to higher education.

While 43.4 percent of the adult respondents said qualified students from low-income backgrounds have less of an opportunity to attend college, only 26.9 percent said qualified minority students are at a disadvantage.  

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT CORRELATES WITH GRADUATION RATES
Far and wide, studies suggest a positive correlation between social interaction and success among high school graduates.

The High School Survey of Social Engagement project studied postsecondary students from 86 public schools within 22 different states ranging from rural, urban and suburban in terms of size and location.

Within the sphere of social engagement, the study points to the importance of active peer interaction not only within the classroom but also in school-sanctioned extracurricular activities and community development projects.

While school districts aim to measure countable attendance and test scores as a proxy, Yazzie-Mintz challenges this way of gauging involvement.

“Attendance measures whether they were there or not, but that’s not a measure of if they were involved in the learning,” he said. “My hopes are that school districts and policy-makers pay attention to the large variety of ways students connect to learning.”

EXCELLENCE GAPS
Leslie Rutkowski, an assistant professor in the IU School of Education’s Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, presented on achievement gaps in student demographics. 

Analysis of data obtained from Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study suggests that though some gaps persist, others show signs of marginalizing.

“In the U.S. and around the world there is a persistent shortage of well-qualified people in mathematics and sciences, and this project really speaks to this issue,” she said.   
While mixed patterns between immigrant and native-born students leaves room for further analysis, gender seems to be an area on the rise of performance equality.

“While in the last 15 to 20 years girls tended to underperform, a shift in thinking in education shows girls can do as well as boys,” Rutkowski said.