AERA 2021 Annual Meeting
Snapshots of Selected Annual Meeting Research Papers
and Forthcoming AERA Journal Articles
To request a full copy of a study snapshot or an embargoed copy of an annual meeting working paper or a journal article, or to talk to study authors, please contact AERA Communications: Tony Pals, Director of Communications, tpals@aera.net, cell: (202) 288-9333; Tong Wu, Communications Associate, twu@aera.net, cell: (202) 957-3802
- How Do Weighted Funding Formulas Affect Charter School Enrollments?
Author: Paul Bruno (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
This study was presented at the AERA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting.
Session: Charter School Operations: Finance, Governance, and Classrooms
Date/Time: Friday, April 9, 10:40 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. ET
Main Finding:
The adoption of a school funding system in California that increased revenues for schools enrolling higher-need students led to an increase in the rate at which charter schools enrolled low-income students. This effect was concentrated among charter schools initially enrolling low-income students at relatively low rates, suggesting that some charters “cream skim” high achieving, wealthier students, but that such behavior also can be mitigated.
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- Characterizing Remote Instruction Provided by Elementary School Teachers during School Closures due to COVID-19
Authors: Michael Hebert (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), J. Marc Goodrich (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), Jessica M. Namkung (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
This study was presented at the AERA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting.
Session: Technology Supports and Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Date/Time: Saturday, April 10, 10:40 a.m. - 11:40 a.m. ET
Main Finding:
While teachers in spring 2020 felt that 60 percent of their students were prepared for the next grade level, in fall 2020 teachers reported that only 50 percent of students had the skills needed to transition to their class when schools reopened. Additionally, 75 percent of teachers reported spending more time reviewing material from the previous grade, when compared to prior years. Approximately two-thirds of teachers reported in fall 2020 that reading achievement gaps at their school were larger than in previous years; however, only approximately 40 percent of teachers reported providing more reading intervention than in previous years. Similarly, approximately half of teachers reported that mathematics and writing achievement gaps were larger than previous years, but only 33 percent to 38 percent of teachers reported providing more math and writing intervention than in previous years.
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- Students Enrolled in Late-Start-Time Districts Report Higher Academic Achievement and Sleeping More
Authors: Julio Caesar (Bloomington Public Schools), Rik Lamm (University of Minnesota), Michael C. Rodriguez (University of Minnesota), David J. Heistad (Bloomington Public Schools)
This study was presented at the AERA 2021 Annual Meeting.
Session: Organizational Effects Examining Academic Achievement and Student Support
Date/Time: Saturday, April 10, 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET
Main Finding:
Later school start times are linked to higher grade point averages and higher proportions of students getting the recommended number of hours of sleep.
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- Exploring the Association Between Student-College Match and Student Outcomes Over Time
Author: Amanda M. Cook (Northwestern University)
This study was presented at the AERA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting.
Session: Nuances and Challenges to Traditional Notions of College Success
Date/Time: Saturday, April 10, 10:40 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. ET
Main Finding:
Over the past 20 years, bachelor’s degree completion rates for students who overmatch (i.e., attend colleges that may appear too academically selective for them) have improved substantially. Over the same time period, bachelor’s degree completion rates for students who undermatch (i.e., attend colleges that appear too academically unselective for them) and match (i.e., attend colleges that appear to be good academic fits) have remained stable. When the analysis is restricted to students with relatively high academic qualifications who begin their college careers at four-year institutions, matched and overmatched students’ graduation rates improve over time, but undermatched students’ do not.
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- Study Snapshot: Which U.S. Elementary Schoolchildren Are More Likely to Be Frequently Bullied?
Authors: Paul Morgan (Pennsylvania State University), Adrienne D. Woods (Pennsylvania State University), Yangyang Wang (Pennsylvania State University), George Farkas (University of California, Irvine), Yoonkyung Oh (University of Texas Health Science Center), Marianne Hillemeier (Pennsylvania State University), Cynthia Mitchell (Pennsylvania State University)
This study was presented at the AERA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting
Session: Friends, Enemies, and Bullies: Peer Relationships in Schools
Date/Time: Saturday, April 10, 10:40 a.m. – 12:10 p.m. ET
Main Finding:
Kindergarten children who frequently externalize problem behaviors (i.e., are aggressive or otherwise target their behavior at others) are at high risk of being frequently bullied later in 3rd–5th grades. Children with higher academic achievement and who can better self-regulate their behaviors—two other factors that can be modified—are at slightly less risk of being frequently bullied in later grades, particularly girls. Black children are at greater risk for reputational bullying, particularly boys. Children with disabilities are more likely to be bullied, including physically and socially.
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- Do Students in Gifted Programs Perform Better? Linking Gifted Program Participants to Achievement and Nonachievement Outcomes
Authors: Christopher Redding (University of Florida), Jason A. Grissom (Vanderbilt University)
This study will be presented at the AERA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting.
Session: On the Road to Equity: Studies of the Impact and Influences of Education Policy
Date/Time: Saturday, April 10, 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET
Main Finding:
Participating in elementary school gifted programs is associated with reading and math achievement for the average student, though the observed relationships are small. Black and low-income students do not see the academic gains that their peers experience when receiving gifted services. There is no evidence that participating in a gifted program is related to nonachievement outcomes such as student absences, engagement in school, or whether a student leaves or stays in a school.
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- The Infrastructure of Social Control: A Multi-Level Counterfactual Analysis of Surveillance, Punishment, Achievement, and Persistence
Authors: Odis Johnson (Johns Hopkins University), Jason F. Jabbari (Washington University in St. Louis)
This study was presented at the AERA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting.
Session: The School-to-Prison and Prison-to-School Pipelines: Studies of the Nexus of Schooling and the Justice System
Date/Time: Sunday, April 11, 10:40 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. ET
Main Finding:
After controlling for levels of school social disorder and student misbehavior, students attending high-surveillance high schools are more likely to be subjected to in-school suspension than those at low-surveillance schools, have lower math achievement, and are less likely to attend college. Black students are four times more likely to attend a high versus low-surveillance school.
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- 21st Century Tracking and De Facto School Segregation: Excluding and Hoarding Access to College Prep
Author: Heather E. Price (Marian University)
This study was presented at the AERA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting.
Session: Schools and Social Policy: Segregation, Housing, and Transportation
Date/Time: Monday, April 12, 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. ET
Main Finding:
The prevalence of Black, non-Hispanic students in high schools that do not offer any AP or IB courses in multi-school districts that fund college-prep curricula cannot be explained by resource or school factors.
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- Disproportionate Burden: Estimating the Cost of FAFSA Verification for Public Colleges and Universities
Authors: Alberto Guzman-Alvarez (University of Pittsburgh), Lindsay C. Page (University of Pittsburgh)
This study was published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis on Monday, April 12.
Main Finding:
The institutional compliance costs of the FAFSA verification mandate in 2014 totaled nearly $500 million, with the burden falling disproportionately on public institutions and community colleges in particular. Twenty-two percent of an average community college’s financial aid office operating budget is devoted to verification procedures, compared to 15 percent at public four-year institutions and 1 percent at private four-year institutions.
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- Untested Admissions: Examining Changes in Application Behaviors and Student Demographics Under Test-Optional Policies
Author: Christopher Bennett (Vanderbilt University)
This study was published in American Educational Research Journal on Monday, April 12.
Main Finding:
In undergraduate admissions, the adoption of test-optional policies at selective private institutions was linked to a 3-4 percent increase in enrollment of Pell Grant recipients, a 10-12 percent increase in enrollment of first-time Black, Latinx, and Native students, and a 6-8 percent increase in enrollment of first-time students who were women. However, these gains translate into only a 1 percentage point increase in the share of the student body receiving Pell Grants, a 1 percentage point increase of the share of incoming students who were from underrepresented racially/ethnically minoritized backgrounds (i.e., Black, Latinx, and Native students), and a 4 percentage point increase in the share of incoming students who were women.
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- Paying for Whose Performance? Teacher Incentive Pay and the Black-White Test Score Gap
Authors: Andrew J. Hill (Montana State University), Daniel B. Jones (University of Pittsburgh)
This study was published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis on Monday, April 12.
Main Finding:
Teacher incentive pay programs that focused on raising student achievement in high-need high schools expanded the test score gap between Black and White students by between 64 percent and 85 percent.
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