Browsing by Author "López Turley, Ruth"

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    Competition and Competition in College Enrollment: The Role of Race, Class, and Shadow Education in College Enrollment in the United States
    (2022-07-27) Lee, Jee Sun (Jasmin); López Turley, Ruth
    Research on college access has documented the importance of family background and school context on college enrollment, but less is known about the role of family investment outside of school. Shadow education, private academic services purchased outside the realm of mainstream schools, is a growing industry and one strategy for improving college admissions prospects in an increasingly competitive gatekeeping process. Students who are more socioeconomically advantaged and from racial minority backgrounds are more likely to utilize shadow education activities, but whether these activities, which can range from a couple hundred to multiple thousands of dollars, yield benefits still remains an open question. This paper explores the relationship between college admissions shadow education activities and students’ college enrollment outcomes. Using the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, I estimate the effect of three shadow education activities – taking a college exam prep course, hiring a college counselor, and attending a college camp – on students’ likelihood of enrolling in any four-year college as well as their likelihood of enrolling in a selective college. I employ doubly robust propensity score analysis to both account for selection bias and identify differential treatment effects for students of different racial/ethnic and class backgrounds. Through understanding whether these shadow education activities affect college enrollment and who benefits most from using shadow education activities, this paper contributes to existing knowledge on the role shadow education may be playing in exacerbating or ameliorating inequality in college access.
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    Texas School District Funding Gaps
    (Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research, 2024) López Turley, Ruth; Selsberg, Bradley
    In April 2024, the School Finance Indicators Database released new estimates of school district funding gaps, which refer to the difference between how much per-pupil funding each district receives and how much per-pupil funding each district needs. Linking these estimates to Texas Education Agency (TEA) student achievement ratings, this brief examines the extent of funding gaps in Texas school districts and how they impact student performance. The brief also identifies the gaps that are of greatest concern.