About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 32. Solicited Content: Expanded Learning & Out-of-School Time

Abstract

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The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 sought to address educational disparities by improving accountability of state government and providing additional academic support for underperforming students. One of NCLB's key provisions was supplemental educational services (SES), which mobilized local public, private, non-profit, or religious organizations to provide expanded learning and out-of-school time resources (e.g., free tutoring) to low-income students in underperforming schools. However, little attention has been given to the role of SES, and its potential to support academic outcomes for traditionally underserved students.

Adolescence is a critical developmental period characterized by heightened sensitivity to their external environments. Expanded learning opportunities and support through neighborhood institutions may serve as a key role in promoting adolescents' academic achievement, especially at this important period in their educational trajectory. This study will examine how expanded institutional resources at the local level in response to NCLB's SES provisions have impacted youth’s academic achievement, with a particular focus on achievement gaps by race and ethnicity.

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) – a nationally representative panel study following 8,984 children aged 12 to 18 over 17 years. NLSY97 includes detailed information on participants’ educational attainment, labor market outcomes, family and school backgrounds. Additional neighborhood-level data on institutional resources, such as non-profit organizations supporting youth education, economic, or socioemotional well-being were gathered from various administrative sources, including the Census Bureau, the National Center for Charitable Statistics, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A preliminary descriptive of local organizations and NLSY data are presented in Table 1.

To estimate the changes in racial-ethnic achievement gaps resulting from increased institutional resources through the SES provision of NCLB, we extend the difference-in-differences (DiD) model to incorporate race-ethnicity as an additional interaction term. The specified model is presented in Figure 1.

The interaction term between an indicator for pre- or post-NCLB, the number of seven types of local organizations, and dummies representing individuals' race (i.e., Latinx, non-Hispanic Blacks, and other racial-ethnic groups) captures the differential effect of increased neighborhood resources on racial-ethnic groups after the implementation of NCLB. I hypothesize a negative β7 suggesting that the increase in institutional resources under NCLB narrowed the racial-ethnic achievement gap. The model includes controls for socioeconomic and demographic factors, providing a comprehensive analysis of how community-level resources and educational policy affected different racial-ethnic groups.

This research highlights the broader developmental context of expanded learning and out-of-school time resources as an important factor in shaping youth academic outcomes. While past research on SES has focused on changes in average grades for students who received direct SES services, this study shifts the lens to examine how increased availability of neighborhood resources influenced the educational trajectories of all youth within the community. The findings provide new insights into how targeted policy interventions like NCLB’s SES provisions can be optimized to better support marginalized communities and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in educational outcomes through expanded learning opportunities.

Author information

Author	Role
Sae Hyun Oh, University of Michigan	Presenting author

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