This digest provides descriptive, aggregated statistics related to the experiences of 10 cohorts of graduates of City Schools from school years 2010-11 through 2019-20. The compilers use multiple indicators of college access, including the process of applying for college and financial aid, enrollment in the fall following high school graduation,…

Since 2014, the District of Columbia has used an annual common application to place new students from prekindergarten for 3-year-olds (PK3) through 12th grade in DC Public Schools (DCPS) and DC public charter schools. Though K-12 students have the right to attend their in-boundary school, this policy does not extend to students in PK3 or PK4…

As schools face growing competitive pressures, researchers have investigated the increasing reliance on marketing and its implications for various racial and socioeconomic groups. Although research has expanded our knowledge of marketing's gatekeeping qualities, it has less often considered the manner in which school marketing efforts contribute…

New York City's elite public specialized high schools have a long history of offering a rigorous college preparatory education to the City's most academically talented students. Though immensely popular and highly selective, their policy of admitting students on the basis of a single entrance exam has been heavily criticized. Many argue, for…

Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ), which combines community investments with reform minded charter schools, is one of the most ambitious social experiments to alleviate poverty of our time. We provide the first empirical test of the causal impact of HCZ on educational outcomes, with an eye toward informing the long-standing debate whether schools alone…

This paper examines the impact of attending different categories of selective institutions on students' college completion. Specifically, it explores differences in the impact that selectivity of an institution has by race and ethnicity. The analysis accounts for the impact of individual and institutional characteristics and corrects for omitted…

The study investigated the differential effects of subjects' race, examiners' race, and stated purpose of testing upon self-report measures of disadvantaged young adults. A sample of students enrolled in a Manpower Development and Training Center participated. A black, and a white, examiner administered self-report instruments to 40 black and 40…

This study analyzes the relationship between student achievement and school mobility climate. The hypothesis is that an average individual achievement score tends to drop as the school mobility climate becomes increasingly more selective. A selective climate classifies students by ability or achievement as early as possible through tracking or…

Racial factors in personnel selection procedures and the performance of racial and socio-economic groups on a testing instrument widely used in personnel selection and in public schools are discussed. The study questions whether individual test items are relatively easier for one racial group than for another, and whether there is a relationship…

This report presents selected preliminary findings for the Center for Equal Opportunity's undergraduate admissions project for the University of California, Berkeley, 1993-1995. It describes the racial and ethnic composition of Berkeley enrollees and racial and ethnic differences in Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores and grade point averages.…

Issues related to ability testing and affirmative action are discussed, including the fair use of tests in academic and occupational selection, the effects of testing upon the tested individual, and implications of the issues for the major participants. Types and functions of ability tests, both aptitude and achievement, are described. Studies of…

This study examines the extent to which racial preferences are used in a cross-section of Michigan's public universities and attempts to determine how the elimination of racial preferences would affect the enrollment patterns of these schools. It submits actual admissions data from eight public universities to statistical analysis. All eight…

Some of the controversial issues involved in the use of objective tests by institutions of higher education, as this use affects the selection and attendance by members of minority groups, are reviewed. Admissions committees now rely on the ability of a test to predict students' performance at their institution to guide their selection. However,…

The consequences of the end of minority preferences in the University of California (UC) schools of law and medicine are explored. The first students admitted into these graduate schools on a colorblind basis will begin classes in the fall of 1997. None of these students received a racial preference in admission, as a result of a 1995 decision by…

Student distribution among institutions of higher education corresponds more to the socioeconomic status of institutions than to the test-predicted performance levels. Aggregate data shows that the more costly institutions recruit wealthier students with higher test scores. Traditionally black institutions rely far less on test results, preferring…