Statistical Analysis of The Effect of Participation in the Interdistrict Tinsley Voluntary Transfer Program On Student Academic Achievement

Abstract

Academic outcomes are a centerpiece of desegregation literature, as desegregation is often viewed as a means to rectify systemic racial inequality in the education system. However, because a vast majority of desegregation programs in the United States happen within district, and not between districts, where there are the most racial divisions, existing research may not portray the full extent of what racial integration. Investigations into interdistrict desegregation may offer greater insights into the effects of racial integration and better school resources on individual minority students.

This paper zooms into the Tinsley Voluntary Transfer, an interdistrict desegregation program allowing students in the minority Ravenswood City School District to transfer into neighboring Mid-Peninsula schools. In an effort to contextualize the existing literature on minority academic outcomes of desegregation to interdistrict transfer in specific, the research question posed is as follows: Is there a statistically significant difference in the academic performance of Tinsley transfer students and students who stayed within the Ravenswood district?

To assess the relationship between these two groups, quantitative statistical analysis was performed on data sets of the standardized test scores from 3^rd-8^th grade of both Tinsley transfer students in the Menlo Park City School District and Ravenswood students who did not transfer out of the district. The result was that there is a statistically significant difference between groups, though excluding for 7^th and 8^th grade Math. The paper hypothesizes that this may be partially accounted for by the beginning of tracking in math courses at the Menlo Park district.