RESEARCH AREAS
ETHNIC STUDIES
In collaboration with the San Francisco Unified School District and Albuquerque Public Schools, this mixed-methods study examines the effect of taking an ethnic studies course on the academic and socioemotional outcomes of students of color.
Research Team: Nancy Chavez (UNM), Emily Penner (UCI), Lucrecia Santibañez (UCLA), Kyo Yamashiro (LMU)
GENERATION XCHANGE
This project examines the impact of the Generation Xchange program on elementary students’ academic and behavioral outcomes.
Research Team: Teresa Seeman (UCLA)
MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH PLACEMENT AND ITS EFFECTS
This project examines students’ middle-school math course-taking patterns and math course placement among students with similar academic skills at the end of elementary school and the impact of taking an accelerated math course in seventh grade on students’ academic achievement, college readiness, and college enrollment.
Research Team: Carrie Miller (UCLA), Meredith Phillips (UCLA)
PROMISING PRACTICES OF EFFECTIVE ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS
This mixed-methods project identifies schools that consistently improve elementary and middle-school students’ English language arts and math skills compared to schools serving initially similar students and explores the mechanisms that contribute to schools’ effectiveness.
Research Team: Carrie Miller (UCLA), Meredith Phillips (UCLA)
COLLEGE-GOING CLIMATE OF EFFECTIVE HIGH SCHOOLS
This project identifies high schools that consistently improve students’ college readiness, application, and enrollment and persistence compared to schools serving initially similar students and explores mechanisms that might contribute to schools’ effectiveness.
Research Team: Carrie Miller (UCLA), Meredith Phillips (UCLA)
NAVIGATING THE COLLEGE ACCESS PROCESS
This project presents school-level information about students’ perceptions of their college access supports & students’ college application and enrollment outcomes. School and district staff can locate schools on a map, alongside characteristics of the schools’ census tracts, and compare magnet and non-magnet schools on the same site and schools that are demographically and academically similar.
Research Team: Carrie Miller (UCLA), Meredith Phillips (UCLA)
ON-TRACK INDICATORS
This project examines academic and behavioral indicators in elementary and middle school that are especially predictive of college readiness by the end of high school.
Research Team: Carrie Miller (UCLA), Meredith Phillips (UCLA)
SUMMER MELT
This project describes the prevalence and predictors of “summer melt” among district graduates.
Research Team: Caitlin Ahearn (Stanford), Carrie Miller (UCLA), Meredith Phillips (UCLA)
PAST PROJECTS
COLLEGE ACCESS SUPPORTS AVAILABLE IN DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOLS
This project explored the availability of college readiness supports in L.A. Unified high schools.
Research Team: Meredith Phillips (UCLA), Kyo Yamashiro (LMU), Carrie Miller (UCLA)
COLLEGE APPLICATION PATTERNS
This project examined L.A. Unified graduates’ community and four-year college application patterns.
Research Team: Carrie Miller (UCLA), Meredith Phillips (UCLA), Kyo Yamashiro (LMU)
COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND COMPLETION AMONG DISTRICT GRADUATES
This project examined where L.A. Unified graduated enrolled in college, as well as how college-going outcomes differed across a variety of background characteristics.
Research Team: Meredith Phillips (UCLA), Kyo Yamashiro (LMU), Thomas Jacobson (UCLA)
TWELFTH-GRADE MATH COURSE-TAKING AND COLLEGE SUCCESS
This project examined the effect of taking a twelfth-grade math course on students’ college enrollment and success in college-level STEM coursework.
Research Team: Lenny Wainstein (Reed College), Carrie Miller (UCLA), Meredith Phillips (UCLA), Kyo Yamashiro (LMU), Tatiana Melguizo (USC)
UNIVERSAL PRE-KINDERGARTEN
This project explores L.A. Unified’s rollout of UPK, with a focus on understanding equity in access to UPK programs, children’s experiences across UPK programs, and UPK teachers’ and principals’ experiences and needs.
Research Team: Anna Markowitz (UCLA)
SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION
This project examines how L.A. Unified students travel to and from school and the relationship between aspects of students’ commutes (e.g., mode of transportation, distance, duration) and their attendance and academic achievement.
Research Team: Samuel Speroni (UCLA)