Freshman-year performance of Chicago ninth-graders falls into three tiers, with students two or more years below grade level and students with emotional disturbances performing worst across GPA, course failures, absences, and on-track status¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2009 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Across four freshman indicators, students with physical/sensory and speech/language disabilities perform similarly to students without identified disabilities; students with learning disabilities and mild cognitive disabilities perform at a substantially lower level; students two or more years below grade level and students with emotional disturbances perform worst. → Julia Gwynne 2009 q2 i? Average freshman GPAs are about 2.0 for the top tier, 1.6 for learning/mild cognitive disabilities, and about 1.1 for students below grade level and those with emotional disturbances. → Julia Gwynne 2009 (2)

Evidence¶

Julia Gwynne 2009¶

Julia Gwynne, Joy Lesnick, Holly M. Hart, Elaine M. Allensworth. (2009). What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools: A Focus on Students with Disabilities. Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago Urban Education Institute. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/what-matters-staying-track-and-graduating-chicago-public-schools-focus-students

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Descriptive analysis of the 2004 CPS first-time freshman cohort across seven student categories, reported in Chapter 2. The report states the tier pattern holds across all four indicators, with the middle tier performing "at a substantially lower level than students without identified disabilities."

"In the highest performing tier, students with physical/sensory disabilities tend to do as well as, or slightly better than, students without identified disabilities, followed closely by students with speech/language disabilities."

Julia Gwynne 2009 (2)¶

Julia Gwynne, Joy Lesnick, Holly M. Hart, Elaine M. Allensworth. (2009). What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools: A Focus on Students with Disabilities. Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago Urban Education Institute. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/what-matters-staying-track-and-graduating-chicago-public-schools-focus-students

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Descriptive GPA figures from Figure 4 for the 2004 freshman cohort. The report also prints average semester course failures of 3.0 and 2.7 for learning and mild cognitive disability groups and absences of 12 to 19 days per semester for the lower tiers.

"Students with learning disabilities and mild cognitive disabilities have an average GPA of 1.6 (D+). Students who are two or more years below grade level and students with emotional disturbances have a barely passing average GPA of about 1.1 (D)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Higher absence rates are the most important factor explaining why students with disabilities fail more courses and earn lower GPAs than students without identified disabilities — related
• Students with learning disabilities and mild cognitive disabilities benefit less from rigorous study habits than students without identified disabilities, and for mild cognitive disabilities there is no relationship between study habits and course failures — related
• Within every student category, freshman GPA, course failures, and absences are strongly related to five-year graduation rates, with large drops per half grade point, per additional course failure, and per absence band — related
• At each level of freshman course performance, students with disabilities and students two or more years below grade level are less likely to graduate than their non-disabled peers — related
• The freshman on-track indicator predicts five-year graduation equally or more strongly for students with learning disabilities, mild cognitive disabilities or emotional disturbances than for students without disabilities, with on-track students two to six times more likely to graduate — related
• Most Chicago freshmen fail at least one course, miss substantial school, or earn below a C average in their first year — related