GPA declines in arts and PE/health greatly exceeded declines in core subjects between eighth and ninth grade¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2018 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2023: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Average declines were 0.81 points in PE/health and 0.61 points in arts, versus 0.33 points in core subjects; at 75 percent of CPS high schools, freshman PE/health GPAs fell more than 0.5 points. → Seeskin 2018 q2 i? Non-core declines were largest for students at highest risk: those with eighth-grade core GPAs below 2.0 lost 1.39 points in PE/health, and Black young men lost a full point in PE/health and more than three-quarters of a point in arts. → Seeskin 2018 (2)

Evidence¶

Seeskin 2018¶

Seeskin, A., Nagaoka, J., & Mahaffie, S. (2018). Hidden risk: Changes in GPA across the transition to high school. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/hidden-risk-changes-gpa-across-transition-high-school

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Descriptive analysis of the 2016-17 CPS freshman cohort across subject areas (Figure 8). The report states "students saw their grade decline by 0.81 points in PE/health between the eighth and ninth grades, and by 0.61 points in arts," attributing the gap partly to slower growth in non-core grades since 2013 (arts +0.08, PE/health +0.18 vs core +0.31).

"students saw their grade decline by 0.81 points in PE/health between the eighth and ninth grades, and by 0.61 points in arts—declines much larger than the average core GPA decline of 0.33 points"

Seeskin 2018 (2)¶

Seeskin, A., Nagaoka, J., & Mahaffie, S. (2018). Hidden risk: Changes in GPA across the transition to high school. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/hidden-risk-changes-gpa-across-transition-high-school

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Descriptive subgroup analyses (Figures 11 and 12). "Ninth-graders who received a core GPA lower than 2.0 in the eighth grade saw their average PE/health grade decline by 1.39 points"; the arts grades of Black young men fell by more than three-quarters of a point and their PE/health grades fell a full point.

"Ninth-graders who received a core GPA lower than 2.0 in the eighth grade saw their average PE/health grade decline by 1.39 points, from a B in eighth grade to a C- in ninth grade"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• CPS students' core GPAs continue to decline between eighth and ninth grade despite steady improvement in both eighth- and ninth-grade grades — related
• Students with higher eighth-grade achievement saw larger core GPA declines across the transition to high school — related
• High- and middle-achieving Black students saw core GPA declines at least twice as large as White peers with similar eighth-grade GPAs — related
• Patterns of GPA decline varied widely across high schools, suggesting school environment plays an important role in the transition — related
• Ninth-grade GPAs varied substantially by gender, race/ethnicity, neighborhood SES, incoming test scores, course level, and school — related