Full Citation
Title: No Internet = No High School Diploma? Data to Identify Counties at-risk of Increased Dropout Rates during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Citation Type: Journal Article
Publication Year: 2021
ISBN:
ISSN: 2769-903X
DOI:
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Abstract: Source Data Article Overview These secondary data originate from a study on the pre-pandemic association between high school dropout rates and internet access in the home, while controlling for several other demographic, economic, and social factors affecting the high school dropout rate. As the coronavirus (COVID-19) forced many students into remote learning, our work sought to identify counties across the United States where dropout rates were already high – and could be exacerbated as vulnerable students lack a critical tool to help them complete their diplomas in an online world: reliable internet access. In this source data article, we seek to foster a community of like-minded researchers interested in the links between high school dropout rates, local economic conditions, and socioeconomic factors. To help establish this community within the Data and Analytics for Good Journal, we provide data and source code, and share underlying methodologies in the hope that other researchers join our quest to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact vulnerable students across the United States. Internet access in the home will be just one of the factors affecting student performance, and we hope that others will provide data which can help us better understand our potential looming educational crisis. Data Value This project strives to start an empirical conversation about vulnerable populations and equal access to education with the Data and Analytics for Good Journal. These data support U.N. Sustainability (UNSDG) Goal #4 – Quality Education and UNSDG #10 Reduce Inequality. The goal of this secondary data compilation is to help academics, decision makers, and citizen data scientists to think more critically about where remote learning stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic could exacerbate achievement gaps in education. Moreover, these data can be used to identify geographic regions that may need additional resources to help remediate youth returning to school. Data Description Our data provide demographic, economic, and socioeconomic data for 3,133 counties all across the United States. This secondary data compilation primarily uses several public resources produced by the U.S. government, for all counties reporting data. Most of the variables in the data are derived from individual survey response data from the 2019 American Community Survey, which is collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. We also use economic data from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Social Vulnerability Index from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Data Application The final data set contains a host of county-level factors related to educational attainment, socioeconomic status, access to technology, and social vulnerability. Data can be used for simple descriptive analyses – including geospatial analysis – as well as more complex modeling such as decision trees and regressions. Possible research questions include, but are not limited, to: Indexing Table What is the relationship between high school dropout rates and internet access in the home – before COVID19? How do local employment opportunities – as proxied by Census occupation classifications1 – affect high school dropout rates? And do these opportunities differ by race/ethnicity and gender? How do dropout rates by race and ethnicity vary across counties in the United States? How do they differ by race/ethnicity and gender? How are socioeconomic variables, such as median household income and poverty rates, related to high school dropout rates?
Url: https://data-for-good.pubpub.org/pub/t0dx3qui/release/2
User Submitted?: No
Authors: Groves, Lincoln H.; Dyson, Linsey; Homel, Lauren; Kachare, Atul; Tesfaye, Hiwot; Yamada-Lifton, May
Periodical (Full): Data & Analytics for Good
Issue: 1
Volume: 5
Pages: 1-26
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Education, Health
Countries: