Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

A long line of research finds that poor children have lower test scores and are less likely to complete high school and go to college compared to their higher-income peers. Less is known about how variation in the experience of disadvantage across childhood is associated with these outcomes. This study uses both student administrative data from the state of Michigan and survey data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to 1) illustrate the dynamics of disadvantage a child experiences throughout primary and secondary school, 2) understand the common household factors associated with transitions on and off of disadvantage, and 3) analyze how patterns of disadvantage are associated with education outcomes. In addition, this project develops a needed toolkit for educational researchers to describe student socioeconomic background when working with limited administrative data.