Russell W. Rumberger

Research Projects and Publications

 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

 California Dropout Research Project

The California Dropout Research Project (CDRP) was established in December 2006 to produce new and useful research to inform policymakers, educators and the general public about the nature of the dropout crisis in California and help the state develop a meaningful policy agenda to address the problem. To date the project was produced a series of 16 Research Reports and Policy Briefs addressing four facets of the issue: (1) the measurement and incidence of dropping out; (2) the educational, social, and economic costs of dropouts for individuals and the state; (3) the short-term and long-term causes of dropping out; and (4) possible solutions. It has also produced 13 Statistical Briefs that address more specific questions about the nature of the problem. In addition, the project's Policy Committee—composed of researchers, policymakers, and educators—issued a report on February 27, 2008 with a series of recommendations on what schools, districts, and the state should do to improve California's high school graduation rate. The 65 publications have been distributed in print to all superintendents and legislators in California and have been downloaded more than 50,000 times from the project website.

PAPERS AND PUBLICATIONS (sorted by topic)

  • Dropouts
  • Student mobility
  • English language learners
  • Preschool
  • Achievement gap
  • School segregation
  • School effectiveness
  • Research methods
  • Higher education

 

Dropouts

 

Dropping Out: Why Students Drop Out of High School and What Can be Done About It (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011).

 

Improving Measures of High School Dropout, Graduation, and Completion Rates:  Better Data, Better Measures, Better Decisions (committee member). Committee for Improved Measurement of High School Dropout and Completion Rates:  Expert Guidance on Next Steps for Research and Policy Workshop.  Robert M. Hauser, and Judith A. Koenig, Editors.  Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council.  Washington, DC:  The National Academies Press , 2010.

 

Why Students Drop Out of School: A Review of 25 Years of Research (with Sun Ah Lim). Santa Barbara: California Dropout Research Project, University of California, Santa Barbara, October 2008.

 

Dropout Prevention: A Practice Guide (with Mark Dynarski, Liinda Clarke, Brian B. Cobb, Jeremy Finn, Jay Smink, Kristin Hallgren, and Brian B. Gill). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sci­ences, U.S. Department of Education, 2008.

 

“California’s exit exam fails employers."  Los Angeles Times, January 29, 2006.  Commentary.

 

National Institute of Statistical Sciences/Education Statistics Services Institute Task Force on Graduation, Completion, and Dropout Indicators: Final Report (Task Force Member).  NCES 2005-105.  Washington, D.C.:  U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, 2005.

 

“Test Scores, Dropout Rates, and Transfer Rates as Alternative Indicators of School Performance” (with Gregory Palardy).  American Education Research Journal, 41 (2005), 3-42.  Paper (PDF).

 

“Other view:  Under NCLB, state tinkers with dropouts” (with Daniel J. Losen).  Sacramento Bee, April 29, 2005.  Commentary. 

 

“Why students drop out of school.” In Gary Orfied (Ed.), Dropouts in America: Confronting the Graduation Rate Crisis (pp.131-155). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2004.  (PDF version). (To order book).

 

“What can be done to reduce school dropouts?” In  Gary Orfied (Ed.), Dropouts in America: Confronting the Graduation Rate Crisis (pp.243-254). Cambridge: Harvard Education Press, 2004.  (PDF version).  (To order book).

  

Engaging Schools: Fostering High School Student’s Motivation to Learn (contributor).  Committee on Increasing High School Student’s Engagement and Motivation to Learn, National Research Council.  Washington, D.C. The National Academy Press, 2003. Report Brief (PDF).

 

“The Early Employment and Further Education Experiences of High School Dropouts: A Comparative Study of the United States and Australia” (with Stephen P. Lamb).  Economics of Education Review, 22 (2003): 353-356.  Paper (PDF).

 

Who Drops Out of School and Why.  Paper prepared for the National Research Council, Committee on Educational Excellence and Testing Equity Workshop, “School Completion in Standards-Based Reform: Facts and Strategies,” Washington, D.C., July 17-18, 2000.  Paper (Word).

 

“The Distribution of Dropout and Turnover Rates among Urban and Suburban High Schools.” (with Scott Thomas) Sociology of Education, 73 (2000): 39-67.  Paper (PDF).

 

Capturing Latino Students in the Academic Pipeline (with Patricia Gándara, Hugh Mehan, and Katherine Larson).  University of California, Berkeley:  Chicano/Latino Policy Project, May 1998.  CLPP Policy Report (PDF).  California Policy Seminar Brief.

 

“Dropping Out of Middle School:  A Multilevel Analysis of Students and Schools.” American Educational Research Journal, 32 (1995): 583-625. Paper (PDF).

 

Achievement for Latinos through Academic Success (with Katherine Larson).  Technical Report, December 1995. 

 

 

Student mobility

 

Student Mobility: Exploring the Impact of Frequent Moves on Achievement: Summary of a Workshop (committee member). A. Beatty, Rapporteur. Committee on Impact of Mobility and Change on the Lives of Young Children, Schools, and Neighborhoods, Board on Children, Youth, and Families. Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. National Research Council. Washington, D.C.: National Academic Press, 2010.

 

“The causes and consequences of student mobility.” Journal of Negro Education, 72 (2003), 6-21.  Paper (PDF).

 

Student Mobility and Academic Achievement.  ERIC Digest (PDF).  Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, June 2002. 

 

The Educational Consequences of Mobility for California Students and Schools (with Katherine A. Larson, Gregory J. Palardy, and Robert K. Ream).  Research Series 99-2.  Berkeley, CA: Policy Analysis for California Education, March 1999. 

      Pre-production report (PDF).  Policy Brief (PDF). 

 

The Hazards of Changing Schools for California Latino Adolescents (with Katherine A. Larson, Gregory J. Palardy, Robert K. Ream, and Nina C. Schleicher).  University of California, Berkeley:  Chicano/Lation Policy Project, October 1998.  CPPP Policy Report (PDF).  California Policy Seminar Brief. 

 

 

English language learners

 

“Immigration, Language, and Education: How Does Language Policy Structure Opportunity?” (with Patricia Gándara). Teachers College Record , 111 (March 2009): 750-782. Paper (PDF).

 

Resource Needs for English Learners: Getting Down to Policy Recommendations (with Patricia Gándara and Julie Maxwell-Jolley). Santa Barbara: UC Linguistic Minority Research Institute, April 2008. Report (PDF).

 

“Defining an Adequate Education for English Learners ” (with Patricia Gándara). Journal of Education Finance and Policy , 3 (January 2008): 130-148. Paper (PDF).

 

Preschool Participation and the Cognitive and Social Development of Language Minority Students.  CRESST/UC LMRI Technical Report, January 2006.

 

 “Seeking equity in the education of California's English learners.” (with Patricia Gándara).  Teachers College Record, 106(2004), 2032-2056.  Paper (PDF).

 

“English Learners in California schools: Unequal resources, unequal outcomes” (with Patricia Gándara, Julie Maxwell-Jolly, & Rebecca Callahan).  Education Policy Analysis Archives, 11, Retrieved October 7, 2003 from http: //epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v11n36/.   

 

The Inequitable Treatment of English Learners in California’s Public Schools (with Patricia Gándara).  Report prepared for the lawsuit, Williams v. State of California, April 2003.  Available on the WWW at: http://idea.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/williams. 

 

 

Preschool

 

“Less-costly alternatives to Prop. 82 could yield better results.”  San Jose Mercury, June 28, 2006.  Commentary.

 

Preschool Participation and the Cognitive and Social Development of Language Minority Students.  CRESST/UC LMRI Technical Report, January 2006 (PDF version).

 

Preschool for California’s Children: Promising Benefits, Unequal Access (with Rebecca Bridges, Bruce Fuller, Loan Tran)

      PACE/UC LMRI Policy Brief, September 2004 (PDF version).

 

 

Achievement gap

 

“Understanding and Addressing the California Latino Achievement Gap in Early Elementary School” (with Brenda Arellano). In Mexicans in California: Transformations and Challenges , edited by Patricia Zavella and Ramon Gutiérrez, pp. 61-76 . Champagne, IL:  University of Illinois Press, 2009. (PDF version)

 

“Parsing the Data on Student Achievement in High Poverty Schools.”  North Carolina Law Review, 85 (2007), 101-119.  (PDF version)

 

 

School segregation

 

  “Does Resegregation Matter? The Impact of Student Composition on Academic Achievement in Southern High Schools” (with Gregory J. Palardy). In How Brown Lost Its Way: School Sesegregation in the South , edited by Jack Boger and Gary Orfield, pp. 127-147. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005.

      Chapter (PDF).  Technical Appendix (Word version).

 

“Does Segregation Still Matter?  The Impact of Social Composition on Academic Achievement in High School” with (Gregory Palardy) Teachers College Record, 107 (2005), 1999-2045.  Paper (PDF).

 

 

School effectiveness

 

What the Federal Government Can Do to Improve High School Performance . Washington, D.C.: Center on Education Policy, July 2009.

 

 

Research methods

 

“Multilevel Models for School Effectiveness Research” (with Gregory Palardy). In Handbook of Quantitative Methodology for the Social Sciences, edited by David Kaplan, pp. 235-258.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2004. (PDF version).  

 

 

Higher education

 

"The Economic Returns to College Major, Quality, and Performance:  A Multilevel Analysis of Recent Graduates" (with Scott Thomas).  Economics of Education Review, 12 (1993),  1-19. Paper (PDF).

 

 

Updated July 2011 .