Date of Award

Spring 3-14-2022

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Executive Ed.D. in Education Leadership Management and Policy

Department

Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Advisor

Dr. Daniel Gutmore

Committee Member

Dr. Jason Burns

Committee Member

Dr. Michael Osnato

Keywords

Equity and Access to Healthcare in NYC Public Schools

Abstract

Schools have made efforts to improve outcomes for poor, Black, and Latino students, but disparities persist. Education policies in the United States are not addressing the structural inequities in schools and any external influences that contribute to the low achievement of Black, and Latino students living in poverty. The research in this study highlights inadequate or lack of healthcare services as a contributing factor. This results in a host of problems children bring with them to schools such as attention disorders and chronic absenteeism. In order for schools to mitigate these educational and health challenges, they must have the resources and adequate funding, particularly for schools in disadvantaged communities. Accessible medical services in schools may provide students living in poverty with a healthy start. The need for accessibility to adequate healthcare and children's readiness to learn brings in the question of the role of School-Based Health Centers or School-Based Health Clinics (SBHC).

This study aims to determine if School-Based Health Centers have a direct impact on attendance and the academic performance of Black and Latino students living in poverty. This study is guided by the following research questions:

  • Does the presence of School-Based Health Centers impact the academic performance of Black and Latino students in New York City public schools?
  • Does the presence of School-Based Health Centers impact the attendance of Black and Latino students in New York City public schools?

In NYC there are currently 165 established School-Based Health Centers that are serving 359 schools. Two data sources were utilized to create a 20-year panel of data on the population of schools in New York City from 1996 to 2016. I’m going to estimate the effect of a clinic using a difference-in-difference framework, and the Callaway and Sant’anna difference-in-difference estimator. A difference-in-difference will determine whether the pre-intervention difference in outcome between the treatment and comparison group changes after the intervention is implemented.

Results

Overall, there was a positive relationship in ELA between student performance and School-Based Health Clinics. There is no relationship between attendance and School-Based Health Centers in New York City public schools. The event study indicated a statistically significant relationship with attendance after a school had a clinic for 7 years.

The descriptive statistics showed that the majority of the students attending clinic schools are Black and Latino and that more students attending clinic schools live in poverty in comparison to non-clinic schools. Based on this data, it can be inferred that Black and Latino students that attend clinic schools are experiencing an increase in performance in literacy. It is important to note that anything below proficiency is not in the data set used for this study. Therefore, any positive results in the data is encouraging because there is student growth that will not be picked up by a proficiency rate. Additionally, I consider the implications of these findings for policy and practice.

Additional Files
Dissertation Signature Page .pdf (1237 kB)
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