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Natural experiments and the educational context: The environment and effects of an alternative inner‐city public school on adolescents
Author(s) -
Trickett Edison J.,
McConahay John B.,
Phillips Deborah,
Ginter Melanie A.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf00929793
Subject(s) - haven , context (archaeology) , sociology , library science , gerontology , media studies , history , medicine , archaeology , mathematics , combinatorics , computer science
The 1-year impact of attending a public alternative high school on two cohorts of adolescents who gained entrance to the school through a lottery was studied. Adolescents who had applied to the school but were not selected in the lottery served as a control group. The nature of the alternative high school environment is described, and the outcome of this natural experiment defined in terms of reactions to school, attitude change, and student achievement. In general, the alternative school positively affected student satisfaction with a variety of aspects of school life and induced some positive change in interracial attitudes while not harming student achievement. Race effects were found in the areas of achievement and interracial attitudes. Implications for the study of natural experiments in general and the specific data in particular are drawn.