Knowledge, Justice, and Equity

This chapter explores how systemic differences across schools in Australia contribute to equality or inequality in Indigenous students' learning opportunities, specifically access to the school curriculum needed to progress to university. Equitable access to the academic curriculum is particularly important for Indigenous students because they are impacted by a range of issues affecting school completion, achievement, and university participation. This research focuses on one aspect of the key transition from school to university, examining whether Indigenous students experience a greater range of challenges in gaining the prerequisite requirements for university study than other students of similar circumstances. In exploring these issues, the authors adopt a position of curricular and epistemic justice, arguing that “doing justice” with power-marginalized learners involves changing the basis for thinking about the nature of knowledge and how knowledge is valued.

The Impact of State Drug Laws on High School Completion and College Enrollment for Latino Young Men

Although college enrollment and completion rates have increased over the past 30 years, access to higher education has not been uniform across racial groups. In addition to racial gaps, differences in tertiary education outcomes exist by gender. Gender gaps in college enrollment are larger in the Latinx community than in other racial or ethnic groups. In this paper, we use the October Current Population Survey (CPS) supplements for the years 1984–1992 and state and federal drug laws to measure the impact of the passage of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act on the likelihood of college enrollment for young Latino men. Following the passage of the federal law, some states changed their drug laws around marijuana and cocaine possession and distribution. We use this variation in state law in order to explore whether states that have more lenient marijuana and cocaine laws also have a higher likelihood of college enrollment. We find that there was a four percentage point decline in both the likelihood of high school completion and that of college enrollment for Latinx men after the passage of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. Findings have implications for modifications to state drug laws and addressing the ways in which these laws impact educational attainment for students underrepresented in higher education.

Education, Occupational Complexity, and Incident Dementia: A COSMIC Collaborative Cohort Study

Background: Education and occupational complexity are main sources of mental engagement during early life and adulthood respectively, but research findings are not conclusive regarding protective effects of these factors against late-life dementia. Objective: This project aimed to examine the unique contributions of education and occupational complexity to incident dementia, and to assess the mediating effects of occupational complexity on the association between education and dementia across diverse cohorts. Method: We used data from 10,195 participants (median baseline age = 74.1, range = 58∼103), representing 9 international datasets from 6 countries over 4 continents. Using a coordinated analysis approach, the accelerated failure time model was applied to each dataset, followed by meta-analysis. In addition, causal mediation analyses were performed. Result: The meta-analytic results indicated that both education and occupational complexity were independently associated with increased dementia-free survival time, with 28%of the effect of education mediated by occupational complexity. There was evidence of threshold effects for education, with increased dementia-free survival time associated with ‘high school completion’ or ‘above high school’ compared to ‘middle school completion or below’. Conclusion: Using datasets from a wide range of geographical regions, we found that both early life education and adulthood occupational complexity were independently predictive of dementia. Education and occupational experiences occur during early life and adulthood respectively, and dementia prevention efforts could thus be made at different stages of the life course.

Survey of Nunavut Post-Secondary Students: Determinants of School Completion, Post-Secondary Education, and Education Success

Little is known about Nunavut students’ experiences in high school and post-secondary education, in particular their self-defined determinants of success. This study aimed to understand factors that influence secondary school completion, post-secondary education, and education success for students from Nunavut. An online survey was conducted with 91 current post-secondary students in 2018–19. Results found that students articulated complex support needs that influence their success, with roles for parents, teachers, and the community. Students identified support needs gaps, primarily in the form of funding distribution and delivery. Recommendations include increased financial, counselling, and mental health support for Nunavut students. Keywords: Inuit education, Nunavut education, Indigenous post-secondary students

The impact of childhood injury and injury severity on school performance and high school completion in Australia: a matched population-based retrospective cohort study

Background Exploring the impact of injury and injury severity on academic outcomes could assist to identify characteristics of young people likely to require learning support services. This study aims to compare scholastic performance and high school completion of young people hospitalised for an injury compared to young people not hospitalised for an injury by injury severity; and to examine factors influencing scholastic performance and school completion. Method A population-based matched case-comparison cohort study of young people aged ≤18 years hospitalised for an injury during 2005–2018 in New South Wales, Australia using linked birth, health, education and mortality records. The comparison cohort was matched on age, gender and residential postcode. Generalised linear mixed modelling examined risk of performance below the national minimum standard (NMS) on the National Assessment Plan for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and generalised linear regression examined risk of not completing high school for injured young people compared to matched peers. Results Injured young people had a higher risk of not achieving the NMS compared to their matched peers for numeracy (ARR: 1.12; 95%CI 1.06–1.17), reading (ARR: 1.09; 95%CI 1.04–1.13), spelling (ARR: 1.13; 95%CI 1.09–1.18), grammar (ARR: 1.11; 95%CI 1.06–1.15), and writing (ARR: 1.07; 95%CI 1.04–1.11). As injury severity increased from minor to serious, the risk of not achieving the NMS generally increased for injured young people compared to matched peers. Injured young people had almost twice the risk of not completing high school at year 10 (ARR: 2.17; 95%CI 1.73–2.72), year 11 (ARR: 1.95; 95%CI 1.78–2.14) or year 12 (ARR: 1.93; 95%CI 1.78–2.08) compared to matched peers. Conclusions The identification of characteristics of young people most likely to encounter problems in the academic environment after sustaining an injury is important to facilitate the potential need for learning support. Assessing learning needs and monitoring return-to-school progress post-injury may aid identification of any ongoing learning support requirements.

The Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools Program and High School Completion

Despite an increase in special education enrollment, a stark gap in high school completion between students with and without disabilities persists. This study examined the impact of Unified Champion Schools (UCS), a Special Olympics program designed to foster social inclusion through three components—Unified Sports, Inclusive Youth Leadership, and Whole School Engagement—on high school graduation rates. Using a novel dataset and a difference-in-differences design, we found that implementing the UCS program increased the graduation rate by 1.1 percentage points for all students and 1.4 percentage points for students with disabilities. The increase in schooling outcomes for students with disabilities in UCS schools also was found to be positively correlated with perceptions about a more socially inclusive school environment.

Demographic, Transition, and Vocational Rehabilitation Service Variables’ Association With High School Completion Outcomes of Youth With Disabilities Receiving SSI

Completing high school expands career prospects for young adults with disabilities, increasing their likelihood for gainful employment. Those who graduate from high school are more likely to have higher salaries and longer job tenure than those who do not have high school diplomas. As such, graduating from high school is a significant milestone for students with disabilities. Yet, the specific predictors of high school completion among youth with disabilities are not well understood. This study used three multiple logistic regression analyses and a hierarchical logistic regression analysis to evaluate demographic, PROMISE transition services, and vocational rehabilitation (VR) services as predictors of high school completion in a sample of 350 transition-age youth receiving Supplemental Security Income. Among the demographic variables examined, race, disability type, parent education, and family income were significant predictors of completion. For transition services, social skills training and self-advocacy training were independently associated with high school completion, while miscellaneous training was the only independent significant VR service predictor. Findings support the importance of pre-employment transition services, especially in the areas of social skills training, self-advocacy training, and VR services in the areas of miscellaneous training that can be used to promote completion of high school.

619Can social inclusion improve health and educational outcomes for youth experiencing disadvantage?

Focus of presentation Disparity in access to education is a recognised social determinant of health outcomes worldwide. Young people experiencing disadvantage often experience considerably more problems in their health and educational outcomes. The objective of this project, from a social epidemiological perspective, is to investigate whether social inclusion confers the potential to disrupt inequities by improving school completion for vulnerable young people experiencing disadvantage. Findings It is expected that groups with high vulnerability (represented by disadvantage indicators) will have poorer educational trajectories, with lower levels of school completion. It is also expected that this effect will be moderated by the level of social inclusion, such that vulnerable groups with high levels of social inclusion will have higher levels of school completion as compared to vulnerable groups with lower levels of social inclusion. It is also expected that other factors will influence the development of social inclusion, such that the developmental pattern of, and change in, social inclusion from childhood to adolescence may have a unique effect on school completion. Conclusions/Implications Identifying whether social inclusion can moderate the impact of vulnerability on school completion provides the opportunity to inform future interventions and has the potential to provide evidence to government and thus influence policy. Key messages Social inclusion may be a vital key to understanding the effect of disadvantage on health and educational pathways for young people in Australia, and an avenue for disrupting inequities.

Impact of growing up with somatic long-term health challenges on school completion, NEET status and disability pension: a population-based longitudinal study

Background Young adulthood is an important transitional life phase that can determine a person’s educational and employment trajectories. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of somatic long-term health challenges in adolescence on upper secondary school completion, not in education, employment or training (NEET status) and receiving disability pension in early adulthood. Additional disparities in educational and employment achievements were also investigated in relation to socioeconomic background. Methods The sample consisted of all young adults born in the period 1990 to 1996, (N = 421,110). Data were obtained from the Norwegian Patient Registry which is linked to the Central Population Register, education and income registries and the Historical Event Database in Statistics Norway. These data sources provide longitudinal population data. Statistical analyses were performed using multiple logistic regression and computed average marginal effects after the multiple logistic regression. Results The results showed that, compared to young adults without long-term health challenges, young adults with the diagnoses inflammatory bowel disease, epilepsy, diabetes, sensory impairment, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), spina bifida (SB) and cerebral palsy (CP) had lower odds of completing upper secondary education. Moreover, young adults with long-term health challenges had higher odds of NEET status by age 21 compared to those without a long-term health challenge. As for the odds of NEET status by age 21, the results showed that young adults with epilepsy, SMA, SB and CP in particular had the highest odds of receiving disability pension compared to young adults without long-term health challenges. Conclusions This longitudinal study revealed that on average young adults with long-term health challenges, compared to those without, struggle to participate in education and employment. The findings highlight the need for preventive measures especially in relation to young adults with neurological conditions such as epilepsy, SMA, SB, and CP.