Brian Holzman

Summer Melt and the Postsecondary Pathway: https://osf.io/zkd9h

College Enrollment Patterns After SFFA v. Harvard We study how U.S. high school students’ patterns of college entry changed in the first year after the Supreme Court’s 2023 SFFA v. Harvard ruling. Drawing on a rich dataset linking more than 12 millio...

"high-achieving underrepresented minority college-goers were up to 10 percentage points less likely to enroll in highly selective colleges... “cascading” down the college selectivity distribution into less selective colleges with lower graduation rates and earnings." edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1392

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

New study: Drawing on categorical inequality concepts & leveled tracking, this study explores how EL labeling limits access to college-level course-taking; finding differences in postsecondary outcomes vary by reclassification timing & disparities in college-level coursework.https://buff.ly/lPeK4G8

Our paper, “EMERGEing Educational Opportunities,” is now assigned to an issue in Education Finance & Policy. First online in summer 2025, it uses sharp RD to estimate effects of intensive advising on selective college outcomes for high-achieving, low-SES students.

doi.org/10.1162/edfp...

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🙏 We thank Kinder Institute staff (Erin Baumgartner, Ruth Turley) for supporting this project from its inception. In particular, we're grateful to Ruth for reviewing the 1st draft & encouraging us on the implications section, which we hope serves as an agenda for future research.

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💡 Policy implication:
EL classification can unintentionally function as a tracking mechanism, constraining access to college-level coursework. Supporting EL students so they have greater access to AP/IB/dual credit pipelines sooner may expand postsecondary opportunity.

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📊 In decomposition analyses, differences in college-level course-taking explain meaningful portions of EL–never-EL gaps in college enrollment and completion, indicating that reclassification timing has downstream influences on curricular & postsecondary access.

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📚 College-level coursework is an important part of the story:
Students reclassified in high school take fewer AP/IB/dual credit courses than never-EL or elementary-reclassified peers.

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🎓 Key descriptive pattern:
EL gaps in 4-year enrollment and B.A. completion are largest among students reclassified later (middle/high school). Early reclassification is associated with outcomes closer to never-EL peers.

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🏫 Using longitudinal data from the Houston Independent School District, we follow students from high school through 6 years post-graduation and disaggregate EL students by timing of reclassification (never EL, elementary, middle, high).

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🎯 Why this matters:
AP/IB/dual credit participation is strongly predictive of college enrollment and completion, yet we know little about how EL students navigate these pipelines.

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👨‍🎓 We examine how English learner (EL) status shapes access to college-level coursework (AP, IB, dual credit) in high school—and how this contributes to postsecondary enrollment and completion gaps.

Drawing from frameworks of categorical inequality and leveled tracking, this study examines how English learners (EL) status serves as a label that limits students’ access to college-level course-taking in high school and subsequent postsecondary opportunities. We find that EL–never-EL gaps in postsecondary outcomes vary by the timing of reclassification but are largely explained by student and school factors. We also show that ELs reclassified in later grades take fewer college-level courses than both never-EL students and ELs reclassified earlier. Nonlinear variance decomposition analyses reveal that a substantial portion of these outcome gaps is attributable to differences in college-level course-taking. We conclude by sharing insights from district staff to help schools support EL students in completing college-level coursework and expanding their postsecondary opportunities.

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🚨 New article out in Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis

“Sorted and Tracked: English Learners, College-Level Course-Taking in High School, and Postsecondary Opportunity”

🔗: doi.org/10.3102/0162... (open access!)

#SocEd #HigherEd #EdPolicy #EL

Digital incentives increase parent survey participation, but language matters. Higher incentives and clearer options lead to more equitable engagement, from Kalena Cortes, Brian Holzman, Melissa D. Gentry, and Miranda I. Lambert www.nber.org/papers/w34653

Texas college completion rises, low-income students left behind Economically disadvantaged students are much less likely to go on and attain degrees, according to new state data that tracks long-term outcomes.

The same old story about the intractability of poverty—and the uphill efforts of those who help students work past it—needs retelling in as many ways as we can.
www.texastribune.org/2025/12/18/t...

Texas college completion rises, low-income students left behind Economically disadvantaged students are much less likely to go on and attain degrees, according to new state data that tracks long-term outcomes.

More Texas students complete journey through college, but low-income students still left behind.

Texas school district higher education outcomes lookup Newly-released state data tracked the long-term outcomes of public school students who enrolled a decade ago.

Texas tracks the long-term outcomes of public school students. See how your school district compares here.

Institutional Social Capital and Postsecondary Outcomes: https://osf.io/8arh6

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Sorted and Tracked: English Learners, College-Level Course-Taking in High School, and Postsecondary Opportunity journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3...

Finally approved after 7 months 🥳😅

A third-year PhD advisee of mine is interested in remote summer research associate/fellowship opportunities. She already knows about RAND's summer associate program . . . are there others?

Who Lives in a STEM Desert?: https://osf.io/s8wzv

I highly recommend this postdoc at the @annenberginstitute.bsky.social! If anyone is considering applying, I’m happy to chat about what the postdoc was like for me and what it’s been like living in Providence. Feel free to reach out!

📢 New postdoc opportunity at Annenberg!

The Annenberg Institute is seeking a postdoctoral research associate for a 2‐year appointment to join a diverse community of scholars committed to educational equity and improvement!

More info here: annenberg.brown.edu/opportunitie...

I submitted mine 5/14, post-DOGE. A sat on a dissertation committee for a student who submitted the same day & they got approval a few weeks later--36 hours before defending! I'm not sure how much they’re reviewing, but they're probably prioritizing dissertations.

Have any NCES data users gotten a disclosure review approved for a paper/report since spring? I've been waiting for 6+ months 😞

Check out @melissadgentry.bsky.social's job market paper on transportation for people with disabilities ⬇️

She also conducts great research in the economics of education, including work on a parental engagement RCT.

Digital Incentives in Surveys: Response Rates and Sociodemographic Effects in a Large-Scale Parental Nudge Intervention: https://osf.io/rtj4e

🚨 New preprint!

We examine how Texas’s high-school endorsement system (similar to majors)—especially STEM—shapes college choice. Rather than expanding opportunity, the STEM endorsement largely reflects pre-existing academic advantages and rebrands old sorting practices.

Informational Webinar - Ph.D. in Educational Administration, Emphasis in PK-12 Leadership & Policy at Texas A&M University. Save the Date: Tuesday, September 30 from 7:00-8:00 PM Central Time. Register by visiting bit.ly/4p2OMuw.

The Texas A&M College of Education & Human Development Ph.D. program in Educational Administration, PK-12 Leadership & Policy will host an informational webinar on Tuesday, September 30th at 7:00 PM CT.

Join us to learn more about our program! Register here: bit.ly/4p2OMuw