A former high school Spanish and science teacher, Dr. Allensworth is an expert in statistical methodology, but believes that knowledge develops best by combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Her work focuses on the structural factors that affect high school students’ educational attainment, particularly the factors that affect graduation and dropout rates.

She was the lead author on a number of studies on graduation rates in the Chicago Public Schools, including The On-Track Indicator as a Predictor of High School Graduation, Graduation and Dropout Trends in Chicago: A Look at Cohorts of Students from 1991 through 2004, and Ending Social Promotion: Dropout Rates in Chicago After Implementation of the Eighth-Grade Promotion Gate.

Dr. Allensworth recently began a three-year mixed-methods study of the transition to high school which will follow a cohort of students from eighth grade into their second year in high school. This study looks at students’ perceptions of the challenges of high school, the school practices that can foster successful freshman-year performance, and the practices that can hinder students.

She is also a member of the Chicago Postsecondary Transition Project, which is following students’ transition from high school to college. As part of this work, Dr. Allensworth has been examining the factors affecting students’ performance on the ACT college entrance exam. In addition, she is leading several studies on the effects of rigorous curricula on students’ experiences in their classes, grades, test scores, high school graduation and college attendance.

Dr. Allensworth holds an MA in sociology and urban studies and a PhD in sociology from Michigan State University.