Examining the Effects of Administrator-Student Ethnicity and Race Match Ratios on the Graduation and Chronic Absenteeism Rates of Filipino American Students: A Correlational Study

Abstract

There is an underrepresentation of Filipino American and Asian American school administrators. The problem is that low Filipino American administrator-Filipino American student ethnicity match ratios and low Asian American administrator-Filipino American student race match ratios have negatively affected the graduation rates and chronic absenteeism rates of Filipino American students in California public school districts. This study filled a gap in the literature by analyzing how ethnicity and race match ratios might have affected Filipino American students’ educational outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the effects of Filipino American administrator-Filipino American student ethnicity match ratios and Asian American administrator-Filipino American student race match ratios on the graduation rates and chronic absenteeism rates of Filipino American students in California public school districts. Four research questions were designed to determine whether correlational relationships exist among ethnicity and race match ratios and graduation and chronic absenteeism rates. Transformational leadership theory and AsianCrit formed the theoretical framework. The data instrument was 2018–2019 archival data from the California Department of Education covering 420 public school districts offering high school education. A quantitative correlational design utilizing Spearman’s rank correlation in SPSS was used to analyze the data. No correlational relationships were found, indicating ethnicity and race match ratios have no effects on Filipino American students’ graduate and chronic absenteeism rates. Recommendations for future research include using other academic performance indicators to examine Filipino American students’ educational outcomes and conducting mixed-method research on this topic to add contextual insights.