EdWorkingPapers
Categorical Inequality in Black and White: Linking Disproportionality across Multiple Educational Outcomes
… We characterize the extent to which Black-White gaps for multiple educational outcomes … and districts with large gaps in one outcome are likely to have large gaps in another. Socioeconomic and segregation … 1.7 to 3.5 times more variance for achievement relative to non-achievement outcomes. Systemic patterns of racial …We characterize the extent to which Black-White gaps for multiple educational outcomes are linked across school districts in the United States. Gaps in disciplinary action, grade-level retention, classification into special education and Gifted and Talented, and Advanced Placement course-taking are large in magnitude and correlated. Racial differences in family income and parent education are… more →
How college credit in high school impacts postsecondary course-taking: the role of AP exams
… This paper uses Advanced Placement (AP) exams to examine how receiving college credit in high school alters … data from one large state, I link high school students to postsecondary transcripts from in-state, public … to two-thirds, depending on the outcome studied. Earning non-STEM AP credit increases overall coursework in non-STEM …This paper uses Advanced Placement (AP) exams to examine how receiving college credit in high school alters students’ subsequent human capital investment. Using data from one large state, I link high school students to postsecondary transcripts from in-state, public institutions and estimate causal impacts using a regression discontinuity that compares students with essentially identical AP… more →
Disparities and Discrimination in Student Discipline by Race and Family Income
… suspended from U.S. schools at higher rates than white and non-poor students. While the existence of these disparities … causes of the disparities have not. We use a novel dataset to examine how and where discipline disparities arise. By comparing the punishments given to black and white (or poor and non-poor) students who fight …Black and poor students are suspended from U.S. schools at higher rates than white and non-poor students. While the existence of these disparities has been clear, the causes of the disparities have not. We use a novel dataset to examine how and where discipline disparities arise. By comparing the punishments given to black and white (or poor and non-poor) students who fight one another, we… more →
Effects of the shift to English-only instruction on college outcomes: Evidence from Central Asia
… English-only college education in non-English speaking countries is a rapidly growing … is little empirical evidence about how the transition to English-only instruction affects students’ academic … strategy, we estimate the causal effect of switching to English-only instruction on students’ college outcomes. We …English-only college education in non-English speaking countries is a rapidly growing phenomenon that has been dubbed as the most important trend in higher education internationalization. Despite worldwide popularity, there is little empirical evidence about how the transition to English-only instruction affects students’ academic outcomes. Using a natural experiment at a selective university in… more →
Experimentally Estimated Impacts of School Voucher on Educational Attainments of Moderately and Severely Disadvantaged Students
… school voucher impacts on educational attainment have yet to explore heterogeneities in socioeconomic status among … college enrollment and graduation rates for minority and non-immigrant students from moderately and severely … disadvantaged backgrounds but significant effects of six to eight percentage points on those from moderately …Estimates of school voucher impacts on educational attainment have yet to explore heterogeneities in socioeconomic status among disadvantaged minority students. We theorize reasons for these heterogeneities and then estimate experimentally the differential impacts of voucher offers on college enrollment and graduation rates for minority and non-immigrant students from moderately and severely… more →
Characterizing Cross-Site Variation in Local Average Treatment Effects in Multisite Regression Discontinuity Design Contexts with an Application to Massachusetts High School Exit Exam
… model works best when the running variables' relationship to the outcome is stable across sites but can be biased otherwise. In those instances, we … a math course their senior year on average across sites, but that the impact varied enough such that a third of …In multisite experiments, we can quantify treatment effect variation with the cross-site treatment effect variance. However, there is no standard method for estimating cross-site treatment effect variance in multisite regression discontinuity designs (RDD). This research rectifies this gap in the literature by systematically exploring and evaluating methods for estimating the cross-site treatment… more →
The Impacts and Experiences of Corequisite Remediation for Latinx Students
… impacts of corequisite models by race and ethnicity. To better understand the potential for differential impacts … colleges across Texas. We also utilize student survey data to develop a deeper understanding of how corequisites shape … saw larger benefits from taking corequisite English than non-Latinx students in terms of gateway course completion. …Colleges across the United States are now placing most or all students directly into college-level courses and providing supplementary, aligned academic support alongside the courses, also known as “corequisite remediation.” Developmental education reforms like corequisite remediation could advance racial and ethnic equity in postsecondary education by facilitating early academic progression.… more →
Testing Away from One's Own School: Exam Location and Performance in High-Stakes Exams
… at designated test centers, requiring many students to test in unfamiliar environments. We investigate whether … students' test performance and, by extension, access to educational opportunities. Using unique administrative … of test centers, we find that students assigned to a non-home school score 0.14 standard deviations lower than …High-stakes exams are often administered at designated test centers, requiring many students to test in unfamiliar environments. We investigate whether such arrangements impact students' test performance and, by extension, access to educational opportunities. Using unique administrative data from China’s national college entrance examination between 2016 and 2018 and its random assignment of test… more →
Right to Education (RTE) Act’s Influence on Caste-based Enrollment Gaps and Segregation in India
… Section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education (RTE) Act of India expanded affirmative action to primary schooling by requiring non-government-funded private schools to reserve 25% of their …Section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education (RTE) Act of India expanded affirmative action to primary schooling by requiring non-government-funded private schools to reserve 25% of their admissions for students from marginalized castes and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Using variation in implementation of the policy across states in a difference-in-differences framework, this study… more →
Do STEM Students Vote?
… the relationship between studying STEM and voting. To do so, we create a dataset of over 23 million students in the U.S. matched to national validated voting records. The novel dataset is … STEM students are slightly more likely to vote than their non-STEM peers. After including the rich set of controls, …For decades, pundits, politicians, college administrators, and academics have lamented the dismal rates of civic engagement among students who enroll in courses and eventually major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (i.e., STEM) fields. However, the research supporting this conclusion has faced distinct challenges in terms of data quality. Does STEM actually decrease the odds… more →
How Not to Fool Ourselves About Heterogeneity of Treatment Effects
… across many fields have called for greater attention to heterogeneity of treatment effects—shifting focus from the average effect to variation in effects between different treatments, … but many reports of heterogeneity have proved to be false, non-replicable, or inflated. In this review, we catalog ways …Researchers across many fields have called for greater attention to heterogeneity of treatment effects—shifting focus from the average effect to variation in effects between different treatments, studies, or subgroups. True heterogeneity is important, but many reports of heterogeneity have proved to be false, non-replicable, or inflated. In this review, we catalog ways that past researchers… more →
An Analysis of Academic School Spending in Higher Education
… larger universities, are increasingly being expected to increase revenues and reduce expenditures in a challenging … I used detailed personnel spending data from HelioCampus to examine personnel expenses per student credit hour and … difficult budgets, and cuts disproportionately fell on non-faculty members and those focused on key administrative …Academic schools, such as colleges and their constituent departments within larger universities, are increasingly being expected to increase revenues and reduce expenditures in a challenging financial environment. Yet relatively little is known about schools’ resource allocation decisions. In this research, I used detailed personnel spending data from HelioCampus to examine personnel expenses per… more →
The Effect of Retention Threat on Student Learning Gains: Evidence from Ohio
… Grade retention policies create incentives for students to make adequate progress ahead of evaluation. The threat of retention thus has the potential to affect all students’ academic outcomes, increasing … cohorts, student groups, and schools. We also examine non-test outcomes, finding reductions in student absences but …Grade retention policies create incentives for students to make adequate progress ahead of evaluation. The threat of retention thus has the potential to affect all students’ academic outcomes, increasing achievement especially among students with test scores near the retention policy’s threshold. By using unique data from Ohio which allows us to implement a regression discontinuity design, we… more →
Discipline Beyond Suspensions: Racial/Ethnic Disparities Across the Spectrum of Disciplinary Actions
… Little research examines whether the alternatives to suspension reduce racial/ethnic discipline disparities. … gaps in their use. School leaders may respond to discipline incidents with a variety of guidance-based and … most commonly apply a single punitive action. Moreover, non-exclusionary alternatives are applied unequally; among …Little research examines whether the alternatives to suspension reduce racial/ethnic discipline disparities. Using unusually rich administrative data from a large district in the South, we investigate how schools use a range of disciplinary actions and the racial/ethnic gaps in their use. School leaders may respond to discipline incidents with a variety of guidance-based and punitive actions, but… more →
Let’s Chat: Leveraging Chatbot Outreach for Improved Course Performance
… pre-registered, experimental evidence on the use of non-generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to support students in large-enrollment undergraduate … that integrating AI-enabled outreach and communication to students in their college courses can enhance student …This study provides pre-registered, experimental evidence on the use of non-generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to support students in large-enrollment undergraduate courses. We find the chatbot messaging increased students’ final grades and engagement with academic supports, such as tutoring. Treatment effects were generally consistent across student demographics, with the exception… more →
The Impact of Statewide Virtual Charter Schools on District Segregation
… K-12 online (“virtual”) charter schools have the potential to influence segregation in traditional brick-and-mortar … and poverty concentration within district schools. To address this gap, I conduct two complementary studies: In … schools reduced the gap in the likelihood of minority and non-minority students being exposed to minority peers (i.e., …Enrollment patterns in K-12 online (“virtual”) charter schools have the potential to influence segregation in traditional brick-and-mortar public schools. Yet, research has largely ignored how online schooling options impact racial segregation and poverty concentration within district schools. To address this gap, I conduct two complementary studies: In the first study, I exploit variation in the… more →
Effects of Dual-Language Immersion on Attendance and Reclassification in a Large Urban District
… District (2015–2022), we employ doubly-robust estimation to compare DLI and non-DLI students within the same schools. DLI enrollment is … finding given that attendance is strongly related to student engagement and long-term academic success. For …Dual-language immersion (DLI) programs have proliferated across the United States, yet evidence on their effects for English Learner-designated (EL) students in large, diverse urban districts remains limited. This study examines DLI's effects on attendance and reclassification—two outcomes that worsened for ELs following the COVID-19 pandemic. Using restricted student-level data from the Los… more →
Are Rural Republicans Different When It Comes to Public Opinion on Education Policy?
… education attitudes, rural Republicans diverge from their non-rural counterparts on policies such as charter schools, … reform … Are Rural Republicans Different When It Comes to Public Opinion on Education Policy? …Conservative education policy in the United States increasingly emphasizes school choice, decentralization, and parental authority. This chapter examines whether these priorities resonate equally across geographic contexts, focusing specifically on rural Republicans. Using data from the 2015–2022 Education Next surveys, we find that while partisanship strongly structures education attitudes,… more →
Supporting Females in STEM: Evidence on Student-Instructor Gender-Matching in 4-Year Research Universities in Texas
… for improving female students' outcomes is exposure to same-gender faculty, yet evidence on both the prevalence … students are substantially less likely than male students to be taught by same-gender instructors in STEM, particularly … matching does occur, are more often matched with non-tenure-track faculty. Leveraging student and classroom …Despite progress in overall educational attainment, female students remain underrepresented in STEM fields. One proposed mechanism for improving female students' outcomes is exposure to same-gender faculty, yet evidence on both the prevalence and impacts of student–instructor gender matching in higher education remains limited. Using administrative data from ten public research universities in… more →
School Finance in the US
… including the distinct roles of state, local, federal, and non-governmental revenues. Section 4 explains the core … showing how litigation moved from equal protection to equity and then to adequacy, with contemporary examples from Washington, …This chapter provides an overview of K-12 public school finance in the United States by tracing how funding systems changed over time, how they operate today, and how well they advance core policy goals. Section 2 documents the long-run shift from local property tax finance toward larger state and federal roles, driven by economic crises, legislation, and litigation. Section 3 describes the… more →
Dual-Enrollment Dosage Design: Conceptualization and Measurement of Student Profiles and School Structures
… a la carte options or "random acts of dual-enrollment" to highly structured pathways leading to associate degrees embedded in whole-school reform models. … 2) DE Explorers; 3) DE-CTE Concentrators; 4) ECHS Non-Completers, and; 5) ECHS Completers. We then examine how …Dual-enrollment (“DE”), in which students enroll in college-level courses and receive college credit in high school, has become one of the most prominent strategies for promoting college access and readiness. DE models range from a la carte options or "random acts of dual-enrollment" to highly structured pathways leading to associate degrees embedded in whole-school reform models. However,… more →
Digital Incentives in Surveys: Response Rates and Sociodemographic Effects in a Large-Scale Parental Nudge Intervention
… language background. Incentivized parents were more likely to engage in the program, from starting the survey to choosing an essential-goods gift card. However, Spanish-speaking parents exhibited distinct …This study examines how digital incentives influence survey participation and engagement in a large randomized controlled trial of parents across six school districts. We test how incentive amount and information about vendor options affect response behavior and explore differences by language background. Incentivized parents were more likely to engage in the program, from starting the survey to… more →
Capturing Voter Turnout at the School District Level: Validating a Geospatial Strategy
… School boards are critical sites of education policymaking, yet scholarship on these … less advantaged students. The QOR process can now be used to generate district-level elections data nationwide. … …School boards are critical sites of education policymaking, yet scholarship on these institutions is scarce because of severe data limitations. We introduce a geospatial strategy and open-source R package, called “Query, Overlay, Recover” (QOR), that generates high-quality estimates of voter turnout in school board elections overall and for voter subgroups. We describe this process and gather… more →
Predicting Persistence and Fadeout Across Multi-Site RCTs of an Early Childhood Mathematics Curriculum Intervention
… mathematics curriculum. We used meta-analytic methods to explore how impacts on student mathematics achievement … predictor of the one-year follow-up impact. Contrary to popular theory, we found that intervention impacts faded faster when students attended sites that showed more learning in the year following the end …This study examined predictors of persistence and fadeout across multiple cluster RCTs that evaluated a preschool mathematics curriculum. We used meta-analytic methods to explore how impacts on student mathematics achievement faded between post-test (i.e., endline) and one-year follow-up. We found that the magnitude of the impact at post-test was a strong predictor of the one-year follow-up… more →
Using experimental variation to examine the (co-)development of cognitive and social-emotional skills in early childhood
… established causal effects. We employed a novel approach to test the stability and codevelopment of cognitive and … 84). Using meta-analytic techniques, we found that changes to children’s cognitive skills persisted at a rate of … at both timepoints, though estimates were statistically non-significant. We observed more consistent, but not …Questions about the stability of psychological constructs, skill generalization, and transfer have long motivated psychological research. Despite a proliferation of theory, the field has rarely established causal effects. We employed a novel approach to test the stability and codevelopment of cognitive and social-emotional skills in early childhood using longitudinal randomized controlled trial… more →
Absent and Afraid? Immigration Enforcement and Student Attendance in the Second Trump Administration
… on the attendance of English learners (ELs) relative to non-ELs in samples of schools in Rhode Island and …Intensified immigration enforcement activity under the second Trump administration has increased anxiety for immigrants in the United States, including many families with school-age children. This study provides early evidence on the effects of the second Trump presidency on the attendance of students who may be from immigrant families. Using a difference-in-differences design, I estimate the… more →
The Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education Workforce: Descriptive Evidence on Demographics and Turnover from Oregon
… the U.S. over the past few decades, necessitating efforts to recruit and retain a qualified workforce to meet their needs. Despite widespread reports of staffing … this period, with the exception of paraprofessionals and non-licensed staff whose retention steadily declined to …Early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) services for children with disabilities have expanded substantially across the U.S. over the past few decades, necessitating efforts to recruit and retain a qualified workforce to meet their needs. Despite widespread reports of staffing challenges in this sector, few contemporary studies provide large-scale evidence on this… more →
Creating Short Forms of Early Childhood Development Measures: A Framework for Quantifying Statistical, Conceptual, and Practical Tradeoffs in Direct Assessment
… in developmental psychology and are increasingly used to evaluate programs and policies in lower- and middle-income … is not a straightforward task. Traditional approaches to creating short forms, which rely on statistical properties of items, can neglect important non-statistical considerations and result in narrowed …Direct assessments of early childhood development (ECD) are a cornerstone of research in developmental psychology and are increasingly used to evaluate programs and policies in lower- and middle-income countries. Despite strong psychometric properties, these assessments are too expensive and time consuming for use in large-scale monitoring or national-level surveys. Short forms of direct… more →
Does Expanding Access to High Quality Technical Education Induce Participation and Improve Outcomes?
… Education (CTE) has been changing as schools have aimed to better meet workforce needs and diversify pathways into … and program characteristics. Our findings show that access to a new CTE program induces 11.5 percent of prior non-participants to take-up the program. CTE exposure …Over the last 15 years, Career and Technical Education (CTE) has been changing as schools have aimed to better meet workforce needs and diversify pathways into higher education and the workforce. This study provides the first known causal evidence on the impact of CTE program expansion in U.S. comprehensive high schools on student participation and postsecondary outcomes. Using administrative… more →
Can Peer Group Design Improve Engagement in Online STEM Courses? The Role of Motivation to Lead
… Despite the widespread use of peer group activities to foster collaboration, there is limited understanding of how to effectively form peer groups to optimize interaction and … on group dynamics suggests that leadership disposition—a non-cognitive trait reflecting a student’s tendency to lead …Peer interaction is important for student engagement and success in higher education and becomes even more critical in online STEM education, where limited interaction can undermine motivation and belonging—key factors for success in rigorous STEM coursework. Despite the widespread use of peer group activities to foster collaboration, there is limited understanding of how to effectively form peer… more →
Controlling For Measurement Error in Evaluation Models When Treatment Group Assignment is Based on Noisy Measures: Evaluation of an Achievement Gap-Closing Initiative
… This paper develops new models to evaluate the effects of interventions and … error). The specific application concerns a school report card redesign in which school performance is evaluated based … EV estimator (AEV) that addresses this bias and is shown to produce highly accurate estimates in Monte Carlo …This paper develops new models to evaluate the effects of interventions and intervention-by-site heterogeneity when treatment group assignment is based on a fallible variable and the outcome of interest is determined in part by the corresponding true control variables (measured without error). The specific application concerns a school report card redesign in which school performance is evaluated… more →
Neighborhood Effects on STEM Major Choice
… of pursuing a STEM major. We find that students who move to high-STEM neighborhoods—defined by the share of non-moving peers who earn STEM degrees—are increasingly likely to major in STEM with each additional year of exposure. We …This paper provides causal evidence that the neighborhoods where students grow up play a significant role in shaping their college major choices, focusing on STEM fields. Using administrative data from Texas and variation in the timing of school moves across counties and districts, we estimate the impact of neighborhood exposure on the likelihood of pursuing a STEM major. We find that students… more →
Democracy For What and For Whom?: The Possibilities and Challenges of K-12 School Boards
… As such, school boards have regularly served as critical sites for political struggle and public discourse on a range … of local school governance and how these realities speak to the possibilities of democracy in public education. …Local school boards have historically played a major role in the functioning and character of US schools, providing fiscal oversight, shaping policy, and creating avenues for community voice, representation, and accountability. As such, school boards have regularly served as critical sites for political struggle and public discourse on a range of issues. Yet growing demands on schools, political… more →
From Rural Schools to City Factories: Assessing the Quality of Chinese Rural Schools
… of rural migrant workers. Variations in rates of return to years of schooling across migrant workers working in the same urban labor market but having different sites of basic education provide for direct estimation of … this approach, these school quality estimates prove to be highly correlated with provincial cognitive skill test …The changing pattern of quality in China’s rural schools across time and province is extracted from the differential labor market earnings of rural migrant workers. Variations in rates of return to years of schooling across migrant workers working in the same urban labor market but having different sites of basic education provide for direct estimation of provincial school quality. Corroborating… more →
High School Equivalency Credentialing and Post-Secondary Success: Pre-Registered Quasi-Experimental Evidence from the GED® Test
… credentials represent the primary “second-chance” pathway to many careers or educational opportunities. This project uses current, representative data to assess whether, how, and for whom HSE credentials promote … the growing importance of HSE credentials as a non-traditional post-secondary pathway. College-ready GED …For the over 24 million American adults who do not hold a traditional high school diploma, high school equivalency (HSE) credentials represent the primary “second-chance” pathway to many careers or educational opportunities. This project uses current, representative data to assess whether, how, and for whom HSE credentials promote post-secondary success. Examining post-secondary outcomes in a… more →
Teaching Practices and the Persistence of School-Entry Age Effects
… who were more frequently exposed in elementary school to modern teaching practices, grounded in active and … relationship between teaching practices and age effects is non-linear. Extreme bias toward any practice, modern or …We consider the effect of teaching practices on the persistence of school-entry age effects caused by rigid cutoff dates for school eligibility in Spain. We document significant school-entry age effects for the same cohort of students when they were in elementary and secondary school. Then, we test whether school-entry age effects at age 15 are lower for those students who were more frequently… more →
High Turnover with Low Accountability: Local School Board Elections in 16 States
… cycle). School board turnover is also only weakly related to student learning rates. These dynamics--high turnover … school performance challenges--occur across both urban and non-urban districts, regardless of student demographics and … produces high leadership churn and minimal incentives to improve student learning, two findings that can inform …We analyze the most comprehensive dataset on U.S. school board elections. We find that nearly half of races go uncontested and that incumbents are reelected more than 80 percent of the time when they run. Because many incumbents retire instead of running for another term, however, turnover is high (with 53 percent of incumbents replaced in a typical election cycle). School board turnover is also… more →
The Prevalence of LGBTQ+ Teachers in the U.S.
… Due to limited data, we know little about the prevalence of … individuals are teachers; in contrast, 4.4-4.9 percent of non-LGBTQ+ individuals are teachers. This new evidence … highlights the need for data collection and research to explore why LGBTQ+ individuals are underrepresented in …Due to limited data, we know little about the prevalence of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) educators. Using the American Community Survey and Census Pulse, we examine the representation of LGBTQ+ individuals in PK-12 teaching. We find that 3.3-3.5 percent of LGBTQ+ individuals are teachers; in contrast, 4.4-4.9 percent of non-LGBTQ+ individuals are teachers. This new… more →
Disentangle the Curriculum and Structural Effects of Math Pathway Reforms: Evidence from Maryland Community College System
… Mathematics Reform Initiative (MMRI), which sought to improve student success in developmental and college-level … Launched in 2015, the MMRI developed and implemented non-algebra math pathways tailored to students’ chosen program of study. Using administrative …This study evaluates the impact of Maryland's Mathematics Reform Initiative (MMRI), which sought to improve student success in developmental and college-level math through comprehensive curriculum and structural reforms. Launched in 2015, the MMRI developed and implemented non-algebra math pathways tailored to students’ chosen program of study. Using administrative data of Maryland community… more →
From Population Growth to Demographic Scarcity: Emerging Challenges to Global Primary Education Provision in the Twenty-first Century
… assessments. Second, we describe national system responses to changing numbers of children around the world. … countries, system consolidation can introduce new salience to geospatial hierarchies. We illustrate this point with the … forefront of the trend toward demographic scarcity, where non-metropolitan areas bore the brunt of past primary school …Demographic pressures are reshaping the challenges faced by primary education systems around the world in ways that carry significant implications for the landscape of global educational inequality. We first demonstrate highly disequalizing demographic pressures on the world's educational systems today: persistent expansionary pressures burden some of the world's least-resourced educational… more →
Disparate Teacher Effects, Comparative Advantage, and Match Quality
… comparative advantage (CA)–that captures the degree to which teachers affect student outcome gaps. Leveraging a … test scores by 1 standard deviation, with no effect on non-black students' test scores. This methodological contribution offers a framework to study match effects, with implications for policy …Does student-teacher match quality exist? While prior research documents disparities in teachers' impacts across student types, it has not distinguished between sorting and causal effects as the drivers of these disparities. I develop a flexible disparate value-added model (DVA) and introduce a novel measure of teacher quality–revealed comparative advantage (CA)–that captures the degree to which… more →
The Effects of Losing Pell Grant Eligibility on Student Outcomes
… need, students must achieve Satisfactory Academic Progress to retain it. Students eligible for higher aid are less likely to complete college when they lose eligibility compared to those with lower aid. This non-random attrition introduces bias in the Local Average …While initial Pell Grant eligibility is solely determined by financial need, students must achieve Satisfactory Academic Progress to retain it. Students eligible for higher aid are less likely to complete college when they lose eligibility compared to those with lower aid. This non-random attrition introduces bias in the Local Average Treatment Effects. I construct nonparametric bounds on LATE… more →
A Family Affair: The Effects of College on Parent and Student Finances
… universe of federal aid applicants in California linked to credit records. We provide the first comprehensive … decisions. We start by using an event-study framework to explore how parents’ use of debt and credit outcomes … out more education loans, experience less delinquency on non-educational debt, and see their credit scores rise. We …Paying for college is often a family affair, with both parents and students contributing. We study the effects of college on family finances using administrative data on the universe of federal aid applicants in California linked to credit records. We provide the first comprehensive analysis of how both students and their parents use debt with college attendance and how prices affect those… more →
Unequal Access: How Public Library Closures Affect Educational Performance
… institutions, such as public libraries, offer access to low-cost educational resources, potentially mitigating … human capital investment disparities. However, from 2008 to 2019, 766 public library outlets closed across the US, … by 0.021 and 0.046 standard deviations, respectively, in non-metropolitan areas, although high school graduation rates …Local public institutions, such as public libraries, offer access to low-cost educational resources, potentially mitigating human capital investment disparities. However, from 2008 to 2019, 766 public library outlets closed across the US, reducing access to these critical resources. This study examines the effect of public library outlet closures on library use and educational outcomes in nearby… more →
Peer Income Exposure Across the Income Distribution
… public schools, making schools and classrooms potential sites for interaction between more- and less-affluent … with measures of family income derived from IRS records to document student exposure to economically diverse school and classroom peers. Our …Children from families across the income distribution attend public schools, making schools and classrooms potential sites for interaction between more- and less-affluent children. However, limited information exists regarding the extent of economic integration in these contexts. We merge educational administrative data from Oregon with measures of family income derived from IRS records to… more →
Leveraging Quarterly Workforce Indicators to Analyze Teacher Labor Market Dynamics: Inequitable Trends in Educator Turnover
… educators in Elementary and Secondary Schools from 2000-01 to 2022-23. We demonstrate how to transform the quarter-level data in the QWI to construct … of other sources of labor market data, including (1) non-standardized definitions, (2) sampling that is useful for …Educator labor markets vary considerably across the country and can change quickly during recessions. We use data from the Quality Workforce Indicators (QWI) on educators in Elementary and Secondary Schools from 2000-01 to 2022-23. We demonstrate how to transform the quarter-level data in the QWI to construct valid educator labor market measures. The strengths of the QWI address the limitations… more →
The Differential Sorting of Disadvantaged Students in the Competitive K-12 Market
… city. These students are significantly less likely to opt out of traditional public schools and enroll in … enroll in charter and magnet schools at similar rates as non-disadvantaged students. … Leah R. Clark … School Choice … …School choice options offer potential educational gains for disadvantaged students, but do they take advantage of such options? I study the sorting patterns of students with prior child welfare reports (12 percent of incoming kindergartners) across traditional public, magnet, charter, and private schools in a mid-sized city. These students are significantly less likely to opt out of traditional… more →
Inequality Beyond Standardized Tests: Trends in Extracurricular Activity Reporting in College Applications Across Race and Class
… standardized tests, but less is known about inequality in non-standardized components of applications. We analyzed … (e.g., honors, awards). However, there was little to no difference in the percentage of activities with … for key variables, but salient differences related to race and class remain. Findings do not necessarily support …For years, discussions on inequality in college admissions have addressed standardized tests, but less is known about inequality in non-standardized components of applications. We analyzed extracurricular activity descriptions in 6,054,104 applications submitted through the Common Application using natural language processing methods. Overall, White, Asian American, wealthier, and private school… more →
Transitional Kindergarten: The New Kid on the Early Learning Block
… fewer economically disadvantaged students are more likely to offer TK than other districts. Within districts that do not offer TK in every school, TK is more likely to be offered in schools with more economically disadvantaged … students. Among preschool-age children, those from non-economically disadvantaged families are more likely to …In recent years, several states have expanded a new publicly funded learning option: Transitional Kindergarten (TK). TK programs bridge prekindergarten and kindergarten in their eligibility, requirements, and design. We use Michigan’s TK program as a case study on the fit of this new entrant in the early learning landscape. Michigan’s program is well suited for this purpose because it contains… more →
Entering and Exiting the Foster Care System: Implications for Absenteeism Among Child Welfare Involved Youth
… While foster youth miss more school versus their non-foster counterparts, their status as a foster youth is … may need targeted support during these transition periods to promote their educational wellbeing. In our study, we … We analyze four years of longitudinal data (2015–16 to the 2018–19 school years) from four large districts in …While foster youth miss more school versus their non-foster counterparts, their status as a foster youth is not static, with many of them entering and exiting the foster care system over time. These dynamics of entry and exit can represent particularly crucial transition periods of stability and instability that may differentially influence absenteeism. Yet, there is a dearth of studies that have… more →