EdWorkingPapers
The Bottom Line on College Advising: Large Increases in Degree Attainment
… control trial with administrative and survey data to demonstrate that intensive advising during high school and college leads to large increases in bachelor's degree attainment. Novel … initial enrollment. Program effects are consistent across sites, cohorts, advisors, and student characteristics, …We combine a large multi-site randomized control trial with administrative and survey data to demonstrate that intensive advising during high school and college leads to large increases in bachelor's degree attainment. Novel causal forest methods suggest that these increases are driven primarily by improvements in the quality of initial enrollment. Program effects are consistent across sites,… more →
Common support violations in clustered observational studies of educational interventions
… In education settings, treatments are often non-randomly assigned to clusters, such as schools or classrooms, while outcomes … control units do not overlap. Such violations are likely to occur in a COS, especially with a small number of treated …In education settings, treatments are often non-randomly assigned to clusters, such as schools or classrooms, while outcomes are measured for students. This research design is called the clustered observational study (COS). We examine the consequences of common support violations in the COS context. Common support violations occur when the covariate distributions of treated and control units do… more →
Teacher Turnover in Early Childhood Education: Longitudinal Evidence from the Universe of Publicly-Funded Programs in Louisiana
… across all publicly-funded, center-based early childhood sites in Louisiana. We follow 4,465 early educators teaching in fall 2016 up to seven times through the fall of 2019. We provide the first …This paper provides a longitudinal examination of teacher turnover across all publicly-funded, center-based early childhood sites in Louisiana. We follow 4,465 early educators teaching in fall 2016 up to seven times through the fall of 2019. We provide the first statewide estimates of within-year turnover in ECE, as well as the first statewide study tracking turnover rates in ECE over multiple… more →
Higher Education and Local Educational Attainment: Evidence from the Establishment of U.S. Colleges
… in which "runner-up" locations were strongly considered to become college sites but ultimately not chosen for as-good-as-random … While runner-up counties have since had opportunity to establish their own colleges, winners are still more …We investigate how the presence of a college affects local educational attainment using historical natural experiments in which "runner-up" locations were strongly considered to become college sites but ultimately not chosen for as-good-as-random reasons. While runner-up counties have since had opportunity to establish their own colleges, winners are still more likely to have a college today.… more →
The Distribution of School Spending Impacts
… We examine all known "credibly causal" studies to explore the distribution of the causal effects of public … understate the value of school spending. The benefits to marginal capital spending increases take about five years … as large as (and less consistently positive than) those of non-capital-specific spending increases. The marginal …We examine all known "credibly causal" studies to explore the distribution of the causal effects of public K-12 school spending on student outcomes in the United States. For each of the 31 included studies, we compute the same marginal spending effect parameter estimate. Precision-weighted method of moments estimates indicate that, on average, a $1000 increase in per-pupil public school spending… more →
Public Opinion, Attitude Stability, and Education Policy
… set of opinions about their public schools and how to improve them? From 2013 to 2018, over 5,000 unique respondents participated in more … that teachers offer more consistent responses than their non-teaching peers. By contrast, we do not observe similar …Do Americans hold a consistent set of opinions about their public schools and how to improve them? From 2013 to 2018, over 5,000 unique respondents participated in more than one consecutive iteration of the annual, nationally representative Education Next poll, offering an opportunity to examine individual-level attitude stability on education policy issues over a six-year period. The proportion… more →
The Returns to Public Library Investment
… widespread library use: more than 50% of Americans visit public libraries each year. But despite extensive … We use data on the near-universe of U.S. public libraries to study the effects of capital spending shocks on library … prices. We use a dynamic difference-in-difference approach to show that library capital investment increases children’s …Local governments spend over 12 billion dollars annually funding the operation of 15,000 public libraries in the United States. This funding supports widespread library use: more than 50% of Americans visit public libraries each year. But despite extensive public investment in libraries, surprisingly little research quantifies the effects of public libraries on communities and children. We use… more →
Mobilizing Developmental Education: The Causal Effect of Mobile App Courseware on the College Outcomes of Developmental Education Students
… deemed unprepared for college-level coursework enroll in non-credit bearing courses, is widespread in American higher … a research design which randomly assigned course sections to receive access to the apps or not. The results show that access to the apps …Developmental education, in which college students deemed unprepared for college-level coursework enroll in non-credit bearing courses, is widespread in American higher education. The current study evaluates the effect of mobile app courseware on the college outcomes of developmental education students, using a research design which randomly assigned course sections to receive access to the apps… more →
Are Power Plant Closures a Breath of Fresh Air? Local Air Quality and School Absences
… reduction in absenteeism in nearby schools relative to those farther away following the closures. For the typical … absences were larger in schools where pre-closure exposure to coal-fired power plants was more intense: namely, schools … more frequently in the wind path of the plants, and non-magnet (i.e., neighborhood) schools where students were …In this paper we study the effects of three large, nearly-simultaneous coal-fired power plant closures on school absences in Chicago. We find that the closures resulted in a 7 percent reduction in absenteeism in nearby schools relative to those farther away following the closures. For the typical elementary school in our sample, this translates into around 372 fewer absence-days per year in the… more →
Diversity in Schools: Immigrants and the Educational Performance of U.S. Born Students
… We study the effect of exposure to immigrants on the educational outcomes of US-born … White and comparatively affluent students, in response to the presence of immigrant students in the school. We … new identification strategy to partial out the unobserved non-random selection into schools, and find that the presence …We study the effect of exposure to immigrants on the educational outcomes of US-born students, using a unique dataset combining population-level birth and school records from Florida. This research question is complicated by substantial school selection of US-born students, especially among White and comparatively affluent students, in response to the presence of immigrant students in the school… more →
Uniform Admissions, Unequal Access: Did the Top 10% Plan Increase Access to Selective Flagship Institutions?
… two decades. We analyze 18 years of post-Top 10% Plan data to look for evidence of increased access to the selective Texas flagship campuses among all Texas high … reveals an increase in the likelihood that high schools in non-suburban areas sent students to the flagship campuses, …The Top 10% Plan admissions policy has now been in place in Texas for over two decades. We analyze 18 years of post-Top 10% Plan data to look for evidence of increased access to the selective Texas flagship campuses among all Texas high schools. We provide a detailed description of changes in enrollment patterns at the flagship campuses from Texas high schools after the implementation of the Top… more →
The Three R’s of Teacher Pension Funding: Redistribution, Return, and Risk
… for the benefits of short-term teachers are Redistributed to fund the benefits of career teachers. Second, pension … costs, tangible and intangible, notably including the non-trivial risk of insolvency, which would dramatically … triple the corresponding contributions of 17.5 percent. To understand this gap, which fiscally impacts all areas of …How are teacher pension benefits funded? Under traditional plans, the full cost of a career teacher’s benefits far exceeds the contributions designated for them. The gap between the two has three pieces, which may (with some license) be mnemonically tagged the three R’s of pension funding: Redistribution, Return, and Risk. First, some contributions made for the… more →
Higher-Quality Elementary Schools Sustain the Prekindergarten Boost: Evidence from an Exploration of Variation in the Boston Prekindergarten Program’s Impacts
… boost into the early elementary years is still emerging. To add to this literature, we use lottery data from applicants to … variation in the effects of the program across school sites through the end of third grade. Student outcomes …While there is a consensus that attending preschool better prepares children for kindergarten, evidence on the factors that sustain the preschool boost into the early elementary years is still emerging. To add to this literature, we use lottery data from applicants to oversubscribed schools in Boston Public Schools (BPS) prekindergarten program to estimate variation in the effects of the… more →
Teachers’ Willingness To Pay For Retirement Benefits: A National Stated Preferences Experiment
… Many states have recently made or are considering changes to their teacher retirement systems. However, little is known … versus other aspects of their jobs and compensation. To help alleviate this gap, we use a discrete choice stated … for various retirement plan characteristics and other non-salary job components. We find that teachers would be …Many states have recently made or are considering changes to their teacher retirement systems. However, little is known about how teachers value various elements of their retirement benefits versus other aspects of their jobs and compensation. To help alleviate this gap, we use a discrete choice stated preferences experiment embedded in a nationally representative survey of teachers to estimate… more →
Using Semantic Similarity to Assess Adherence and Replicability of Intervention Delivery
… Researchers are rarely satisfied to learn only whether an intervention works, they also want to understand why and under what circumstances interventions … intervention protocol can be replicated across sessions, sites, and studies. When an intervention protocol is highly …Researchers are rarely satisfied to learn only whether an intervention works, they also want to understand why and under what circumstances interventions produce their intended effects. These questions have led to increasing calls for implementation research to be included in high quality studies with strong causal claims. Of critical importance is determining whether an intervention can be… more →
Politics, Markets, and Pandemics: Public Education’s Response to COVID-19
… The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to examine how local governments respond to a public health crisis amid high levels of partisan … understanding of school districts as localized and non-partisan actors, we find evidence that politics, far more …The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to examine how local governments respond to a public health crisis amid high levels of partisan polarization and an increasing tendency for local issues to become nationalized. As an arena that has, in recent years, been relatively separate from national partisan divides, public schools provide a useful window into these dynamics. Leveraging the… more →
Happy Together? The Peer Effects of Dual Enrollment Students on Community College Student Outcomes
… community college system, we examine whether being exposed to a higher percentage of DE peers in entry-level (gateway) math and English courses influences non-DE enrollees’ performance. Using a two-way fixed effects … model, our results indicate that college enrollees exposed to a higher proportion of DE peers had lower pass rates and …Nationally, 15% of first-time community college students were high school dual enrollment (DE) students, which raises concerns about how high school peers might influence college enrollees. Using administrative data from a large state community college system, we examine whether being exposed to a higher percentage of DE peers in entry-level (gateway) math and English courses influences non-DE… more →
An Experimental Evaluation of Arts Field Trips
… This paper presents results of a multi-visit, longitudinal experiment on the academic and … trips. We randomly assign fourth and fifth grade students to receive arts-based field trips throughout the school year or to serve as a control. Treatment students express greater …This paper presents results of a multi-visit, longitudinal experiment on the academic and social-emotional effects of arts-based field trips. We randomly assign fourth and fifth grade students to receive arts-based field trips throughout the school year or to serve as a control. Treatment students express greater tolerance for people with different opinions and a desire to consume arts.… more →
Improving Low-Performing Schools: A Meta-Analysis of Impact Evaluation Studies
… The public narrative surrounding efforts to improve low-performing K-12 schools in the U.S. has been … the same time, the federal government is asking localities to implement evidence-based interventions. But what is known … in STEM and humanities subjects and no evidence of harm on non-test outcomes. Some elements of reform, namely extended …The public narrative surrounding efforts to improve low-performing K-12 schools in the U.S. has been notably gloomy. Observers argue that either nothing works or we don’t know what works. At the same time, the federal government is asking localities to implement evidence-based interventions. But what is known empirically about whether school improvement works, how long it takes, which policies… more →
How Increased School Choice Affects Public School Enrollment and School Segregation
… school choice by analyzing a 22-year school panel matched to county-level demographic, economic, and political data. … segregation, a finding that is partially explained by non-poor students’ transition from the private to public sector. Charter growth drives public sector …We investigate the determinants and consequences of increased school choice by analyzing a 22-year school panel matched to county-level demographic, economic, and political data. Using an event-study design exploiting the precise timing of charter school enrollment change, we provide robust evidence that charter enrollment growth increases racial and especially socioeconomic school… more →
Public-Sector Leadership and Venture Philanthropy: The Case of Broad Superintendents
… controversial venture-philanthropic initiative designed to transform leadership in the nation’s largest school … Broad superintendents were 40 percent more likely to be Black than their non-Broad peers, but also had tenures that were 18 percent …Major philanthropic initiatives that incorporate features of venture-capital practices have become increasingly prominent, particularly in K-12 public education. In this study, we provide empirical evidence on the reach, character, and impact of the Broad Superintendents Academy, a prominent and controversial venture-philanthropic initiative designed to transform leadership in the nation’s… more →
How Does Minority Political Representation Affect School District Administration and Student Outcomes?
… design leveraging close school board elections to investigate how the racial and ethnic composition of … evidence that increases in minority representation lead to cumulative achievement gains of approximately 0.1 standard … increase in the proportion of district principals who are non-white. We find no significant effects of minority …We employ a regression discontinuity design leveraging close school board elections to investigate how the racial and ethnic composition of California school boards affects school district administration and student achievement. We find some evidence that increases in minority representation lead to cumulative achievement gains of approximately 0.1 standard deviations among minority students by… more →
Do Peers Affect Undergraduates’ Decisions to Switch Majors?
… college dormitory room and social group assignment data to investigate the peer effect on the probability of college … strong evidence of peer effects on students’ decisions to switch majors. In particular, the number of a student’s … likely to choose the same destination majors, compared to non-peers. Finally, we found that in general peer effects at …This study used college dormitory room and social group assignment data to investigate the peer effect on the probability of college students switching their major fields of study. The results revealed strong evidence of peer effects on students’ decisions to switch majors. In particular, the number of a student’s peers who have the same major significantly reduces the student’s likelihood of… more →
Matching Methods for Clustered Observational Studies in Education
… education occur in settings where treatments are applied to groups. For example, a reading intervention may be … from students in other schools. When such treatments are non-randomly allocated, outcomes across the treated and control groups may differ due to the treatment or due to baseline differences between …Many interventions in education occur in settings where treatments are applied to groups. For example, a reading intervention may be implemented for all students in some schools and withheld from students in other schools. When such treatments are non-randomly allocated, outcomes across the treated and control groups may differ due to the treatment or due to baseline differences between groups.… more →
Targeted Interventions in High School: Preparing Students for College
… This study adds to the currently limited evidence base on the efficacy of interventions targeting non-college-ready high school students by examining the … … Ben Backes … Amanda Oliveira … Dan Goldhaber … Pathways to and Through Postsecondary … K-12 Education … College …This study adds to the currently limited evidence base on the efficacy of interventions targeting non-college-ready high school students by examining the impact of Kentucky’s Targeted Interventions (TI) program. We focus on interventions that students received under TI in the senior year of high school based on their 11th grade ACT test scores. Using difference-in-regression discontinuity and… more →
Nearly three decades into the charter school movement, what has research told us about charter schools?
… critics painted charter schools as an apocalyptic threat to public schools. To inform this debate, research has evolved over time, with … schools have on test scores almost exclusively using non-experimental designs. The second generation of studies …When charter schools first entered the landscape, the debate was contentious, with both advocates and critics using strong rhetoric. Advocates often sold charter schools as a silver bullet solution for not only the students who attend these schools, but the broader traditional public school system as well. Similarly, critics painted charter schools as an apocalyptic threat to public… more →
Female Science Advisors and the STEM Gender Gap
… In an effort to reduce the STEM gender gap, policymakers often propose … use rich administrative data from a private 4-year college to provide some of the first causal evidence on the impact of … in math. In contrast, the gender of an advisor from a non-science department has no impact on students' major …In an effort to reduce the STEM gender gap, policymakers often propose providing women with close mentoring by female scientists. This is based on the idea that female scientists might act as role models and counteract negative gender stereotypes that are pervasive in science fields. However, as of yet, there is still no clear evidence on the role of mentor or advisor gender in reducing the STEM… more →
Virtual Advising for High-Achieving High School Students
… virtual advising – college counseling using technology to communicate remotely – increases postsecondary enrollment … identified by the College Board and randomly assigned to receive virtual advising from the College Advising Corps. … students of 6.1 percentage points. We also find that non-white students who were randomly assigned to a nonwhite …We examine whether virtual advising – college counseling using technology to communicate remotely – increases postsecondary enrollment in selective colleges. We test this approach using a sample of approximately 16,000 high-achieving, low- and middle-income students identified by the College Board and randomly assigned to receive virtual advising from the College Advising Corps. The offer of… more →
Forced to Redshirt: Quasi-Experimental Impacts of Delayed Kindergarten Entry
… Carolina that forced children born in a six-week window to redshirt. Using multiple peer group comparisons, we … fifth grades. Delayed entry provides small benefits to students’ math and reading achievement, and reduced … benefitted low-income students, but further disadvantaged non-white students. … Redshirting, Relative Age, Kindergarten …We provide causal estimates of the effects of delayed kindergarten entry on achievement outcomes by exploiting a policy change in the birthdate enrollment cutoff in North Carolina that forced children born in a six-week window to redshirt. Using multiple peer group comparisons, we identify impacts on achievement and gifted or disability identifications in third through fifth grades. Delayed entry… more →
Teachers, Schools, and Pre-K Effect Persistence: An Examination of the Sustaining Environment Hypothesis
… thesis hypothesizes that PreK effects are more likely to persist into later grades if children experience … high-quality learning environments in the years subsequent to PreK. This study tests this hypothesis using data from a … differences in achievement between PreK participants and non-participants in 3rd-grade. However, this study found …The sustaining environments thesis hypothesizes that PreK effects are more likely to persist into later grades if children experience high-quality learning environments in the years subsequent to PreK. This study tests this hypothesis using data from a statewide PreK randomized experiment in Tennessee that found positive effects at the end of PreK that did not persist past kindergarten. These… more →
Teacher Skill Development: Evidence from Performance Ratings by Principals
… but narrow measure of performance: teachers’ value-added to student achievement on standardized tests. Unlike … dimensions and are available for the many teachers in non-tested grades and subjects. Using a within-teacher returns to experience framework, we find, on average, large and rapid …We examine the dynamic nature of teacher skill development using panel data on principals’ subjective performance ratings of teachers. Past research on teacher productivity improvement has focused primarily on one important but narrow measure of performance: teachers’ value-added to student achievement on standardized tests. Unlike value-added, subjective performance ratings provide detailed… more →
Is Education Consumption or Investment? Implications for School Competition
… Friedman (1955) argued that giving parents freedom to choose schools would improve education. His argument was … it extended results from markets for consumer goods to education. We review the evidence, which yields … higher wages if they match to more productive firms (Card et al., 2018). Third, distance influences school choice …Friedman (1955) argued that giving parents freedom to choose schools would improve education. His argument was simple and compelling because it extended results from markets for consumer goods to education. We review the evidence, which yields surprisingly mixed results on Friedman's prediction. A key reason is that households often seem to choose schools based on their absolute achievement… more →
The Opportunity Costs of Career and Technical Education: Coursetaking Tradeoffs for High School CTE Students
… detractors caution that CTE may inhibit students’ access to the rigorous academic coursework needed for college and … school is a relatively fixed resource, this paper seeks to better understand the extent to which CTE is associated … that CTE courses do crowd out students’ enrollment in non-CTE elective areas, but that CTE does not lead to large …Career and Technical Education (CTE) has long played a substantial, though controversial, role within America’s public schools. While supporters argue that CTE may increase student engagement and prepare students for success in the workforce, detractors caution that CTE may inhibit students’ access to the rigorous academic coursework needed for college and high-status careers. As students’ time… more →
Toward More Equitable Learning Environments: Insights from Digital Trace Data on Inclusive Instructional Design Features
… However, large-scale evidence remains limited as to which specific design features promote more equitable … This study proposes a comprehensive and scalable framework to capture instructional design features in learning … in courses with discussion activities compared to their non-URM peers, whereas first-generation students tend to show …Seminal teaching and learning theories converge on the critical role of instructional design in promoting equity and inclusivity in higher education. However, large-scale evidence remains limited as to which specific design features promote more equitable outcomes across diverse student populations in semester-long college courses. This study proposes a comprehensive and scalable framework to… more →
Choosing Schools in Choice Neighborhoods: Impacts of Student Mobility, School Composition, and Case Management on Academic Outcomes
… mobility, and school compositional change intersect to shape outcomes. Using an eight-year student-level panel … and math. While student transfers alone are not linked to performance, negative math effects emerge when students … moved and received USI support saw ELA improvements, while non-movers benefitted in math. Mobility also moderates the …This study examines the academic impacts of the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI), a federal public housing revitalization program, focusing on how case management, student mobility, and school compositional change intersect to shape outcomes. Using an eight-year student-level panel (2015–2023), we estimate three-way fixed effects models that account for school year, grade, and individual… more →
Educator Attention: How computational tools can systematically identify the distribution of a key resource for students
… attention across students remains poorly understood due to data and methodological constraints. This study presents … utterances from virtual group tutoring sessions linked to detailed student demographic and academic achievement … with another Black student but not when paired with a non-Black peer. In contrast, higher-achieving EL students …Educator attention is critical for student success, yet how educators distribute their attention across students remains poorly understood due to data and methodological constraints. This study presents the first large-scale computational analysis of educator attention patterns, leveraging over 1 million educator utterances from virtual group tutoring sessions linked to detailed student… more →
Social Spending and Educational Gaps in Infant Health in the United States, 1998-2017
… evident, while researchers and policymakers continue to debate the best way to support families via the welfare state. How much do … increases equality of opportunity, and that spending on non-health programs is equally beneficial for child health as …Recent expansions of child tax, food assistance and health insurance programs have made American families’ need for a robust social safety net highly evident, while researchers and policymakers continue to debate the best way to support families via the welfare state. How much do children – and which children – benefit from social spending? Using the State-by-State Spending on Kids Dataset,… more →
What we teach about race and gender: Representation in images and text of children’s books
… data and apply them, along with text analysis methods, to measure the representation of skin color, race, gender, … with lighter skin than adults on average. Relative to their growing share of the U.S. population, Black and … side, we document higher prices for books that center non-dominant social identities and fewer copies of these …Books shape how children learn about society and norms, in part through representation of different characters. We introduce new artificial intelligence methods for systematically converting images into data and apply them, along with text analysis methods, to measure the representation of skin color, race, gender, and age in award-winning children’s books widely read in homes, classrooms, and… more →
Crossing the Finish Line but Losing the Race? Socioeconomic Inequalities in the Labor Market Trajectories of Community College Graduates
… of dollars of federal and state investment in policies to promote postsecondary educational attainment as a key … mobility of lower-income populations, research continues to show large and meaningful differences in the mid-career … years after graduation. Disparities are concentrated among non-Nursing programs, in which gaps persist seven years from …Despite decades and hundreds of billions of dollars of federal and state investment in policies to promote postsecondary educational attainment as a key lever for increasing the economic mobility of lower-income populations, research continues to show large and meaningful differences in the mid-career earnings of students from families in the bottom and top income quintiles. Prior research has… more →
Cheapskin Effects? The Heterogeneous Value of Industry-Recognized Certificates Earned by High School Students
… and demographics. On average, IRC attainment is unrelated to employment but associated with a 9 percent increase in … However, these benefits depend critically on alignment to CTE coursework. IRCs earned in the same career field as a … groups, with larger earnings gains for White, male, and non-low-income students. These findings suggest that IRCs …Human capital theory and signaling models posit that educational credentials convey information about workers’ skills, producing discrete labor market returns beyond years of schooling. While extensive evidence documents these “sheepskin effects” for degrees, far less is known about industry-recognized certifications (IRCs) earned in high school. Using statewide administrative data from Texas,… more →
Health Equity, Schooling Hesitancy, and the Social Determinants of Learning
… been physically out of school for a full year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These children are at risk of … harm now and in the long-term. We must determine how to help all students gain access to safe, in-person … make a long-term commitment to supporting schools as both sites of and contributors to public health, especially in …At least 25 million K-12 students in the U.S.—disproportionately children of color from low-income families—have been physically out of school for a full year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These children are at risk of significant academic, social, mental, and physical harm now and in the long-term. We must determine how to help all students gain access to safe, in-person schooling. In this… more →
GED® College Readiness Benchmarks and Post-Secondary Success
… the GED® introduced college readiness benchmarks designed to identify testers who are academically prepared for … fail a GED® subject test are over 100 times more likely to retest than those who fall just short of a college … and challenges associated with building pathways for non-traditional students to earn credit for prior learning. … …In 2016, the GED® introduced college readiness benchmarks designed to identify testers who are academically prepared for credit-bearing college coursework. The benchmarks are promoted as awarding college credits or exempting “college-ready” GED® graduates from remedial coursework. I show descriptive evidence that those identified as college-ready by these benchmarks enroll and persist in college… more →
Pinpointing Persistence in Alternative STEM Pipelines: Evidence from a Novel Coding and Apprenticeship Program
… minoritized racial/ethnic groups in these fields. Efforts to address worker shortages and broaden participation include … is known about persistence in alternative STEM pathways. To bridge this gap, we conduct a mixed-methods analysis of … better benefits, and increased stability are highest among non-completers. We also found that time constraints and …The shortage of STEM workers, particularly in computer science, is compounded by the underrepresentation of women and certain minoritized racial/ethnic groups in these fields. Efforts to address worker shortages and broaden participation include improving traditional STEM education pathways and creating alternative pathways. While persistence has been examined in traditional STEM pathways, less… more →
The Effects of Teacher-Student Demographic Matching on Social-Emotional Learning
… social-emotional development. We use student-fixed effects to exploit changes over time in the proportion of teachers … within a school grade who demographically match a student to estimate matching's effect on social-emotional measures, … a critical stage of development. … Social-emotional; non-cognitive skills; teacher-student assignment; …A growing body of research shows that students benefit when they demographically match their teachers. However, little is known about how matching affects social-emotional development. We use student-fixed effects to exploit changes over time in the proportion of teachers within a school grade who demographically match a student to estimate matching's effect on social-emotional measures, test… more →
Are Friends of Schools the Enemies of Equity? The Interplay of Public School Funding Policies and Private External Fundraising
… across the U.S. have adopted funding policies designed to distribute resources more equitably across schools. … schools are also increasing external fundraising efforts to supplement district budget allocations. We document the … … education finance, public school, school funding, non-profits, fundraising, equity … Lisa Barrow … Sarah …School districts across the U.S. have adopted funding policies designed to distribute resources more equitably across schools. However, schools are also increasing external fundraising efforts to supplement district budget allocations. We document the interaction between funding policies and fundraising efforts in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). We find that adoption of a weighted-student funding… more →
Design and Analytic Features for Reducing Biases in Skill-Building Intervention Impact Forecasts
… interventions are relatively rare. A common approach to this problem has been to rely on longitudinal research to determine targets for … to medium-term outcomes. … prediction, forecasting, non-experimental, intervention, evaluation … Daniela …Despite policy relevance, longer-term evaluations of educational interventions are relatively rare. A common approach to this problem has been to rely on longitudinal research to determine targets for intervention by looking at the correlation between children’s early skills (e.g., preschool numeracy) and medium-term outcomes (e.g., first-grade math achievement). However, this approach has… more →
Measuring and Summarizing the Multiple Dimensions of Teacher Effectiveness
… multiple student outcomes, but it remains unclear how to measure and summarize the multiple dimensions of teacher … empirical Bayes framework and illustrate how to use noisy estimates of teacher effectiveness to assess the … of teacher quality. … value-added; teacher effectiveness; non-test score measures; teacher evaluation … Christine …There is an emerging consensus that teachers impact multiple student outcomes, but it remains unclear how to measure and summarize the multiple dimensions of teacher effectiveness into simple metrics for research or personnel decisions. We present a multidimensional empirical Bayes framework and illustrate how to use noisy estimates of teacher effectiveness to assess the dimensionality and… more →
Engaging Teachers: Measuring the Impact of Teachers on Student Attendance in Secondary School
… success is only partially explained by their contributions to students’ short-run academic performance. For this study, … by creating measures of teachers’ contributions to student class-attendance. We find systematic variation in … low-attendance students. … value-addedmodels; attendance; non-cognitive outcomes; student long-run success … Jing Liu … …Teachers’ impact on student long-run success is only partially explained by their contributions to students’ short-run academic performance. For this study, we explore a second dimension of teacher effectiveness by creating measures of teachers’ contributions to student class-attendance. We find systematic variation in teacher effectiveness at reducing unexcused class absences at the middle and… more →