EdWorkingPapers
A Global Regression Discontinuity Design: Theory and Application to Grade Retention Policies
… We use a marginal treatment effect (MTE) representation of a fuzzy regression discontinuity setting to propose a novel estimation approach. The estimator can be thought of as extrapolating a … function under weaker assumptions than existing approaches and then discuss conditions in a Bayesian framework under …We use a marginal treatment effect (MTE) representation of a fuzzy regression discontinuity setting to propose a novel estimation approach. The estimator can be thought of as extrapolating a traditional fuzzy regression discontinuity estimate or as an observational study that adjusts for endogenous selection into treatment using information at the discontinuity. We show in a frequentist… more →
I know my rights? Iowa Senate File 496, book bans, and the First and Fourteenth Amendments
… This instrumental case study explores 31 Iowan educators’ and board of education members’ perceptions of the ways the state’s book ban law, Senate File 496 influenced …This instrumental case study explores 31 Iowan educators’ and board of education members’ perceptions of the ways the state’s book ban law, Senate File 496 influenced school information systems. Mathisen’s (2015) informational justice conceptual framework guided data analysis. The three key findings of this study were Senate File 496 was imprudently discriminatory in implementation,… more →
Framing the pandemic: Tracking educational problem formulation, Spring 2020-Fall 2021
… We use data from the applications North Carolina public school districts and charter schools submitted for Elementary and Secondary … to investigate the sense that educational leaders made of the pandemic as it unfolded. LEAs understood the pandemic …We use data from the applications North Carolina public school districts and charter schools submitted for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) to investigate the sense that educational leaders made of the pandemic as it unfolded. LEAs understood the pandemic as a multifaceted problem. Nearly all applications addressed four problems: (1) public health, (2) academics and… more →
Do Mid-Career Teacher Trainees Enter and Persist Like Their Younger Peers?
… In the context of an ongoing national conversation about teacher shortages, … of teacher certification pathways by comparing entry and exit patterns based on age at the time of certification. … We use both linear regression and discrete-time hazard models to examine employment and subsequent exit of newly …In the context of an ongoing national conversation about teacher shortages, we build on prior literature on the efficacy of teacher certification pathways by comparing entry and exit patterns based on age at the time of certification. All trainees who complete a state certification process have invested substantial time and resources into entering teaching. Competing employment opportunities… more →
The Effects of Response to Intervention on Disability Identification and Achievement
… Currently 15 percent of U.S. students receive special education services, a … Spurred by changes in federal policy, many states and districts have begun adopting the Response to Intervention (RTI) approach to identifying …Currently 15 percent of U.S. students receive special education services, a widespread intensive intervention with variable effects on students. Spurred by changes in federal policy, many states and districts have begun adopting the Response to Intervention (RTI) approach to identifying students to receive special education services. RTI seeks to provide a system for targeting interventions to… more →
Who Wants To Say “Gay?” Public Opinion About LGBT Issues in the Curriculum
… Public schools are currently a source of major political conflict, specifically with regard to issues related to LGBT representation in the curriculum. We report on a large nationally … households focusing on their views on what LGBT topics are and should be taught, and what LGBT-themed books should be …Public schools are currently a source of major political conflict, specifically with regard to issues related to LGBT representation in the curriculum. We report on a large nationally representative survey of American households focusing on their views on what LGBT topics are and should be taught, and what LGBT-themed books should be assigned and available. We report results overall and broken… more →
How Much Teacher Is in Teacher Rating Scales?
… used to identify student exceptionalism either as part of an informal nomination process or through behavioral … rating scales, there is little research documenting the between-teacher variance in teacher ratings or the … process, we examined the student-, teacher-, and school-level variance in TRS controlling for student …Teacher rating scales (TRS) are often used to make service eligibility decisions for exceptional learners. Although TRS are regularly used to identify student exceptionalism either as part of an informal nomination process or through behavioral rating scales, there is little research documenting the between-teacher variance in teacher ratings or the consequences of such rater dependence. To… more →
Framing Effects and the Public’s Attitudes toward Racial Equity in Education Policy
… on policy issues, with implications for policy adoption and agenda-setting. What impact do common issue frames for … experiments with two independent representative polls of California voters, framing effects were moderated by … respondents concerned with tax policy, a frame emphasizing the economic benefits of equity elicited higher priority for …Frames shape public opinion on policy issues, with implications for policy adoption and agenda-setting. What impact do common issue frames for racial equity in education have on voters’ support for racially equitable education policy? Across survey experiments with two independent representative polls of California voters, framing effects were moderated by voters’ prior policy preferences.… more →
Teacher Licensing, Teacher Supply, and Student Achievement: Nationwide Implementation of edTPA
… The debate on the stringency of licensure exams for prospective public school teachers is … setting of different adoption timing by states and analyze multiple data sources containing a national … and minority-concentrated universities. Contrary to the policy intention, we do not find evidence that edTPA …The debate on the stringency of licensure exams for prospective public school teachers is on-going, including the recent controversial roll-out of the educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA). We leverage the quasi-experimental setting of different adoption timing by states and analyze multiple data sources containing a national sample of prospective teachers and students of new… more →
The Increasing Penalty to Occupation-Education Mismatch
… lower wages compared to well-matched workers. Our analysis of data from the National Survey of College Graduates shows that although … to 17%), the wage penalty increased by 51% between 1993 and 2019. Changes in the composition of field of study over …College-educated workers in jobs unrelated to their degree generally receive lower wages compared to well-matched workers. Our analysis of data from the National Survey of College Graduates shows that although the rate of this mismatch declined only slightly (19% to 17%), the wage penalty increased by 51% between 1993 and 2019. Changes in the composition of field of study over time, as well as… more →
When your bootstraps are not enough: How demand and supply interact to generate learning in settings of extreme poverty
… does family demand matter for child learning in settings of extreme poverty? In rural Gambia, families with high aspirations for their children’s future education and career, measured before children start school, go on to invest substantially more than other families in the early years of their children’s education. Despite this, …How much does family demand matter for child learning in settings of extreme poverty? In rural Gambia, families with high aspirations for their children’s future education and career, measured before children start school, go on to invest substantially more than other families in the early years of their children’s education. Despite this, essentially no children are literate or numerate three… more →
John Serrano Did Not Vote for Proposition 13
… This article reviews the development of my thesis that the California Supreme Court's Serrano decisions, which began in 1971 and sought to disconnect district school spending with local …This article reviews the development of my thesis that the California Supreme Court's Serrano decisions, which began in 1971 and sought to disconnect district school spending with local property taxes, led to the fiscal conditions that caused California voters to embrace Proposition 13 in 1978, which radically undermined the local property tax system. I submit that my thesis is most likely… more →
Can interactive online training make high school students more entrepreneurial? Experimental evidence from Rwanda
… We study the short-run effects of a gamified online entrepreneurship training offered to … actions, to improve their business practices, and to interact more with other youth and family members …We study the short-run effects of a gamified online entrepreneurship training offered to high school students in Rwanda during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a randomized controlled trial, we estimate sizeable effects of the 6-week training on entrepreneurial activity. One month after the training, participants in schools offered the training were much more likely to own a business than… more →
Pension Reform and Labor Supply
… governments experiment with ways to curb costs. We examine the effect of a representative cost-cutting reform on the retention and productivity of workers. The reform reduced pension …As unfunded pension liabilities grow, governments experiment with ways to curb costs. We examine the effect of a representative cost-cutting reform on the retention and productivity of workers. The reform reduced pension annuities and increased penalties for early retirement, projected to save 8 percent of revenues. We leverage administrative records and a discontinuity in the reform to… more →
Who’s Left Out of Learning? Racial Disparities in Teachers’ Reports of Exclusionary Discipline Strategies Beyond Suspensions and Expulsions
… We documented (1) the use of strategies, beyond suspensions and expulsions, that …We documented (1) the use of strategies, beyond suspensions and expulsions, that exclude young students from learning opportunities and (2) how teacher-reported use of these strategies varied according to student racial/ethnic composition. In a sample of 2,053 teachers and 40,771 kindergarten students, teachers reported on their use of five exclusionary strategies including isolated seating,… more →
How Can Released State Test Items Support Interim Assessment Purposes in an Educational Crisis?
… regularly release previously administered test items to the public. We provide an open-source recipe for state, district, and school assessment coordinators to combine these items … state score scales. These would enable estimation of student score distributions and achievement levels. We …State testing programs regularly release previously administered test items to the public. We provide an open-source recipe for state, district, and school assessment coordinators to combine these items flexibly to produce scores linked to established state score scales. These would enable estimation of student score distributions and achievement levels. We discuss how educators can use… more →
Experimental Effects of “Achievement Gap” News Reporting on Viewers’ Racial Stereotypes, Inequality Explanations, and Inequality Prioritization
… The “achievement gap” has long dominated mainstream conversations about race and education. Some scholars warn that the discourse around … gaps perpetuates stereotypes and promotes the adoption of deficit-based explanations that fail to appreciate the …The “achievement gap” has long dominated mainstream conversations about race and education. Some scholars warn that the discourse around racial gaps perpetuates stereotypes and promotes the adoption of deficit-based explanations that fail to appreciate the role of structural inequities. I investigate through three randomized experiments. Results indicate that a TV news story… more →
Social Returns to Private Choice? Effects of Charter Schools on Behavioral Outcomes, Arrests, and Civic Participation
… The vast majority of literature on school choice, and charter schools in … add to the empirical research on charter school effects by using a doubly-robust inverse probability weighted approach …The vast majority of literature on school choice, and charter schools in particular, focus on attending an elementary or middle school grades and often focus on test scores or other proximal outcomes. Much less is known about the long-term effects of attending a charter school in 9th grade. It is important to fill this information void for a few reasons. First, schools in general affect more… more →
Investing for Student Success: Lessons From State School Finance Reforms
… for students from low-income families, achievement and graduation rates improve. So, too, do life outcomes such … especially high-quality teachers, appear to leverage the largest marginal gains in performance. School funding … … School reform … Finance … Inequality … Multiple outcomes of education … Program and policy effects … Investing for …Recent research demonstrates that, when more money is spent on education for students from low-income families, achievement and graduation rates improve. So, too, do life outcomes such as employment, wages, and reduced poverty rates. Investments in instruction, especially high-quality teachers, appear to leverage the largest marginal gains in performance. School funding reforms in several… more →
Strengthening STEM Instruction in Schools: Learning from Research
… More than half of U.S. children fail to meet proficiency standards in mathematics and science in fourth grade. Teacher professional development and curriculum improvement are two of the primary levers that school leaders and policymakers use …More than half of U.S. children fail to meet proficiency standards in mathematics and science in fourth grade. Teacher professional development and curriculum improvement are two of the primary levers that school leaders and policymakers use to improve children’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning, yet until recently, the evidence base for understanding their… more →
Turnover at the Top: Estimating the Effects of Principal Turnover on Student, Teacher, and School Outcomes
… One in five schools loses its principal each year. Despite the prevalence of principal turnover, little empirical research has examined … endogeneity to isolate plausibly causal effects of within- and between-year principal turnover. Using eight years of …One in five schools loses its principal each year. Despite the prevalence of principal turnover, little empirical research has examined its effects on school outcomes. Because principal turnover may occur in response to or contemporaneous with a downturn in student achievement, the effect of a turnover is confounded with unobserved school-level factors. We employ a novel identification… more →
Restorative for All? Racial Disproportionality and School Discipline Under Restorative Justice
… The well-documented racial disparities in school discipline … disciplinary action by placing an emphasis on restitution and improving behavior rather than punishment. While models of restorative justice are descriptively and theoretically …The well-documented racial disparities in school discipline have led many school districts in the U.S. to adopt restorative justice practices. The restorative justice philosophy differs from traditional disciplinary action by placing an emphasis on restitution and improving behavior rather than punishment. While models of restorative justice are descriptively and theoretically promising,… more →
Rural Early Childhood Programs & School Readiness: An Evaluation of the Early Steps to School Success Program
… Prior research has clearly established the substantial expected payoffs to investments in early … to School Success, to understand whether the provision of home visiting and book exchange programs in rural Kentucky can influence …Prior research has clearly established the substantial expected payoffs to investments in early childhood education. However, the ability to deliver early childhood programs differs across communities with access to high quality programing especially hard to establish in rural communities. We study one program, Early Steps to School Success, to understand whether the provision of home visiting… more →
Teacher Skill Development: Evidence from Performance Ratings by Principals
… We examine the dynamic nature of teacher skill development using panel data on principals’ … detailed information about specific skill dimensions and are available for the many teachers in non-tested grades …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 →
Patterns, Determinants, and Consequences of Ability Tracking: Evidence from Texas Public Schools
… track students to classes based on ability. Proponents of tracking argue it is a low-cost tool to improve learning … evidence of efficacy. In fact, little is known about the pervasiveness or determinants of ability tracking in the … of tracking is heterogeneity in student ability, and schools operationalize tracking through the …Schools often track students to classes based on ability. Proponents of tracking argue it is a low-cost tool to improve learning since instruction is more effective when students are more homogeneous, while opponents argue it exacerbates initial differences in opportunities without strong evidence of efficacy. In fact, little is known about the pervasiveness or determinants of ability tracking… more →
Testing Away from One's Own School: Exam Location and Performance in High-Stakes Exams
… such arrangements impact students' test performance and, by extension, access to educational opportunities. Using … between 2016 and 2018 and its random assignment of test centers, we find that students assigned to a non-home … percentage points less likely to be admitted to college. The performance penalty is most pronounced in STEM subjects …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… more →
The Long-Run Impacts of Universal Pre-K with Equilibrium Considerations
… pre-K with universal eligibility has proliferated across the U.S. Universal pre-K (UPK) operates at great scale and serves children with a wide range of alternative childcare options. Because these programs are …Since 1995, publicly funded pre-K with universal eligibility has proliferated across the U.S. Universal pre-K (UPK) operates at great scale and serves children with a wide range of alternative childcare options. Because these programs are relatively young, very little is known about their long-run impacts on children. In this paper, I use a difference-in-differences (DiD) design to estimate… more →
Measuring Elementary School Teachers' Knowledge of Teaching Vocabulary
… Teacher Knowledge in the field of literacy has become a priority across the United States, … Reading. One essential component of literacy development and text comprehension is vocabulary acquisition. This study …Teacher Knowledge in the field of literacy has become a priority across the United States, with many states passing legislation requiring that all teachers receive adequate training on the Science of Reading. One essential component of literacy development and text comprehension is vocabulary acquisition. This study examines the psychometric properties of items from the Teacher Knowledge of… more →
Differential Responses to Teacher Evaluation Incentives: Expectancy, Race, Experience, and Task
… Teacher evaluation systems and their associated incentives have produced fairly mixed … to respond to incentives when they have low expectations of success (and vice versa). Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that Black novices in the District of Columbia Public Schools faced the most …Teacher evaluation systems and their associated incentives have produced fairly mixed results. Our analyses are motivated by theory and descriptive evidence that accountability systems are highly racialized, and that individuals are less likely to respond to incentives when they have low expectations of success (and vice versa). Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that Black… more →
Expanding School Counseling: The Impacts of California Funding Changes
… common school resource for students navigating complicated and consequential education choices. However, most students … have limited access to school counselors. We study one of the largest U.S. policies to increase access to school …Counselors are a common school resource for students navigating complicated and consequential education choices. However, most students have limited access to school counselors. We study one of the largest U.S. policies to increase access to school counselors - California's Supplemental School Counseling Program. The program increased the average number of counselors per high school by 0.7 and… more →
School and Crime
… Criminal activity is seasonal, peaking in the summer and declining through the winter. We provide the first evidence that arrests of children and reported crimes involving children follow a …Criminal activity is seasonal, peaking in the summer and declining through the winter. We provide the first evidence that arrests of children and reported crimes involving children follow a different pattern: peaking during the school year and declining in the summer. We use a regression discontinuity design surrounding school start dates and an excess crime calculation to show that the school… more →
The Challenges of Scaling up Effective Child-Rearing Practices Using Technology in Developing Settings: Experimental Evidence From India
… programs have improved child development in low- and middle-income countries, but they are costly to scale due … inexpensive and low-tech alternative with 2,433 caregivers of children aged 6 to 30 months served by 250 public … India: automated phone calls offering parenting advice. The intervention was implemented largely as intended, with …Home-visitation programs have improved child development in low- and middle-income countries, but they are costly to scale due to their reliance on trained workers. We evaluated an inexpensive and low-tech alternative with 2,433 caregivers of children aged 6 to 30 months served by 250 public childcare centers in Uttarakhand, India: automated phone calls offering parenting advice. The… more →
Taking Teacher Evaluation to Scale: The Effect of State Reforms on Achievement and Attainment
… Federal incentives and requirements under the Obama administration spurred … their teacher evaluation systems. We examine the effects of these reforms on student achievement and attainment at a …Federal incentives and requirements under the Obama administration spurred states to adopt major reforms to their teacher evaluation systems. We examine the effects of these reforms on student achievement and attainment at a national scale by exploiting their staggered implementation across states. We find precisely estimated null effects, on average, that rule out impacts as small as 0.017… more →
An Investigation of Head Start Preschool Children’s Executive Function, Early Literacy, and Numeracy Learning in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic
… The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on preschool children’s school … Head Start preschool children’s early numeracy, literacy, and executive function outcomes during a pandemic-affected … Hispanic; 36% Black Non-Hispanic; 52% female) in a network of Head Start centers in four states (Nevada, New Jersey, …The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on preschool children’s school readiness skills remains understudied. This research investigates Head Start preschool children’s early numeracy, literacy, and executive function outcomes during a pandemic-affected school year. Study children (N = 336 assessed at fall baseline; N = 237-250 assessed in spring depending on outcome; fall baseline sample: mean age =… more →
What matters and for whom? Exploring characteristics of teacher residency programs and their relationship to participant perceptions
… explores teacher residency programs (TRPs) across the nation. We examine program and participant survey data from the National Center for … TRP structures for resident support. Latent class analysis of program-level data reveals three types of TRPs …This concurrent mixed methods study descriptively explores teacher residency programs (TRPs) across the nation. We examine program and participant survey data from the National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR) to identify important TRP structures for resident support. Latent class analysis of program-level data reveals three types of TRPs (locally-funded low tuition, multi-funded… more →
Politics and Children’s Books: Evidence from School Library Collections
… The recent spike in book challenges has put school libraries at the center of heated political debates. I investigate the relationship between local politics and school library collections using data on books with …The recent spike in book challenges has put school libraries at the center of heated political debates. I investigate the relationship between local politics and school library collections using data on books with controversial content in 6,631 public school libraries. Libraries in conservative areas have fewer titles with LGBTQ+, race/racism, or abortion content and more Christian fiction and… more →
Follow the Leader: Principal Characteristics and Teachers’ Labor Market Decisions
… Amid heightened concerns of teacher shortages, we document the role of principals in … away from schools with less-experienced principals and weaker leadership. The qualities of principals that …Amid heightened concerns of teacher shortages, we document the role of principals in shaping teachers’ labor market decisions. Using teacher transfer applications from a large urban school district, we find that teachers are most likely to seek transfer away from schools with less-experienced principals and weaker leadership. The qualities of principals that attract applicants are survey… more →
The Role of School Climate in School Turnaround
… but there is limited large-scale data available to examine the magnitude and nature of the relationship between school climate and school …School climate is critical to school effectiveness, but there is limited large-scale data available to examine the magnitude and nature of the relationship between school climate and school improvement. Drawing on statewide administrative data linked with unique teacher survey data in Michigan, we examine whether school climate appeared to play a role in the effects of a state-level school… more →
Capturing the Educational and Economic Impacts of School Closures in Poland
… The effect of school closures in the spring of 2020 on the math, science, and reading skills of secondary school students in Poland is … samples shows that the learning loss was equal to more than one year of study. Assuming a 45-year working …The effect of school closures in the spring of 2020 on the math, science, and reading skills of secondary school students in Poland is estimated. The COVID-19-induced school closures lasted 26 weeks in Poland, one of Europe's longest periods of shutdown. Comparison of the learning outcomes with pre- and post-COVID-19 samples shows that the learning loss was equal to more than one year of study… more →
Global Universal Basic Skills: Current Deficits and Implications for World Development
… How far is the world away from ensuring that every child obtains the basic skills needed to be internationally competitive? And what would accomplishing this mean for world development? Based on the micro data of international and regional achievement tests, we map …How far is the world away from ensuring that every child obtains the basic skills needed to be internationally competitive? And what would accomplishing this mean for world development? Based on the micro data of international and regional achievement tests, we map achievement onto a common (PISA) scale. We then estimate the share of children not achieving basic skills for 159 countries that… more →
Hard-to-Staff Centers: Exploring Center-Level Variation in the Persistence of Child Care Teacher Turnover
… High rates of teacher turnover in child care settings have negative … implications for young children’s learning experiences and for efforts to improve child care quality. Prior research has explored the prevalence and predictors of turnover at the individual …High rates of teacher turnover in child care settings have negative implications for young children’s learning experiences and for efforts to improve child care quality. Prior research has explored the prevalence and predictors of turnover at the individual teacher level, but less is known about turnover at the center level – specifically, how turnover varies across child care centers or… more →
Design and Analytic Features for Reducing Biases in Skill-Building Intervention Impact Forecasts
… Despite policy relevance, longer-term evaluations of educational interventions are relatively rare. A common … 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 …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
… student outcomes, but it remains unclear how to measure and summarize the multiple dimensions of teacher effectiveness into simple metrics for research or …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 →
Local Supply, Temporal Dynamics, and Unrealized Potential in Teacher Hiring
… We explore the dynamics of competitive search in the K-12 public education sector. … supply varies substantially by position types, schools, and the timing of job postings. We find that early-posted …We explore the dynamics of competitive search in the K-12 public education sector. Using data from Boston Public Schools, we document how teacher labor supply varies substantially by position types, schools, and the timing of job postings. We find that early-posted positions are more likely to be filled and end up securing new hires that are better-qualified, more-effective, and more likely to… more →
Public Opinion, Attitude Stability, and Education Policy
… 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 … participated in more than one consecutive iteration of the annual, nationally representative Education Next poll, …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… more →
Using Implementation Fidelity to Aid in Interpreting Program Impacts: A Brief Review
… constitutes one explanation for null results in trials of educational interventions. For this reason, researchers … such trials. In this article, we document whether and how researchers report and measure program fidelity in … trials. We then create two measures—one describing the level of fidelity reported by authors and another …Poor program implementation constitutes one explanation for null results in trials of educational interventions. For this reason, researchers often collect data about implementation fidelity when conducting such trials. In this article, we document whether and how researchers report and measure program fidelity in recent cluster-randomized trials. We then create two measures—one describing the… more →
Achievement Gaps in the Wake of COVID-19
… conducted in November, 2020 provides both short- and longer-term predictions of how much achievement gaps between low- and high-income … all respondents predicted that gaps would grow during the pandemic and would not return to pre-pandemic levels in …A survey targeting education researchers conducted in November, 2020 provides both short- and longer-term predictions of how much achievement gaps between low- and high-income students in U.S elementary schools will change as a result of COVID-related disruptions to schooling and family life. Relative to a pre-COVID achievement gap of 1.00 SD, respondents’ median forecasts for… more →
Status, Growth, and Perceptions of School Quality
… States and districts are increasingly incorporating measures of achievement growth into their school accountability … but there is little research on how these changes affect the public’s perceptions of school quality. We conduct a …States and districts are increasingly incorporating measures of achievement growth into their school accountability systems, but there is little research on how these changes affect the public’s perceptions of school quality. We conduct a nationally representative online survey experiment to identify the effects of providing participants with information about their local school districts’… more →
The Effects of Early College Opportunities on English Learners
… lag behind their peers in postsecondary attainment. As the EL population in the U.S. continues to grow, so does … High Schools have a significant impact on high school and college outcomes for students from low income and … unknown. We report findings from the first three years of an intervention that offers Early College opportunities in …English Learners (ELs) lag behind their peers in postsecondary attainment. As the EL population in the U.S. continues to grow, so does concern over their underrepresentation in higher education. Research shows that Early College High Schools have a significant impact on high school and college outcomes for students from low income and racial/ethnic minority backgrounds, but how similar… more →
My Brother’s Keeper? The Impact of Targeted Educational Supports
… The My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Challenge developed by … civic initiatives designed to improve the educational and economic opportunities specifically for young men of color. In Oakland, California, the MBK educational …The My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Challenge developed by President Obama supports communities that promote civic initiatives designed to improve the educational and economic opportunities specifically for young men of color. In Oakland, California, the MBK educational initiative features the African American Male Achievement (AAMA) program. The AAMA focuses on regularly scheduled classes… more →