EdWorkingPapers
A comparison of postsecondary outcomes for Army service members, Veterans, and civilians
… education, there is relatively little evidence documenting the postsecondary trajectories of military service members after they return to civilian … how U.S. Army service member college enrollment and progression trends compare to a similar population of …Despite broad public interest in Veterans' education, there is relatively little evidence documenting the postsecondary trajectories of military service members after they return to civilian life. In the current report we investigate how U.S. Army service member college enrollment and progression trends compare to a similar population of civilians, using Army administrative personnel data merged… more →
Beyond the One-Teacher Model: Experimental Evidence on Using Embedded Paraprofessionals as Personalized Instructors
… a promising model for differentiating instruction within the classroom. This study examines two randomized controlled trials of paraprofessional-led tutoring in early-grade math and literacy. However, intent-to-treat (ITT) analyses …Using embedded paraprofessionals to provide personalized instruction is a promising model for differentiating instruction within the classroom. This study examines two randomized controlled trials of paraprofessional-led tutoring in early-grade math and literacy. However, intent-to-treat (ITT) analyses revealed no overall achievement impacts for either program. We then explore two mechanisms that… more →
Investing in the Teacher Workforce: Experimental Evidence on Teachers’ Preferences
… While investing in the teacher workforce is central to improving schools, school … discrete choice survey experiment with a national sample of 1,030 U.S. teachers, we estimate how much teachers value … value access to special education specialists, counselors, and nurses more than a 10% salary increase or 3-student …While investing in the teacher workforce is central to improving schools, school resources are notoriously limited, forcing school leaders to make difficult decisions on how to prioritize funds. This paper examines a critical input to resource allocation decisions: teacher preferences. Using an original, online discrete choice survey experiment with a national sample of 1,030 U.S. teachers, we… more →
Does Increased Agency Improve the Effectiveness of Self-Directed Professional Learning for Educators?
… The role of teacher agency in professional learning has been the … but has not yet been tested in an experimental setting. To provide causal evidence of the impact of teacher agency on … learning resources, including training modules and teaching simulations. For this motivated subset of …The role of teacher agency in professional learning has been the subject of several qualitative studies but has not yet been tested in an experimental setting. To provide causal evidence of the impact of teacher agency on the effectiveness of professional learning, we conducted a preregistered randomized controlled trial in an online computer science course with volunteer instructors who teach… more →
Hold Harmless for Whom? The Impact of COVID Era Policies on School Funding, Teachers, and Students
… This study evaluates the fiscal and academic consequences of New York City’s hold harmless policy during COVID-19, …This study evaluates the fiscal and academic consequences of New York City’s hold harmless policy during COVID-19, which aimed to stabilize school expenditures amid unexpected enrollment declines by restoring schools’ funding up to initial levels. We examine how school racial composition predicts whether or when schools receive hold harmless “treatment” and assess the impact of hold harmless on… more →
Institutional Resources or Changing Compositions? Unpacking Neighborhood Effects on Education
… Children in neighborhoods marked by concentrated poverty and racial isolation face persistent educational barriers, yet the mechanisms underlying neighborhood effects remain poorly … understood. This study employs a multi-method analysis of the Near North Side Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) …Children in neighborhoods marked by concentrated poverty and racial isolation face persistent educational barriers, yet the mechanisms underlying neighborhood effects remain poorly understood. This study employs a multi-method analysis of the Near North Side Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) in St. Louis, Missouri—the nation's largest mixed-income redevelopment program—to unpack two core… more →
Embrace, Contradiction, or Prohibition: A National Scan of State Policies for Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education
… This qualitative document review is a national scan of state policies pertaining to culturally responsive and sustaining education (CRSE) as of September 2025. We … how CRSE is taken up in states’ teaching standards and the extent to which states’ policy environments are …This qualitative document review is a national scan of state policies pertaining to culturally responsive and sustaining education (CRSE) as of September 2025. We present a typology of states—CRSE Forward, CRSE Conflicted, CRSE Limited, and CRSE Prohibitive—reflecting how CRSE is taken up in states’ teaching standards and the extent to which states’ policy environments are supportive of CRSE. Our… more →
Math coursetaking trajectories in high school during the COVID-19 disruptions to schooling
… Using student-level transcript data and information about instructional mode among public high school students in Massachusetts, this study examines the impact of disruptions to in-person instruction during the COVID-19 …Using student-level transcript data and information about instructional mode among public high school students in Massachusetts, this study examines the impact of disruptions to in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ math coursetaking trajectories. We find that rates of advancement (that is, of taking a higher-level math course in one year compared to the prior year)… more →
Making the Implicit Explicit: An Experiment with Implicit Gender Stereotypes and College Major Choice
… We study whether making college students aware of their implicit gender–STEM stereotypes affects their … completed a gender–STEM Implicit Association Test (IAT) and a detailed survey on major preferences and beliefs. … choice among men, but decreased STEM outcomes among women. The decline for women is concentrated among underrepresented …We study whether making college students aware of their implicit gender–STEM stereotypes affects their pursuit of a STEM degree. In a field experiment at a large, selective U.S. university, over 800 undergraduates completed a gender–STEM Implicit Association Test (IAT) and a detailed survey on major preferences and beliefs. Students were randomly assigned to receive feedback about their IAT… more →
Higher Education as Regional Development: Labor Market Impacts of Nigeria’s 2011 Federal University Expansion
… This paper examines the causal impact of higher education expansion on regional labor markets and human capital development. Exploiting the 2011 …This paper examines the causal impact of higher education expansion on regional labor markets and human capital development. Exploiting the 2011 establishment of nine federal universities across previously underserved Nigerian states, we implement a difference-in-differences approach to analyze effects on employment, wages, job quality, and sectoral composition. Our results show significant… more →
Puzzling Over Declining Academic Achievement
… Many are concerned about the large decline in K-12 student achievement since 2019. And rightly so, given what it signals about student learning … in student achievement growth that followed 30 years of increases. We examine the nature of achievement decline as …Many are concerned about the large decline in K-12 student achievement since 2019. And rightly so, given what it signals about student learning and later life outcomes. Less noted is the pre-pandemic sustained decline in student achievement growth that followed 30 years of increases. We examine the nature of achievement decline as measured by national and state NAEP scores to better understand… more →
The Correlated Proxy Problem: Why Control Variables can Obscure the Contribution of Selection Processes to Group-Level Inequality
… inequalities is an important societal question. In the context of observational data, researchers, concerned about … framework that clearly defines the quantity of interest and argue that researchers should only control for the extent …Whether selection processes contribute to group-level disparities or merely reflect pre-existing inequalities is an important societal question. In the context of observational data, researchers, concerned about omitted-variable bias, assess selection-contributing inequality via a kitchen-sink approach, comparing selection outcomes of different-group individuals net of various characteristics. We… more →
Noncredit Workforce Training, Industry Credentials, and Labor Market Outcomes
… credentials, but little research has been conducted on the economic benefits of these credentials in the labor market. This paper provides … model to estimate earnings premia net of fixed attributes and earnings time-trends. Our results indicate that earning …Many public workforce training programs lead to industry-recognized, third-party awarded credentials, but little research has been conducted on the economic benefits of these credentials in the labor market. This paper provides quasi-experimental evidence on the labor market returns to industry-recognized credentials connected to community college workforce noncredit training programs. Based on… more →
Computer Science for All? The Impact of High School Computer Science Courses on College Majors and Earnings
… This study provides the first causal analysis of the impact of expanding Computer Science (CS) education in U.S. K-12 schools on students’ choice of college major and early career outcomes. Utilizing rich longitudinal data …This study provides the first causal analysis of the impact of expanding Computer Science (CS) education in U.S. K-12 schools on students’ choice of college major and early career outcomes. Utilizing rich longitudinal data from Maryland, we exploit variation from the staggered rollout of CS course offerings across high schools. Our findings suggest that taking a CS course increases students’… more →
Making Moves: The Role of Demotion in School Leadership
… This study examines the experience of demotion from a principalship to an assistant principalship and how race and gender can differentially impact career …This study examines the experience of demotion from a principalship to an assistant principalship and how race and gender can differentially impact career trajectories. Using administrative state dataset of 10,946 observations at the principal level, we used probit regression to determine the overall probability of demotion and Kaplan Meier survival analysis to estimate the differences in… more →
Opening the Black Box of College Major Choice: Evidence from an Information Intervention
… We study the importance of job-related and non-job-related factors in students’ college major choices. Using a staggered intervention that allows us to provide …We study the importance of job-related and non-job-related factors in students’ college major choices. Using a staggered intervention that allows us to provide students information about many different aspects of majors and to compare the magnitudes of the effects of each piece of information, we show that major choices depend on a wide set of factors. While students do not change their choices… more →
Effectiveness of Tier 1 Content-Integrated Literacy Intervention on Early Elementary English Learners’ Reading Comprehension and Writing: Evidence from Randomized Controlled Trial
… The current study replicated and extended the previous findings of content-integrated literacy intervention focusing on its … … James S. Kim … Patrick Rich … Student Learning … K-12 Education … Reading and literacy education … Elementary …The current study replicated and extended the previous findings of content-integrated literacy intervention focusing on its effectiveness on first- and second-grade English learners’ (N = 1,314) reading comprehension, writing, vocabulary knowledge, and oral proficiency. Statistically significant findings were replicated on science and social studies vocabulary knowledge (ES = .51 and .53,… more →
School Discipline and Racial Disparities in Early Adulthood
… Despite interest in the role of school discipline in the creation of racial inequality, … data to document the links between high school discipline and important young adult outcomes related to criminal …Despite interest in the role of school discipline in the creation of racial inequality, previous research has been unable to identify how students who receive suspensions in school differ from unsuspended classmates on key young adult outcomes. We utilize novel data to document the links between high school discipline and important young adult outcomes related to criminal justice contact, social… more →
Sharing the Wealth: How Regional Finance and Desegregation Plans Can Enhance Educational Equity
… Most racial and ethnic segregation—and most financial inequities—in … three examples (Boston, MA; Hartford, CT; and Omaha, NE) to explore how interdistrict desegregation plans with … strategies have been designed, financed, and implemented. The report describes programs’ academic and social outcomes …Most racial and ethnic segregation—and most financial inequities—in American public schools occur between, not within, school districts. Solving these problems often requires interdistrict solutions based on cooperation within regions. This report uses three examples (Boston, MA; Hartford, CT; and Omaha, NE) to explore how interdistrict desegregation plans with innovative funding strategies have… more →
The Effects of a Comprehensive College Transition Program on Psychosocial Factors Associated with Success in College
… We examine the effects of a comprehensive college transition program (CCTP) on four … with postsecondary success: sense of belonging, mattering, and academic and social self-efficacy. The CCTP operates on …We examine the effects of a comprehensive college transition program (CCTP) on four psychosocial outcomes associated with postsecondary success: sense of belonging, mattering, and academic and social self-efficacy. The CCTP operates on three four-year campuses and includes a range of supports, including shared academic courses, peer mentoring, and residential or common community spaces. We… more →
Improving Student Teachers’ Feelings of Preparedness to Teach Through Recruitment of Instructionally Effective and Experienced Cooperating Teachers: A Randomized Experiment
… teacher education programs feel better prepared to teach and are more instructionally effective when they learned to … to use historical administrative on teachers to recommend the most instructionally effective and experienced teachers … and experienced cooperating teachers and presents some of the first evidence that learning to teach with …Prior work suggests that recent graduates from teacher education programs feel better prepared to teach and are more instructionally effective when they learned to teach with more instructionally effective cooperating teachers. However, we do not know if these relationships are causal. Even if they are, we do not know if it is possible to recruit cooperating teachers who are, on average,… more →
Selling Student Success: A Critical Analysis of Predictive Analytics Vendors in Higher Education
… from 15 vendors to examine these companies’ marketing of predictive analytics. Drawing on Snow and Benford’s (1988) framing theory, we investigated how they construct the problem of student success and how they portray students …As predictive analytics become increasingly embedded in higher education, commercial vendors offering these tools play a growing role in shaping institutional decision making, particularly through identifying students deemed “at risk.” In this qualitative study, we analyzed 132 publicly available materials from 15 vendors to examine these companies’ marketing of predictive analytics. Drawing on… more →
The Chronic(les) of Absenteeism Measurement: Unpacking the Many Measures of Attendance and Evidence for a Lower Chronic Absenteeism Threshold
… has surged in recent years, drawing growing policy and research attention. However, a complicating factor often overlooked is that the measurement of absenteeism is inconsistent, with substantial researcher …Chronic absenteeism has surged in recent years, drawing growing policy and research attention. However, a complicating factor often overlooked is that the measurement of absenteeism is inconsistent, with substantial researcher degrees of freedom. This study investigates how researchers’ measurement choices shape predictions of academic risk and how absenteeism can be more effectively… more →
Racial Status Threat and Anti-DEI Efforts in Local School Districts
… dominance influence local educational politics. We examine the relationship between racial status threat (RST) and the rise of anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideas …This study draws on political science theory to analyze how perceived status threats to White social dominance influence local educational politics. We examine the relationship between racial status threat (RST) and the rise of anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideas (contentious school board elections and book challenges) and policies (policy enactments and book bans) in U.S. school… more →
Understanding High Schools’ Effects on Longer-Term Outcomes
… Improving education and labor market outcomes for low-income students is critical for advancing socioeconomic mobility in the United States. We use longitudinal data on five cohorts of 9th grade students to explore how Massachusetts public …Improving education and labor market outcomes for low-income students is critical for advancing socioeconomic mobility in the United States. We use longitudinal data on five cohorts of 9th grade students to explore how Massachusetts public high schools affect the longer-term outcomes of students, with a special focus on students from low-income families. Using detailed administrative and student… more →
Financial Aid For Future Educators: Assessing A Federal Grant's Impact On Students' Postsecondary Decisions
… Created in 2007, the federal TEACH grant program is a large federal financial … pay for a teaching degree. This paper describes the uptake and usage of the federal TEACH grant program across a large four-year …Created in 2007, the federal TEACH grant program is a large federal financial aid program that seeks to attract postsecondary students to the teaching profession by providing financial assistance to help pay for a teaching degree. This paper describes the uptake and usage of the federal TEACH grant program across a large four-year public university system. Initial findings suggest that there is… more →
Disparate Teacher Effects, Comparative Advantage, and Match Quality
… student types, it has not distinguished between sorting and causal effects as the drivers of these disparities. I develop a flexible disparate …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 →
Leveraging Quarterly Workforce Indicators to Analyze Teacher Labor Market Dynamics: Inequitable Trends in Educator Turnover
… Educator labor markets vary considerably across the country and can change quickly during recessions. We use data from … valid educator labor market measures. The strengths of the QWI address the limitations of other sources of labor …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 →
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 framework… 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, invalidated… 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 and… 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. Among… 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 teachers… 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 true… 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 estimate… 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 resulting… 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 than… 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 states… 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 strategy… 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, research… more →