EdWorkingPapers
Human versus Machine: Do college advisors outperform a machine-learning algorithm in predicting student enrollment?
… algorithms are used across public policy domains to aid in the identification of at-risk individuals and guide service provision or resource allocation. While …Prediction algorithms are used across public policy domains to aid in the identification of at-risk individuals and guide service provision or resource allocation. While growing research has investigated concerns of algorithmic bias, much less research has compared algorithmically-driven targeting to the counterfactual: human prediction. We compare algorithmic and human predictions in the context… more →
Using Predicted Academic Performance to Identify At-Risk Students in Public Schools
… Measures of student disadvantage—or risk—are critical components of equity-focused education policies. However, the risk measures used in contemporary policies have significant limitations, and despite continued advances in data infrastructure and …Measures of student disadvantage—or risk—are critical components of equity-focused education policies. However, the risk measures used in contemporary policies have significant limitations, and despite continued advances in data infrastructure and analytic capacity, there has been little innovation in these measures for decades. We develop a new measure of student risk for use in education… more →
Negative Impacts From the Shift to Online Learning During the COVID-19 Crisis: Evidence from a Statewide Community College System
… The COVID-19 pandemic led to an abrupt shift from in-person … started their Spring 2020 courses in person or online and another that incorporates student fixed effects. We estimate the impact of this shift on the academic performance of Virginia’s …The COVID-19 pandemic led to an abrupt shift from in-person to virtual instruction in Spring 2020. We use two complementary difference-in differences frameworks, one that leverages within-instructor-by-course variation on whether students started their Spring 2020 courses in person or online and another that incorporates student fixed effects. We estimate the impact of this shift on the academic… more →
The Role of Student Beliefs in Dual-Enrollment Courses
… such as academic self-efficacy, educational expectations, and sense of college belonging. These beliefs may also shape students' … a large dual-enrollment program created by a university in the Southwest to examine these patterns. We find that …Dual-enrollment courses are theorized to promote students' preparedness for college in part by bolstering their beneficial beliefs, such as academic self-efficacy, educational expectations, and sense of college belonging. These beliefs may also shape students' experiences and outcomes in dual-enrollment courses, yet few if any studies have examined this possibility. We study a large dual-… more →
Rent-Seeking through Collective Bargaining: Teachers Unions and Education Production
… new tax revenue amidst collective bargaining negotiations and districts allocating tax revenue well before. Districts … districts facing less pressure hire more teachers (instead of increasing compensation) and realize significant student … gains. We interpret these results as causal evidence of the negative impact of teacher rent seeking on education …We explore how teachers unions affect education production by comparing outcomes between districts allocating new tax revenue amidst collective bargaining negotiations and districts allocating tax revenue well before. Districts facing union pressure increase teacher salaries and benefits, spend down reserves, and experience no student achievement gains. Conversely, districts facing less pressure… more →
Bias in the Air: A Nationwide Exploration of Teachers' Implicit Racial Attitudes, Aggregate Bias, and Student Outcomes
… lack large-scale evidence on US teachers’ implicit biases and their correlates. Using nationwide data from Project … that teachers’ implicit White/Black biases (as measured by the implicit association test) vary by teacher gender and … bias levels are lower in counties with larger shares of Black students. In the aggregate, counties in which …Theory suggests that teachers’ implicit racial attitudes affect their students, but we lack large-scale evidence on US teachers’ implicit biases and their correlates. Using nationwide data from Project Implicit, we find that teachers’ implicit White/Black biases (as measured by the implicit association test) vary by teacher gender and race. Teachers’ adjusted bias levels are lower in counties… more →
Local Democracy Matters: How Deliberative Culture Shapes Public Evaluations of Local Government and Local Government Performance
… Is there democratic accountability to the public at the local level, and if so, how does it work? We know that a major part of democratic ability depends on citizens being able to …Is there democratic accountability to the public at the local level, and if so, how does it work? We know that a major part of democratic ability depends on citizens being able to properly evaluate government based on government performance, particularly at the local level. However, we know much less about all of the potential pathways to get from performance to evaluations and vice versa. This… more →
Helping Parents Navigate the Early Childhood Enrollment Process: Experimental Evidence from New Orleans
… The early childhood enrollment process involves search ing … ing , verify ing eligibility (for publicly funded seats) , and enroll ing . Many families do not complete the process . … verification rates by seven percentage points ( regardless of tone ), and personalized messages increased enrollment …The early childhood enrollment process involves searching for programs, applying, verifying eligibility(for publicly funded seats), and enrolling. Many families do not complete the process. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess strategies for communicating with families as they verify eligibility. Working with administrators in New Orleans, we randomly assigned families to receive… more →
School Finance Reforms, Teachers’ Unions, and the Allocation of School Resources
… School finance reforms caused some of the most dramatic increases in intergovernmental aid from … state aid that passed through to local spending and the allocation of these funds. Districts with strong …School finance reforms caused some of the most dramatic increases in intergovernmental aid from states to local governments in U.S. history. We examine whether teachers’ unions affected the fraction of reform-induced state aid that passed through to local spending and the allocation of these funds. Districts with strong teachers’ unions increased spending nearly dollar-for-dollar with state aid,… more →
Mechanisms of Effect Size Differences Between Researcher Developed and Independently Developed Outcomes: An Item-Level Meta-Analysis
… in effect sizes between researcher developed (RD) and independently developed (ID) outcome measures are widely … in effects by RD or ID outcome type. Our analysis of 54 effect sizes from 32 studies shows that greater … treatment effects predict larger effect sizes and reduce the observed difference between RD and ID measures from .14 …Differences in effect sizes between researcher developed (RD) and independently developed (ID) outcome measures are widely documented but poorly understood in education research. We conduct a meta-analysis using item-level outcome data to test potential mechanisms that explain differences in effects by RD or ID outcome type. Our analysis of 54 effect sizes from 32 studies shows that greater… more →
Trends in Local Teacher Supply Since the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Teacher Job Applications
… pandemic-era challenges in filling teacher vacancies and hiring from too-small applicant pools. However, direct … evidence quantifying changes in teacher supply since the onset of the pandemic is scarce. Using longitudinal teacher job …Recent survey evidence documents pandemic-era challenges in filling teacher vacancies and hiring from too-small applicant pools. However, direct evidence quantifying changes in teacher supply since the onset of the pandemic is scarce. Using longitudinal teacher job application data from a large southeastern school district, we examine trends in local teacher supply from 2015 to 2023. We find… more →
Hmong but not Asian, Sāmoan but not Pacific Islander: Tracing the ECLS-K Racial Data (Mis)Classification Journey
… Race is a socially and politically charged concept that remains contested in the United States. We examine racial data (mis)classification … (ECLS-K) dataset. Centering the racial data journey of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander …Race is a socially and politically charged concept that remains contested in the United States. We examine racial data (mis)classification in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies (ECLS-K) dataset. Centering the racial data journey of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA&NHPI) students, we find two types of racial data (mis)classification: (1) racial reformation… more →
Examining the Role of Policy Instruments in Supporting Public HBCUs’ College Affordability
… a multiple-case qualitative research design to examine the fiscal policy instruments that members of State Legislative Black Caucuses (SLBC) use to strengthen college affordability and broaden access for undergraduate low-income Black …This study uses a multiple-case qualitative research design to examine the fiscal policy instruments that members of State Legislative Black Caucuses (SLBC) use to strengthen college affordability and broaden access for undergraduate low-income Black students attending public HBCUs. Guided by the Policy Design Theory, this study analyzes nine semi-structured interviews and eleven legislative… more →
Measuring Conflict in Local Politics
… Many of the most tangible and immediate political conflicts in … of local political conflict. We validate this new approach using sentiment analysis and structural topic modeling. We …Many of the most tangible and immediate political conflicts in Americans’ lives occur at the local level. Yet, we lack large-scale evidence on how, why, and where conflict occurs in local governments. In this paper, we present a new dataset of nearly 100,000 videos of school board meetings, and use them to create a new measure of local political conflict. We validate this new approach using… more →
The Achievement Effects of Scaling Early Literacy Reforms
… While legislators have implemented many “science of reading” initiatives in the last two decades, the evidence on the impact of these … of reading as well as aligned supports (e.g., assessments and interventions), new funding (about $1000 per student), …While legislators have implemented many “science of reading” initiatives in the last two decades, the evidence on the impact of these reforms at scale is limited. In this pre-registered, quasi-experimental study, we examine California’s recent initiative to improve early literacy across the state’s lowest-performing schools. The Early Literacy Support Block Grant (ELSBG) provided teacher… more →
Are Preschool Programs Becoming Less Effective?
… are heralded as an effective policy tool to promote the development and life-long wellbeing of children from low-income families. Yet evaluations of …High-quality preschool programs are heralded as an effective policy tool to promote the development and life-long wellbeing of children from low-income families. Yet evaluations of recent preschool programs produce puzzling findings, including negative impacts, and divergent, weaker results than were shown in demonstration programs implemented in the 1960s and 70s. We provide potential… more →
Diversity Trends Among Faculty in STEM and non-STEM Fields at Selective Public Universities in the U.S. from 2016 to 2023
… During the 2015-16 academic year, racial protests swept across … trends. We document diversity trends among faculty in STEM and non-STEM fields since the protests in 2015-16. We find … gaps, especially among Black faculty. A large body of prior research suggests these trends will affect students’ …During the 2015-16 academic year, racial protests swept across college campuses in the U.S. These protests were followed by large university investments in initiatives to promote diversity, which combined with existing diversity dynamics, have helped to shape recent faculty diversity trends. We document diversity trends among faculty in STEM and non-STEM fields since the protests in 2015-16. We… more →
Priceless Benefits: Effects of School Spending on Child Mortality
… The academic and economic benefits of school spending are well-established, but focusing on … district tax elections and negative binomial regression models to estimate effects of a quasi-random increase in …The academic and economic benefits of school spending are well-established, but focusing on these outcomes may underestimate the full social benefits of school spending. Recent increases in U.S. child mortality are driven by injuries and raise questions about what types of social investments could reduce child deaths. We use close school district tax elections and negative binomial regression… more →
The Peer Effect of Persistence on Student Achievement
… Little is known about the impact of peer personality on human capital formation. The paper … trait reflecting perseverance in the face of challenges and setbacks, on student achievement. Exploiting …Little is known about the impact of peer personality on human capital formation. The paper studies the impact of peers’ persistence, a personality trait reflecting perseverance in the face of challenges and setbacks, on student achievement. Exploiting student-classroom random assignments in middle schools in China, I find that having more persistent peers improves student achievement. I identify… more →
An Improved Method for Estimating School-Level Characteristics from Census Data
… location to impute its catchment area by aggregating the nearest n census block groups such that the number of school-aged children in those n block groups is just over … robustness checks to assess the quality of our estimates and find that our method is broadly successful in replicating …We propose a new method for estimating school-level characteristics from publicly available census data. We use a school’s location to impute its catchment area by aggregating the nearest n census block groups such that the number of school-aged children in those n block groups is just over the number of students enrolled in that school. We then weight census data by the number of school-aged… more →
Sibling Spillovers May Enhance the Efficacy of Targeted School Policies
… often target individuals but within-family externalities of such interventions are understudied. Using a regression … document how a third grade retention policy affects both the target children and their younger siblings. The policy improves test scores …Public policies often target individuals but within-family externalities of such interventions are understudied. Using a regression discontinuity design, we document how a third grade retention policy affects both the target children and their younger siblings. The policy improves test scores of both children while the spillover is up to 30% of the target child effect size. The effects are… more →
Are Four-Year Public Colleges Engines for Economic Mobility? Evidence from Statewide Admissions Thresholds
… by providing an accessible path to a bachelor’s degree and increasing students' earnings. Leveraging a midsize … state’s GPA- and SAT-based admissions thresholds for the four-year public sector, I use a regression discontinuity design to estimate the effect of four-year public college admissions on earnings and …Four-year public colleges may play an important role in supporting intergenerational mobility by providing an accessible path to a bachelor’s degree and increasing students' earnings. Leveraging a midsize state’s GPA- and SAT-based admissions thresholds for the four-year public sector, I use a regression discontinuity design to estimate the effect of four-year public college admissions on… more →
Advancing a Framework of Racialized Administrative Burdens in Higher Education Policy
… in higher education are intended to improve college access and degree completion, yet often those policies fall short of their aims by making it difficult for prospective or … especially those who are racially minoritized. With the use of our proposed framework, researchers can improve …Many policies in higher education are intended to improve college access and degree completion, yet often those policies fall short of their aims by making it difficult for prospective or current college students to access benefits for which they are eligible. Barriers that inhibit access to policy benefits, such as cumbersome paperwork, can weigh more heavily on members of marginalized… more →
Holding Back to Move Forward: The Effects of Retention in the Third Grade on Student Outcomes
… We evaluate the effects of grade retention on students’ academic, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes in Indiana. Using a regression …We evaluate the effects of grade retention on students’ academic, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes in Indiana. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that third grade retention increases achievement in English Language Arts (ELA) and math immediately and substantially, and the effects persist into middle school. We find no evidence of grade retention effects on student attendance… more →
Beyond Chronic Absenteeism: The Dynamics and Disparities of Class Absences in Secondary School
… Student absenteeism is often conceptualized and quantified in a static, uniform manner, providing an incomplete understanding of this important phenomenon. Applying growth curve models to … steadily throughout a school year and over grades, while the growth of excused absences remain essentially unchanged. …Student absenteeism is often conceptualized and quantified in a static, uniform manner, providing an incomplete understanding of this important phenomenon. Applying growth curve models to detailed class-attendance data, we document that secondary school students' unexcused absences grow steadily throughout a school year and over grades, while the growth of excused absences remain essentially… more →
Are Students Time Constrained? Course Load, GPA, and Failing
… Given the simultaneous rise in time-to-graduation and college GPA, it may be that students reduce their course … schedules with additional training courses. Using 19 years of administrative data, we provide the first causal evidence …Given the simultaneous rise in time-to-graduation and college GPA, it may be that students reduce their course load to improve their performance. Yet, evidence to date only shows increased course loads increase GPA. We provide a mathematical model showing many unobservable factors -- beyond student ability -- can generate a positive relationship between course load and GPA unless researchers… more →
Signals, Information, and the Value of College Names
… alluring names. We study how this affects college choice and labor market performance of college graduates. Administrative data show name-changing … choice, for-profits, vendors) … Signals, Information, and the Value of College Names …Colleges can send signals about their quality by adopting new, more alluring names. We study how this affects college choice and labor market performance of college graduates. Administrative data show name-changing colleges enroll higher-aptitude students, with larger effects for alluring-but-misleading name changes and among students with less information. A large resume audit study suggests a… more →
Not the Great Equalizer? Local Economic Mobility and Inequality Effects for the Establishment of U.S. Universities
… to test whether universities increase economic mobility and equality. We use "runner-up’" counties that were strongly … to explain this seeming paradox: universities hollow out the local labor market and provide greater opportunities to achieve top incomes, both of which increase cross-sectional inequality, and increase …We exploit historical natural experiments to test whether universities increase economic mobility and equality. We use "runner-up’" counties that were strongly considered to become university sites but were not selected for as-good-as-random reasons as counterfactuals for university counties. University establishment causes greater intergenerational income mobility but also increases cross-… more →
Documenting Their Decisions: How Undocumented Students Enroll and Persist in College
… The absence of federal support leaves undocumented students reliant on … newly eligible for California’s state aid program, using detailed application data to compare them to similar … peers. In this context, undocumented students who apply and are eligible for the program use grant aid to attend …The absence of federal support leaves undocumented students reliant on state policies to financially support their postsecondary education. We descriptively examine the postsecondary trajectories of tens of thousands of undocumented students newly eligible for California’s state aid program, using detailed application data to compare them to similar peers. In this context, undocumented students… more →
When expectation isn’t reality: Racial disparities in overestimation and STEM attrition among first-year students in college
… than their represented peers to persist in STEM, raising the question of factors that may contribute to racial disparities in STEM … race-based differences in what students expect to receive and their actual grades in introductory STEM college courses, …Existing research indicates that racially minoritized students with similar academic preparation are less likely than their represented peers to persist in STEM, raising the question of factors that may contribute to racial disparities in STEM participation beyond academic preparation. We extend the current literature by first examining race-based differences in what students expect to receive… more →
Accountability-Driven School Reform: Are There Unintended Effects on Younger Children in Untested Grades?
… less effective teachers into untested early grades and more effective teachers to tested grades. In this paper, … its lowest performing schools reproduced a similar pattern of assigning teachers and unintended, negative effects on the outcomes of younger students in untested grades. Using a …Test-based accountability pressures have been shown to result in transferring less effective teachers into untested early grades and more effective teachers to tested grades. In this paper, we evaluate whether a state initiative to turnaround its lowest performing schools reproduced a similar pattern of assigning teachers and unintended, negative effects on the outcomes of younger students in… more →
How Does Minority Political Representation Affect School District Administration and Student Outcomes?
… leveraging close school board elections to investigate how the racial and ethnic composition of California school boards affects school district …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 →
Using a Text-as-Data Approach to Understand Reform Processes: A Deep Exploration of School Improvement Strategies
… a given program, they often have limited ability to reveal the mechanisms by which complex interventions achieve their … text data from thousands of school improvement planning and implementation reports from Washington State, deploying … achievement. We lastly discuss the opportunities and pitfalls of using novel text data to study reform processes. …Although program evaluations using rigorous quasi-experimental or experimental designs can inform decisions about whether to continue or terminate a given program, they often have limited ability to reveal the mechanisms by which complex interventions achieve their effects. To illuminate these mechanisms, this paper analyzes novel text data from thousands of school improvement planning and… more →
The Challenge of Capturing Higher-Order Thinking Skills at Scale
… important for K-12 students’ long-term success. However, the lack of widely administered assessments designed to capture this … Language Arts exams for over two decades (2001 to 2023) and pair this with a novel coding which flags whether an item …Higher-order thinking skills are important for K-12 students’ long-term success. However, the lack of widely administered assessments designed to capture this construct has made it difficult to measure higher-order skills at scale. This paper examines the measurement properties of an approach to capturing higher-order skills using extant statewide standardized testing data. We use item-level data… more →
The Remarkable Unresponsiveness of College Students to Nudging And What We Can Learn from It
… results from a five-year effort to design promising online and text-message interventions to improve college achievement … through several distinct channels. From a sample of nearly 25,000 students across three different campuses, we … interventions on mental health and study time, but none of the interventions we evaluate significantly influences …We present results from a five-year effort to design promising online and text-message interventions to improve college achievement through several distinct channels. From a sample of nearly 25,000 students across three different campuses, we find some improvement from coaching-based interventions on mental health and study time, but none of the interventions we evaluate significantly… more →
A randomized controlled trial of HighScope’s teacher professional learning on preschoolers' executive function skills
… has been shown to promote children’s language, literacy, and social-emotional functioning - however, less is known … about its impact on children’s executive function. In the present study, we employed a randomized controlled trial … receive any training or coaching. Results from a sample of 317 children enrolled in publicly funded preschools …Teacher professional learning has been shown to promote children’s language, literacy, and social-emotional functioning - however, less is known about its impact on children’s executive function. In the present study, we employed a randomized controlled trial to understand whether HighScope’s teacher professional learning workshops and coaching can promote children’s executive function… more →
COVID-19, School District Operations, and Student Academic Performance in Virginia
… We use longitudinal student-level data and interrupted time series methods to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mathematics achievement among …We use longitudinal student-level data and interrupted time series methods to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mathematics achievement among 3rd-8th grade students in Virginia, a state that offered particularly low levels of access to in-person learning in the school reopening period. We find notably large negative initial effects on math in 2020-21, much greater in magnitude than… more →
“A Ragtag Team of Like[-Minded] Individuals Who Are Willing to Help”: The Implementation and Evolution of Student Support Services at Community Colleges with Promise Programs
… promise students, in addition to covering their tuition and fees. Using a multiple case study design, we interviewed … found that community colleges were able to capitalize on the localized nature of programs to facilitate a smoother transition between high …As promise programs have become increasingly popular at community colleges, these institutions have either created or repurposed student services for their promise students, in addition to covering their tuition and fees. Using a multiple case study design, we interviewed 32 community college administrators and analyzed documents to understand how support services associated with promise programs… more →
Cultural Relevance at Scale: The Effects of an Ethnic Studies Expansion on Academic Outcomes
… is a culturally relevant curriculum designed to address the instructional needs of an increasingly diverse student population. However, … points (0.24 SD), with the largest gains observed in Math and Science, and reduces course failure by 5.6 percentage …Ethnic Studies is a culturally relevant curriculum designed to address the instructional needs of an increasingly diverse student population. However, evidence regarding its effectiveness at scale remains limited. This study evaluates the impact of district-wide implementation using a student-level difference-in-differences design with two-way fixed effects. We find that enrollment increases… more →
The Effects of An Automatic Notification Tool to Increase Participation in Advanced High School Courses: Results from a Large-Scale Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
… high school is associated with many positive high school and college outcomes. States and school districts are … 9 students to increase advanced course participation. The tool was embedded in the Course Planner of a student information system used in thousands of schools …Taking advanced courses in high school is associated with many positive high school and college outcomes. States and school districts are increasingly interested in more systematic approaches to identify qualified students for advanced course work. We developed an automatic notification tool, which used universal screening and a behavioral nudge for Grade 9 students to increase advanced course… more →
Exploring Factors Influencing Administrative Spending in Higher Education
… Despite increasing financial challenges facing much of higher education, relatively little is known about how … I used detailed personnel spending data from HelioCampus and less granular functional expenditure data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to …Despite increasing financial challenges facing much of higher education, relatively little is known about how institutions allocate resources to different activities, particularly in areas other than instruction. In this research, I used detailed personnel spending data from HelioCampus and less granular functional expenditure data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to… more →
Capturing Voter Turnout at the School District Level: Validating a Geospatial Strategy
… School boards are critical sites of education policymaking, yet scholarship on these … data limitations. We introduce a geospatial strategy and open-source R package, called “Query, Overlay, Recover” … North Carolina and Washington (2013-2022). We illustrate the value of these data by addressing two substantive …School boards are critical sites of education policymaking, yet scholarship on these institutions is scarce because of severe data limitations. We introduce a geospatial strategy and open-source R package, called “Query, Overlay, Recover” (QOR), that generates high-quality estimates of voter turnout in school board elections overall and for voter subgroups. We describe this process and gather… more →
Beyond the Classroom: Impact of a High-Dosage Tutoring Program on Student Literacy Achievement
… This study examines the impact of a high-dosage tutoring program, characterized by low … high-dosage tutoring interventions to student needs and suggest that differentiated implementation may be …This study examines the impact of a high-dosage tutoring program, characterized by low tutor-to-student-ratio, on the literacy achievement of students in grades two through five in a midsized suburban school district in the southeastern United States. Using a student-level randomized controlled trial, 333 students were randomly assigned to either receive tutoring during the intervention period of… more →
The Prevalence of LGBTQ+ Teachers in the U.S.
… Due to limited data, we know little about the prevalence of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) educators. Using the American Community …Due to limited data, we know little about the prevalence of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) educators. Using the American Community Survey and Census Pulse, we examine the representation of LGBTQ+ individuals in PK-12 teaching. We find that 3.3-3.5 percent of LGBTQ+ individuals are teachers; in contrast, 4.4-4.9 percent of non-LGBTQ+ individuals are teachers. This new… more →
The Politics of Pandemic School Operations for Reopening and Beyond: Evidence from Virginia
… learning modality, but did it predict other aspects of educational operations? We study the role of Republican vote share, race, markets, and public health in predicting a range of operations—from …Post COVID, is education losing its special status as a policy domain more insulated from partisan politics than other policy areas? Indeed, a community’s political makeup influenced its’ schools’ pandemic learning modality, but did it predict other aspects of educational operations? We study the role of Republican vote share, race, markets, and public health in predicting a range of operations—… more →
Peer Income Exposure Across the Income Distribution
… Children from families across the income distribution attend public schools, making schools and classrooms potential sites for interaction between more- … However, limited information exists regarding the extent of economic integration in these contexts. We merge …Children from families across the income distribution attend public schools, making schools and classrooms potential sites for interaction between more- and less-affluent children. However, limited information exists regarding the extent of economic integration in these contexts. We merge educational administrative data from Oregon with measures of family income derived from IRS records to… more →
How are Institutions Positioned on the Brink of the Enrollment Cliff?: Evidence from Ohio
… Since 2018, institutions of higher education have been aware of the "enrollment cliff" which refers to expected declines in … 2012-2022, we analyze trends in enrollment, revenues, debt and staffing across Ohio's nine largest public universities. …Since 2018, institutions of higher education have been aware of the "enrollment cliff" which refers to expected declines in future enrollment. This paper attempts to describe how prepared institutions in Ohio are for this future by looking at trends leading up to the anticipated decline. Using IPEDS data from 2012-2022, we analyze trends in enrollment, revenues, debt and staffing across Ohio's… more →
Early Life Health Conditions and Racial Gaps in Education
… However, there is surprisingly limited evidence regarding the long-term consequences of these disparities. Using novel linked administrative data from Texas and the shift to Medicaid Managed Care (MMC), I show that …Racial disparities in infant health conditions have persisted for decades. However, there is surprisingly limited evidence regarding the long-term consequences of these disparities. Using novel linked administrative data from Texas and the shift to Medicaid Managed Care (MMC), I show that MMC-driven declines in infant health worsened cognitive and noncognitive outcomes for Black children, while… more →
How State Takeovers of School Districts Affect Education Finance, 1990 to 2019
… State takeover of school districts—a form of political centralization that … decision-making power from locally elected leaders to the state—has increased in recent years, often with the … throughout the U.S. since the first takeover in 1988 and is most common in larger districts and communities …State takeover of school districts—a form of political centralization that shifts decision-making power from locally elected leaders to the state—has increased in recent years, often with the purported goal of improving district financial condition. Takeover has affected millions of students throughout the U.S. since the first takeover in 1988 and is most common in larger districts and… more →
Local Political Party Voting Context Moderates Public School Principals’ Levels of Racial/Ethnic Discrimination
… Correspondence audits document causal evidence of racial/ethnic discrimination in many contexts. However, … examine heterogeneity in racial/ethnic discrimination by the county-level Republican vote share with a correspondence … as parents considering a move to the school district and requesting a meeting. We find evidence that the …Correspondence audits document causal evidence of racial/ethnic discrimination in many contexts. However, few studies have examined whether local political party voting context influences individuals to engage in “stakeholder-centric” discrimination on behalf of or in response to expectations of others. We examine heterogeneity in racial/ethnic discrimination by the county-level Republican vote… more →