EdWorkingPapers
Heat and Learning
… We demonstrate that heat inhibits learning and that school air-conditioning may mitigate this effect. … PSAT-retakers show hotter school days in years before the test reduce scores, with extreme heat being particularly … learning time. New nationwide, school-level measures of air-conditioning penetration suggest patterns …We demonstrate that heat inhibits learning and that school air-conditioning may mitigate this effect. Student fixed effects models using 10 million PSAT-retakers show hotter school days in years before the test reduce scores, with extreme heat being particularly damaging. Weekend and summer temperature has little impact, suggesting heat directly disrupts learning time. New nationwide, school-… more →
Why Are Bureaucrats More Left-Wing?
… often have policy beliefs that do not reflect those of the public. Civil servants are frequently more supportive … employment has no further effect on political attitudes, and even makes teachers more conservative on some indicators. …Government employees often have policy beliefs that do not reflect those of the public. Civil servants are frequently more supportive of redistribution, which critics attribute to a state that socializes employees to be self-interested. But left-leaning citizens may instead self-select into public jobs. We test these two explanations using the case of Brazilian teachers. Leveraging selection… more →
Let’s Chat: Leveraging Chatbot Outreach for Improved Course Performance
… study provides pre-registered, experimental evidence on the use of non-generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to … the chatbot messaging increased students’ final grades and engagement with academic supports, such as tutoring. …This study provides pre-registered, experimental evidence on the use of non-generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to support students in large-enrollment undergraduate courses. We find the chatbot messaging increased students’ final grades and engagement with academic supports, such as tutoring. Treatment effects were generally consistent across student demographics, with the exception… more →
Access is Not Enough: Human Support Improves Engagement with AI Tutoring
… instruction. Despite dedicated session time, nearly half of students in the control group never used the platform, and those who did averaged only 2-5 minutes per week. Working …AI tutoring platforms offer a promising path to scaling personalized instruction, but only if students use them. We report findings from two randomized controlled trials in which elementary students were assigned to use an AI literacy platform independently or with an in-person tutor focused on engagement, not direct instruction. Despite dedicated session time, nearly half of students in the… more →
"Feel" as a Determinant of College Choice: Evidence from Campus Tour Weather
… The feeling or impression that students get about enrolling … in a particular college may be an important determinant of their college application decision. Combining … are 10 percent less likely to apply when their tour is hot and 8 percent less likely when precipitation occurs during …The feeling or impression that students get about enrolling in a particular college may be an important determinant of their college application decision. Combining institutional records on college campus tour participants over the last decade with hourly weather information, we leverage tour weather as a plausibly exogenous shock to students’ "feel" for attending the toured college. We find that… more →
The Consequences of Cellphone Restrictions in Classrooms
… cellphones worldwide amid concerns about achievement and mental health, yet causal evidence on school-level bans … mixed. We examine cellphone restrictions in Chile before the pandemic, where teacher discretion over cellphone use … … Social and emotional learning … The Consequences of Cellphone Restrictions in Classrooms …Schools are increasingly restricting cellphones worldwide amid concerns about achievement and mental health, yet causal evidence on school-level bans remains mixed. We examine cellphone restrictions in Chile before the pandemic, where teacher discretion over cellphone use generated classroom-level variation. Using administrative and survey data, we exploit cross-cohort, within-teacher, and within… more →
Are Community College Students Increasingly Choosing High-Paying Fields of Study? Evidence from Massachusetts
… The labor-market payoff to workers with associate degrees in healthcare and STEM occupations is very high in Massachusetts. We examine whether this induced a growing proportion of students in MA community colleges (MACCs) to earn an …The labor-market payoff to workers with associate degrees in healthcare and STEM occupations is very high in Massachusetts. We examine whether this induced a growing proportion of students in MA community colleges (MACCs) to earn an associate degree (AD) in one of these fields. We do this by using multinomial logit analysis to compare trends across 12 cohorts of MACC entrants in the proportion of… more →
Should They Pay, or Should I Go? Differential Responses to Base Salary Increases
… This study uses administrative data from Oregon to estimate the extent to which base salary increases reduce teacher turnover and to investigate whether these effects are heterogeneous by teacher characteristics. Using multiple sets of fixed effects to isolate plausibly exogenous variation in …This study uses administrative data from Oregon to estimate the extent to which base salary increases reduce teacher turnover and to investigate whether these effects are heterogeneous by teacher characteristics. Using multiple sets of fixed effects to isolate plausibly exogenous variation in salaries across experience bands within a district, we find that increases in salary are associated with… more →
Cows Don't Give Milk: An Effort Model of College Graduation
… This paper estimates a dynamic model of college enrollment, progression, and graduation. A central feature of the model is student effort, which has a direct effect on …This paper estimates a dynamic model of college enrollment, progression, and graduation. A central feature of the model is student effort, which has a direct effect on class completion and an indirect effect mitigating risks on class completion and college persistence. The estimated model matches rich administrative data for a representative cohort of college students in Colombia. Estimates… more →
Is kindergarten ability group placement biased? New data, new methods, new answers
… Half of kindergarten teachers split children into higher and lower … with classroom fixed effects. In fall, test scores were the best predictors of group placement, but there was bias …Half of kindergarten teachers split children into higher and lower ability groups for reading or math. In national data, we predicted kindergarten ability group placement using linear and ordinal logistic regression with classroom fixed effects. In fall, test scores were the best predictors of group placement, but there was bias favoring girls, high-SES (socioeconomic status) children, and Asian… more →
Advanced Placement and Initial College Enrollment: Evidence from an Experiment
… courses affect college-going, we randomly assigned the offer of enrollment into an AP science course to over 1,800 … more by low student preparation than teacher inexperience and by students’ matriculation decisions rather than …To evaluate how Advanced Placement courses affect college-going, we randomly assigned the offer of enrollment into an AP science course to over 1,800 students in 23 schools that had not previously offered the course. We find no substantial AP course effects on students’ plans to enroll in college or on their college entrance exam scores. Yet AP course-takers enroll in less selective colleges than… more →
How has COVID-19 impacted FAFSA submissions?
… led colleges to brace for potential enrollment declines in the Fall, which would devastate budgets and potentially decrease the likelihood a student ever earns … to this crisis. We find that COVID did not affect most of California’s “traditional” high school graduates due to an …COVID has led colleges to brace for potential enrollment declines in the Fall, which would devastate budgets and potentially decrease the likelihood a student ever earns a degree. We take an early look at California’s FAFSA applications up through mid-June, to anticipate how students may be responding to this crisis. We find that COVID did not affect most of California’s “traditional” high school… more →
Elusive Longer-Run Impacts of Head Start: Replications Within and Across Cohorts
… Using an additional decade of CNLSY data, this study replicated and extended Deming’s (2009) evaluation of Head Start’s … skill formation impacts in three ways. Extending the measurement interval for Deming’s adulthood outcomes, we …Using an additional decade of CNLSY data, this study replicated and extended Deming’s (2009) evaluation of Head Start’s life-cycle skill formation impacts in three ways. Extending the measurement interval for Deming’s adulthood outcomes, we found no statistically significant impacts on earnings and mixed evidence of impacts on other adult outcomes. Applying Deming’s sibling… more →
Impacts of Michigan Transitional Kindergarten Through Third Grade
… Transitional Kindergarten (TK) is a relatively new model of early childhood education, with little evidence on whether and how it affects children’s development. This study … provides new evidence using data from Michigan, which has the nation’s second-largest TK program. Using survey data …Transitional Kindergarten (TK) is a relatively new model of early childhood education, with little evidence on whether and how it affects children’s development. This study provides new evidence using data from Michigan, which has the nation’s second-largest TK program. Using survey data (N=171) from administrators in 2021-2022, the paper documents several program features that distinguish TK… more →
Beginning Teachers & Strategies for Asset-Based Pedagogy
… how they account for students’ cultural, ethnic/racial, and linguistic diversity. We qualitatively analyze robust … them by participant demographics. This illuminates both the predictive validity of our qualitative analyses as well as provides initial …Our study examines roughly 2,000 novice teachers’ responses about how they account for students’ cultural, ethnic/racial, and linguistic diversity. We qualitatively analyze robust open-ended survey responses to explore teachers’ reported strategies for how they integrate asset-based pedagogy (ABP). We identify codes related to these strategies and then investigate them by participant demographics… more →
Returns to School Spending in Rural America: Evidence from Wisconsin’s Sparsity Aid Program
… We study the effects of increased school spending in rural American school districts by leveraging the introduction and subsequent expansion of Wisconsin’s Sparsity Aid Program. …We study the effects of increased school spending in rural American school districts by leveraging the introduction and subsequent expansion of Wisconsin’s Sparsity Aid Program. We find that the program, which provides additional state funding to small and isolated school districts, increased spending in eligible districts by 2% annually and that districts primarily allocated funds to areas with… more →
Impacts of Publicly Funded Health Insurance for Adults on Children’s Academic Achievement
… Publicly funded adult health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has had positive effects on … the ACA’s Medicaid expansions influenced child development and family functioning in low-income households. We use a … Communities … K-12 Education … Poverty … Multiple outcomes of education … Parents and communities … Program and policy …Publicly funded adult health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has had positive effects on low-income adults. We examine whether the ACA’s Medicaid expansions influenced child development and family functioning in low-income households. We use a difference-in-differences framework that exploits cross-state policy variation and focus on children in low-income families from a… more →
The Impact of Natural Disasters on Human Capital
… student achievement, lower high school graduation rates, and decrease post-secondary attendance. We estimate that … cause at least $500 in per capita property damage reduce the net present value (NPV) of an affected county’s human capital by an average of $505 …We show that natural disasters affect a region’s aggregate human capital through at least four channels. In addition to causing out-migration, natural disasters reduce student achievement, lower high school graduation rates, and decrease post-secondary attendance. We estimate that disasters that cause at least $500 in per capita property damage reduce the net present value (NPV) of an affected… more →
Test Score Patterns Across Three COVID-19-impacted School Years
… The COVID-19 pandemic has been a seismic and on-going disruption to K-12 schooling. Using test scores … in math and reading achievement across the first two years of the pandemic. Average fall 2021 math test scores in grades …The COVID-19 pandemic has been a seismic and on-going disruption to K-12 schooling. Using test scores from 5.4 million U.S. students in grades 3-8, we tracked changes in math and reading achievement across the first two years of the pandemic. Average fall 2021 math test scores in grades 3-8 were .20-27 standard deviations (SDs) lower relative to same-grade peers in fall 2019, while reading test… more →
The Academic Origins of Economics Faculty
… We use roster data of 96 top U.S. economics departments to document the academic origins of their tenure-track faculty. Academic … origins may have implications for how undergraduate (B.A.) and doctoral (Ph.D.) students are trained and placed, as well …We use roster data of 96 top U.S. economics departments to document the academic origins of their tenure-track faculty. Academic origins may have implications for how undergraduate (B.A.) and doctoral (Ph.D.) students are trained and placed, as well as the type of research produced. We find that faculty educated at top-ranked Ph.D. universities are overrepresented; e.g., over half of our sample… more →
A Promise Unfulfilled? How Modern Federal Civil Rights Enforcement is Used to Address Racial Discrimination in School Discipline
… available data on all civil rights complaints submitted to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights related to racial discrimination in discipline between 1999 and 2018, I provide the first systematic evidence on how …Using newly available data on all civil rights complaints submitted to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights related to racial discrimination in discipline between 1999 and 2018, I provide the first systematic evidence on how modern federal civil rights enforcement is used to address racial discrimination in discipline. I find that less than 50 percent of complaints received… more →
Effects of Perceived Productivity on Study Effort: Evidence from a Field Experiment
… How does the perceived relationship between effort and achievement affect effort? To answer this question, I … assigning them to different information treatments, each of which provides factual information. Students update their …How does the perceived relationship between effort and achievement affect effort? To answer this question, I conduct a field experiment with a popular online learning platform. I exogenously manipulate students’ beliefs about returns to effort by assigning them to different information treatments, each of which provides factual information. Students update their beliefs towards the information… more →
Does Peer Motivation Impact Educational Investments? Evidence From DACA
… Despite the significant influence that peer motivation is likely to … observed. In this paper, I focus on the 2012 introduction of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to study a … origin students … Motivation … Returns to education and skills … Access and admissions … Inequality … Program and …Despite the significant influence that peer motivation is likely to have on educational investments during high school, it is difficult to test empirically since exogenous changes in peer motivation are rarely observed. In this paper, I focus on the 2012 introduction of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to study a setting in which peer motivation changed sharply for a subset of high… more →
Impacts of School Entry Age on Academic Growth through 2nd Grade: A Multi-State Regression Discontinuity Analysis
… The belief that additional time allows children to become more ready for school has affected public policy and individual practices. Prior studies estimated either … paper contributes novel causal evidence for the impacts of kindergarten entry age on academic growth in the first …The belief that additional time allows children to become more ready for school has affected public policy and individual practices. Prior studies estimated either associations between school entry age and academic growth or causal effects on achievement measured at one or two points. This paper contributes novel causal evidence for the impacts of kindergarten entry age on academic growth in the… more →
Push or Pull: School-Level Factors That Influence Teacher Mobility in Turnaround Schools
… Recruiting and retaining teachers can be challenging for many schools, … at higher rates. In this study, we examine three types of school-level attributes that may influence teachers’ … turnaround schools in Tennessee, we find that five of the seven most highly valued features of schools are …Recruiting and retaining teachers can be challenging for many schools, especially in low-performing urban schools in which teachers turn over at higher rates. In this study, we examine three types of school-level attributes that may influence teachers’ decisions to enter or transfer schools: malleable school processes, structural features of employment, and school characteristics. Using adaptive… more →
The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers
… We examine the long-run impacts of having a same-race teacher. First, we leverage data from … points (7%) more likely to graduate from high school and 4 percentage points (13%) more likely to enroll in …We examine the long-run impacts of having a same-race teacher. First, we leverage data from the Tennessee STAR class-size experiment to show that black students randomly assigned to a black teacher in grades K-3 are 5 percentage points (7%) more likely to graduate from high school and 4 percentage points (13%) more likely to enroll in college than their same-school, same-race peers not assigned… more →
Instability in Foster Care: How Transitions Into and Out of Foster Care Relate to School Discipline
… Students in the foster care system tend to have lower educational … However, few studies have explored how transitions into and out of foster care placements are associated with educational …Students in the foster care system tend to have lower educational outcomes than their peers, including more frequent disciplinary events. However, few studies have explored how transitions into and out of foster care placements are associated with educational outcomes. Using longitudinal data from four California school districts, this study investigated the dynamics of entering versus exiting… more →
Leveraging Item Parameter Drift to Assess Transfer Effects in Vocabulary Learning
… Longitudinal models of individual growth typically emphasize between-person … each person contributes only one point at each time to the model. In contrast, modeling growth with multi-item … when IPD is not accounted for, both parameter estimates and their standard errors can be affected. We illustrate with …Longitudinal models of individual growth typically emphasize between-person predictors of change but ignore how growth may vary within persons because each person contributes only one point at each time to the model. In contrast, modeling growth with multi-item assessments allows evaluation of how relative item performance may shift over time. While traditionally viewed as a nuisance under the… more →
Choosing Alone? Peer Similarity in High School Choices
… We provide a descriptive analysis of within-school and neighborhood similarity in high school … from prior work by examining similarity in applications to specific schools rather than preferences for school …We provide a descriptive analysis of within-school and neighborhood similarity in high school applications in New York City. We depart from prior work by examining similarity in applications to specific schools rather than preferences for school characteristics. We find surprisingly low similarity within schools and neighborhoods, but substantial variation by race and prior achievement. White and… more →
Online Tutoring by College Volunteers: Experimental Evidence from a Pilot Program
… A substantial body of experimental evidence demonstrates that in-person tutoring … achievement. However, such programs typically are costly and constrained by a limited local supply of tutors. In … conduct an experiment where volunteer tutors from all over the country meet 1-on-1 with middle school students online …A substantial body of experimental evidence demonstrates that in-person tutoring programs can have large impacts on K-12 student achievement. However, such programs typically are costly and constrained by a limited local supply of tutors. In partnership with CovEducation (CovEd), we conduct a pilot program that has potential to ease both of these concerns. We conduct an experiment where volunteer… more →
Comparative Cost Analyses of Community College Student Success Initiatives
… still ask: What does it cost? Can we afford it? I present the first comparative cost analyses of six student success initiatives: basic needs supports, … early alerts, embedded tutoring, retention/emergency aid, and first-year experience programming. Documenting annual, …Limited resources hinder community college completion. Even with strategies shown to improve outcomes, decisionmakers still ask: What does it cost? Can we afford it? I present the first comparative cost analyses of six student success initiatives: basic needs supports, college/career success courses, early alerts, embedded tutoring, retention/emergency aid, and first-year experience programming.… more →
A Longitudinal Study of External Contract Teacher Employment in Washington State School Districts
… This study examines the phenomenon of external teacher contracting in Washington State schools. … contract teachers are more often female, less experienced, and less likely to hold master’s degrees than their peers. …This study examines the phenomenon of external teacher contracting in Washington State schools. Using administrative data, we analyze shifting patterns of employment among external contract teachers. External contract teachers now represent a significant portion of the workforce in a few districts, but a very small portion statewide. These districts have formed robust online programs that may… more →
Tabling Debate: How Local Officials Use Agenda Control to Stifle Conflict
… policymaking by deciding which items receive attention and action — and which do not. Accounts from national … legislatures typically explain agenda control in terms of party leadership and discipline. But, do politicians exert … outside highly professionalized legislatures? We bring the agenda control discussion to U.S. school boards, which …Public officials influence policymaking by deciding which items receive attention and action — and which do not. Accounts from national legislatures typically explain agenda control in terms of party leadership and discipline. But, do politicians exert agenda control outside highly professionalized legislatures? We bring the agenda control discussion to U.S. school boards, which lack strong party… more →
What Impacts Should We Expect from Tutoring at Scale? Exploring Meta-Analytic Generalizability
… engaged in an unprecedented effort to expand tutoring in the wake of the pandemic. Broad-based support for scaling tutoring … an expanded meta-analysis of 282 randomized control trials and explore how estimates change when we better align our …U.S. public schools are engaged in an unprecedented effort to expand tutoring in the wake of the pandemic. Broad-based support for scaling tutoring emerged, in part, because of the large effects on student achievement found in prior meta-analyses. We conduct an expanded meta-analysis of 282 randomized control trials and explore how estimates change when we better align our sample with a policy-… more →
The Racial Gap in Friendships Among High-Achieving Students
… than their majority counterparts. Exploring patterns of friendship formation in the Add Health data, we find strong racial homophily in … Learning … K-12 Education … Equity … Race, ethnicity, and education … Inequality … Race, ethnicity and culture … …High-achieving minority students have fewer friends than their majority counterparts. Exploring patterns of friendship formation in the Add Health data, we find strong racial homophily in friendship formations as well as strong achievement homophily within race. However, we find that achievement matters less in cross-racial friendships. As a result, high-achieving Black students lose Black… more →
Which Colleges Increase Voting Rates?
… shape their students' voting habits by linking millions of SAT takers to their college-enrollment and voting histories. To begin, we show that the fraction of students from a particular college who vote …We study how colleges shape their students' voting habits by linking millions of SAT takers to their college-enrollment and voting histories. To begin, we show that the fraction of students from a particular college who vote varies systematically by the college's attributes (e.g. increasing with selectivity) but also that seemingly similar colleges can have markedly different voting rates. Next,… more →
Can a Commercial Screening Tool Help Select Better Teachers?
… selection is an important strategy for strengthening the quality of the teacher workforce. As districts adopt commercial … between Frontline Education’s TeacherFit instrument and newly hired teachers’ outcomes. We find that a one SD …Improving teacher selection is an important strategy for strengthening the quality of the teacher workforce. As districts adopt commercial teacher screening tools, evidence is needed to understand these tools’ predictive validity. We examine the relationship between Frontline Education’s TeacherFit instrument and newly hired teachers’ outcomes. We find that a one SD increase on an index of… more →
Impacts of state aid for non-traditional students on educational and labor market outcomes
… Up to three-fourths of college students can be classified as “non-traditional”, … typical policy interventions improves their education and labor market outcomes is understudied. I use a regression discontinuity design to estimate the impacts of a state financial aid program aimed towards …Up to three-fourths of college students can be classified as “non-traditional”, yet whether typical policy interventions improves their education and labor market outcomes is understudied. I use a regression discontinuity design to estimate the impacts of a state financial aid program aimed towards non-traditional students. Eligibility has no impacts on degree completion for students intending to… more →
Practice-Based, Online Modules for Expediting Teacher Skill Development
… The time available for preservice teacher education is … Teacher preparation programs must find innovative ways to develop teachers’ skills within contracted timeframes. One … In this study, we randomly assigned 149 teachers to one of two approaches to online modules: 1) the “business-as-usual” module of readings and reflection questions about skills, and 2) a …The time available for preservice teacher education is increasingly limited. Teacher preparation programs must find innovative ways to develop teachers’ skills within contracted timeframes. One approach is to cover content with online modules. However, most modules teach about skills but do not provide opportunities to practice doing the skills. In this study, we randomly assigned 149 teachers to… more →
Parent Perspectives on School Choice: Experimental Evidence from a Nationally Representative Sample
… Parental attitudes and perspectives of student “success” will likely drive their educational … or homeschooling. However, little research has examined the importance of these attitudes on choice or how these …Parental attitudes and perspectives of student “success” will likely drive their educational choices, whether residentially assigned district public schools, alternative public schools, private schools, or homeschooling. However, little research has examined the importance of these attitudes on choice or how these attitudes may vary across parent characteristics. In this study, we conducted an… more →
Buying time: Financial aid allows college students to work less while enrolled
… able to test why. This study used administrative records of employment and earnings to get a more complete picture of students’ … New Jersey’s need-based Tuition Aid Grant (TAG). We used the eligibility cutoffs of TAG to identify groups of …Many empirical studies have found that financial aid improves college attainment. Few have been able to test why. This study used administrative records of employment and earnings to get a more complete picture of students’ finances during college and test one potential mechanism: financial aid buys students time by allowing them to work less in off-campus jobs. We studied recipients of New… more →
Experimental Estimates of College Coaching on Postsecondary Re-enrollment
… College attendance has increased significantly over the last few decades, but dropout rates remain high, with fewer than half of all adults ultimately obtaining a postsecondary … one-on-one college coaching improves college attendance and completion outcomes for former low- and middle-income …College attendance has increased significantly over the last few decades, but dropout rates remain high, with fewer than half of all adults ultimately obtaining a postsecondary credential. This project investigates whether one-on-one college coaching improves college attendance and completion outcomes for former low- and middle-income income state aid recipients who attended college but left… more →
Measuring grading standards at high schools: a methodology and an example
… grades across multiple courses than students with the same skills receive at schools with high grading … have smaller course cohorts, have a smaller percentage of lone parent households and a larger percentage of well-educated parents. Variation …At schools with low grading standards, students receive higher school-awarded grades across multiple courses than students with the same skills receive at schools with high grading standards. A new methodology shows grading standards vary substantially, certainly enough to affect post-secondary opportunities, across high schools in Alberta. Schools with low grading standards are more likely to be… more →
Common support violations in clustered observational studies of educational interventions
… are measured for students. This research design is called the clustered observational study (COS). We examine the consequences of common support violations in the COS context. Common … occur when the covariate distributions of treated and control units do not overlap. Such violations are likely …In education settings, treatments are often non-randomly assigned to clusters, such as schools or classrooms, while outcomes are measured for students. This research design is called the clustered observational study (COS). We examine the consequences of common support violations in the COS context. Common support violations occur when the covariate distributions of treated and control units do… more →
Can Successful Schools Replicate? Scaling Up Boston’s Charter School Sector
… gains on par with those produced by their parent campuses. The average effectiveness of Boston’s charter middle school sector increased after the … charter schools reduce the returns to teacher experience and compress the distribution of teacher effectiveness, …Can schools that boost student outcomes reproduce their success at new campuses? We study a policy reform that allowed effective charter schools in Boston, Massachusetts to replicate their school models at new locations. Estimates based on randomized admission lotteries show that replication charter schools generate large achievement gains on par with those produced by their parent campuses. The… more →
COVID-19-Induced School Closures and Disadvantaged Children’s Post-COVID Academic Growth: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
… 53% Latine, 22% Black, 11% White), low-income cohort of children (N = 680) whose academic skills were assessed before and after COVID-19-induced school closures. Longitudinal … developmental growth in learning resumed, highlighting the resilience of students’ ability to learn when in school. …This study draws on unique, repeated-measures data on a diverse (51% female; 53% Latine, 22% Black, 11% White), low-income cohort of children (N = 680) whose academic skills were assessed before and after COVID-19-induced school closures. Longitudinal models predicted changes in children’s literacy and math trajectories from before school closures (ages 4-6; 2017-2019) to after school reopening (… more →
Understanding How HBCUs Leverage Partnerships to Support Students’ Basic Needs
… little research examines how historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) address students’ holistic needs. … and students across three HBCUs engaged in partnerships to support students’ basic needs. Findings reveal that while … collaborations remain underleveraged. Findings highlight the need for intentional, mutually beneficial partnerships …Basic needs insecurity has become a pressing equity issue in U.S. higher education, yet little research examines how historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) address students’ holistic needs. Guided by a practice-based, pragmatic analytic orientation and informed by a basic needs services implementation rubric and an HBCU-based theoretical model, this qualitative case study explored… more →
Comparing Machine Learning Methods for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects in Randomized Trials: A Comprehensive Simulation Study
… experiments. We evaluate performance across continuous and binary outcomes with diverse and realistic treatment … subgroup analysis. These findings highlight both the potential and the limitations of ML, offering evidence-based practical guidance for …This study compares 18 machine learning methods for estimating heterogeneous treatment effects in randomized controlled trials, using simulations calibrated to two large-scale educational experiments. We evaluate performance across continuous and binary outcomes with diverse and realistic treatment effect heterogeneity patterns, varying sample sizes, covariate complexities, and effect magnitudes… more →
Educational Consequences of a Sibling’s Disability: Evidence from type 1 diabetes
… challenge. In this paper we use Danish administrative data and variation in the onset of type 1 diabetes to compare education outcomes of focal …While there is a growing literature on family health spillovers, questions remain about how sibling disability status impacts educational outcomes. As disability is not randomly assigned this is an empirical challenge. In this paper we use Danish administrative data and variation in the onset of type 1 diabetes to compare education outcomes of focal children with a disabled sibling to outcomes of… more →
From Pilot to Policy: Experimental Evidence from Scaling Online Tutoring
… We study a randomized controlled trial of an online mathematics tutoring program scaled from a successful pilot and implemented entirely by regional education authorities in … academic gains. Results provide realistic benchmarks for the ”voltage drop” policymakers should anticipate when …We study a randomized controlled trial of an online mathematics tutoring program scaled from a successful pilot and implemented entirely by regional education authorities in Spain, using interim public-school teachers rather than specially recruited tutors. Assignment to tutoring increased end-of- year grades by 0.15σ and standardized math test scores by 0.11σ — approximately one-third of pilot… more →