EdWorkingPapers
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 →
Engaging Teachers: Measuring the Impact of Teachers on Student Attendance in Secondary School
… performance. For this study, we explore a second dimension of teacher effectiveness by creating measures of teachers’ … effectiveness at reducing unexcused class absences at the middle and high school level. These differences across teachers are …Teachers’ impact on student long-run success is only partially explained by their contributions to students’ short-run academic performance. For this study, we explore a second dimension of teacher effectiveness by creating measures of teachers’ contributions to student class-attendance. We find systematic variation in teacher effectiveness at reducing unexcused class absences at the middle and… more →
Principal Effects on Teacher Working Conditions
… or correlational. We provide plausibly causal estimates of how principals affect a wide range of teacher working conditions using data from Illinois, where the State Board of Education collects detailed information on … of working conditions over time between schools that do and do not experience principal turnover. Under reasonable …Research on school principals highlights their role in shaping teachers’ work environments, but most evidence is qualitative or correlational. We provide plausibly causal estimates of how principals affect a wide range of teacher working conditions using data from Illinois, where the State Board of Education collects detailed information on working conditions annually. Our identification strategy… more →
Switching Schools: Effects of College Transfers
… Using Texas administrative data and a regression … earnings. I leverage applications and admissions data to uncover unpublished GPA cutoffs used for transfer student … colleges to flagship colleges and show suggestive evidence of negative returns. Mechanisms include academic “mismatch” …Using Texas administrative data and a regression discontinuity design, I study how transferring between colleges affects students’ earnings. I leverage applications and admissions data to uncover unpublished GPA cutoffs used for transfer student admissions at each fouryear institution, then use these cutoffs as an instrument for transfer. I do not find positive earnings returns for academically… more →
Staffing Interventions to Support Students Experiencing Homelessness: Evidence from New York City
… two school staffing interventions in New York City shaped the attendance outcomes of students experiencing homelessness using administrative records from 2013-2022 and a difference-in-differences design. We find suggestive …There is limited empirical evidence about educational interventions for students experiencing homelessness, who experience distinct disadvantages compared to their low-income peers. We explore how two school staffing interventions in New York City shaped the attendance outcomes of students experiencing homelessness using administrative records from 2013-2022 and a difference-in-differences design… more →
Teachers’ Willingness To Pay For Retirement Benefits: A National Stated Preferences Experiment
… little is known about how teachers value various elements of their retirement benefits versus other aspects of their jobs and compensation. To help alleviate this gap, we use a … pension and alternative retirement plan designs if the alternatives were paired with 2 to 3 percent salary …Many states have recently made or are considering changes to their teacher retirement systems. However, little is known about how teachers value various elements of their retirement benefits versus other aspects of their jobs and compensation. To help alleviate this gap, we use a discrete choice stated preferences experiment embedded in a nationally representative survey of teachers to estimate… more →
Experimental Evidence on Teachers' Racial Bias in Student Evaluation: The Role of Grading Scales
… literature documents racial bias in teachers’ evaluations of students. Theory suggests bias may be larger on grading … versus scales with clearly-specified criteria, raising the possibility that well-designed grading policies may … experiment … David M. Quinn … Standards, Assessment, and Curriculum … K-12 Education … Race, ethnicity, and …A vast research literature documents racial bias in teachers’ evaluations of students. Theory suggests bias may be larger on grading scales with vague or overly-general criteria versus scales with clearly-specified criteria, raising the possibility that well-designed grading policies may mitigate bias. This study offers relevant evidence through a randomized web-based experiment with… more →
Why Fadeout is (Probably) Worse Than We Think: Adjusting for Correlated Sampling Error in Meta-Analyses of Behavioral Interventions
… The extent to which intervention effects persist or fade over … analysis approach with meta-analytic data from a series of behavioral interventions. Our results suggest that effect … … K-12 Education … Child development … Efficacy … Social and emotional learning … Why Fadeout is (Probably) Worse Than …The extent to which intervention effects persist or fade over time is an important question in the behavioral sciences. In meta-analysis, persistence is often assessed by meta-regressing effect sizes at followup on effect sizes at endline. While common, the standard meta-regression does not adjust for the shared sampling error between effect sizes across time points. We show that in general,… more →
Disparate Pathways: Understanding Racial Disparities in Teaching
… Long standing evidence on the importance of a diverse teacher workforce prompts policymakers to … early barriers require timely interventions, aiding Black and other students of color in achieving educational …Long standing evidence on the importance of a diverse teacher workforce prompts policymakers to scrutinize existing recruitment pathways. Following Maryland public high-school students over 14 years reveals that early barriers require timely interventions, aiding Black and other students of color in achieving educational milestones that are prerequisites for teacher candidacy (high school… more →
Influence of Within-Class Age Differences on Adolescents’ Eating Behaviors
… within-class age differences as a novel determinant of adolescents’ dietary behaviors, isolating it from confounders such as absolute age, season of birth, and country-specific school entry rules. Using a … for, these effects are likely driven by peer influence. The findings are robust across various model specifications, …This study examines within-class age differences as a novel determinant of adolescents’ dietary behaviors, isolating it from confounders such as absolute age, season of birth, and country-specific school entry rules. Using a multi-country dataset of over 600,000 European students, we find that younger students within a class exhibit poorer dietary habits. Since confounders are controlled for,… more →
From Funds to Frameworks: How States Operationalize Title II Education Funding
… This study employs a document analysis of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans from 2017 to 2022 to examine Title II, Part A, implementation across … fund allocation, leadership development activities, and discrepancies between planned and actual spending. …This study employs a document analysis of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans from 2017 to 2022 to examine Title II, Part A, implementation across all states. We analyzed state-level fund allocation, leadership development activities, and discrepancies between planned and actual spending. Results reveal substantial heterogeneity in state approaches: 23.5% made Title II-A-specific plan… more →
Clinical teaching learning trajectory: Exploring field supervisor written feedback on clinical teacher pedagogy
… feedback, which indicates 2 broad pedagogical categories and 9 separate skills. We then quantize these feedback codes to identify the variation in the presence of these codes across PST characteristics, and then use …Field supervisors are central to clinical teaching, but little is known about how their feedback informs preservice teachers (PSTs) development. This sequential mixed methods study examines over 3,000 supervisor observation evaluations. We qualitatively code supervisor written feedback, which indicates 2 broad pedagogical categories and 9 separate skills. We then quantize these feedback codes to… more →
Ever Failed, Try Again, Succeed Better: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention on Grit
… grit, a skill that has been shown to be highly predictive of achievement, is malleable in childhood and can be fostered in the classroom environment. We evaluate a randomized …We show that grit, a skill that has been shown to be highly predictive of achievement, is malleable in childhood and can be fostered in the classroom environment. We evaluate a randomized educational intervention implemented in two independent elementary school samples. Outcomes are measured via a novel incentivized real effort task and performance in standardized tests. We find that treated… more →
The Effects of Losing Pell Grant Eligibility on Student Outcomes
… lower aid. This non-random attrition introduces bias in the Local Average Treatment Effects. I construct … … Financial Aid … Shinyoung Kim … Policy, Politics, and Governance … Post-secondary education … Returns to education and skills … The Effects of Losing Pell Grant Eligibility on Student Outcomes …While initial Pell Grant eligibility is solely determined by financial need, students must achieve Satisfactory Academic Progress to retain it. Students eligible for higher aid are less likely to complete college when they lose eligibility compared to those with lower aid. This non-random attrition introduces bias in the Local Average Treatment Effects. I construct nonparametric bounds on LATE… more →
From Retributive to Restorative: An Alternative Approach to Justice in Schools
… districts historically approached conflict-resolution from the perspective that suspending disruptive students was … practices (RP) – focused on reparation, accountability, and shared ownership of disciplinary justice – are designed to address undesirable …School districts historically approached conflict-resolution from the perspective that suspending disruptive students was necessary to protect their classmates, even if this caused harm to perceived offenders. Restorative practices (RP) – focused on reparation, accountability, and shared ownership of disciplinary justice – are designed to address undesirable behavior without harming students. We… more →
College Enrollment and Mandatory FAFSA Applications: Evidence from Louisiana
… to college. To test whether FAFSA completion is one of these barriers, I utilize a natural experiment brought about by a Louisiana mandate for seniors to file the FAFSA upon graduation from high school. Exploiting … Aid, College Enrollment … Christa Deneault … Pathways to and Through Postsecondary … Post-secondary education … Higher …Barriers to accessing financial aid may keep students from matriculating to college. To test whether FAFSA completion is one of these barriers, I utilize a natural experiment brought about by a Louisiana mandate for seniors to file the FAFSA upon graduation from high school. Exploiting pre-treatment FAFSA completion rates as a treatment intensity in a dosage differences-in-differences… more →
Will Mentoring a Student Teacher Harm My Evaluation Scores? Effects of Serving as a Cooperating Teacher on Evaluation Metrics
… that preservice candidates receive better coaching and are more instructionally effective when they are mentored … serving may negatively impact district evaluation scores. Using a unique dataset on over 4,500 CTs, we compare … a Student Teacher Harm My Evaluation Scores? Effects of Serving as a Cooperating Teacher on Evaluation Metrics …Growing evidence suggests that preservice candidates receive better coaching and are more instructionally effective when they are mentored by more instructionally effective cooperating teachers (CTs). Yet, teacher education program leaders indicate it can be difficult to recruit instructionally effective teachers to serve as CTs, in part because teachers worry that serving may negatively impact… more →
Do Faculty Affect Student Partisanship?
… link voter data to salary records from 33 state flagships and show that faculty skew Democratic, especially in the humanities and social sciences. We then use student … Students become more liberal during college regardless of major and sort toward ideologically similar instructors. …We study whether Democratic college professors make their students more liberal. We link voter data to salary records from 33 state flagships and show that faculty skew Democratic, especially in the humanities and social sciences. We then use student transcripts from one flagship to estimate causal effects. Students become more liberal during college regardless of major and sort toward… more →
Competitive Effects of Charter Schools
… merges student-level school records with birth records, and leveraging three alternative identification strategies, … (TPS). We consistently find that competition stemming from the opening of new charter schools improves reading—but not …Using a rich dataset that merges student-level school records with birth records, and leveraging three alternative identification strategies, we explore how increase in access to charter schools in twelve districts in Florida affects students remaining in traditional public schools (TPS). We consistently find that competition stemming from the opening of new charter schools improves reading—but… more →
Can Patience Account for Subnational Differences in Student Achievement? Regional Analysis with Facebook Interests
… Facebook interests – to construct novel regional measures of patience within Italy and the United States. Patience is strongly positively associated …Decisions to invest in human capital depend on people’s time preferences. We show that differences in patience are closely related to substantial subnational differences in educational achievement, leading to new perspectives on longstanding within-country disparities. We use social-media data – Facebook interests – to construct novel regional measures of patience within Italy and the United… more →
Nudging at Scale: Experimental Evidence from FAFSA Completion Campaigns
… state or nationwide? What specific mechanisms explain the positive impacts of promising smaller-scale nudges? We investigate, through … two randomized controlled trials, the impact of a national and state-level campaign to encourage students to apply for …Do nudge interventions that have generated positive impacts at a local level maintain efficacy when scaled state or nationwide? What specific mechanisms explain the positive impacts of promising smaller-scale nudges? We investigate, through two randomized controlled trials, the impact of a national and state-level campaign to encourage students to apply for financial aid for college. The… more →
Virtual Charter Students Have Worse Labor Market Outcomes as Young Adults
… are increasingly popular, yet there is no research on the long-term outcomes of virtual charter students. We link statewide education … rates, bachelor's degree attainment, employment rates, and earnings than students in traditional public schools. …Virtual charter schools are increasingly popular, yet there is no research on the long-term outcomes of virtual charter students. We link statewide education records from Oregon with earnings information from IRS records housed at the US Census Bureau to provide evidence on how virtual charter students fare as young adults. Virtual charter students have substantially worse high school graduation… more →
Student Demand For Relative Performance Feedback: Evidence from a Field Experiment
… their rank on a midterm exam. Our results show that 10% of students are willing to pay to avoid learning their rank. … needing more study hours to achieve their desired grade and being less likely in the top half of the ability distribution in the class. These …We administer a survey to study students' preferences for relative performance feedback in an introductory economics class. To do so, we elicit students' willingness to pay for/avoid learning their rank on a midterm exam. Our results show that 10% of students are willing to pay to avoid learning their rank. We also find that female students are willing to pay $1 more than male students. We also… more →
A Tale of Two Types of Schools: An Exploration of How School Working Conditions Influence Black Male Teacher Turnover
… schools with three or more Black male teachers and seven schools with one Black male teacher. Consistent … cited for leaving, and participants’ actual decisions to stay or leave. … Black Male Teachers; Teacher Turnover; … and organizations … Race, ethnicity and culture … A Tale of Two Types of Schools: An Exploration of How School Working …This phenomenological study draws on semi-structured interviews with 27 Black male teachers across 14 schools in an urban school district—seven schools with three or more Black male teachers and seven schools with one Black male teacher. Consistent with theories about teacher turnover, findings indicate a relationship between organizational characteristics, reasons participants cited for leaving… more →
Growing Up in Disability-Dense School Districts: Long-Term Impacts of Childhood Exposure on Educational Attainment
… whether growing up in a district with a higher share of people with disabilities shapes long-term educational attainment for children with and without disabilities. Using administrative data on more than 170,000 children from …This study examines whether growing up in a district with a higher share of people with disabilities shapes long-term educational attainment for children with and without disabilities. Using administrative data on more than 170,000 children from six Texas kindergarten cohorts (1994–1999) who move across districts during K–12, I exploit variation in disability density across school districts to… more →
Staffing Interventions to Support Students Experiencing Homelessness: Evidence from New York City
… interventions in New York City shaped attendance outcomes of students experiencing homelessness using administrative records from 2013-2022 and a difference-in-differences estimator. We find suggestive …There is limited empirical evidence about educational interventions for students experiencing homelessness, who experience distinct disadvantages compared to their low-income peers. We explore how two school staffing interventions in New York City shaped attendance outcomes of students experiencing homelessness using administrative records from 2013-2022 and a difference-in-differences estimator… more →
How General is Educational Intervention Fadeout? A Meta-Analysis of Educational RCTs with Follow-Up
… Researchers and policymakers pursue educational interventions with the goal of altering children’s long-term trajectories. However, many …Researchers and policymakers pursue educational interventions with the goal of altering children’s long-term trajectories. However, many effects fade quickly after interventions end. Researchers have sought to address the fadeout problem by identifying characteristics of interventions that lead to persistent effects, though reliable answers have been elusive. We present evidence from 87… more →