EdWorkingPapers
Can Technology Transform Communication between Schools, Teachers, and Parents? Evidence from a Randomized Field Trial
… We study the adoption and implementation of a new mobile communication app among a sample of 132 New … parents. We provide participating schools with free access to the app and randomize schools to receive intensive support …We study the adoption and implementation of a new mobile communication app among a sample of 132 New York City public schools. The app provides a platform for sharing general announcements and news as well as engaging in personalized two-way communication with individual parents. We provide participating schools with free access to the app and randomize schools to receive intensive support (… more →
Teachers, Schools, and Pre-K Effect Persistence: An Examination of the Sustaining Environment Hypothesis
… The sustaining environments thesis hypothesizes that PreK … in Tennessee that found positive effects at the end of PreK that did not persist past kindergarten. These data were combined with teacher observation and school-level value-added scores from Tennessee’s formal …The sustaining environments thesis hypothesizes that PreK effects are more likely to persist into later grades if children experience high-quality learning environments in the years subsequent to PreK. This study tests this hypothesis using data from a statewide PreK randomized experiment in Tennessee that found positive effects at the end of PreK that did not persist past kindergarten. These… more →
Students' Grade Satisfaction Influences Evaluations of Teaching: Evidence from Individual-level Data and an Experimental Intervention
… surveys are widely used to evaluate university teaching and increasingly adopted at the K-12 level, although there remains considerable debate … correlation between student grades and their evaluations of instructors. Using individual-level data from 19,000 …Student surveys are widely used to evaluate university teaching and increasingly adopted at the K-12 level, although there remains considerable debate about what they measure. Much disagreement focuses on the well-documented correlation between student grades and their evaluations of instructors. Using individual-level data from 19,000 evaluations of 700 course sections at a flagship public… more →
Kumon In: The Recent, Rapid Rise of Private Tutoring Centers
… The increasing prevalence of private tutoring has received minimal scholarly attention … data on the universe of U.S. private tutoring centers to estimate the size and growth of this industry and to identify predictors of …The increasing prevalence of private tutoring has received minimal scholarly attention in the United States. We use over 25 years of geocoded data on the universe of U.S. private tutoring centers to estimate the size and growth of this industry and to identify predictors of tutoring center locations. We document four important facts. First, from 1997 to 2022, the number of private tutoring… more →
The effects of third-grade retention on multilingual students: A gateway or a gatekeeper?
… This paper estimates the effect of test-based grade retention on multilingual students … for ML-ELs to develop English language proficiency and master academic content or put them at increased risk of …This paper estimates the effect of test-based grade retention on multilingual students classified as English Learners (ML-ELs). This policy could provide an opportunity for ML-ELs to develop English language proficiency and master academic content or put them at increased risk of worse academic and labor market outcomes. I use a regression discontinuity design leveraging Texas’s test-based grade… more →
The Scaling Dynamics and Causal Effects of a District-Operated Tutoring Program
… Public school systems across the U.S. have made major investments in tutoring to support students’ academic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluate a large urban district’s efforts to design, implement, and scale a district-operated, standards-based tutoring …Public school systems across the U.S. have made major investments in tutoring to support students’ academic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluate a large urban district’s efforts to design, implement, and scale a district-operated, standards-based tutoring program across three years. We draw on extensive interviews and survey data to document the dynamic changes in the… more →
Does Course Structure Increase STEM Employment for Women and Underrepresented Minorities in Technology Training Programs? Evidence from LaunchCode
… coding bootcamps offered by LaunchCode (LC101, Women+, and CodeCamp) to understand if tailored structures within … participants were roughly twice as likely to complete both the course and the apprenticeship than similar LC101 … LC101 students or completers. This suggests the efficacy of gender-focused programming in reducing gender disparities …We examine three coding bootcamps offered by LaunchCode (LC101, Women+, and CodeCamp) to understand if tailored structures within coding bootcamp programs—designed for underrepresented groups in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)—lead to increased program persistence for women, underrepresented minorities, and low-income individuals. We also examine if these tailored structures… more →
From Sentence-Corrections to Deeper Dialogue: Qualitative Insights from LLM and Teacher Feedback on Student Writing
… tool for enhancing student learning, encouraging revision, and increasing motivation and agency. Yet, teachers face many … and expert teacher (n = 12) feedback. Using a framework of dialogic writing feedback as our analytic lens, we … that LLMs primarily enacted corrective feedback at the sentence level and positioned students as novices …Effective writing feedback is a powerful tool for enhancing student learning, encouraging revision, and increasing motivation and agency. Yet, teachers face many challenges that prevent them from consistently providing effective writing feedback. Recent advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have led educators and researchers to experiment with AI tools powered by large language… more →
Using Semantic Similarity to Assess Adherence and Replicability of Intervention Delivery
… an intervention works, they also want to understand why and under what circumstances interventions produce their … in high quality studies with strong causal claims. Of critical importance is determining whether an intervention … delivered with adherence to a standardized protocol, and the extent to which an intervention protocol can be …Researchers are rarely satisfied to learn only whether an intervention works, they also want to understand why and under what circumstances interventions produce their intended effects. These questions have led to increasing calls for implementation research to be included in high quality studies with strong causal claims. Of critical importance is determining whether an intervention can be… more →
Effects of Dual-Language Immersion on Attendance and Reclassification in a Large Urban District
… immersion (DLI) programs have proliferated across the United States, yet evidence on their effects for English … limited. This study examines DLI's effects on attendance and reclassification—two outcomes that worsened for ELs … these differences disappear by third grade. By the end of elementary school, ELs in DLI reclassify at rates …Dual-language immersion (DLI) programs have proliferated across the United States, yet evidence on their effects for English Learner-designated (EL) students in large, diverse urban districts remains limited. This study examines DLI's effects on attendance and reclassification—two outcomes that worsened for ELs following the COVID-19 pandemic. Using restricted student-level data from the Los… more →
Using Gaussian Process Regression in Two-Dimensional Regression Discontinuity Designs
… to students if their scores on two inputs (e.g., math and English test scores) are above established cutoffs. This … regression discontinuity design (RDD) to analyze the effect of the educational treatment where there are two running …Sometimes a treatment, such as receiving a high school diploma, is assigned to students if their scores on two inputs (e.g., math and English test scores) are above established cutoffs. This forms a multidimensional regression discontinuity design (RDD) to analyze the effect of the educational treatment where there are two running variables instead of one. Present methods for estimating such… more →
How Powerful Are Promises? A Systematic Review of the Causal Mechanisms and Outcomes of "Free College" Programs in the United States
… in U.S. higher education. Reviewing 88 studies of 25 state and local programs, I provide a nuanced picture of the mechanisms through which these programs may work and … Inequality … Program and policy effects … How Powerful Are Promises? A Systematic Review of the Causal Mechanisms and …“Free college” (sometimes called Promise) programs are common in U.S. higher education. Reviewing 88 studies of 25 state and local programs, I provide a nuanced picture of the mechanisms through which these programs may work and their likely effects on students, communities, and colleges. Some commonly-claimed mechanisms for these effects—e.g., improving secondary school environments or impacting… more →
The Long Shadow of School Closures: Impacts on Students’ Educational and Labor Market Outcomes
… Each year, over a thousand public schools in the US close due to declining enrollments and chronic low performance, displacing hundreds of thousands of students. Using Texas administrative data and …Each year, over a thousand public schools in the US close due to declining enrollments and chronic low performance, displacing hundreds of thousands of students. Using Texas administrative data and empirical strategies that use within-student across-time and within-school across-cohort variation, I explore the impact of school closures on students' educational and labor market outcomes. The… more →
Noncognitive Factors and Student Long-Run Success: Comparing the Predictive Validity of Observable Academic Behaviors and Social-Emotional Skills
… constructs such as self-e cacy, social awareness, and academic engagement are widely acknowledged as critical components of human capital, but systematic data collection on such … constraints. This study addresses this issue by comparing the predictive validity of two most widely used metrics on …Noncognitive constructs such as self-e cacy, social awareness, and academic engagement are widely acknowledged as critical components of human capital, but systematic data collection on such skills in school systems is complicated by conceptual ambiguities, measurement challenges and resource constraints. This study addresses this issue by comparing the predictive validity of two most widely used… more →
Optimal Allocation of Seats in the Presence of Peer Effects: Evidence from a Job Training Program
… We consider the case in which the number of seats in a program is limited, such as a job training program or a supplemental tutoring program, and explore the implications that peer effects have for which …We consider the case in which the number of seats in a program is limited, such as a job training program or a supplemental tutoring program, and explore the implications that peer effects have for which individuals should be assigned to the limited seats. In the frequently-studied case in which all applicants are assigned to a group, the average outcome is not changed by shuffling the group… more →
Heterogeneity in High School Career and Technical Education Outcomes
… High school Career and Technical Education (CTE) has received an increase in … in recent years. This study fills a needed gap in the growing research base by examining heterogeneity within the wide range of programs falling under the broader CTE umbrella, and …High school Career and Technical Education (CTE) has received an increase in attention from both policymakers and researchers in recent years. This study fills a needed gap in the growing research base by examining heterogeneity within the wide range of programs falling under the broader CTE umbrella, and highlights the need for greater nuance in research and policy conversations that often… more →
Why Does Education Increase Voting? Evidence from Boston’s Charter Schools
… In the United States, people with more education vote more. But, … to estimate charter attendance impacts for academic and voting outcomes. First, we confirm large academic gains for students in the sample of charter schools and cohorts investigated here. Second, we …In the United States, people with more education vote more. But, we know little about why education increases political participation or whether higher-quality education increases civic participation. We study applicants to Boston charter schools, using school lotteries to estimate charter attendance impacts for academic and voting outcomes. First, we confirm large academic gains for students in… more →
Deeper Learning Networks: Taking Student-Centered Learning and Equity to Scale
… One of the mysteries of education reform is how leaders and … have used to instantiate their equitable deeper learning models in diverse public school settings to serve students in …One of the mysteries of education reform is how leaders and educators can successfully instantiate, sustain, and spread student-centered pedagogical practices from a few schools to many others. Advocates for deeper learning grapple with this mystery as they seek to transform teaching and learning to prepare students to meet the demands of the 21st century and to close the opportunity gap between… more →
Subtraction by Addition: Do Private Scholarship Awards Lead to Financial Aid Displacement?
… Award displacement occurs when one type of financial aid award directly contributes to the change in the quantity of another award. We explore … Promise recipient’s actual cost of attendance, grants, and scholarships, as well as demographic and academic …Award displacement occurs when one type of financial aid award directly contributes to the change in the quantity of another award. We explore whether postsecondary institutions displaced awards in response to the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship by capitalizing on the doubling of the maximum Promise amount in 2012. We use de-identified student-level data on each Promise recipient’s actual cost of… more →
The Impact of Increased Exposure of Diversity on Suburban Students’ Outcomes: An Analysis of the METCO Voluntary Desegregation Program
… Over sixty years following Brown vs. Board of Education, racial and socioeconomic segregation and lack of equal access to educational opportunities persist. Across the country, voluntary desegregation busing programs aim to …Over sixty years following Brown vs. Board of Education, racial and socioeconomic segregation and lack of equal access to educational opportunities persist. Across the country, voluntary desegregation busing programs aim to ameliorate these imbalances and disparities. A longstanding Massachusetts program, METCO, buses K-12 students of color from Boston and Springfield, Massachusetts to 37… more →
Computationally Identifying Funneling and Focusing Questions in Classroom Discourse
… on their own thinking, deepening their understanding of math concepts. When teachers focus, they treat students’ … contributions as resources for collective sensemaking, and thereby significantly improve students’ achievement and confidence in mathematics. We propose the task of computationally detecting funneling and focusing …Responsive teaching is a highly effective strategy that promotes student learning. In math classrooms, teachers might funnel students towards a normative answer or focus students to reflect on their own thinking, deepening their understanding of math concepts. When teachers focus, they treat students’ contributions as resources for collective sensemaking, and thereby significantly improve… more →
Separate, but Better? Measuring School Spending Progressivity and its Association with School Segregation
… Recent public discussions and legal decisions suggest that school segregation will remain persistent in the United States, but increased transparency may help … system that is separate but equal—or better—in terms of spending? This question motivates further understanding …Recent public discussions and legal decisions suggest that school segregation will remain persistent in the United States, but increased transparency may help monitor spending across schools. These circumstances revive an old question: is it possible to achieve an educational system that is separate but equal—or better—in terms of spending? This question motivates further understanding the… more →
Washington School Finance: Exploring the History and Present-Day Challenges for Fiscal Equity
… In this forthcoming book chapter, the authors provide an in-depth description of the history and current issues pertaining to public school finance in …In this forthcoming book chapter, the authors provide an in-depth description of the history and current issues pertaining to public school finance in Washington State, including how recent federal stimulus funding impacted resource levels. The state uses a resource-based funding model, where the amount of funds each school district receives is based on the district’s enrollment level and a… more →
The Causal Effects of Federal Work-Study Offers on College Enrollment and Program Participation
… Federal Work-Study (FWS) is a distinctive type of financial aid, originally intended to both reduce financial constraints and improve access to career-relevant job opportunities. … tracking FWS offers, enrollment, and participation from the date of financial aid application, we study the causal …Federal Work-Study (FWS) is a distinctive type of financial aid, originally intended to both reduce financial constraints and improve access to career-relevant job opportunities. Prior research on FWS has primarily focused on post-enrollment, post-program-participation outcomes, leaving potential upstream margins of impact unexplored. Using a unique administrative data source tracking FWS offers… more →
What are Promises Made of? The Design of Local College Affordability Programs
… postsecondary education is populated by hundreds of state and local affordability initiatives sometimes referred to as … and who is eligible for them. But we know little about the details of their structuring, or about the prevalence of … … Post-secondary education … Higher education … What are Promises Made of? The Design of Local College Affordability …U.S. postsecondary education is populated by hundreds of state and local affordability initiatives sometimes referred to as “Promise programs”, many of which claim to make college free or tuition-free. These programs vary tremendously in terms of what they provide, where they can be used, and who is eligible for them. But we know little about the details of their structuring, or about the… more →
Exploring the Move Away from ‘Zero -Tolerance’ Policies: Evidence from Restorative Justice Practices in Texas and Michigan Schools
… This study examines the impact of statewide Restorative Justice (RJ) policy reforms in Michigan and Texas on student disciplinary outcomes and behavior, in …This study examines the impact of statewide Restorative Justice (RJ) policy reforms in Michigan and Texas on student disciplinary outcomes and behavior, in light of increasing concerns over the negative effects of zero-tolerance policies. As schools move away from exclusionary discipline practices, this research focuses on three primary questions: (1) Are these policies effectively implemented… more →
Does in-service training in special education increase the effectiveness of general classroom teachers? Evidence from the large-scale “Special Education Pedagogy for Learning” program in Sweden
… This study evaluates the impact of a large-scale professional development program for general … of school-level program participation on grade 6 and grade 9 student mathematics and Swedish grades and …This study evaluates the impact of a large-scale professional development program for general classroom teachers in Sweden, the “Special Education Pedagogy for Learning” (SFL) program. Linking program administrative data to national full population register data, we apply a dynamic difference-in-differences estimation of school-level program participation on grade 6 and grade 9 student… more →
Geographic and Community Influences on College Savings: Evidence from the Universe of Pennsylvania 529 Account Holders
… college savings behaviors are important determinants of students’ postsecondary enrollment and degree attainment. While prior work has examined how … to families’ college savings. Drawing from prior work on the role of place in shaping economic and educational …Families’ college savings behaviors are important determinants of students’ postsecondary enrollment and degree attainment. While prior work has examined how economic and sociological aspects of families shape savings behaviors, no study has examined how geographic or community-level factors relate to families’ college savings. Drawing from prior work on the role of place in shaping economic and… more →
Controlling For Measurement Error in Evaluation Models When Treatment Group Assignment is Based on Noisy Measures: Evaluation of an Achievement Gap-Closing Initiative
… This paper develops new models to evaluate the effects of interventions and intervention-by-site heterogeneity when treatment group …This paper develops new models to evaluate the effects of interventions and intervention-by-site heterogeneity when treatment group assignment is based on a fallible variable and the outcome of interest is determined in part by the corresponding true control variables (measured without error). The specific application concerns a school report card redesign in which school performance is evaluated… more →
Education and the Gender Gap in U.S. Presidential Elections
… Women in the United States have outpaced men in both voter participation and educational attainment in recent decades. Since education … we consider these trends in tandem and assess how much of the gender gap in voting is attributable to educational …Women in the United States have outpaced men in both voter participation and educational attainment in recent decades. Since education is closely tied to political participation, we consider these trends in tandem and assess how much of the gender gap in voting is attributable to educational attainment as opposed to cognitive skills, noncognitive skills, college preparation behaviors, and… more →
Integrating Minorities in the Classroom: The Role of Students, Parents, and Teachers
… We develop a multi-agent model of the education production function where investments of students, parents, and teachers are linked to the presence of minorities in the …We develop a multi-agent model of the education production function where investments of students, parents, and teachers are linked to the presence of minorities in the classroom. We then test the key implications of this model using rich survey data and a mandate to randomly assign students to classrooms. Consistent with our model, we show that exposure to minority peers decreases student effort… more →
Is Big Data Better? LMS Data and Predictive Analytic Performance in Postsecondary Education
… One prominent application is to predict students’ risk of failing a course. In this paper, we investigate whether … on students’ engagement in course activities--increases the accuracy of predicting student success beyond using just … forest models based on student type (new versus returning) and data source (administrative-only, LMS-only, or full …Colleges have increasingly turned to data science applications to improve student outcomes. One prominent application is to predict students’ risk of failing a course. In this paper, we investigate whether incorporating data from learning management systems (LMS)--which captures detailed information on students’ engagement in course activities--increases the accuracy of predicting student success… more →
Racial, linguistic, and economic diversity across schools with two-way dual language immersion programs: Evidence from Los Angeles Unified School District
… programs (TWDL) aim to integrate English speakers and speakers of a partner language in the same classroom to receive content instruction in both …Two-way dual language immersion programs (TWDL) aim to integrate English speakers and speakers of a partner language in the same classroom to receive content instruction in both languages. Stated goals include bilingualism and biliteracy, high academic achievement, and sociocultural competence. In school districts aiming to reduce segregation, TWDL programs can also integrate students from… more →
The Stubborn Unresponsiveness of Youth Voter Turnout to Civic Education: Quasi-experimental Evidence from State-Mandated Civics Tests
… Youth voter turnout remains stubbornly low and unresponsive to civic education. Rigorous evaluations of the adoption of civic tests for high school graduation by …Youth voter turnout remains stubbornly low and unresponsive to civic education. Rigorous evaluations of the adoption of civic tests for high school graduation by some states on youth voter turnout remain limited. We estimate the impact of a recent, state-mandated civics test policy—the Civics Education Initiative (CEI)—on youth voter turnout by exploiting spatial and temporal variation in the… more →
The Effects of Absenteeism on Cognitive and Social-Emotional Outcomes: Lessons for COVID-19
… In March 2020, most schools in the United States closed their doors and transitioned to distance learning in an effort to contain … COVID-19. During the transition a significant number of students did not fully engage in these learning …In March 2020, most schools in the United States closed their doors and transitioned to distance learning in an effort to contain COVID-19. During the transition a significant number of students did not fully engage in these learning opportunities due to resource or other constraints. An urgent question for schools around the nation is how much did the pandemic impact student academic and social-… more →
Teacher evaluation for accountability and growth: Should policy treat them as complements or substitutes?
… policies seek to improve student outcomes by increasing the effort and skill levels of current and future teachers. Current policy and most prior …Teacher evaluation policies seek to improve student outcomes by increasing the effort and skill levels of current and future teachers. Current policy and most prior research treats teacher evaluation as balancing two aims: accountability and skill development. Proper teacher evaluation design has been understood as successfully weighting the accountability and professional growth dimensions of… more →
Minority Teacher Recruitment, Employment, and Retention: 1987 to 2013
… This study examines the extent and sources of the minority teacher shortage—the low proportion of …This study examines the extent and sources of the minority teacher shortage—the low proportion of minority teachers in comparison to the increasing numbers of minority students in the school system. Using the National Center for Education Statistics’ Schools and Staffing Survey/Teacher Follow-Up Survey, we found that efforts over recent decades to recruit more minority teachers and place them in… more →
Conceptualizing Racial Segregation in Higher Education: Examining Within- and Between-Sector Trends in California Public Higher Education, 1994-2014
… Conceptualizing and measuring levels of segregation in higher education is difficult as both … segregation in California for 20 years. We find that the most selective four-year campuses are the least …Conceptualizing and measuring levels of segregation in higher education is difficult as both vertical and horizontal sorting is prevalent and patterns vary across racial groups. In this paper, we measure various trends in racial segregation in California for 20 years. We find that the most selective four-year campuses are the least segregated and that the community college sector is the most… more →
Beyond tracking and detracking: The dimensions of organizational differentiation in schools
… Schools utilize an array of strategies to match curricula and instruction to students’ … of scholars have debated “tracking” and its consequences, the literature fails to account for diversity of school-level …Schools utilize an array of strategies to match curricula and instruction to students’ heterogeneous skills. While generations of scholars have debated “tracking” and its consequences, the literature fails to account for diversity of school-level sorting practices. In this paper we draw upon the work of Sørenson (1970) to articulate and develop empirical measures of five distinct dimensions of… more →
The Impacts and Experiences of Corequisite Remediation for Latinx Students
… Colleges across the United States are now placing most or all students directly into college-level courses and providing supplementary, aligned academic support … is limited evidence available on differential impacts of corequisite models by race and ethnicity. To better …Colleges across the United States are now placing most or all students directly into college-level courses and providing supplementary, aligned academic support alongside the courses, also known as “corequisite remediation.” Developmental education reforms like corequisite remediation could advance racial and ethnic equity in postsecondary education by facilitating early academic progression.… more →
The Impact of Statewide Virtual Charter Schools on District Segregation
… patterns in K-12 online (“virtual”) charter schools have the potential to influence segregation in traditional brick-and-mortar public schools. Yet, research has largely ignored … In the first study, I exploit variation in the share of district students enrolling in virtual charter schools …Enrollment patterns in K-12 online (“virtual”) charter schools have the potential to influence segregation in traditional brick-and-mortar public schools. Yet, research has largely ignored how online schooling options impact racial segregation and poverty concentration within district schools. To address this gap, I conduct two complementary studies: In the first study, I exploit variation in the… more →
The Effects of Daily Air Pollution on Students and Teachers
… shows that air pollution harms student test scores and attendance and increases office discipline referrals. However, the mechanism by which air pollution operates within schools … existing literature has primarily focused on the effects of prolonged exposure to pollution on end-of-year test scores …Recent empirical research shows that air pollution harms student test scores and attendance and increases office discipline referrals. However, the mechanism by which air pollution operates within schools to negatively affect student and teacher outcomes remains largely opaque. The existing literature has primarily focused on the effects of prolonged exposure to pollution on end-of-year test… more →
Peer Victimization Among English Learners: Examining the Role of Dual-Language and English-Only Programs
… This study examines the relationship between English Learner (EL) classification, language program type, and peer victimization using nationally representative data … the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- Kindergarten Class of 2011. Leveraging a sample of 9,562 children, this study …This study examines the relationship between English Learner (EL) classification, language program type, and peer victimization using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- Kindergarten Class of 2011. Leveraging a sample of 9,562 children, this study investigates whether Dual-Language programs serve as a protective factor against peer victimization compared to… more →
Misclassification of Career and Technical Education Concentrators: Analysis and Policy Recommendations
… Career and Technical Education (CTE) prepares students for life … post-secondary credits. States are required to report the number of CTE concentrators to receive federal Perkins funding, but …Career and Technical Education (CTE) prepares students for life beyond high school by providing practical labor skills, workforce credentials, and early post-secondary credits. States are required to report the number of CTE concentrators to receive federal Perkins funding, but systems of identifying students as concentrators vary among states. We analyzed two distinct concentrator identification… more →
The Importance of a Helping Hand in Education and in Life
… This paper discusses the importance of incorporating personal assistance into interventions aimed at improving long-term education and labor market success. While existing research …This paper discusses the importance of incorporating personal assistance into interventions aimed at improving long-term education and labor market success. While existing research demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of low-touch behavioral nudges, this paper argues that the dynamic nature of human capital accumulation requires sustained habits over time. To foster better habits, social… more →
Why Do You Want to Be a Teacher? A Natural Language Processing Approach
… Heightened concerns about the health of the teaching profession highlight the importance of … (PST) expressed motivation for pursuing a teaching career and its relationship with PST characteristics and outcomes. …Heightened concerns about the health of the teaching profession highlight the importance of studying the early teacher pipeline. This exploratory, descriptive paper examines preservice teachers' (PST) expressed motivation for pursuing a teaching career and its relationship with PST characteristics and outcomes. Using data from one of the largest teacher education programs in Texas, we use a… more →
Attracting and Retaining Highly Effective Educators in Hard-to-Staff Schools
… Efforts to attract and retain effective educators in high poverty public schools … produced by its evaluation and compensation reforms as the basis for effectiveness-adjusted payments that provided … offers salary supplements to educators with records of high performance who are willing to work in the most …Efforts to attract and retain effective educators in high poverty public schools have had limited success. Dallas ISD addressed this challenge by using information produced by its evaluation and compensation reforms as the basis for effectiveness-adjusted payments that provided large compensating differentials to attract and retain effective teachers in its lowest achievement schools. The… more →
Linkage Between Fields of Concentration in High School Career-Technical Education and College Majors
… student-level administrative records from 4 cohorts of high school graduates in Kentucky to examine the extent to which students persist and attain post-secondary credentials in the CTE fields of …In this descriptive study, we use longitudinal student-level administrative records from 4 cohorts of high school graduates in Kentucky to examine the extent to which students persist and attain post-secondary credentials in the CTE fields of concentration they choose in high school. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to use student-level administrative data to examine how different fields… more →
Learning to Value Girls: Balanced Infant Sex Ratios at Higher Parental Education in the U.S. 1969-2018
… Infant sex ratios that differ from the biological norm provide a measure of gender status inequality that is not susceptible to social … infant sex ratios by parental race/ethnicity, education, and birth parity over 5 decades . We find son-biased infant …Infant sex ratios that differ from the biological norm provide a measure of gender status inequality that is not susceptible to social desirability bias. Ratios may become less biased with educational expansion through reduced preference for male children. Alternatively, bias could increase with education through more access to sex-selective medical technologies. Using National Vital Statistics… more →
Grads on the Go: Measuring College-Specific Labor Markets for Graduates
… This paper introduces a new measure of the labor markets served by colleges and universities across the United States. About 50 percent …This paper introduces a new measure of the labor markets served by colleges and universities across the United States. About 50 percent of recent college graduates are living and working in the metro area nearest the institution they attended, with this figure climbing to 67 percent in-state. The geographic dispersion of alumni is more than twice as great for highly selective 4-year… more →