EdWorkingPapers
The Effects of Immigration Enforcement on Student Outcomes in a New Era of Immigration Policy in the United States
This study presents the first evidence, to our knowledge, of the effects of the surge in interior immigration apprehensions in 2025 in the United States on student academic performance using detailed student-level administrative records from Florida. We find evidence that immigration enforcement reduced test scores for both U.S.-born and foreign-born Spanish-speaking students while also… more →
How do place-based scholarships affect student borrowing and academic outcomes? Lessons from Atlanta
Previous research shows that Achieve Atlanta’s placed-based scholarship and associated services meaningfully improve college persistence and completion. In this follow up study that uses similar methods but additional and more detailed data, we examine whether scholarship recipients exhibit different student loan portfolios, course-taking patterns, or academic performance. Using regression… more →
Do As I Say: What Teachers’ Language Reveals About Classroom Management Practices
Classroom management critically affects students’ academic and behavioral outcomes, yet we lack quantitative methods for observing these practices at scale. This study develops and validates language-based measures of classroom management—such as responding to student behavior and issuing verbal or material sanctions—using natural language processing (NLP) on 1,652 elementary mathematics… more →
ChatGPT vs. Machine Learning: Assessing the Efficacy and Accuracy of Large Language Models for Automated Essay Scoring
Automated Essay Scoring (AES) is a critical tool in education that aims to enhance the efficiency and objectivity of educational assessments. Recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, have sparked interest in their potential for AES. However, comprehensive comparisons of LLM-based methods with traditional machine learning (ML) methods across different assessment… more →
COVID-19-Induced School Closures and Disadvantaged Children’s Post-COVID Academic Growth: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
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… more →
Education Governance and Race: An Analysis of School Board Discourse Using Large Language Models
Despite growing attention to school boards, it is unclear whether they primarily operate as bureaucratic forums, policy-making bodies, or arenas for contentious debate—particularly on issues of race. Recent controversies suggest increasing public engagement and conflict, but little evidence documents how often questions of race arise in board deliberations. This study analyzes over 40,000… more →
Creating Coherence: Does Instructional Alignment Affect the Impact of Tutoring?
This study examines the impact of using instructionally aligned literacy tutoring with students in kindergarten through third grade under a Response to Intervention framework. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact on literacy assessment scores for 296 students in four schools in a large suburban school district in the southeastern United States. Students in the… more →
Cheaper (and more effective) by the dozen: Evidence from 12 randomized A/B tests optimizing tutoring for scale
Over the course of 12 rapid randomized experiments, we optimize an educational tutoring program. Tutoring is one of the most effective educational approaches yet has remained difficult to scale due to high costs. We adaptively test and improve a technology-enabled tutoring program to enhance cost-effectiveness and scalability. Results show that seven of twelve tests led to efficiency… more →
The Long-Term Effects of Rank in Elementary School
We estimate the long-term consequences of math and reading rank within an elementary school on short and long-term outcomes. We find that higher rank leads to better outcomes. Students ranked at the top in grade 7 perform up to 0.33 standard deviations higher on future school exams, are more likely to graduate high school and university, and earn significantly more at age 28. Math rank is… more →
Schools Never Die: Toward a Dynamic Systems Theory of School Closure
Educational researchers and policymakers typically treat school closures as discrete administrative decisions with clear endpoints. This paper challenges that assumption by applying Dynamic Systems Theory to school closure policy and research. We argue that schools function as adaptive ecosystems embedded within broader networks of relations that span social, cultural, political, and economic… more →
Influence of Within-Class Age Differences on Adolescents’ Eating Behaviors
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 →
Creating Classes: Elementary school classroom assignments and their implications for student access to high-quality teaching
We investigate the distribution of students across classrooms in North Carolina elementary schools. While tracking is ubiquitous and well-documented in secondary education, limited evidence exists regarding cross-classroom clustering in elementary schools and its consequences. Consistent with qualitative evidence suggesting that educators seek to create demographically balanced classrooms, we… more →
Policy Impacts of Reimbursement Rate Reform: Evidence from the Child Care and Development Fund
The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) subsidizes child care costs for families with low-incomes. Reimbursements for cost-subsidized care are paid to child care providers but are extremely low compared with market rates and actual cost of care. We examine how the 2014 congressional reauthorization of CCDF, which recommended states increase subsidy reimbursement rates to the 75th percentile… more →
Does Expanding Access to High Quality Technical Education Induce Participation and Improve Outcomes?
Over the last 15 years, Career and Technical Education (CTE) has been changing as schools have aimed to better meet workforce needs and diversify pathways into higher education and the workforce. This study provides the first known causal evidence on the impact of CTE program expansion in U.S. comprehensive high schools on student participation and postsecondary outcomes. Using administrative… more →
Higher Education as Regional Development: Labor Market Impacts of Nigeria’s 2011 Federal University Expansion
This paper examines the causal impact of higher education expansion on regional labor markets and human capital development. Exploiting the 2011 establishment of nine federal universities across previously underserved Nigerian states, we implement a difference-in-differences approach to analyze effects on employment, wages, job quality, and sectoral composition. Our results show significant… more →
The reliability of classroom observations and student surveys in non-research settings: Evidence from Argentina
There is a growing consensus on the need to measure teaching effectiveness using multiple instruments. Yet, guidance on how to achieve reliable ratings derives largely from formal research in high-income countries. We study the reliability of classroom observations and student surveys conducted by practitioners in a middle-income country. Both instruments can achieve relatively high… more →
Sibling Spillovers and Free Schooling
We use administrative data to measure sibling spillovers on academic performance before and after the introduction of Free Secondary Education (FSE) in Tanzania. Prior to FSE, students whose older siblings narrowly passed the secondary school entrance exam were less likely to go to secondary school themselves; with FSE, the effect became positive. A triple-differences analysis, using… more →
Shock Absorption: Did School Turnaround Shelter Schools from the Pandemic’s Effects on Teacher Turnover?
Successful turnaround interventions should build school capacity to promote not just school improvement but also resilience to exogenous shocks that undermine schooling. While a large literature demonstrates that turnaround can improve school outcomes, little is known about whether it can help schools withstand negative shocks. We examine the impact of Michigan’s turnaround policy on teacher… more →
The Impact of Cellphone Bans in Schools on Student Outcomes: Evidence from Florida
Cellphone bans in schools have become a popular policy in recent years in the United States, yet very little is known about their effects on student outcomes. In this study, we try to fill this gap by examining the causal effects of bans on student test scores, suspensions, and absences using detailed student-level data from Florida. Several important findings emerge. First, we show that the… more →
What is the impact of changing schools on the academic outcomes of elementary and middle school students?
We study how different kinds of school changes shape achievement in grades 4–8 using data from six California districts (2016–17 through 2019–20). We estimate the effects of structural (promotional), nonstructural summer, and midyear moves and find that structural and summer moves have near-zero effects on ELA and math, while midyear moves lower ELA by 0.073 SD and math by 0.083 SD. Midyear… more →
A Framework for Building High-Quality Education Data for R&D in the Age of AI: The EDSI Dataset and Expert Insights
The Gates Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative have launched a series of collaborative investments in building large-scale datasets that can support and accelerate data infrastructure for AI R&D efforts in education. In partnership with researchers from Harvard University and Stanford University, the Center for Educational Data Science and Innovation… more →
Understanding Disruptions: Causes of and Variation in Lost Instructional Time
Virtual instruction has boomed after the COVID-19 pandemic, including the use of virtual environments within in-person schools. But, research has provided little evidence about student experiences on these virtual platforms, nor how to improve the use of these platforms. Through natural language processing techniques, this study examines over 26,000 virtual tutoring sessions that took place… more →
The Power of Personalized Attention: Comparing Pedagogical Approaches in Small Group and One-on-One Early Literacy Tutoring
Tutoring has played a significant role in pandemic-related learning recovery, supporting student learning and engagement. A recent randomized controlled trial estimated that one-on-one virtual early literacy tutoring was nearly twice as effective as two-on-one tutoring for improving student learning (Robinson et al., 2024). To better understand this gap, we analyze transcripts from 16,629… more →
Causal Mechanisms of Relative Age Effects on Adolescent Risky Behaviours
Age differences between classmates are attracting growing attention in academic research and public policy, yet their underlying mechanisms remain understudied. We examine how relative age affects adolescents’ risky behaviors across Europe. Using Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey data and a two-stage least squares (2SLS) strategy, we provide causal estimates that isolate… more →
Behind the Scenes: Faculty-Staff Collaboration in a Student Success Effort
Interventions to improve postsecondary student success often involve supports that are external to the college classroom, although there is growing evidence that faculty involvement in interventions can improve student outcomes. This paper explores the challenges that arise when faculty and staff collaborate to improve student success as well as the organizational changes that support the… more →
Off to a Great Start: The Potential for Tutoring Paired with the Off2Class Foundational Literacy Curriculum to Boost English Proficiency Gains for Adolescent Newcomer English Learners
Adolescent English learners with low literacy strive to learn a new language with minimal or no reading skills. Their efforts are often complicated by having special learning needs or limited experiences with formal education. Meanwhile, they need English literacy in middle and high school, where teachers expect students to read to learn rather than learn to read. Evidence on effective… more →
Can Peer Group Design Improve Engagement in Online STEM Courses? The Role of Motivation to Lead
Peer interaction is important for student engagement and success in higher education and becomes even more critical in online STEM education, where limited interaction can undermine motivation and belonging—key factors for success in rigorous STEM coursework. Despite the widespread use of peer group activities to foster collaboration, there is limited understanding of how to effectively form… more →
Contemporary Child Labor and Declining School Attendance in the U.S.
The United States has experienced a 400% increase in reported child labor violations over the past decade, coinciding with declines in K-12 school attendance and enrollment. We examine the causal relationships between these patterns with microdata from the American Community Survey (ACS) from 2005 to 2023. Using a shift-share instrumental variable approach, our findings show that increased… more →
Resilience and Transformation: The Pandemic’s Effects on Texas Community Colleges
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted higher education, particularly community colleges serving significant proportions of traditionally disadvantaged students. This mixed methods study examines how Texas community colleges responded to the crisis and the extent to which they institutionalized pandemic-driven changes. Using state-wide student-level administrative data, and survey and interview data… more →
Right to Education (RTE) Act’s Influence on Caste-based Enrollment Gaps and Segregation in India
Section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education (RTE) Act of India expanded affirmative action to primary schooling by requiring non-government-funded private schools to reserve 25% of their admissions for students from marginalized castes and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Using variation in implementation of the policy across states in a difference-in-differences framework, this study… more →
Estimating Compensating Wage Differentials for Public School Teachers in High-Poverty and High-Minority Schools: Evidence from U.S. National Data, 1988–2018
Using a hedonic wage framework, this paper estimates compensating wage differentials (CWDs) for teachers in high-poverty and/or high-minority schools, drawing on thirty years of nationally representative data from the School and Staffing Surveys (SASS), National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), and Common Core of Data (CCD), 1988–2018. We also examine CWDs for teachers with STEM BA degrees… more →
School Bathrooms: Perspectives on Safety, Surveillance, and Privacy in the Restroom
Schools are increasing surveillance in bathrooms in response to concerns about student behaviors in the restroom such as vaping, drug use, and vandalism. This study investigates how schools secure and surveil bathrooms and how stakeholders perceive these interventions. We situate school bathrooms as part of the prison industrial complex (PIC) and identify how the carceral logics of… more →
The Labor Market Impact of K-11 vs. K-12
In 1945, Louisiana extended secondary education from 11 years to 12. Since many students followed diploma-based stopping rules, consecutive birth cohorts exogenously received different amounts of schooling. We use this natural experiment to evaluate the long-run labor market impact of having an 11-year versus a 12-year program. Using a difference-in-differences analysis, we find that cohorts… more →
Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead? Evaluating the Effects of Virginia's Workforce-Targeted Free College Program
Tuition-free college programs are gaining momentum as policymakers address rising college costs and workforce readiness. Despite their growing adoption, limited research examines how workforce-focused eligibility criteria impact student outcomes beyond enrollment. This pre-registered study employs two within-study quasi-experimental designs—differencein- discontinuity and difference-in-… more →
The Effect of College Entrance Exam Policies on Test Preparation and Tutoring Services
Multiple studies suggest that policies mandating college entrance exams can have positive impacts on college outcomes, especially for students who would otherwise not sit for the exam. Less understood is how families react to this increased competition for college admissions. Our study estimates that such statewide mandatory testing policies cause an additional 16% increase in private tutoring… more →
Beg to DIFfer: Resolving Statistical Complications of Intersectional DIF Analyses
Modern test developers conduct differential item functioning (DIF) analyses to ensure fairness in educational and psychological testing. To address previously unrecognized biases, researchers have recently demonstrated the importance of conducting intersectional DIF analyses that attend to the intersectional nature of test-takers’ multiple identities. However, these intersectional DIF… more →
The Effects of K-12 Computer Science Education Policies on Postsecondary CS Participation
States have increasingly adopted policies to promote computer science education at the elementary and secondary levels. These policies are intended, in part, to promote the pursuit of computer science at the postsecondary level. We collect novel longitudinal data on adoption and implementation dates of nine policies promoted by the Code.org Advocacy Coalition in the United States since 2000… more →
Increasing Applied STEM Curricular Opportunities in High School and Impacts on Early Post-Secondary Outcomes: The Effect of Project Lead the Way
Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is an applied STEM Career Technical Education program that has been adopted widely across the country. Using data from Missouri, we investigate the impact of PLTW course expansion on program participation and early post-secondary outcomes. Our identification strategies rely on within-school between-cohort variation in PLTW course availability. This serves as an… more →
The Impact of High-Impact Tutoring on Student Attendance: Evidence from a State Initiative
Student absenteeism surged during and after the pandemic, harming engagement and achievement. We evaluate the impact of Washington DC's High-Impact Tutoring (HIT) Initiative—designed to mitigate learning loss through targeted academic supports—on student absenteeism. Using daily attendance data and a within-student fixed effects design, we find that students were 1.2 percentage points less… more →
Facilitating Evidence-Based Instructional Coaching With Automated Feedback on Teacher Discourse
Instructional coaching often aims to ground teacher professional learning in classroom evidence, yet it is labor-intensive for coaches to obtain and curate such evidence. This study explores possibilities for utilizing an automated feedback tool to support evidence-based reasoning in coaching. We examined how mathematics coaches employed automated feedback within coaching, asking what… more →
Improving Student-Teacher Relationships Through Feedback: The Development and Evaluation of the Stanford/Leading Educators Wise Feedback Professional Development Learning Series
High-quality academic feedback, especially feedback that highlights errors, mistakes, misunderstandings and shortcomings, is one of the most valuable tools teachers have for promoting student growth and learning. It is how teachers help students go beyond what they could accomplish on their own (Vygotsky, 1978). It is unsurprising, then, that high-quality feedback is an emphasis of many… more →
Examining Racial Disparities in School Discipline Throughout the Pandemic
This study explores trends and disparities in school discipline during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the persistence of racial gaps in exclusionary practices. Using student-level data from Arkansas from 2017/18 to 2022/23, we study how disciplinary outcomes relate to student race while controlling for factors such as the type and frequency of infractions, as well as the school level (… more →
Gender Gaps in the Early Grades: Questioning the Narrative that Schools are Poorly Suited to Young Boys
A growing number of scholars and educational leaders have raised concerns that the mismatch between an increasingly academic focus in the early grades and boys’ maturity at school entry is disadvantaging young boys in school. In this study, we use a unique dataset of ten million students to trace the development of math and reading gender gaps from kindergarten to fifth grade for nine cohorts… more →
When interventions don’t move the needle: Insights from null results in education research
As school districts focus on improving learning, they can learn not only from when and where interventions work—but also from why they sometimes do not. Policymakers widely embraced high-impact tutoring as an evidence-supported strategy to address learning delays from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, scaling these promising practices can be difficult, and not all implementations will be… more →
The Design of Promises: The Structure of Local College Affordability Programs in the United States
We analyze 314 local college affordability programs (i.e., “Promise” or “free college” programs) using a novel dataset detailing, for each program, rules stipulating what programs provide (provision), where they may be used (applicability), and who may use them (eligibility). We perform three sets of analyses. First, we ask whether programs can be cogently described as involving greater or… 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 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… more →
Investing in Human Capital During Wartime: Experimental Evidence from Ukraine
This paper provides insights into human capital investments during wartime by presenting evidence from three experiments of an online tutoring program for Ukrainian students amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Conducted between early 2023 and mid-2024, the experiments reached nearly 10,000 students across all regions of Ukraine. The program offered three hours per week of small-group tutoring… more →
The Effects of Universal School Vouchers on Private School Tuition and Enrollment: A National Analysis
Three-quarters of a century after Milton Friedman popularized the idea, universal school vouchers have suddenly become a reality in 17 states since 2021. These new policies promise to be one of the most far-reaching reforms in U.S. education history. We make two contributions to understanding this policy. First, we provide a rich description of the private school sector nationally. We show… more →
Variations in Pre-Primary Education Infrastructure Within and Across Administrative Sectors in Rwanda
This study investigates disparities in the quality of pre-primary education settings in Rwanda, where centre-based, community-based, and home-based modalities coexist under a single policy framework. Drawing on data from 4,875 settings across 91 administrative sectors in seven districts, we applied multilevel models to distinguish within-sector differences between setting types from between-… more →
Exploring Test-Optional Admissions Policies: Patterns in Applications, Enrollment, and Diversity During the COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many aspects of higher education, including college admissions processes. Since 2020, numerous universities and colleges have adopted test-optional policies, allowing applicants to decide whether to submit standardized test scores. Although such policies have been in place at some institutions since 1998, research on their associations with student diversity and… more →