Basis Policy Research
Variation in Post-Pandemic Postsecondary Transitions across Academic Subgroups
We examine how trends in postsecondary readiness and enrollment from pre- to post-pandemic differ across student subgroups defined by pre-pandemic (8th grade) achievement levels. Using individual-level data from North Carolina and interrupted time series approaches, we find that students with… more →
Searching for the Queen’s Gambit: An Exploratory Analysis of Male-Female Ratings Gaps in U.S. Chess
We examine the origin and evolution of male-female rating gaps for young chess players using two decades of data from the U.S. Chess Federation, the national chess association that tracks competitive tournament play and provides ratings for U.S. chess players. An important feature of our… more →
Do Students Respond to Sticker-Price Reductions?: Evidence from the North Carolina Promise
The North Carolina Promise is a state-level policy that reduced the cost of tuition for all students who attended one of three campuses in the University of North Carolina System starting in fall of 2018. We use IPEDS data and a synthetic control approach to examine how this tuition reduction… more →
ESSER-ting Preferences: Examining School District Preferences for Using Federal Pandemic Relief Fundings
We analyzed the proposed spending data for the American Recovery Plan’s Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief III (ESSER III) fund from the spring of 2021 of nearly 3,000 traditional public-school districts in the United States to (1) identify trends in the strategies adopted and (2) to test… more →