Student Learning
The Effect of Air Pollution on Student Achievement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Causal Evidence
Air pollution is one of the most pressing global public health challenges of the 21st century. This article presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of the best available evidence of the effect of air pollution on student achievement. A meta-analysis of 28 causal studies around the world… more →
The Trade-off between Quality and Quantity: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Tutoring
High-dosage tutoring has the potential to substantially raise adolescent academic achievement. However, at scale, schools may not have the financial ability to deliver small-group tutoring frequently. In this paper, I test the relative importance of group size (quality) versus tutoring frequency… more →
Mapping the Mechanisms of Interdisciplinary Learning Transfer from Reading to Math Achievement: Evidence from a Large-Scale Randomized Controlled Trial
Far transfer---the application of learning across distant domains---remains elusive in intervention research, and even when it is found, its mechanisms remain unclear or unexplored. This study analyzes data from the Model of Reading Engagement (MORE), a sustained content literacy intervention… more →
Gifted Identification Across the Distribution of Family Income
Currently, 6.1 percent of K-12 students in the United States receive gifted education. Using education and IRS data that provide information on students and their family income, we show pronounced differences in who schools identify as gifted across the distribution of family income. Under 4… more →
School-Based Disability Identification Varies by Student Family Income
Currently, 18 percent of K-12 students in the United States receive additional supports through the identification of a disability. Socioeconomic status is viewed as central to understanding who gets identified as having a disability, yet limited large-scale evidence examines how disability… more →
COVID-19, School District Operations, and Student Academic Performance in Virginia
We use longitudinal student-level data and interrupted time series methods to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mathematics achievement among 3rd-8th grade students in Virginia, a state that offered particularly low levels of access to in-person learning in the school reopening… more →
Bulwark or Barrier? The Effect of Academic Criteria-Based Reclassification on the High School Outcomes of Multilingual Learners in Texas
English learner (EL) classification can provide multilingual students (MLs) with key supports while simultaneously limiting access to important educational opportunities. To determine when students are ready to exit EL status, some states require students to meet academic criteria in addition to… more →
Predicting Persistence and Fadeout Across Multi-Site RCTs of an Early Childhood Mathematics Curriculum Intervention
This study examined predictors of persistence and fadeout across multiple cluster RCTs that evaluated a preschool mathematics curriculum. We used meta-analytic methods to explore how impacts on student mathematics achievement faded between post-test (i.e., endline) and one-year follow-up. We… more →
Does State-Mandated Third-Grade Reading Retention Policy Improve Achievement? Evidence from a Staggered-Adoption Difference-in-Differences Design
This paper investigates whether the state-mandated third-grade reading retention policy autonomously enhances student achievement or depends on broader literacy reforms. Using district-level data from the Stanford Education Data Archive (2010–2019), I employ a staggered-adoption Difference-in-… more →
Beyond the Classroom: Impact of a High-Dosage Tutoring Program on Student Literacy Achievement
This study examines the impact of a high-dosage tutoring program, characterized by low tutor-to-student-ratio, on the literacy achievement of students in grades two through five in a midsized suburban school district in the southeastern United States. Using a student-level randomized controlled… more →
Learning to Work Towards Goals: A Sequential Evaluation of the Effect of Goal-Setting Course on Academic and Soft Skills
This study sequentially evaluates a soft-skills course implemented in Ugandan and Kenyan primary schools that replaced academic review time with lessons on goal-setting and related skills as students prepared for high-stakes primary school-leaving exams. An exploratory evaluation in Uganda… 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… 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… 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… more →
Beyond the One-Teacher Model: Experimental Evidence on Using Embedded Paraprofessionals as Personalized Instructors
Using embedded paraprofessionals to provide personalized instruction is a promising model for differentiating instruction within the classroom. This study examines two randomized controlled trials of paraprofessional-led tutoring in early-grade math and literacy. However, intent-to-treat (ITT)… 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… 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… 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,… 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… 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.… more →