Pub Date : 2023-11-06DOI: 10.3102/01623737231204349
Andrew Ju
I examine whether the impact of the Great Recession on school district spending, the allocation of resources, and student achievement varied depending on the strength of state’s teachers’ unions. Employing a diff-in-diff-in-diff identification strategy, I find that school districts in states with strong teachers’ unions experienced significantly larger declines in per-pupil expenditures during the economic downtown compared with otherwise similar districts in states with weak teachers’ unions. The larger decline in expenditures in strong union states, however, did not lead to a differential decline in student achievement relative to weak union states.
{"title":"The Impact of Teacher Unions on School District Finance and Student Achievement: Evidence From the Great Recession","authors":"Andrew Ju","doi":"10.3102/01623737231204349","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231204349","url":null,"abstract":"I examine whether the impact of the Great Recession on school district spending, the allocation of resources, and student achievement varied depending on the strength of state’s teachers’ unions. Employing a diff-in-diff-in-diff identification strategy, I find that school districts in states with strong teachers’ unions experienced significantly larger declines in per-pupil expenditures during the economic downtown compared with otherwise similar districts in states with weak teachers’ unions. The larger decline in expenditures in strong union states, however, did not lead to a differential decline in student achievement relative to weak union states.","PeriodicalId":48079,"journal":{"name":"Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135590215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-06DOI: 10.3102/01623737231203293
Sarah R. Cohodes, Sean P. Corcoran, Jennifer L. Jennings, Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj
Despite evidence that informational interventions can influence K–12 school choices, we know little about the mechanisms through which they work and the factors that produce heterogeneity in student responses. Through a school-level randomized controlled trial conducted in 473 New York City middle schools serving 115,000 eighth graders, we evaluated three counselor-delivered informational interventions that were designed to help students avoid low-graduation high schools, but differed in their level of individual customization and mode of delivery (paper or online). Every intervention reduced likelihood of application to and enrollment in low-graduation-rate schools (those below the city median of 75%). Simplified paper interventions had the largest impacts and produced lower heterogeneity in effects across subgroups than customizable digital formats. A key mechanism by which interventions worked was through new information replacing students’ default first-choice schools that had low graduation rates and guaranteed admission. We conclude that informational interventions to support school choice can be effectively implemented at scale via school counselors, but that intervention design can lead to differences in who engages, with consequences for inequality.
{"title":"When Do Informational Interventions Work? Experimental Evidence From New York City High School Choice","authors":"Sarah R. Cohodes, Sean P. Corcoran, Jennifer L. Jennings, Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj","doi":"10.3102/01623737231203293","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231203293","url":null,"abstract":"Despite evidence that informational interventions can influence K–12 school choices, we know little about the mechanisms through which they work and the factors that produce heterogeneity in student responses. Through a school-level randomized controlled trial conducted in 473 New York City middle schools serving 115,000 eighth graders, we evaluated three counselor-delivered informational interventions that were designed to help students avoid low-graduation high schools, but differed in their level of individual customization and mode of delivery (paper or online). Every intervention reduced likelihood of application to and enrollment in low-graduation-rate schools (those below the city median of 75%). Simplified paper interventions had the largest impacts and produced lower heterogeneity in effects across subgroups than customizable digital formats. A key mechanism by which interventions worked was through new information replacing students’ default first-choice schools that had low graduation rates and guaranteed admission. We conclude that informational interventions to support school choice can be effectively implemented at scale via school counselors, but that intervention design can lead to differences in who engages, with consequences for inequality.","PeriodicalId":48079,"journal":{"name":"Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135590218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-30DOI: 10.3102/01623737231201612
Julie Posselt, Deborah Southern, Theresa Hernandez, Steve Desir, Fatima Alleyne, Casey W. Miller
Despite a growing body of research on the outcomes of holistic admissions and eliminating standardized test score requirements throughout education, few have documented how organizations transition to holistic review. Implementation, however, may help explain variation in impacts of holistic admissions. This article draws upon theories of organizational routines to examine adoption of holistic review in 13 STEM PhD programs from five universities. We conducted 60- to 90-min interviews with admissions leaders, including a COVID-19 transcript review activity. Data reveal change is multilevel, involving new policy/structural, practice/cultural, and cognitive/interpretive routines, which carry promise for disrupting institutionalized inequities where the politics of changing these routines can be managed. We discuss implications for policy, organizational practice, and future research on academic evaluations.
{"title":"Redefining Merit Through New Routines: Holistic Admissions Policy Implementation in Graduate Education","authors":"Julie Posselt, Deborah Southern, Theresa Hernandez, Steve Desir, Fatima Alleyne, Casey W. Miller","doi":"10.3102/01623737231201612","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231201612","url":null,"abstract":"Despite a growing body of research on the outcomes of holistic admissions and eliminating standardized test score requirements throughout education, few have documented how organizations transition to holistic review. Implementation, however, may help explain variation in impacts of holistic admissions. This article draws upon theories of organizational routines to examine adoption of holistic review in 13 STEM PhD programs from five universities. We conducted 60- to 90-min interviews with admissions leaders, including a COVID-19 transcript review activity. Data reveal change is multilevel, involving new policy/structural, practice/cultural, and cognitive/interpretive routines, which carry promise for disrupting institutionalized inequities where the politics of changing these routines can be managed. We discuss implications for policy, organizational practice, and future research on academic evaluations.","PeriodicalId":48079,"journal":{"name":"Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136102841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-30DOI: 10.3102/01623737231199985
Jason Jabbari, Yung Chun, Wenrui Huang, Stephen Roll
We conduct an impact analysis on a unique technology certificate and apprenticeship program offered by LaunchCode. We merge administrative data containing entrance exam scores with survey data for individuals that were (a) not accepted, (b) accepted but did not complete the course, (c) completed the course but not the apprenticeship, and (d) completed the course and the apprenticeship. By using entrance exam scores as an instrumental variable, we conduct an intent-to-treat model, finding that program acceptance was significantly associated with increased earnings and probabilities of working in a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) profession. Then, by using machine learning-generated multinomial propensity score weights, we conduct a treatment-on-treated analysis, finding that these increases appear to be primarily driven by the apprenticeship component.
{"title":"Disaggregating the Effects of STEM Education and Apprenticeships on Economic Mobility: Evidence From the LaunchCode Program","authors":"Jason Jabbari, Yung Chun, Wenrui Huang, Stephen Roll","doi":"10.3102/01623737231199985","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231199985","url":null,"abstract":"We conduct an impact analysis on a unique technology certificate and apprenticeship program offered by LaunchCode. We merge administrative data containing entrance exam scores with survey data for individuals that were (a) not accepted, (b) accepted but did not complete the course, (c) completed the course but not the apprenticeship, and (d) completed the course and the apprenticeship. By using entrance exam scores as an instrumental variable, we conduct an intent-to-treat model, finding that program acceptance was significantly associated with increased earnings and probabilities of working in a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) profession. Then, by using machine learning-generated multinomial propensity score weights, we conduct a treatment-on-treated analysis, finding that these increases appear to be primarily driven by the apprenticeship component.","PeriodicalId":48079,"journal":{"name":"Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136103625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-23DOI: 10.3102/01623737231200234
Beth E. Schueler, Katherine E. Larned
Few interventions reduce inequality in reading achievement, let alone higher-order thinking skills, among adolescents. We study policy debate—an extracurricular activity focused on improving middle and high schoolers’ critical thinking, argumentation, and policy analysis skills—in Boston schools serving large concentrations of economically disadvantaged students of color. Student fixed effects estimates show debate had positive impacts on English Language Arts (ELA) test scores of 0.13 SD, equivalent to 68% of a full year of average ninth-grade learning. Gains were concentrated on analytical more than rote subskills. We find no harm to math, attendance, or disciplinary records, and evidence of positive effects on high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment. Impacts were largest among students who were lowest achieving prior to joining debate.
{"title":"Interscholastic Policy Debate Promotes Critical Thinking and College-Going: Evidence From Boston Public Schools","authors":"Beth E. Schueler, Katherine E. Larned","doi":"10.3102/01623737231200234","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231200234","url":null,"abstract":"Few interventions reduce inequality in reading achievement, let alone higher-order thinking skills, among adolescents. We study policy debate—an extracurricular activity focused on improving middle and high schoolers’ critical thinking, argumentation, and policy analysis skills—in Boston schools serving large concentrations of economically disadvantaged students of color. Student fixed effects estimates show debate had positive impacts on English Language Arts (ELA) test scores of 0.13 SD, equivalent to 68% of a full year of average ninth-grade learning. Gains were concentrated on analytical more than rote subskills. We find no harm to math, attendance, or disciplinary records, and evidence of positive effects on high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment. Impacts were largest among students who were lowest achieving prior to joining debate.","PeriodicalId":48079,"journal":{"name":"Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135366646","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-16DOI: 10.3102/01623737231200202
David M. Quinn
Frames shape public opinion on policy issues, with implications for policy adoption and agenda-setting. What impact do common issue frames for racial equity in education have on voters’ support for racially equitable education policy? Across survey experiments with two independent representative polls of California voters, framing effects were moderated by voters’ prior policy preferences. Among respondents concerned with tax policy, a frame emphasizing the economic benefits of equity elicited higher priority for racial equity in education. Among respondents concerned with social justice, an “equal opportunity” frame elicited higher priority ratings. However, exploratory analyses showed frames only mattered when respondents held mixed policy preferences. Among respondents who (a) valued both tax policy and social justice issues, or who (b) valued neither, both frames were equally impactful.
{"title":"Framing Effects and the Public’s Attitudes Toward Racial Equity in Education Policy","authors":"David M. Quinn","doi":"10.3102/01623737231200202","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231200202","url":null,"abstract":"Frames shape public opinion on policy issues, with implications for policy adoption and agenda-setting. What impact do common issue frames for racial equity in education have on voters’ support for racially equitable education policy? Across survey experiments with two independent representative polls of California voters, framing effects were moderated by voters’ prior policy preferences. Among respondents concerned with tax policy, a frame emphasizing the economic benefits of equity elicited higher priority for racial equity in education. Among respondents concerned with social justice, an “equal opportunity” frame elicited higher priority ratings. However, exploratory analyses showed frames only mattered when respondents held mixed policy preferences. Among respondents who (a) valued both tax policy and social justice issues, or who (b) valued neither, both frames were equally impactful.","PeriodicalId":48079,"journal":{"name":"Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136114717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-11DOI: 10.3102/01623737231197639
NaYoung Hwang, Cory Koedel
We evaluate the effects of grade retention on students’ academic, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes in Indiana. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that third-grade retention increases achievement in English Language Arts (ELA) and math immediately and substantially, and the effects persist into middle school. We find no evidence of grade retention effects on student attendance or disciplinary incidents, again into middle school. Our findings combine to show that Indiana’s third-grade retention policy improves achievement for retained students without adverse impacts along (measured) nonacademic dimensions.
{"title":"Helping or Hurting: The Effects of Retention in the Third Grade on Student Outcomes","authors":"NaYoung Hwang, Cory Koedel","doi":"10.3102/01623737231197639","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231197639","url":null,"abstract":"We evaluate the effects of grade retention on students’ academic, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes in Indiana. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that third-grade retention increases achievement in English Language Arts (ELA) and math immediately and substantially, and the effects persist into middle school. We find no evidence of grade retention effects on student attendance or disciplinary incidents, again into middle school. Our findings combine to show that Indiana’s third-grade retention policy improves achievement for retained students without adverse impacts along (measured) nonacademic dimensions.","PeriodicalId":48079,"journal":{"name":"Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136063795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-02DOI: 10.3102/01623737231197434
Marcus Pietsch, Burak Aydin, Sedat Gümüş
Aggregated data meta-analyses indicate a correlation between instructional leadership and student achievement. However, it is unclear to what extent this relationship can be generalized across cultural contexts, as most primary studies stem from Anglophone regions. Drawing on international large-scale assessment data, this 3-level individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis examines this relationship over a 6-year period using a sample of 1.5 million students in more than 50,000 schools from 75 countries. The findings show that the mean correlation is close to 0 and that the relationship between instructional leadership and student achievement varies significantly across contexts. This is mainly due to the level of human development and cultural factors. Implications for policy, practice, and education research are discussed.
{"title":"Putting the Instructional Leadership–Student Achievement Relation in Context: A Meta-Analytical Big Data Study Across Cultures and Time","authors":"Marcus Pietsch, Burak Aydin, Sedat Gümüş","doi":"10.3102/01623737231197434","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231197434","url":null,"abstract":"Aggregated data meta-analyses indicate a correlation between instructional leadership and student achievement. However, it is unclear to what extent this relationship can be generalized across cultural contexts, as most primary studies stem from Anglophone regions. Drawing on international large-scale assessment data, this 3-level individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis examines this relationship over a 6-year period using a sample of 1.5 million students in more than 50,000 schools from 75 countries. The findings show that the mean correlation is close to 0 and that the relationship between instructional leadership and student achievement varies significantly across contexts. This is mainly due to the level of human development and cultural factors. Implications for policy, practice, and education research are discussed.","PeriodicalId":48079,"journal":{"name":"Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135829664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-25DOI: 10.3102/01623737231197683
Xiaodan Hu, Frank Fernandez
This study examines whether the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE-IT grant program identifies and funds institutions that improve faculty gender equity. By using matching procedures and a two-way fixed-effect event study, we find that when universities received ADVANCE-IT grants, their proportion and headcount of women faculty as full-time new-hire, overall faculty, and tenured and tenure-track faculty are not different from multiple comparison groups of universities—including universities that received other types of ADVANCE grants. Drawing on the concept of intersectionality, we further disaggregate women faculty into subracial/ethnic groups. We did not find consistent evidence supporting that ADVANCE-IT universities increase the proportion or headcount of women faculty in subracial/ethnic groups. We discuss implications for federal grantmaking and diversifying higher education faculty.
{"title":"An ADVANCE for Whom? A National Study of Initiatives to Improve Faculty Gender Equity","authors":"Xiaodan Hu, Frank Fernandez","doi":"10.3102/01623737231197683","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231197683","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines whether the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE-IT grant program identifies and funds institutions that improve faculty gender equity. By using matching procedures and a two-way fixed-effect event study, we find that when universities received ADVANCE-IT grants, their proportion and headcount of women faculty as full-time new-hire, overall faculty, and tenured and tenure-track faculty are not different from multiple comparison groups of universities—including universities that received other types of ADVANCE grants. Drawing on the concept of intersectionality, we further disaggregate women faculty into subracial/ethnic groups. We did not find consistent evidence supporting that ADVANCE-IT universities increase the proportion or headcount of women faculty in subracial/ethnic groups. We discuss implications for federal grantmaking and diversifying higher education faculty.","PeriodicalId":48079,"journal":{"name":"Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135814473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}