{"title":"Which direction should we head to get to our North Star?","authors":"Jason Furman","doi":"10.1002/pam.22608","DOIUrl":"10.1002/pam.22608","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48105,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Policy Analysis and Management","volume":"43 3","pages":"972-973"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/pam.22608","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140819999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ángela María Reyes, Benjamin Roseth, Diego Vera-Cossio
We experimentally analyze the effects of an intervention to induce the renewal of identification cards on access to a government social program in Panamá. On-time renewals and access to government transfers increased by 10 and 3.6 percentage points, respectively. Simple reminders about expiration dates generated larger effects than also enabling individuals to renew their documents through an online platform, which users struggled to use despite its being designed to simplify the process. The results suggest that increasing access to identity documentation can reduce exclusion errors in social programs and that simply granting access to e-government platforms may not necessarily improve public service delivery.
{"title":"Expanding access to identification cards and social programs: Experimental evidence from Panamá","authors":"Ángela María Reyes, Benjamin Roseth, Diego Vera-Cossio","doi":"10.1002/pam.22596","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22596","url":null,"abstract":"We experimentally analyze the effects of an intervention to induce the renewal of identification cards on access to a government social program in Panamá. On-time renewals and access to government transfers increased by 10 and 3.6 percentage points, respectively. Simple reminders about expiration dates generated larger effects than also enabling individuals to renew their documents through an online platform, which users struggled to use despite its being designed to simplify the process. The results suggest that increasing access to identity documentation can reduce exclusion errors in social programs and that simply granting access to e-government platforms may not necessarily improve public service delivery.","PeriodicalId":48105,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Policy Analysis and Management","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140809984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
<p><b>EQUITY AND INCLUSION FELLOWSHIP 2024: CALL FOR NOMINATIONS</b></p><p>Since 2016, APPAM has awarded the Equity and Inclusion Fellowship to encourage participation and recognize the important work being done by underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students and young professionals in the field of public policy. The fellowship supports the travel and participation of up to 40 graduate students, five undergraduate students, and five young professionals from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds at the APPAM Fall Research Conference. While at the conference, the fellowship recipients will have the opportunity to formally network with each other and with members of the Policy Council and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. The goal of this fellowship program is to introduce recipients to the world of public policy and APPAM and to foster a lifelong affiliation and engagement with both.</p><p>Apply for the 2024 fellowship on our website, APPAM.org.</p><p><b>THE POLICY FIELD DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTION AWARD</b></p><p>The Policy Field Distinguished Contribution Award was established in 2021 to honor persons who have made significant and long-term contributions to the development and growth of the field of public policy analysis and management. Such contributions can include (but are not limited to) critical or path-breaking research, core textbooks, substantial contribution to actual policymaking, significant contribution to APPAM as an organization, and significant contribution to JPAM. While not a lifetime achievement award, the purpose of this award is to recognize those who have sustained and contributed to our relatively young field over many years.</p><p><b>Nature of the award</b></p><p>The recipient will be honored at the Fall Research Conference and will receive a plaque.</p><p><b>Eligibility</b></p><p>To be considered for the award, the application should include a letter of nomination, CV, and contact information.</p><p><b>Nominating procedure</b></p><p>Nominations will open on APPAM.org in spring 2024.</p><p><b>THE DAVID N. KERSHAW AWARD</b></p><p>The David N. Kershaw Award and Prize was established to honor persons who, before the age of 40, have made distinguished contributions to the field of public policy analysis and management. This award seeks to recognize original contributions to research-based knowledge that have advanced the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies. Eligibility is not contingent on disciplinary background, policy focus, or academic credentials.</p><p>This prize is among the most prestigious and largest awards recognizing contributions to public policy and social science. Funding for the award comes from a memorial endowment established following the death of David N. Kershaw and managed by independent trustees.</p><p><b>Nature of the award</b></p><p>The 2024 Award and Prize will be presented prominently at APPAM's 2024 Annual Conference, which will be held in National Harb
2024 年公平与包容奖学金:自 2016 年以来,APPAM 一直在颁发 "公平与包容奖学金",以鼓励代表人数不足的本科生、研究生和年轻专业人士参与并认可他们在公共政策领域所做的重要工作。该奖学金资助多达40名研究生、5名本科生和5名来自传统上代表性不足背景的年轻专业人士参加APPAM秋季研究会议。在会议期间,奖学金获得者将有机会与政策委员会和多元化、公平与包容委员会的成员进行正式交流。该奖学金计划的目标是向奖学金获得者介绍公共政策和 APPAM 的世界,并促进他们与这两个领域的终身联系和接触。2024 年奖学金申请请登录我们的网站 APPAM.org。这些贡献包括(但不限于)关键性或开创性研究、核心教科书、对实际决策的重大贡献、对APPAM作为一个组织的重大贡献,以及对JPAM的重大贡献。该奖项虽然不是终身成就奖,但其目的是为了表彰那些多年来在我们这个相对年轻的领域中坚持不懈并做出贡献的人。大卫-克肖奖大卫-克肖奖(David N. Kershaw Award)的设立是为了表彰那些在 40 岁之前对公共政策分析和管理领域做出杰出贡献的人士。该奖项旨在表彰对研究性知识的原创性贡献,这些知识推动了公共政策的设计、实施和评估。获奖资格与学科背景、政策重点或学术资历无关。该奖项是表彰对公共政策和社会科学所做贡献的最负盛名、规模最大的奖项之一。该奖项的资金来自大卫-克肖(David N. Kershaw)逝世后设立的纪念基金,并由独立受托人进行管理。该奖项的性质2024年度奖将于2024年11月21日至23日在马里兰州国家港举行的APPAM2024年会上颁发。获奖者将在颁奖酒会和总统致辞中获得20,000美元的现金奖励。获奖资格准确的年龄界限是在获奖年份的前一年年满40岁。Peter H. Rossi奖Peter H. Rossi奖旨在表彰Peter Rossi(1921-2006)在项目评估理论或实践方面做出的重要贡献,以纪念其毕生成就。该奖项可授予近期发表的论文、出版物或整个作品。2020 年的提名信(包括被提名者的当前地址、电子邮件地址和电话号码)应详细说明该作品对评估领域的贡献,并应包括论文或作品的相关部分。提名程序提名将于2024年春季在APPAM.org上开始。WILLIAM SPRIGGS纪念奖从2024年开始,APPAM将颁发William Spriggs纪念奖,以纪念该奖项命名者--经济学和劳动政策领域的开拓者--的一生。William Spriggs 于 2023 年 6 月去世,享年 68 岁。他的职业生涯致力于通过社会保险最大限度地实现公平、公正和包容,并挑战同行重新思考他们对种族差异的看法。他呼吁经济学家以及更广泛的经济学领域更好地理解历史和政策是如何塑造种族类别的,并专注于研究有关塑造经济结果的制度的重大问题。
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/pam.22604","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22604","url":null,"abstract":"<p><b>EQUITY AND INCLUSION FELLOWSHIP 2024: CALL FOR NOMINATIONS</b></p><p>Since 2016, APPAM has awarded the Equity and Inclusion Fellowship to encourage participation and recognize the important work being done by underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students and young professionals in the field of public policy. The fellowship supports the travel and participation of up to 40 graduate students, five undergraduate students, and five young professionals from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds at the APPAM Fall Research Conference. While at the conference, the fellowship recipients will have the opportunity to formally network with each other and with members of the Policy Council and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. The goal of this fellowship program is to introduce recipients to the world of public policy and APPAM and to foster a lifelong affiliation and engagement with both.</p><p>Apply for the 2024 fellowship on our website, APPAM.org.</p><p><b>THE POLICY FIELD DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTION AWARD</b></p><p>The Policy Field Distinguished Contribution Award was established in 2021 to honor persons who have made significant and long-term contributions to the development and growth of the field of public policy analysis and management. Such contributions can include (but are not limited to) critical or path-breaking research, core textbooks, substantial contribution to actual policymaking, significant contribution to APPAM as an organization, and significant contribution to JPAM. While not a lifetime achievement award, the purpose of this award is to recognize those who have sustained and contributed to our relatively young field over many years.</p><p><b>Nature of the award</b></p><p>The recipient will be honored at the Fall Research Conference and will receive a plaque.</p><p><b>Eligibility</b></p><p>To be considered for the award, the application should include a letter of nomination, CV, and contact information.</p><p><b>Nominating procedure</b></p><p>Nominations will open on APPAM.org in spring 2024.</p><p><b>THE DAVID N. KERSHAW AWARD</b></p><p>The David N. Kershaw Award and Prize was established to honor persons who, before the age of 40, have made distinguished contributions to the field of public policy analysis and management. This award seeks to recognize original contributions to research-based knowledge that have advanced the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies. Eligibility is not contingent on disciplinary background, policy focus, or academic credentials.</p><p>This prize is among the most prestigious and largest awards recognizing contributions to public policy and social science. Funding for the award comes from a memorial endowment established following the death of David N. Kershaw and managed by independent trustees.</p><p><b>Nature of the award</b></p><p>The 2024 Award and Prize will be presented prominently at APPAM's 2024 Annual Conference, which will be held in National Harb","PeriodicalId":48105,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Policy Analysis and Management","volume":"43 3","pages":"991-994"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141425133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Adrianus Aprilius, Albertus Yosep Maturan, Fransiskus Wuniyu, Putri Inggrid Maria Risamasu
{"title":"Policy-Making As Designing: The Added Value of Design Thinking for Public Administration and Public Policy by Arwin Buuren, Jenny M. Lewis, and B. Guy Peters, Eds. Policy Press, an imprint of Bristol University Press, 2023, 244 pp., $149.95 (hardcover). ISBN 978–1447365938.","authors":"Adrianus Aprilius, Albertus Yosep Maturan, Fransiskus Wuniyu, Putri Inggrid Maria Risamasu","doi":"10.1002/pam.22605","DOIUrl":"10.1002/pam.22605","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48105,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Policy Analysis and Management","volume":"43 3","pages":"974-977"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140642965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chad Angaretis, Brian Galle, Paul R. Organ, Allen Prohofsky
Many U.S. states and countries around the world use non-monetary sanctions, including public disclosure, license suspension, and withholding of other government-provided benefits or privileges, to encourage tax compliance. Little is known about the effectiveness of these programs. Using administrative tax microdata from California's “Top 500” program, we study whether notices warning of the imminent publication of a taxpayer's personal information and potential license suspension affect payment and other compliance outcomes. Exploiting variation over time in the cutoff balance for program eligibility, we find evidence of strong positive compliance responses to the program. We also develop estimates of the long-run revenue and social-welfare effects of the program. Together, these results suggest that non-monetary sanctions can be efficient tax enforcement tools, at least among the relatively high-income population we study.
{"title":"Non-monetary sanctions as tax enforcement tools: Evaluating California's top 500 program","authors":"Chad Angaretis, Brian Galle, Paul R. Organ, Allen Prohofsky","doi":"10.1002/pam.22595","DOIUrl":"10.1002/pam.22595","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Many U.S. states and countries around the world use non-monetary sanctions, including public disclosure, license suspension, and withholding of other government-provided benefits or privileges, to encourage tax compliance. Little is known about the effectiveness of these programs. Using administrative tax microdata from California's “Top 500” program, we study whether notices warning of the imminent publication of a taxpayer's personal information and potential license suspension affect payment and other compliance outcomes. Exploiting variation over time in the cutoff balance for program eligibility, we find evidence of strong positive compliance responses to the program. We also develop estimates of the long-run revenue and social-welfare effects of the program. Together, these results suggest that non-monetary sanctions can be efficient tax enforcement tools, at least among the relatively high-income population we study.</p>","PeriodicalId":48105,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Policy Analysis and Management","volume":"43 4","pages":"1057-1078"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140551997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Population registries are the gateway to public services, benefits, and rights. However, despite clear formal rules and procedures, people eligible for registration may still face administrative burdens in obtaining access. In this article, we study the case of the municipal registration of people who experience homelessness in Belgium and the Netherlands—a group that typically suffers from administrative vulnerability. Using data from 61 interviews with social workers and civil servants, we find that burdens are constructed at the municipal level to disincentivize homeless people's access to registration. However, using the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework, we also identify mechanisms in the governance of population registrations and the decentralization of social policies that create incentives for strategic behavior by municipal policy makers and street-level bureaucrats. By analyzing the interaction between multiple institutional levels, we contribute to understanding how structural mechanisms influence policymakers’ agency in the construction of administrative burdens.
{"title":"Burdens on the gateway to the state: Administrative burdens in the registration of people experiencing homelessness in Belgium and the Netherlands","authors":"Laure-lise Robben, Rik Peeters, Arjan Widlak","doi":"10.1002/pam.22598","DOIUrl":"10.1002/pam.22598","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Population registries are the gateway to public services, benefits, and rights. However, despite clear formal rules and procedures, people eligible for registration may still face administrative burdens in obtaining access. In this article, we study the case of the municipal registration of people who experience homelessness in Belgium and the Netherlands—a group that typically suffers from administrative vulnerability. Using data from 61 interviews with social workers and civil servants, we find that burdens are constructed at the municipal level to disincentivize homeless people's access to registration. However, using the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework, we also identify mechanisms in the governance of population registrations and the decentralization of social policies that create incentives for strategic behavior by municipal policy makers and street-level bureaucrats. By analyzing the interaction between multiple institutional levels, we contribute to understanding how structural mechanisms influence policymakers’ agency in the construction of administrative burdens.</p>","PeriodicalId":48105,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Policy Analysis and Management","volume":"43 3","pages":"780-803"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140552007","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Previous studies have confirmed the causal effect of performance information on citizen satisfaction, but they were primarily conducted in survey experimental settings that featured hypothetical and abstract scenarios and primed respondents to look at certain aspects of performance information. Whether the causal effects hold in the real world, which is a much more complex information environment, is questionable. We address the gaps by employing a regression discontinuity design to identify the impact of public schools’ performance grades on parents’ satisfaction with teachers and overall education in New York City. We find that performance signals have independent and lasting effects on citizens’ satisfaction. However, the effects are nonlinear, depending on the levels of performance signals. Parents’ responses are muted at the A/B performance grade cutoff, but their satisfaction increases significantly at the B/C and C/D cutoffs if their schools earn relatively higher grades.
{"title":"Do government performance signals affect citizen satisfaction?","authors":"Weijie Wang, Taek Kyu Kim","doi":"10.1002/pam.22597","DOIUrl":"10.1002/pam.22597","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Previous studies have confirmed the causal effect of performance information on citizen satisfaction, but they were primarily conducted in survey experimental settings that featured hypothetical and abstract scenarios and primed respondents to look at certain aspects of performance information. Whether the causal effects hold in the real world, which is a much more complex information environment, is questionable. We address the gaps by employing a regression discontinuity design to identify the impact of public schools’ performance grades on parents’ satisfaction with teachers and overall education in New York City. We find that performance signals have independent and lasting effects on citizens’ satisfaction. However, the effects are nonlinear, depending on the levels of performance signals. Parents’ responses are muted at the A/B performance grade cutoff, but their satisfaction increases significantly at the B/C and C/D cutoffs if their schools earn relatively higher grades.</p>","PeriodicalId":48105,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Policy Analysis and Management","volume":"43 3","pages":"846-870"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140545547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Point/Counterpoint Introduction","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/pam.22575","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22575","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48105,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Policy Analysis and Management","volume":"43 2","pages":"613"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140537708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
<p>In his recent book, Richard Reeves (<span>2022</span>) brought to the fore the important challenges faced by men and boys. The rapidly changing economy and evolving social norms have been particularly hard on men, resulting in too many of them—one in nine prime-age men in 2022—not in the labor force. This in turn influences a range of additional social maladies including fewer marriages (and fewer children living with their fathers) and increased deaths of despair. Boys have been falling behind girls across a range of measures of academic success from pre-kindergarten through college. Reeves is absolutely right to point out these ways in which the modern male is struggling. Men's success matters—to families, to communities, to our economy and to society.</p><p>To address these growing problems, Reeves suggests a series of reforms to policy and practice in education. Most of these I also endorse. More choices in educational options can help families find the best educational environment for their children to thrive. One size does not fit all in education. Some boys may be more likely to thrive in certain environments, such as the vocational high schools and apprenticeships endorsed by Reeves. They should also include a wider array of options such as single-sex public schools and charter schools.</p><p>Reeves also recognizes the importance of mentoring for boys’ educational success. He calls for policies to encourage more men to become teachers—a worthy goal, to be sure. I would add to this menu wider use of individual, in-school tutoring, which has been shown to be a cost-effective way to improve boys’ achievement in high school (Guryan et al., <span>2023</span>).</p><p>Note that improving boys’ school performance does not imply harming girls’ performance. Skill development is not zero-sum, and when students learn more, they go on to add more to our shared economy. With this in mind, there is likely untapped potential both to improve educational outcomes and to close achievement gaps through improvements in curriculum, innovative use of educational technology, and in more traditional approaches such as reduced class size and increased school funding. We owe it to our nation's future to continuously improve education—which is especially needed as we work to offset the substantial learning losses during the COVID-19 pandemic (Hanushek & Woessman, <span>2020</span>).</p><p>One of Reeves's most provocative recommendations is to change the default rule for school entry age, so that boys start kindergarten a year older than girls. This practice is commonly called “redshirting.” It is here that Reeves and I part company. I think one-size-fits-all redshirting will on net be socially and financially costly.</p><p>At first glance, Reeves's logic on redshirting is compelling. Boys are less mature than girls, and their brains develop differently. Boys have behavioral problems that improve with age. Girls might even benefit if they are in classes with m
{"title":"Help boys, but first do no harm","authors":"Diane W. Schanzenbach","doi":"10.1002/pam.22578","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22578","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In his recent book, Richard Reeves (<span>2022</span>) brought to the fore the important challenges faced by men and boys. The rapidly changing economy and evolving social norms have been particularly hard on men, resulting in too many of them—one in nine prime-age men in 2022—not in the labor force. This in turn influences a range of additional social maladies including fewer marriages (and fewer children living with their fathers) and increased deaths of despair. Boys have been falling behind girls across a range of measures of academic success from pre-kindergarten through college. Reeves is absolutely right to point out these ways in which the modern male is struggling. Men's success matters—to families, to communities, to our economy and to society.</p><p>To address these growing problems, Reeves suggests a series of reforms to policy and practice in education. Most of these I also endorse. More choices in educational options can help families find the best educational environment for their children to thrive. One size does not fit all in education. Some boys may be more likely to thrive in certain environments, such as the vocational high schools and apprenticeships endorsed by Reeves. They should also include a wider array of options such as single-sex public schools and charter schools.</p><p>Reeves also recognizes the importance of mentoring for boys’ educational success. He calls for policies to encourage more men to become teachers—a worthy goal, to be sure. I would add to this menu wider use of individual, in-school tutoring, which has been shown to be a cost-effective way to improve boys’ achievement in high school (Guryan et al., <span>2023</span>).</p><p>Note that improving boys’ school performance does not imply harming girls’ performance. Skill development is not zero-sum, and when students learn more, they go on to add more to our shared economy. With this in mind, there is likely untapped potential both to improve educational outcomes and to close achievement gaps through improvements in curriculum, innovative use of educational technology, and in more traditional approaches such as reduced class size and increased school funding. We owe it to our nation's future to continuously improve education—which is especially needed as we work to offset the substantial learning losses during the COVID-19 pandemic (Hanushek & Woessman, <span>2020</span>).</p><p>One of Reeves's most provocative recommendations is to change the default rule for school entry age, so that boys start kindergarten a year older than girls. This practice is commonly called “redshirting.” It is here that Reeves and I part company. I think one-size-fits-all redshirting will on net be socially and financially costly.</p><p>At first glance, Reeves's logic on redshirting is compelling. Boys are less mature than girls, and their brains develop differently. Boys have behavioral problems that improve with age. Girls might even benefit if they are in classes with m","PeriodicalId":48105,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Policy Analysis and Management","volume":"43 2","pages":"623-628"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/pam.22578","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140537710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
<p>Fundamentally, Reeves and I agree about the importance of boys’ educational under-achievement and the need to openly discuss and address it. I emphasize that when boys fail to thrive in school, it has downstream consequences not only for their own lives but for our nation's economic growth. Further, boys’ success need not come at the expense of girls’ success. This is not zero-sum; we all benefit when children reach their potential.</p><p>I must push back against the narrative that these gaps are being hidden from public view and researchers have not taken them seriously. Nothing could be further from the truth.</p><p>An old adage in business circles is “what gets measured gets done.” Indeed, a pillar of the school accountability movement is providing clear, disaggregated data at the state, district, and local levels so that parents and community members can better understand and monitor student achievement.</p><p>Reeves argues that we often choose to ignore gender gaps, stating “At the extreme, gender-neutrality veers into gender-blind approach: some school districts, for example, do not even routinely track differences in outcomes by gender.” Such actions would be in violation of the law. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; <span>2015</span>), states must publicly report school accountability data in a manner must be disaggregated by a number of categories, including gender.</p><p>In his Point in this exchange (and also in his book, Reeves, 2022), Reeves describes results from a randomized experiment aimed at improving academic performance among college students. In the experiment, students were offered academic support services, financial incentives ranging from $1000 to $5000 for attaining high grades, or both. While the treatment improved women's grades and academic standing, it had no effect on men's outcomes (Angrist et al., <span>2009</span>). Reeves goes on to conclude, “Josh Angrist and co-authors wrote in 2009: ‘These gender differences in the response to incentives and services constitute an important area for further study.’ They do indeed. But as far as I can see, nobody has heeded this call.”</p><p>On the contrary, many have heeded the call. The Angrist et al. (<span>2009</span>) article has more than 700 citations, many of these citations came from studies that have attempted to better understand gender gaps and how to design policies to improve outcomes for males and females. (Indeed, there is a large literature on this topic; see Croson and Gneezy, <span>2009</span>, for a review.) Many of these have been randomized-controlled trials, generally considered to be the gold standard of research. Curiously, none of these are cited in Reeves's work. Below I summarize primarily the work on higher education relevant to the Angrist et al. (<span>2009</span>) quote, but I also note that there is also substantial work on pre-K, elementary and secondary schools, and labor market outcomes.</p><p>When it comes to financial incentiv
{"title":"Minding the (achievement) gap","authors":"Diane W. Schanzenbach","doi":"10.1002/pam.22577","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22577","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Fundamentally, Reeves and I agree about the importance of boys’ educational under-achievement and the need to openly discuss and address it. I emphasize that when boys fail to thrive in school, it has downstream consequences not only for their own lives but for our nation's economic growth. Further, boys’ success need not come at the expense of girls’ success. This is not zero-sum; we all benefit when children reach their potential.</p><p>I must push back against the narrative that these gaps are being hidden from public view and researchers have not taken them seriously. Nothing could be further from the truth.</p><p>An old adage in business circles is “what gets measured gets done.” Indeed, a pillar of the school accountability movement is providing clear, disaggregated data at the state, district, and local levels so that parents and community members can better understand and monitor student achievement.</p><p>Reeves argues that we often choose to ignore gender gaps, stating “At the extreme, gender-neutrality veers into gender-blind approach: some school districts, for example, do not even routinely track differences in outcomes by gender.” Such actions would be in violation of the law. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; <span>2015</span>), states must publicly report school accountability data in a manner must be disaggregated by a number of categories, including gender.</p><p>In his Point in this exchange (and also in his book, Reeves, 2022), Reeves describes results from a randomized experiment aimed at improving academic performance among college students. In the experiment, students were offered academic support services, financial incentives ranging from $1000 to $5000 for attaining high grades, or both. While the treatment improved women's grades and academic standing, it had no effect on men's outcomes (Angrist et al., <span>2009</span>). Reeves goes on to conclude, “Josh Angrist and co-authors wrote in 2009: ‘These gender differences in the response to incentives and services constitute an important area for further study.’ They do indeed. But as far as I can see, nobody has heeded this call.”</p><p>On the contrary, many have heeded the call. The Angrist et al. (<span>2009</span>) article has more than 700 citations, many of these citations came from studies that have attempted to better understand gender gaps and how to design policies to improve outcomes for males and females. (Indeed, there is a large literature on this topic; see Croson and Gneezy, <span>2009</span>, for a review.) Many of these have been randomized-controlled trials, generally considered to be the gold standard of research. Curiously, none of these are cited in Reeves's work. Below I summarize primarily the work on higher education relevant to the Angrist et al. (<span>2009</span>) quote, but I also note that there is also substantial work on pre-K, elementary and secondary schools, and labor market outcomes.</p><p>When it comes to financial incentiv","PeriodicalId":48105,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Policy Analysis and Management","volume":"43 2","pages":"632-635"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/pam.22577","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140537896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}