Know nothings
Economic Gains for U.S. States from Educational Reform
Eric Hanushek, Jens Ruhose & Ludger Woessmann
NBER Working Paper, December 2015
Abstract:
There is limited existing evidence justifying the economic case for state education policy. Using newly-developed measures of the human capital of each state that allow for internal migration and foreign immigration, we estimate growth regressions that incorporate worker skills. We find that educational achievement strongly predicts economic growth across U.S. states over the past four decades. Based on projections from our growth models, we show the enormous scope for state economic development through improving the quality of schools. While we consider the impact for each state of a range of educational reforms, an improvement that moves each state to the best-performing state would in the aggregate yield a present value of long-run economic gains of over four times current GDP.
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Student-Peer Ability Match and Declining Educational Aspirations in College
Sanja Jagešić
Research in Higher Education, November 2015, Pages 673-692
Abstract:
The match between a student's academic ability and the academic ability of the student's peers has been found to exert influence on student educational aspirations. Research on this has garnered mixed results with some finding that students whose peers have higher ability are more likely to develop a poor self-concept and lower their academic aspirations and others finding the opposite, that more able peer increase motivation and aspirations overall. While the effects of peer and student ability match on the educational aspirations of elementary and secondary students have received attention in recent years, these effects have largely been neglected in postsecondary education. In this study, I use recent postsecondary student data to see how the difference between the student's SAT score and the mean institutional SAT affects the likelihood of the student experiencing a decrease in educational aspirations post college entry. Findings indicate that students whose scores are below the mean institutional SAT and who are attending less selective institutions are more likely to experience a decrease in future educational aspirations post college entry than students whose SAT scores are above the mean. However, students attending more selective institutions are protected from this effect, likely because of greater selection in admissions at more selective postsecondary institutions.
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Child Care Services, Socioeconomic Inequalities, and Academic Performance
Julie Laurin et al.
Pediatrics, December 2015, Pages 1112-1124
Objective: To determine if child-care services (CCS) at a population level can reduce social inequalities in academic performance until early adolescence.
Methods: A 12-year population-based prospective cohort study of families with a newborn (n = 1269). Two CCS variables were estimated: "intensity" (low, moderate, and high number of hours) and "center-based CCS type" (early onset, late onset, and never exposed to center-based CCS).
Results: Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) families who received high-intensity CCS (any type), compared with those who received low-intensity CCS, had significantly better reading (standardized effect size [ES] = 0.37), writing (ES = 0.37), and mathematics (ES = 0.46) scores. Children from low-SES families who received center-based CCS, compared with those who never attended center care, had significantly better reading (ESearly onset = 0.68; ESlate onset = 0.37), writing (ESearly onset = 0.79), and mathematics (ESearly onset = 0.66; ESlate onset = 0.39) scores. Furthermore, early participation in center-based CCS eliminated the differences between children of low and adequate SES on all 3 examinations (ES = -0.01, 0.13, and -0.02 for reading, writing, and mathematics, respectively). These results were obtained while controlling for a wide range of child and family variables from birth to school entry.
Conclusions: Child care services (any type) can reduce the social inequalities in academic performance up to early adolescence, while early participation in center-based CCS can eliminate this inequality. CCS use, especially early participation in center-based CCS, should be strongly encouraged for children growing up in a low-SES family.
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The Financial and Competitive Value of NCAA Basketball Recruits
Richard Borghesi
Journal of Sports Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
In this article, we examine the value of high school basketball prospects, and results indicate that each five-star (four-star) recruit generates US$625,000 (US$178,000) in marginal revenue for his university. Additionally, university academic donations are strongly related to basketball performance and five-star recruits bring in an additional US$5,800,000 in funding on average as a result of their contribution to team success. Calculations indicate that if five-star players were to be fairly compensated, their earnings would be approximately US$613,000. Four-star prospects would be paid roughly US$166,000, three-star recruits US$91,000, and two- and one-star players US$50,000.
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Does College Influence Sociopolitical Attitudes?
Colin Campbell & Jonathan Horowitz
Sociology of Education, January 2016, Pages 40-58
Abstract:
Past research shows a statistically significant relationship between college completion and sociopolitical attitudes. However, recent scholarship suggests the effects of college on social outcomes may be confounded with unobserved family background. In this study, we leverage the shared family and social background of siblings to better identify the effect of college on sociopolitical attitudes. We draw data from the Study of American Families and General Social Survey and use sibling fixed effects to assess the effect of college on political orientation, support for civil liberties, and beliefs about gender egalitarianism. We find that earning a four-year college degree has a significant impact on support for civil liberties and beliefs about gender egalitarianism, but the effect of college on political orientation is confounded by family background.
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Does Postsecondary Education Result in Civic Benefits?
William Doyle & Benjamin Skinner
Vanderbilt University Working Paper, December 2015
Abstract:
Public support for higher education depends in part on the idea that additional postsecondary education results in civic benefits. Among these civic benefits are voting, volunteering and donating to non-profit causes. Establishing a causal link between additional postsecondary education and the probability of engaging in civic behaviors for any individual is key. We expand on the literature on the civic benefits for higher education by utilizing a rich set of location-based instruments to identify the relationship between additional postsecondary education and civic behaviors, including voting, volunteering and donating money to non-profit organizations. Using data from the National Longitudinal survey of 1997, we estimate the impact of postsecondary education on civic behaviors for a group of young people who were age 29-33 by 2013. These new estimates indicate that an additional year of higher education increased the probability of voting in the 2008 election by 12.8 percent, and by 7.5 percent in the 2010 election. We also find statistically significant impacts of postsecondary education on both voluntarism and donations to non-profits, with effect sizes of .1 for voluntarism and .18 for donations.
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Changing Environments by Changing Individuals: The Emergent Effects of Psychological Intervention
Joseph Powers et al.
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
The two studies reported here tested whether a classroom-based psychological intervention that benefited a few African American 7th graders could trigger emergent ecological effects that benefited their entire classrooms. Multilevel analyses were conducted on data that previously documented the benefits of values affirmations on African American students' grades. The density of African American students who received the intervention in each classroom (i.e., treatment density) was used as an independent predictor of grades. Within a classroom, the greater the density of African American students who participated in the intervention exercise, the higher the grades of all classmates on average, regardless of their race or whether they participated in the intervention exercise. Benefits of treatment density were most pronounced among students with a history of poor performance. Results suggest that the benefits of psychological intervention do not end with the individual. Changed individuals can improve their social environments, and such improvements can benefit others regardless of whether they participated in the intervention. These findings have implications for understanding the emergence of ecological consequences from psychological processes.
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Community Attachment and Voting for School Vouchers
Matthew Burbank & Daniel Levin
Social Science Quarterly, November 2015, Pages 1169-1177
Objective: The analysis of public support for school voucher programs has focused on economic self-interest and has paid little attention to the role of community. We propose a model of support for school vouchers that focuses on community attachment. We theorize that areas with growing residential populations will have less community attachment and be more supportive of school voucher programs while areas with long-established residents will have stronger attachments to their community institutions and be less supportive of voucher programs.
Method: We test this community attachment model using data from a 2007 Utah referendum on school vouchers combined with demographic data.
Result: The data show support for the community attachment model after controlling for the effects of partisanship and socioeconomic factors.
Conclusion: Our analysis suggests that the nature of community life is an important consideration for understanding the appeal of public school voucher programs.
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Felipe Goncalves
Princeton Working Paper, November 2015
Abstract:
I study an ongoing state-subsidized program of rebuilding and renovating Ohio's K-12 public schools and investigate the effect of improved facility quality on student and school district outcomes. The completion of a project increases public school enrollment and district property values. Test scores do not measurably improve upon completion and suffer significant reductions during construction. The implied willingness to pay for a project is lower than total costs but greater than the cost borne by district residents. While the program led to a narrowing in expenditures across district wealth, I find little evidence that it reduced disparities in student outcomes.
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College Major, Internship Experience, and Employment Opportunities: Estimates from a Résumé Audit
John Nunley et al.
Labour Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
We use experimental data from a résumé audit to estimate the impact of particular college majors and internship experience on employment prospects. Despite applying exclusively to business-related job openings, we find no evidence that business degrees improve employment prospects. By contrast, internship experience increases the interview rate by 14 percent. The returns to internship experience are larger for (a) nonbusiness majors and (b) applicants with high academic ability. Our data support signaling as the most likely explanation regarding the effect of internships on employment opportunities.
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George Galster, Anna Maria Santiago & Lisa Stack
Journal of Urban Affairs, forthcoming
Abstract:
Do the geographic contexts in which disadvantaged children are raised influence whether they have difficulties in elementary school? We address this question by estimating Cox proportional hazard models with instrumental variable measures of context, using data for 410 low-income Latino and African American children who lived in Denver public housing before age six. The Denver Housing Authority's procedure for allocating families to dwellings mimics random assignment, thus offering an unusual natural experiment for measuring context effects isolated from geographic selection bias. We find that several socioeconomic and demographic contextual indicators are statistically and substantively important predictors of low-income Latino and African American children's difficulties in elementary school, though sometimes in nonlinear and interactive ways. Generally, the hazard of being assigned to special education classes, suspended, or forced to repeat a grade is greater in neighborhoods with higher occupational prestige and percentages of immigrants and lower in those with higher percentages of African American residents.
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Habit formation in children: Evidence from incentives for healthy eating
George Loewenstein, Joseph Price & Kevin Volpp
Journal of Health Economics, January 2016, Pages 47-54
Abstract:
We present findings from a field experiment conducted at 40 elementary schools involving 8,000 children and 400,000 child-day observations, which tested whether providing short-run incentives can create habit formation in children. Over a three or five week period, students received an incentive for eating a serving of fruits or vegetables during lunch. Relative to an average baseline rate of 39%, providing small incentives doubled the fraction of children eating at least one serving of fruits or vegetables. Two months after the end of the intervention, the consumption rate at schools remained 21% above baseline for the three-week treatment and 44% above baseline for the five week treatment. These findings indicate that short-run incentives can produce changes in behavior that persist after incentives are removed.
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School-Based Mindfulness Instruction: An RCT
Erica Sibinga et al.
Pediatrics, forthcoming
Background and objective: Many urban youth experiencesignificant and unremitting negative stressors, including those associated with community violence, multigenerational poverty, failing educational systems, substance use, limited avenues for success, health risks, and trauma. Mindfulness instruction improves psychological functioning in a variety of adult populations; research on mindfulness for youth is promising, but has been conducted in limited populations. Informed by implementation science, we evaluated an adapted mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program to ameliorate the negative effects of stress and trauma among low-income, minority, middle school public school students.
Methods: Participants were students at two Baltimore City Public Schools who were randomly assigned by grade to receive adapted MBSR or health education (Healthy Topics [HT]) programs. Self-report survey data were collected at baseline and postprogram. Deidentified data were analyzed in the aggregate, comparing MBSR and HT classes, by using regression modeling.
Results: Three hundred fifth- to eighth-grade students (mean 12.0 years) were in MBSR and HT classes and provided survey data. Participants were 50.7% female, 99.7% African American, and 99% eligible for free lunch. The groups were comparable at baseline. Postprogram, MBSR students had significantly lower levels of somatization, depression, negative affect, negative coping, rumination, self-hostility, and posttraumatic symptom severity (all Ps < .05) than HT.
Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that mindfulness instruction improves psychological functioning and may ameliorate the negative effects of stress and reduce trauma-associated symptoms among vulnerable urban middle school students. Additional research is needed to explore psychological, social, and behavioral outcomes, and mechanisms of mindfulness instruction.
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How Does the Fast Track Intervention Prevent Adverse Outcomes in Young Adulthood?
Lucy Sorensen, Kenneth Dodge & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group
Child Development, forthcoming
Abstract:
Numerous studies have shown that childhood interventions can foster improved outcomes in adulthood. Less well understood is precisely how - that is, through which developmental pathways - these interventions work. This study assesses mechanisms by which the Fast Track project (n = 891), a randomized intervention in the early 1990s for high-risk children in four communities (Durham, NC; Nashville, TN; rural PA; and Seattle, WA), reduced delinquency, arrests, and general and mental health service utilization in adolescence through young adulthood (ages 12-20). A decomposition of treatment effects indicates that about a third of Fast Track's impact on later crime outcomes can be accounted for by improvements in social and self-regulation skills during childhood (ages 6-11), such as prosocial behavior, emotion regulation, and problem solving. These skills proved less valuable for the prevention of general and mental health problems.
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Hard lessons: Combat deployment and veteran interest in higher education
Laura Armey & Jonathan Lipow
Applied Economics Letters, forthcoming
Abstract:
Over 2.5 million Americans served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In this short article, we consider the impact of these experiences on their future welfare. Specifically, we ask if those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq are more or less likely to exploit their GI Bill benefits in order to pursue higher education than service members who did not directly participate in these conflicts. We exploit a comprehensive administrative dataset that the US Armed Forces' Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) provided to us. We find across models that deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq significantly increases the likelihood that veterans will take advantage of their educational benefits, but that exposure to violent combat significantly decreases it.
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Pian Shu
Harvard Working Paper, December 2015
Abstract:
Using detailed data on recipients of bachelor's degrees from MIT between 2006 and 2012, I examine the selection of students into finance or science and engineering (S&E). I find that academic achievement in college is negatively correlated with a propensity to take a job in finance and positively correlated with a propensity to pursue a graduate degree or taking a job in S&E. This pattern is primarily driven by differences in skill development during college, not by differences in academic qualifications at college entry. In both high school and college, the two groups participate in different activities: students who ultimately choose finance are substantially more likely to be varsity-sports leaders in high school; they are also more likely to join fraternities and sororities, a decision typically made at college entry. Sizable differences in academic performance begin in freshman year and persist throughout college. The 2008 financial crisis, which substantially reduced the availability of entry-level positions in finance, prompted some students with relatively low college-entry qualifications to major in S&E instead of management or economics and/or to improve their academic performance. But there is no evidence that those with top qualifications changed their skill development in response to the crisis. Taken together, the results demonstrate that the preferences and skills of graduates who pursue finance are not comparable to those of graduates who choose a career in S&E.
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Credit Constraints and Demand for Higher Education: Evidence from Financial Deregulation
Stephen Teng Sun & Constantine Yannelis
Review of Economics and Statistics, forthcoming
Abstract:
We use staggered banking deregulation across states in the US to examine impact of the resulting increased credit supply on college enrollment from the 70s to early 90s. Our research design produces estimates that are not confounded by wealth effects due to changes in income or housing wealth. We find that lifting banking restrictions raises college enrollment by about 2.6 percentage points (4.9%). We rule out alternative interpretations by examining results for different income groups and bankrupt households. We also find similar effects for two-year or four-year college completion and supporting evidence in household educational borrowing.
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Working Memory Training is Associated with Long Term Attainments in Math and Reading
Stina Söderqvist & Sissela Bergman Nutley
Frontiers in Psychology, November 2015
Abstract:
Training working memory (WM) using computerized programs has been shown to improve functions directly linked to WM such as following instructions and attention. These functions influence academic performance, which leads to the question of whether WM training can transfer to improved academic performance. We followed the academic performance of two age-matched groups during 2 years. As part of the curriculum in grade 4 (age 9-10), all students in one classroom (n = 20) completed Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) whereas children in the other classroom (n = 22) received education as usual. Performance on nationally standardized tests in math and reading was used as outcome measures at baseline and two years later. At baseline both classes were normal/high performing according to national standards. At grade 6, reading had improved to a significantly greater extent for the training group compared to the control group (medium effect size, Cohen's d = 0.66, p = 0.045). For math performance the same pattern was observed with a medium effect size (Cohen's d = 0.58) reaching statistical trend levels (p = 0.091). Moreover, the academic attainments were found to correlate with the degree of improvements during training (p < 0.053). This is the first study of long-term (>1 year) effects of WM training on academic performance. We found performance on both reading and math to be positively impacted after completion of CWMT. Since there were no baseline differences between the groups, the results may reflect an influence on learning capacity, with improved WM leading to a boost in students' capacity to learn. This study is also the first to investigate the effects of CWMT on academic performance in typical or high achieving students. The results suggest that WM training can help optimize the academic potential of high performers.
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James Harrington et al.
Research in Higher Education, forthcoming
Abstract:
The adoption of state-funded merit-based aid programs has become increasingly popular among policy-makers, particularly in the southeastern part of the United States. One of the primary rationales of state-funded merit-based aid is to provide scholarships to the best and brightest students as a means to retain high quality human capital in the state's labor market. Previous literature largely examines the link between state-funded merit-based aid and instate college enrollment, but it has not extensively examined the link between state-administered merit aid and subsequent instate labor market participation. In this study, we use statewide administrative datasets to estimate the effects of Missouri's Bright Flight Scholarship program, a highly targeted state administered merit aid program, on future instate employment. Using a regression discontinuity approach on the intent to treat, we find that having the opportunity to participate in the Bright Flight Scholarship program has a positive impact on the likelihood of working in the state 8 years after high school graduation. Overall, this study provides evidence that highly targeted state-funded merit-based financial aid programs may have a positive impact on reducing state brain drain.
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"Every Kid Is Money": Market-Like Competition and School Leader Strategies in New Orleans
Huriya Jabbar
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, December 2015, Pages 638-659
Abstract:
One of the primary aims of choice policies is to introduce competition between schools. When parents can choose where to send their children, there is pressure on schools to improve to attract and retain students. However, do school leaders recognize market pressures? What strategies do they use in response? This study examines how choice creates school-level actions using qualitative data from 30 schools in New Orleans. Findings suggest that school leaders did experience market pressures, yet their responses to such pressures varied, depending in part on their perceptions of competition and their status in the market hierarchy. Some took steps toward school improvement, by making academic and operational changes, whereas others engaged in marketing or cream skimming.
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Authoritative School Climate and High School Dropout Rates
Yuane Jia, Timothy Konold & Dewey Cornell
School Psychology Quarterly, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study tested the association between school-wide measures of an authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates in a statewide sample of 315 high schools. Regression models at the school level of analysis used teacher and student measures of disciplinary structure, student support, and academic expectations to predict overall high school dropout rates. Analyses controlled for school demographics of school enrollment size, percentage of low-income students, percentage of minority students, and urbanicity. Consistent with authoritative school climate theory, moderation analyses found that when students perceive their teachers as supportive, high academic expectations are associated with lower dropout rates.
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The Effects of Changes in Kindergarten Entry Age Policies on Educational Achievement
Jason Fletcher & Taehoon Kim
Economics of Education Review, February 2016, Pages 45-62
Abstract:
This study explores the effects of state kindergarten-entry-age policies on students' outcomes by exploiting variation in the kindergarten entry cutoff dates enacted by states in the United States over the last 40 years. Using the state average and standard deviation in NAEP test scores in 4th, 8th and 12th grades, we estimate the impacts of state entry-age policies on educational achievement and test score dispersion in the state. The estimation results from the baseline state and time fixed effects model show that a one month earlier cutoff increases average state reading and math scores of 4th graders by 21.7 and 13.6 percent of a standard deviation, respectively. Eighth graders' average score increases in math and science are 12.4 and 24.3 percent of a standard deviation, respectively, while the effect on reading score significantly decreases. We find no effect of kindergarten entry date on educational outcomes in 12th grade. We also find that an earlier kindergarten entry date generally reduces the standard deviation of state test scores. Robustness checks support these findings and suggest no evidence of endogeneity of the policy changes. Our findings provide novel evidence that early school start cutoffs have improved state-level achievement measures over the past 40 years.
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David Schonfeld et al.
School Psychology Quarterly, September 2015, Pages 406-420
Abstract:
This study evaluated the results of a social and emotional learning (SEL) program on academic achievement among students attending a large, urban, high-risk school district. Using a cluster-randomized design, 24 elementary schools were assigned to receive either the intervention curriculum (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies, or PATHS) or a curriculum that delivered few if any SEL topics (i.e., the control group). In addition to state mastery test scores, demographic data, school attendance, and dosage information were obtained from 705 students who remained in the same group from the 3rd to the 6th grade. Analyses of odds ratios revealed that students enrolled in the intervention schools demonstrated higher levels of basic proficiency in reading, writing, and math at some grade levels. Although these between-groups differences held for race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status, significant within-group differences also were noted across these variables. Collectively, these findings indicated that social development instruction may be a promising approach to promote acquisition of academic proficiency, especially among youth attending high-risk school settings. Implications of these findings with respect to SEL programs conclude the article.
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Cristina Zepeda et al.
Journal of Educational Psychology, November 2015, Pages 954-970
Abstract:
Prior studies have not tested whether an instructional intervention aimed at improving metacognitive skills results in changes to student metacognition, motivation, learning, and future learning in the classroom. We examined whether a 6-hr intervention designed to teach the declarative and procedural components of planning, monitoring, and evaluation could increase students' metacognition, motivation, learning, and preparation for future learning for middle school science. Forty-six eighth-grade students were randomly assigned to either a control group, which received extensive problem-solving practice, or an experimental group, which received more limited problem-solving practice along with metacognitive instruction and training. Results revealed that those who received the metacognitive instruction and training were less biased when making metacognitive judgments, p = .03, d = 0.65, endorsed higher levels of motivation after instruction (e.g., there was a large effect on task value, p = .006, d = 0.87), performed better on a conceptual physics test, p = .03, d = 0.64, and performed better on a novel self-guided learning activity, p = .007, d = 0.87. This study demonstrates that metacognitive instruction can lead to better self-regulated learning outcomes during adolescence, a period in which students' academic achievement and motivation often decline.
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Vi-Nhuan Le, Louis Mariano & Susannah Faxon-Mills
Research in Higher Education, forthcoming
Abstract:
In the past decade, there has been a proliferation of community- and school-based college readiness programs designed to increase the participation of students who have traditionally been underrepresented in higher education. However, few of these college readiness programs have been empirically evaluated. This study examines the impact of one such intervention, the College Bound, St. Louis (CB) program. Using propensity weighting and doubly robust modeling, we found CB participants were more likely to reach proficiency on the End of Course exams, to obtain at least a B grade in a number of foundational college courses, to take more AP or honors courses, and to attend a 4-year postsecondary institution than similarly situated non-participants. Future directions for evaluating similar college readiness programs are discussed.