Lesson Planner
Teaching self-regulation
Daniel Schunk et al.
Nature Human Behaviour, forthcoming
Abstract:
Children’s self-regulation abilities are key predictors of educational success and other life outcomes such as income and health. However, self-regulation is not a school subject, and knowledge about how to generate lasting improvements in self-regulation and academic achievements with easily scalable, low-cost interventions is still limited. Here we report the results of a randomized controlled field study that integrates a short self-regulation teaching unit based on the concept of mental contrasting with implementation intentions into the school curriculum of first graders. We demonstrate that the treatment increases children’s skills in terms of impulse control and self-regulation while also generating lasting improvements in academic skills such as reading and monitoring careless mistakes. Moreover, it has a substantial effect on children’s long-term school career by increasing the likelihood of enroling in an advanced secondary school track three years later. Thus, self-regulation teaching can be integrated into the regular school curriculum at low cost, is easily scalable, and can substantially improve important abilities and children’s educational career path.
The Effect of Research Universities on Student Partisanship and Turnout
Daniel Firoozi
University of California Working Paper, October 2022
Abstract:
Higher education is a strong predictor of party support and voter turnout in Western democracies, but endogeneity in college enrollment makes it difficult to identify if the association is causal. Using data on over a quarter million applicants and a discontinuity in the University of California’s admission rules, I estimate the impact of admissions to America’s largest research university system on applicants’ subsequent partisanship and turnout, finding significant effects on both. In terms of partisanship, admissions reduce Republican registration and increase registration as independents or Democrats. In terms of turnout, admissions raise participation in primary elections, mostly through Democratic presidential primaries. I use administrative data, surveys, and a proprietary poll of in-sample students to evaluate causal pathways. Suggestive evidence is consistent with long-run mechanisms and on-campus peer socialization, but contradicts intentional efforts by faculty to influence their students.
The equity of exclusionary school discipline
Donna Gilleskie & Chunxiao Li
Economics of Education Review, October 2022
Abstract:
This paper explores the equity in school suspension between Black and white students and among students from families with different economic backgrounds. The existing literature and popular press report that Black students are more likely to be out-of-school suspended than white students, on average. Using administrative data on students from North Carolina public schools over eight academic years, we find that the direction of racial disparity depends importantly on the type of offenses when students are compared within the same school. While Black students are more likely to be suspended for fighting and theft, white students are more likely to be suspended for insubordination and disrespect toward faculty. We also find that economically disadvantaged students are more likely to be suspended across all types of offenses.
Decreasing time to baccalaureate degree in the United States
Jeffrey Denning et al.
Economics of Education Review, October 2022
Abstract:
After increasing in the 1970s and 1980s, time to bachelor's degree has declined since the 1990s. We document this fact using data from three nationally representative surveys. We show that this pattern is occurring across school types and for all student types. Using administrative student records from 10 large universities, we confirm the finding and show that it is robust to alternative sample definitions. We discuss what might explain the decline in time to bachelor's degree by considering trends in student preparation, state funding, student enrollment, study time, and student employment during college.
Family Heterogeneity, Human Capital Investment, and College Attainment
Adam Blandin & Christopher Herrington
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, October 2022, Pages 438-478
Abstract:
From 1995 to 2015 the aggregate US college completion rate increased almost 50 percent, but completion trends differed markedly by family background. We consider whether changing college preparedness contributed to growth in aggregate completion and differences by family background. We first document parallel empirical trends in precollege investments, college preparedness, and completion. We use these moments to discipline a quantitative model of intergenerational human capital investment with heterogeneous families. Within the model, investment trends generate half of the empirical increase in college completion. The model implies that subsidizing precollege investments increases college completion and lifetime earnings more than college tuition subsidies.
The effect of college degree attainment on neurodegenerative symptoms in genetically at-risk women
Jinkuk Hong et al.
SSM - Population Health, September 2022
Abstract:
Using longitudinal data, the present study examined the association between college degree attainment and the manifestation of neurodegenerative symptoms among women (n = 93) at elevated genetic risk. The neurodegenerative symptoms investigated in this study are due to FXTAS (Fragile X-associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome), a condition with onset after age 50. Those at risk for FXTAS have a mutation of a single gene found on the X chromosome. FXTAS is characterized by intention tremor, gait ataxia, executive function deficits, memory issues, and neuropathy. College degree attainment has been shown to provide neuroprotective effects in the general population, delaying the development of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. For this reason, college degree attainment is a potentially salient resource for those at risk of FXTAS. The results of the present research indicated significantly more severe FXTAS symptoms in women who did not attain a college degree as compared with those who were college graduates, although the two groups were similar in age, genetic risk, household income, health behaviors, and general health problems. Furthermore, symptoms in those who did not attain a college degree worsened over the 9-year study period at a significantly faster rate than the college graduates. The association between college degree attainment and FXTAS symptoms was significantly mediated by depression, which was lower among the graduates than those who did not attain a college degree. Thus, the present research is an example of how a sociodemographic factor can mitigate neurodegenerative conditions in genetically at-risk adults.
Enhancing the Efficacy of Teacher Incentives through Framing: A Field Experiment
Roland Fryer et al.
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, November 2022, Pages 269-299
Abstract:
In a field experiment, we provide financial incentives to teachers framed either as gains, received at the end of the year, or as losses, in which teachers receive up-front bonuses that must be paid back if their students do not improve sufficiently. Pooling two waves of the experiment, loss-framed incentives improve math achievement by an estimated 0.124 standard deviations (σ), with large effects in the first wave and no effects in the second wave. Effects for gain-framed incentives are smaller and not statistically significant, approximately 0.051σ. We find suggestive evidence that the effects on teacher value added persist posttreatment.
The Impact of Educational Rewards on the Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Matt Hampton & Scott McNamara
Economics & Human Biology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social interactions and communication. The prevalence of ASD has risen dramatically in recent years, but the underlying factors leading to this rise are not clear. In this paper, we test whether changes in state-level educational policy that impact school-level resources are associated with the rise in ASD diagnostic prevalence. Early identification of ASD can improve an array of outcomes for children, and school systems play an important role with identification of the condition. It is plausible that children attending schools with better resources from state governments are more likely to receive an ASD diagnosis and presumably appropriate services. We focus on one educational policy in particular, state-level rewards, which consist of a monetary transfer from state governments to school districts. To test the impact of educational rewards on ASD diagnosis, we rely on policy variation across states and time and estimate both two-way fixed effects (TWFE) models alongside recently advanced methods in the difference-in-differences (DiD) literature. Under a baseline TWFE specification we estimate that rewards policies are associated with a 18.46 percent increase in ASD diagnosis. Further, using DiD methods that account for bias in settings of differential policy timing, we find that the magnitude of the effect increases to 24.8 percent. We believe these findings to be suggestive evidence that educational rewards policies improved the likelihood of detection and diagnosis of ASD.
Adviser Value Added and Student Outcomes: Evidence from Randomly Assigned College Advisers
Serena Canaan, Antoine Deeb & Pierre Mouganie
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, November 2022, Pages 151-191
Abstract:
This paper provides the first causal evidence on the impact of college advisor quality on student outcomes. To do so, we exploit a unique setting where students are randomly assigned to faculty advisors during their first year of college. We find that higher advisor value added (VA) substantially improves freshman year GPA, time to complete freshman year and four-year graduation rates. Additionally, higher advisor VA increases high-ability students' likelihood of enrolling and graduating with a STEM degree. Our results indicate that allocating resources towards improving the quality of academic advising may play a key role in promoting college success.
Accountability, Test Prep Incentives, and the Design of Math and English Exams
Evan Riehl & Meredith Welch
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, forthcoming
Abstract:
We examine how incentives for test prep varied between math and English language arts (ELA) on U.S. state accountability exams. We collected data on exam structure for grade 3 to 8 tests in six states that are the setting for most U.S. research in literatures where accountability matters. We show that math exams typically measured ability more precisely for students on the margin of achieving proficiency. This gave educators an incentive to spend more time preparing students for math tests than for ELA tests, consistent with the common finding of larger math effects in the literature.
School Breakfast and Young Children’s Absenteeism: Does Meal Location Matter?
Michael Gottfried & Jacob Kirksey
Children and Youth Services Review, forthcoming
Abstract:
Of all years of elementary school, kindergartners and first graders are disproportionately absent. To address this, there is a growing effort among both research and policy communities to identify and develop which school resources might be leveraged to improve absenteeism. This study contributes in this domain, by examining whether serving school breakfast in the classroom (as opposed to elsewhere at school) might be linked to better attendance outcomes for students in both kindergarten and first grade. Using nationally representative data (Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Class of 2010-11) and controlling for unobserved confounding individual-level factors, our study finds that when schools moved breakfast into the classroom (from the cafeteria, for instance), children had fewer days absent as well as a decrease in the likelihood of being chronically absent. The results were not differentiated by specific student or school characteristics, thereby suggesting a generalizability across all students in the sample. These findings should motivate a policy conversation around ways to best leverage and change existing school settings to reduce children’s absenteeism.