Room for Class
The Distribution of School Spending Impacts
Kirabo Jackson & Claire Mackevicius
NBER Working Paper, March 2021
Abstract:
We use estimates across all known “credibly causal” studies to examine the distributions of the causal effects of public K12 school spending on test scores and educational attainment in the United States. Under reasonable assumptions, for each of the 31 included studies, we compute the same parameter estimate. Method of moments estimates indicate that, on average, a $1000 increase in per-pupil public school spending (for four years) increases test scores by 0.044 , high-school graduation by 2.1 percentage points, and college-going by 3.9 percentage points. The pooled averages are significant at the 0.0001 level. When benchmarked against other interventions, test score impacts are much smaller than those on educational attainment - suggesting that test-score impacts understate the value of school spending. The benefits to marginal capital spending increases take about five-to-six years to materialize, but after this, are similar to those of non-capital spending increases. The marginal spending impacts are much less pronounced for economically advantaged populations. Consistent with a cumulative effect, the educational attainment impacts are larger with more years of exposure to the spending increase. Average impacts are similar across a wide range of baseline spending levels - providing little evidence of diminishing marginal returns at current spending levels. To speak to generalizability, we estimate the variability across studies attributable to effect heterogeneity (as opposed to sampling variability). This heterogeneity explains about 40 and 70 percent of the variation across studies for educational attainment and test scores, respectively, which allows us to provide a range of likely policy impacts. A policy that increases per-pupil spending for four years will improve test scores 92 percent of the time, and educational attainment even more often. We find suggestive evidence consistent with small possible publication bias, but demonstrate that any effects on our estimates are minimal.
CDC Guidance Dramatically Under-Represents Classroom Student Capacity Under 6' Social Distancing
Benjamin Kay
Federal Reserve Working Paper, March 2021
Abstract:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides sample classroom layouts that promote 6-foot social distancing during in-person education. These sample 30' by 30' classroom layouts hold at most 9 students while complying with the 6-foot social distancing requirement. I offer an alternative layout that allows 21 students into the classroom while complying with the minimum social distancing requirement. Improved layouts reduce or even eliminate the need for rotating cohorts of students and wait-lists, allowing more days of live instruction per student.
Experimentally Estimated Impacts of School Vouchers on Educational Attainments of Moderately and Severely Disadvantaged Students
Albert Cheng & Paul Peterson
Sociology of Education, forthcoming
Abstract:
For decades, social theorists have posited - and descriptive accounts have shown - that students isolated by both social class and ethnicity suffer extreme deprivations that limit the effectiveness of equal-opportunity interventions. Even educational programs that yield positive results for moderately disadvantaged students may not prove beneficial for those who possess less of the economic, social, and cultural capital that play a critical role in improving educational outcomes. Yet evaluations of school choice and other educational interventions seldom estimate programmatic effects on severely disadvantaged students who are isolated by both ethnicity and social class. We experimentally estimate differential effects of a 1997 New York City school voucher intervention on college attainment for minority students by household income and mother’s education. Postsecondary outcomes as of 2017 come from the National Student Clearinghouse. The severely deprived did not benefit from the intervention despite substantial positive effects on college enrollments and degree attainment for the moderately disadvantaged. School choice programs and other interventions or public policies may need to pay greater attention to ensuring that families possess the requisite forms of capital - human, economic, social, and cultural - to realize their intended benefits.
The Effect of Teachers’ Union Contracts on School District Efficiency: Longitudinal Evidence From California
Bradley Marianno, Paul Bruno & Katharine Strunk
SAGE Open, February 2021
Abstract:
While the effect of teachers’ unions on school districts continues to be debated, the research literature provides few definitive conclusions to guide these discussions. In this article, we examine the relationship between teachers’ union contracts and school district efficiency. We define efficiency as the ratio of short-run productivity (student performance on standardized exams) to expenditures. We estimate a series of school district fixed effect models using measures of district collective bargaining agreement (CBA) restrictiveness tied to longitudinal outcomes. We find that CBA restrictiveness is positively associated with expenditures on students, instruction, instruction support services, and teacher and administrator salaries over time. We find no significant relationship between CBA restrictiveness and student achievement. Finally, we find a negative relationship between CBA restrictiveness and district efficiency. Given the small magnitude of our effect sizes, we conclude that weakening union rights may not produce large gains in efficiency and may come at substantial political costs.
Not Too Late: Improving Academic Outcomes Among Adolescents
Jonathan Guryan et al.
NBER Working Paper, March 2021
Abstract:
There is growing concern that it is too difficult or costly to substantially improve the academic skills of children who are behind in school once they reach adolescence. But perhaps what we have tried in the past relies on the wrong interventions, failing to account for challenges like the increased variability in academic needs during adolescence, or heightened difficulty of classroom management. This study tests the effects of one intervention that tries to solve both problems by simplifying the teaching task: individualized, intensive, in-school tutoring. A key innovation by the non-profit we study (Saga Education) is to identify how to deliver “high-impact tutoring” at relatively low cost ($3,500 to $4,300 per participant per year). Our first randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Saga’s tutoring model with 2,633 9th and 10th grade students in Chicago public schools found participation increased math test scores by 0.16 standard deviations (SDs) and increased grades in math and non-math courses. We replicated these results in a separate RCT with 2,710 students and found even larger math test score impacts - 0.37 SD - and similar grade impacts. These effects persist into future years, although estimates for high school graduation are imprecise. The treatment effects do not appear to be the result of a generic “mentoring effect” or of changes in social-emotional skills, but instead seem to be caused by changes in the instructional “technology” that students received. The estimated benefit-cost ratio is comparable to many successful model early-childhood programs.
Affirming both independent and interdependent values improves achievement for all students and mitigates cultural mismatch for first‐generation college students
Cameron Hecht et al.
Journal of Social Issues, forthcoming
Abstract:
Many first‐generation college students - whose parents have not obtained a 4‐year college degree - experience a “cultural mismatch” due to a lack of alignment between the independent values of their university (consistent with the culture of higher education) and their own interdependent values (consistent with working‐class culture). We documented this mismatch at a 4‐year university (n = 465), and then tested a values‐affirmation intervention in a laboratory study (n = 220) that encouraged students to affirm both independent values and interdependent values. We compared this intervention, which had not previously been tested in a 4‐year university, to a standard values‐affirmation intervention and control. This intervention increased first‐generation students’ perceptions of cultural match and improved achievement on a math test for all students, on average, by increasing confidence and reducing distraction on the test. Encouraging students to integrate independent and interdependent values may improve first‐generation college students’ experiences in higher education.
Equilibrium in the Market for Public School Teachers: District Wage Strategies and Teacher Comparative Advantage
Barbara Biasi, Chao Fu & John Stromme
NBER Working Paper, March 2021
Abstract:
We study the equity-efficiency implication of giving school districts control over teacher pay using an equilibrium model of the market for public-school teachers. Teachers differ in their comparative advantages in teaching low- or high-achieving students. School districts, which serve different student bodies, use both wage and hiring strategies to compete for their preferred teachers. We estimate the model using data from Wisconsin, where districts gained control over teacher pay in 2011. We find that, all else equal, giving districts control over teacher pay would lead to more efficient teacher-district sorting but larger educational inequality. Teacher bonus programs that incentivize comparative advantage-based sorting, combined with bonus rates favoring districts with more low-achieving students, could improve both efficiency and equity.
An Evaluation of the Educational Impact of College Campus Visits: A Randomized Experiment
Elise Swanson et al.
AERA Open, February 2021
Abstract:
We study whether visits to a college campus during eighth grade affect students’ interest in and preparation for college. Two cohorts of eighth graders were randomized within schools to a control condition, in which they received a college informational packet, or a treatment condition, in which they received the same information and visited a flagship university three times during an academic year. We estimate the effect of the visits on students’ college knowledge, postsecondary intentions, college preparatory behaviors, academic engagement, and ninth-grade course enrollment. Treated students exhibit higher levels of college knowledge, efficacy, and grit, as well as a higher likelihood of conversing with school personnel about college. Additionally, treated students are more likely to enroll in advanced science/social science courses. We find mixed evidence on whether the visits increased students’ diligence on classroom tasks and a negative impact on students’ desire to attend technical school.
Estimating Students' Valuation for College Experiences
Esteban Aucejo, Jacob French & Basit Zafar
NBER Working Paper, February 2021
Abstract:
The college experience involves much more than credit hours and degrees. Students likely derive utility from in-person instruction and on-campus social activities. Quantitative measures of the value of these individual components have been hard to come by. Leveraging the COVID-19 shock, we elicit students’ intended likelihood of enrolling in higher education under different costs and possible states of the world. These states, which would have been unimaginable in the absence of the pandemic, vary in terms of class formats and restrictions to campus social life. We show how such data can be used to recover college student’s willingness-to-pay (WTP) for college-related activities in the absence of COVID-19, without parametric assumptions on the underlying heterogeneity in WTP. We find that the WTP for in-person instruction (relative to a remote format) represents around 4.2% of the average annual net cost of attending university, while the WTP for on-campus social activities is 8.1% of the average annual net costs. We also find large heterogeneity in WTP, which varies systematically across socioeconomic groups. Our analysis shows that economically-disadvantaged students derive substantially lower value from university social life, but this is primarily due to time and resource constraints.
Unintended Consequences: The Effect of Education Policy Announcements on Online Philanthropy
Anqi (Angie) Wu, Aravinda Garimella & Ramanath Subramanyam
University of Illinois Working Paper, November 2020
Abstract:
Over the last two decades, grassroots altruism, enabled through online platforms such as DonorsChoose.org, has resulted in the successful funding of numerous essential public school projects across the country. While such channels become critical fundraising mechanisms, there is an unintended possibility of the crowding out of these sources by governmental initiatives that aim to address public school welfare and quality of education. In this study, with a focus on major public policy announcements, we examine whether there is an unintended effect of external measures, such as the signing of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), on grassroots altruism, as observed on online philanthropy platforms. We surmise that, in such platforms, donors could become complacent and take comfort in the cognizance of an external agency addressing the problems they care about - we term this the “savior effect”. Importantly, from our analysis of panel data on an education crowdfunding platform, we find (a) a decline in donations toward public school projects on the platform, and (b) that donations become more local, disproportionately impacting schools with high concentrations of low-income and minority students, which receive fewer instructional resources to begin with. Our work has important policy implications for public schools, donor communities, and online fundraising platforms.
Is Effective Teacher Evaluation Sustainable? Evidence from District of Columbia Public Schools
Thomas Dee, Jessalynn James & Jim Wyckoff
Education Finance and Policy, forthcoming
Abstract:
Ten years ago, many policy makers viewed the reform of teacher evaluation as a highly promising mechanism to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Recently, that enthusiasm has dimmed as the available evidence suggests the subsequent reforms had a mixed record of implementation and efficacy. Even in districts where there was evidence of efficacy, the early promise of teacher evaluation may not be sustainable as these systems mature and change. This study examines the evolving design of IMPACT, the teacher evaluation system in the District of Columbia Public Schools. We describe the recent changes to IMPACT, which include higher performance standards for lower-performing teachers and a reduced emphasis on value-added test scores. Descriptive evidence on the dynamics of teacher retention and performance under this redesigned system indicates that lower-performing teachers are particularly likely to either leave or improve. Corresponding causal evidence similarly indicates that imminent dismissal threats for persistently low-performing teachers increased both teacher attrition and the performance of returning teachers. These findings suggest that teacher evaluation can provide a sustained mechanism for improving the quality of teaching.
Improvements in Math Instruction and Student Achievement Through Professional Learning Around the Common Core State Standards in Chicago
Elaine Allensworth, Sarah Cashdollar & Julia Gwynne
AERA Open, February 2021
Abstract:
Existing literature on the impact of Common Core State Standards in Math has shown little benefit, but it has not examined variation in outcomes based on implementation strategies, student subgroups, or outcomes other than test scores. We use a difference-in-differences approach with school fixed effects to compare outcomes in pre- and poststandards years across schools with different levels of participation in professional learning around the standards in the middle grades in Chicago. Postimplementation, there were significantly greater improvements in student reports of standards-aligned instructional practices, math grades, pass rates, and test scores in schools with more extensive professional learning around the standards, among students with low and average initial achievement. Relationships were largely not significant for students with high initial achievement. We discuss why Chicago might have seen positive results, including the district emphasis on professional learning around the practice standards and differential impacts based on student prior achievement.