Knowing Youth
The Long-Run Effects of Consequential School Accountability
Jonathan Mansfield & David Slichter
Journal of Labor Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
The rise of accountability programs was perhaps the most noticeable change in American education during the 1990s and early 2000s. We measure how these programs affected students' long-run outcomes. We find increases in income, occupational skill level, and attainment, though the labor market effects are insignificant in most specifications. A typical accountability regime, with high-stakes testing in seven grades, increased attainment by 0.1 years. Lastly, the pattern of occupational skill usage does not support concerns about teaching to the test. Our results suggest that accountability was more likely beneficial than harmful for students' human capital.
Rethinking principal effects on student outcomes
Brendan Bartanen, Aliza Husain & David Liebowitz
Journal of Public Economics, June 2024
Abstract:
School principals are viewed as critical actors to improve student outcomes, but there remain important methodological questions about how to measure principals' effects. We propose a framework for measuring principals' contributions to student outcomes and apply it empirically using data from Tennessee, New York City, and Oregon. As commonly implemented, value-added models misattribute to principals changes in student performance caused by unobserved time-varying factors over which principals exert minimal control, leading to biased estimates of individual principals' effectiveness and an overstatement of the magnitude of principal effects. Based on our framework, which better accounts for bias from time-varying factors, we find that little of the variation in student test scores or attendance is explained by persistent effectiveness differences between principals. Across contexts, the estimated standard deviation of principal value-added is roughly 0.03 student-level standard deviations in math achievement and 0.01 standard deviations in reading.
Getting Students to Show Up: Generational Differences in the Effect of Teachers on Black and White Student Absences
Nhu Nguyen, Ben Ost & Javaeria Qureshi
AEA Papers and Proceedings, May 2024, Pages 517-522
Abstract:
We provide the first evidence on the effect of teacher generation on student absences. Using administrative matched student-teacher data, we find that Millennial teachers are more effective at reducing absences compared to teachers from earlier generations. This effect is heterogeneous across Black and White students, with Black students deriving a larger benefit from assignment to a Millennial teacher. Although both Black and White Millennial teachers are more effective at reducing student absences than Baby Boomer teachers, the race-specific improvement of Millennial teachers is driven by White teachers.
Taboos and Self-Censorship Among U.S. Psychology Professors
Cory Clark et al.
Perspectives on Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
We identify points of conflict and consensus regarding (a) controversial empirical claims and (b) normative preferences for how controversial scholarship-and scholars-should be treated. In 2021, we conducted qualitative interviews (n = 41) to generate a quantitative survey (N = 470) of U.S. psychology professors' beliefs and values. Professors strongly disagreed on the truth status of 10 candidate taboo conclusions: For each conclusion, some professors reported 100% certainty in its veracity and others 100% certainty in its falsehood. Professors more confident in the truth of the taboo conclusions reported more self-censorship, a pattern that could bias perceived scientific consensus regarding the inaccuracy of controversial conclusions. Almost all professors worried about social sanctions if they were to express their own empirical beliefs. Tenured professors reported as much self-censorship and as much fear of consequences as untenured professors, including fear of getting fired. Most professors opposed suppressing scholarship and punishing peers on the basis of moral concerns about research conclusions and reported contempt for peers who petition to retract papers on moral grounds. Younger, more left-leaning, and female faculty were generally more opposed to controversial scholarship. These results do not resolve empirical or normative disagreements among psychology professors, but they may provide an empirical context for their discussion.
A Possible Nocebo Effect in Children Following the Flint Water Crisis: Evidence From Schoolteacher Perceptions and Neuropsychological Evaluations
Siddhartha Roy et al.
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, forthcoming
Methods: A survey of Flint and Detroit (control) public schoolteachers using a modified Illness Perception Questionnaire was conducted five years post-crisis. We also examined neuropsychological assessments from a recently settled class lawsuit.
Results: Relative to Detroit (n=24), Flint's teachers (n=11) believed that a higher proportion of their students had harmful lead exposure (91.8% Flint vs. 46% Detroit; p=0.00034), were lead poisoned (51.3% vs. 24.3%; p=0.018) or brain damaged (28.8% vs. 12.9%; p=0.1), even though blood lead of Flint's children was always less than half of Detroit's. Neuropsychological assessments diagnosed lead poisoning and/or brain damage from water lead exposure in all tested children (n=8), even though none had evidence of elevated blood lead and a majority had prior learning disability diagnoses.
Party On: The Labor Market Returns to Social Networks in Adolescence
Adriana Lleras-Muney et al.
Journal of Labor Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
We investigate the returns to adolescent friendships on earnings in adulthood using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Because both education and friendships are jointly determined in adolescence, OLS estimates of their returns are likely biased. We implement a novel procedure to obtain bounds on the causal returns to friendships: we assume that the returns to schooling range from 5 to 15% (based on prior literature), and instrument for friendships using similarity in age among peers. Having one more friend in adolescence increases earnings between 7 and 14%, substantially more than OLS estimates would suggest.
An Experimental Evaluation of Culturally Enriching Field Trips
Heidi Erickson, Angela Watson & Jay Greene
Journal of Human Resources, May 2024, Pages 879-904
Abstract:
We present results from a longitudinal experiment on academic and social-emotional effects of culturally enriching field trips. We randomly assign fourth and fifth grade students to attend field trips throughout the year or to serve as a control. Treatment students express greater tolerance for people with different opinions and an increased desire to consume arts. Additionally, treatment students have fewer behavioral infractions, attend school more frequently, score higher on end-of-grade exams, and receive higher course grades. Effects are strongest when students enter middle school. We find no effect on students' empathy, social perspective taking, or desire to participate in arts.
Measurement and Development of Noncognitive Skills in Adolescence: Evidence from Chicago Public Schools and the OneGoal Program
Tim Kautz & Wladimir Zanoni
Journal of Human Capital, Summer 2024, Pages 272-304
Abstract:
Using administrative data, we develop measures of noncognitive skills and evaluate OneGoal, an intervention designed to help disadvantaged students complete college by teaching them noncognitive skills. We (1) compare the outcomes of participants and nonparticipants with similar characteristics and (2) use a difference-in-differences approach exploiting that OneGoal was introduced into different schools at different times. We estimate that OneGoal increases college enrollment by 10-20 percentage points for males and females and reduces arrest rates by 5 percentage points for males. Through a mediation analysis, we find that improvements in noncognitive skills account for 13%-32% of these effects.
Outdoor learning in urban schools: Effects on 4-5 year old children's noise and physiological stress
Gemma Goldenberg et al.
Journal of Environmental Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Natural outdoor environments reduce physiological stress. But in an urban school context, does outdoor learning still have beneficial effects even where nature exposure is more limited? The current, pre-registered study used wearable devices including heart rate monitors and actigraphs to examine physiological stress in 4-5 year old children across 8 matched indoor and outdoor sessions (N= 76 children, N= 601 sessions in total). Results revealed that children's resting heart rates while seated and listening to a teacher were significantly lower when outside compared to indoors (p < .001, d=.512). Children also moved more while seated during indoor sessions (p<.001, d=.546). Despite activities and resources being matched across conditions, outdoor learning sessions were significantly quieter than indoor ones, both when children were seated, listening to a teacher (p=.004, d=-.455) and when actively engaged in play and learning activities (p < .001, d=1.064). There was a significant positive correlation between noise levels and resting heart rate in the indoor condition (r(97)= .364, p<.001) but not in the outdoor condition. These findings suggest that learning outdoors, even in urban settings, associates with lower physiological stress in children and that this effect may partly be due to reduced noise. The fact that noise associates with resting heart rate indoors but not outdoors may indicate that being outside buffers children against the stressful effects of excess noise.
The impact of performance information on citizen perceptions of school district efficiency, trust in government, and support for taxes
Eric Brunner et al.
Public Budgeting & Finance, Summer 2024, Pages 6-44
Abstract:
We report the results of a random assignment experiment that examines the effect of revealing actual school district performance on three important outcomes: perceptions of efficiency, trust in government, and support for higher taxes for increased school spending. We randomly assign survey respondents to a control group or experimental condition that includes information about how their school district's test scores compare to their state average. Our study includes 2604 observations from an on-line panel fielded in the United States from October through December, 2022 which allows us to precisely estimate the effect of performance information on outcomes. We find that providing high-performance information has significant and substantial effects that improve efficiency perceptions, trust in the school district, and support for taxes.
A multi-state, student-level analysis of the effects of the four-day school week on student achievement and growth
Emily Morton, Paul Thompson & Megan Kuhfeld
Economics of Education Review, June 2024
Abstract:
Four-day school weeks are becoming increasingly common in the U.S., but prior research is ambiguous regarding their impacts on achievement. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we conduct the most representative student-level analysis to date of the effects of four-day weeks on student achievement and within-year growth using NWEA MAP Growth data. We estimate significant negative effects of the schedule on spring reading achievement (-0.07 SD) and fall-to-spring gains in math (-0.05 SD) and reading (-0.06 SD). The negative effects of the schedule are disproportionately driven by adoptions in non-rural schools and are larger for female students. For policymakers and practitioners, this study provides evidence supporting concerns about four-day school weeks' effects on student achievement and growth, particularly in non-rural areas.
Do Grow-Your-Own Programs Work? Evidence from the Teacher Academy of Maryland
David Blazar et al.
University of Maryland Working Paper, May 2024
Abstract:
Local teacher recruitment through "grow-your-own" programs is a prominent strategy to address workforce shortages and ensure that incoming teachers resemble, understand, and have strong connections to their communities. We exploit the staggered rollout of the Teacher Academy of Maryland career and technical education certificate program across public high schools, finding that exposed students were more likely to become teachers by 0.6 percentage points (pp), or 47%. Effects are concentrated among White girls (1.4pp/39%) and Black girls (0.7pp/80%). We also identify positive impacts on wages (5% on average/18% for Black girls), countering a prevailing narrative that teaching leaves one worse off financially relative to other labor market opportunities.