Showing papers by "Arkansas Department of Education published in 2017"

School Choice Success: Match or Merit?

Abstract: There is a large body of thorough research showing many positive benefits of school choice. However, many questions remain on how school choice works. Rigorous school choice experiments can only determine if access to school choice programs alters student outcomes; they cannot confidently identify the specific mechanisms that mediate various outcomes. Two commonly theorized mechanisms in school choice programs that lead to positive outcomes are (1) an increased access to higher-quality schools and (2) an improved match between schools and students. We examine the existing empirical evidence and the theoretical arguments for these two primary mechanisms. While there is evidence supporting both mechanisms, no studies are able to isolate the effect of quality schools independent of families selecting schools that match their preferences. Since the majority of this research is descriptive and has limited causal interpretation, theory is essential in guiding interpretation and policy implications. Theory suggests that people make choices based on what they believe to be the best match for their children, and those choices lead to incentives for individual schools to improve. We conclude with policy recommendations based on our summary of the literature.

Gender Gaps in Math Performance, Perceived Mathematical Ability and College STEM Education: The Role of Parental Occupation

Abstract: Employment opportunities in occupations related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, the so-called STEM fields, are predicted to continue growing through time. In addition, STEM occupations also enjoy higher wages on average. Despite these advantages, women remain under-represented in STEM college degree completion and occupations. Encouraging women into the STEM fields has become an important policy concern. We use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to study gender differences in math achievement and self-perceived math ability and how they may differ by parental occupation type, specifically science related versus non-science related parental occupations. We then study their role on subsequent decision of majoring in a science field in college. Our results corroborate significant gender differences in math test scores and perceived math ability during childhood. Having a parent working in a science related field is associated with a better performance in math but not necessarily higher levels of perceived math ability, given math performance. All three factors, math achievement, perceived math ability, and parental occupation in a science field, are found to be significant predictors of the probability of majoring in science in college. However, estimated effects of higher levels of math achievement are about double for boys than for girls. Estimates of perceived math ability are also slightly larger for boys. In contrast, most of the observed positive effects of having a parent in a science related occupation seem to be concentrated among females. These results suggest a loss in STEM enrollment by otherwise qualified young women and the potential importance that parental role modeling effects or specific human capital parental investments by parents in science occupations could have for encouraging women to major in science fields.

Does Private Islamic Schooling Promote Terrorism? An Analysis of the Educational Background of Successful American Homegrown Terrorists

Abstract: Some commentators argue that private religious schools are less likely to inculcate the attributes of good citizenship than traditional public schools, specifically proposing that private Islamic schools are relatively more likely to produce individuals sympathetic to terrorism. This study offers a preliminary examination of the question by studying the educational backgrounds of Western educated terrorists. While data are limited, in accord with prior work findings indicate the vast majority of both Islamic and reactionary terrorists attended traditional public schools and had no religious education; hence findings suggest that early religious training and identification may actually encourage prosocial behavior.

Can Parents’ Growth Mindset and Role Modelling Address STEM Gender Gaps?

Abstract: Despite widespread interest and value in introducing and better-preparing students to enter the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, a gender gap persists as women are underrepresented among STEM jobs and degree completion. Although some work has evaluated whether interventions and certain pedagogical practices improve growth mindset, little is known about the mediating role of parents and whether those effects are more pronounced for females. In this study, we explore the extent to which the mindsets of a student’s parents regarding math ability influence the student’s mindset in math ability and longer-term STEM-related outcomes. We pay particular attention to differences between male and female students. We also explore if student outcomes can be attributable to a role modeling effect through parental occupation type (i.e., whether the parent has a job in the STEM field or not) or if there is a remaining direct inheritance from parent growth mindset after controlling for parental occupation. We test these hypotheses in the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS), a nationally-representative data set where data for high school students are linked to data from their parents and followed throughout secondary and postsecondary school. Estimating regression models while controlling for a rich set of covariates, we first show that students who exhibit greater levels of growth mindset, self-efficacy, and effort, particularly when it comes to their math coursework, demonstrate higher math achievement, complete more advanced math courses, are more likely to earn a college degree in a STEM field, and are more interested in and likely to actually enter the STEM fields. We then show that parent growth mindset is positively associated with these student non-cognitive skills and outcomes, though the effect seems to fade away over time. On the other hand, although parental occupation type does not consistently explain short- and medium-term STEM outcomes, it does explain longer-term outcomes in early adulthood like graduating with a STEM degree and working in the STEM field. Thus, parent growth mindset and any role modelling effect channeled through parental occupation appear to independently influence student outcomes.

Understanding a Vicious Cycle: Do Out-of-School Suspensions Impact Student Test Scores?

Abstract: A vast body of research has proven the correlation between exclusionary discipline (out-of-school suspensions and expulsions) and student outcomes such as lower test scores, dropout, grade retention, and involvement in the juvenile justice system, but there is no consensus on the causal impacts of exclusionary discipline. This study uses six years of de-identified demographic, achievement, and disciplinary data from all K-12 public schools in Arkansas to estimate the causal relationship. We conduct dynamic panel data models incorporating student fixed effects using Anderson-Hsiao (1981) estimation. We find, counter-intuitively, a null to positive impact of out-of-school suspensions on test scores. Therefore, while policymakers may have other reasons to limit exclusionary discipline, we should not expect academic gains to follow.

Evaluating School Vouchers: Evidence from a Within-Study Comparison

Abstract: Background. Randomized Controlled Trials are the “gold-standard” for estimating causal impacts of education programs. They are not always feasible, however, and may not generalize to the population of interest. Generally, researchers cannot measure selection bias in quasi-experimental estimates, leaving us uncertain about the true program impact. Objective. This study assesses the performance of propensity score matching, kernel matching, and multivariate regression in replicating the experimental results of a District of Columbia school voucher evaluation. Research Design. We assess whether nonexperimental methods can replicate experimental results among two samples: the experimental sample, in which treated and nontreated students are similar in terms of their eligibility status and desire to apply for the program, and a broader nonexperimental sample that includes geographically similar comparison units who did not apply for the program. Results. Nonexperimental methods more closely replicate experimental estimates when the sample is limited to program applicants. Little evidence suggests that a particular nonexperimental method performs better than other approaches. The direction of the bias in the quasi-experimental estimates tends to be positive when the sample is limited to program applicants, but negative when expanded to non-applicants. This pattern suggests that voucher program applicants are negatively selected on unmeasured characteristics but voucher users are positively selected on unmeasured factors.

Gendered Ambition: Career Advancement in Public Schools

Abstract: We explore the relationships between gender, career ambition, and the emergence of executive leadership. In Bureaucratic Ambition, Teodoro (2011) shows that public administration career systems shape bureaucrats’ ambitions, political behavior, and management strategies. But career systems are not neutral conduits of talent: administrators are more likely to pursue advancement when career systems favor them. This research proposes that women and men respond to gendered public career systems. Using national and state-level data on public school managers, we find marked gender disparities in the career paths that lead educators from the classroom to the superintendent post. Specifically, we find that female and elementary school teachers take longer to advance than male and secondary school teachers. We also find gender disparities in certification and experiences among school principals. Accordingly, female and elementary principals report lower levels of ambition. Such gendered career systems may lead to biases in policy agendas and management styles.

State and District Fiscal Effects of a Universal Education Savings Account Program in Arkansas

Abstract: Legislators in Arkansas have proposed a bill to increase educational choice through an Education Savings Account (ESA) program available to every child across the state. While many studies on the financial impact of existing ESA, voucher, and scholarship programs in the United States have found overall benefits to the state and individual districts, it may not be the case for a universally-accessible ESA since most existing programs are targeted to students based on need. A universal ESA would make ESAs available to all K-12 students in the state, so the fiscal impact is expected to be less beneficial than a targeted voucher or scholarship program.We use the Arkansas state funding formula to estimate the net impact of the proposed ESA program on the state budget overall. We also use the state education expenditure report in order to estimate the impact on each public school district in the state. Using our most defensible set of assumptions, we find that a universally-accessible ESA would result in small financial benefits to the state overall and to about half of the individual public school districts. Specifically, we estimate the program to result in around $2.8 million in financial benefits to the state in the first year. Additionally, we find that 50.6 percent of districts would financially benefit, while 55.5 percent of individual student transfers would result in financial benefits to their local school districts.

Silencing the Seventh Trumpet: Analyzing the Effect of Private Schooling on Voting Behavior

Abstract: The United States has one of the lowest election turnout rates in the developed world. Consequently, social scientists are perpetually seeking to expand upon their knowledge of what factors are associated with voting, or the lack thereof. Commonly identified factors including age, income, educational attainment and race have been studied extensively. However, there is one plausible factor associated with voting that might be underappreciated: the effect of private schooling. The limited literature that exists on the topic suggests that private schools, the majority of them Catholic, have a positive effect on civic outcomes, including voter participation. In using a rich, nationally representative dataset -- the Understanding America Study based out of the University of Southern California -- I can reexamine whether attending a private school has an effect on whether Americans vote. I can also shed light on a heretofore unanswered question: How does private schooling impact which candidate an individual supports? Overall, the data indicates that private schooling appears to have no impact on voter turnout, but that attending some private school appears to have a liberalizing effect.

Cross-Subsidization of Teacher Pension Costs: The Impact of Assumed Market Returns

Abstract: It is well-known that public pension plans exhibit substantial cross-subsidies, both within cohorts, e.g. from early leavers to those who retire at the “sweet spot”, and across cohorts, through unfunded liabilities. However, the cross-subsidies within and across cohorts have never been provided in an integrated format. This paper provides such a framework, based on the gaps between normal cost rates for individuals and the uniform contribution rates for the cohort. Since the unfunded liabilities and associated cross-subsidies across cohorts derive from overly optimistic actuarial assumptions, we focus on the historically most important such assumption, the rate of return. We present two main findings. First, an overly optimistic assumed return understates the degree of redistribution within the cohort. Second, persisting with an overly optimistic assumed return leads to steady-state contribution rates that exceed the true normal cost (let alone the low-balled rate), i.e. cross-subsidies from the current cohort to past cohorts. Using the case of California, we show how that negative cross-subsidy can easily swamp all positive cross-subsidies within the cohort, as contributions exceed the value of benefits received by even the most favored individuals – those who retire at the “sweet spot.”

Examining the Impacts of Middle School Disciplinary Policies on 9th Grade Retention

Abstract: In this paper we estimate the impact of exclusionary discipline given in 8th grade on the probability of 9th grade retention. We use a rich seven year, student level, panel dataset from Arkansas. We use a novel approach by limiting our sample to students who switch schools between 8th and 9th grade. This movement gives each student a fresh start, and removes the potential confound of a student’s reputation as a “problem student” that could influence teachers to be harsher on students who already have a disciplinary record. We find that students who receive exclusionary discipline in 8th grade are more likely to be retained in 9th grade compared to students who received no exclusionary discipline. We find nominal evidence that the impact of exclusionary discipline is attenuated for students of color and students receiving FRL; however, the differences are not significant.

Private Schooling Promotes Political and Economic Freedom? An International Fixed Effects Instrumental Variables Analysis

Abstract: Additional private schooling within a nation-state may increase citizens’ political and economic freedom through increased educational quality, balanced power relationships, and increased civic engagement.We employ a two-stage-least-squares time and country-level fixed-effects analytical technique to examine how private schooling could affect political rights, civil liberties and economic freedom indices. We also use a new instrumental variable, short-run fluctuations in the demand for schooling, to predict private schooling. We examine 174 different nations across the globe from 1999 to 2014, and find significant evidence to suggest that private schooling leads to enhanced political and economic freedom. In particular, our preferred model finds that a ten percentage point increase in private share of schooling enrollment within a nation, over time, is associated with a 7.4% of a standard deviation increase in the Political Rights Index and an 8% of a standard deviation increase in the Economic Freedom of the World Index.

The Wisconsin Role in the School Choice Movement

Abstract: Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson led a Midwestern policy revolution in the late 1980s and early 1990s centered on providing parents with more school choices Since those early years, school choice in the forms of private school vouchers, public charter schools, and public school open enrollment have spread across almost all of the country Longitudinal evaluations of the effects of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), the voucher program initiated by Governor Thompson, indicate that student achievement outcomes were not consistently affected by vouchers but other vital student outcomes, including educational attainment, civic values, criminal proclivities as well as parent and student satisfaction were positively influenced by participation in private school choice A generally similar pattern of results applies to public charter schools and open enrollment Parents across the US tend to have more educational options in no small part due to the pioneering initiatives of Tommy Thompson Although the evidence on school choice, and the desirability of the policies themselves, remains fiercely contested 30 years later, our assessment is that, on balance, disadvantaged families in Wisconsin and elsewhere are no worse off and most likely somewhat better off if they have availed themselves of the school choice opportunities that Governor Thompson helped to make possible

Building CS Teaching Capacity: Comparing Strategies for Achieving Large Scale Impact

Abstract: Many states are taking up the President's challenge to provide CS for All. One of the most significant barriers to realizing this goal is the lack of trained and certified CS teachers. Building teacher capacity on a large scale is a challenge each of these panelists has tackled in their own region. Panelists will discuss the pros and cons of targeting in-service vs. pre-service teachers, online vs. face-to-face training, carrots vs. sticks, top down vs. bottom up strategies, and long-term vs. short term solutions to building capacity across an entire state or metropolitan area. Panelists represent CS for All efforts from Texas, New York City, and Arkansas.

The Play's the Thing: Experimentally Examining the Social and Cognitive Effects of School Field Trips to Live Theater Performances

Abstract: Field trips to see theater performances are a long-standing educational practice, however, there is little systematic evidence demonstrating educational benefits. This article describes the results of five random assignment experiments spanning two years where school groups were assigned by lottery to attend a live theater performance, or for some groups, watch a movie-version of the same story. We find significant educational benefits from seeing live theater, including higher levels of tolerance, social perspective taking, and stronger command of the plot and vocabulary of those plays. Students randomly assigned to watch a movie did not experience these benefits. Our findings also suggest that theater field trips may cultivate the desire among students to frequent the theater in the future.

Alternative Measures of Non-Cognitive Skills and Their Effect on Retirement Preparation and Financial Capability

Abstract: Social science, more than ever, is drawing upon the insights of personality psychology. Though researchers now know that non-cognitive skills and personality traits, such as conscientiousness, grit, self-control, or a growth mindset could be important for life outcomes, they struggle to find reliable measures of these skills. Self-reports are often used for analysis but these measures have been found to be affected by important biases. We study the validity of innovative more robust measures of non-cognitive skills based on performance tasks. Our first proposed measure is an adaptation, for the adult population, of the Academic Diligence Task (ADT) developed and validated among students by Galla et al. (2014). For our second type of performance task measures of non-cognitive skills, we argue that questionnaires themselves can be seen as performance tasks, such that measures of survey effort, e.g. item non-response rates and degree of carelessness in answering, could lead to meaningful measures of non-cognitive skills. New measures along with self-reports are then used to study the role of non-cognitive skills and personality traits on individual’s preparation for retirement and financial capability. In a world where individuals are increasingly asked to take responsibility of preparing for retirement and when available financial products to do so are growing in sophistication, a better understanding of how non-cognitive skills influence retirement preparation could help effective policy design.

You Can’t Always Get What You Want: Using “Broken Lotteries” to Check the Validity of Charter School Evaluations using Matching Designs

Abstract: We consider situations in which public charter school lotteries are neither universally conducted nor consistently documented. Such lotteries produce “broken” Randomized Control Trials, but provide opportunities to assess the internal validity of quasi-experimental research designs. Here, we present the results of a statewide charter school evaluation using a broad-based student matching evaluation design, and run two additional analyses using the charter application waitlists as robustness checks. Our additional models, which address concerns of self-selection by using only charter applicants as matched comparison students, yield similar effect estimates and thus provide support for the use of matching designs in charter school evaluations.

Is Pre-Kindergarten an Educational Panacea? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Scaled-Up Pre-Kindergarten in the United States

Abstract: We synthesize the existing research and compute meta-analytic averages for the effects of scaled-up, publicly funded pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs on student pre-kindergarten achievement in math and reading. Other systematic reviews of pre-K programs have focused on the effects for specific groups of students from various types of pre-K programs. We add to the literature by focusing on scaled-up pre-K often provided at the state level, which is of growing policy interest. Scaled-up programs are large state or district run programs that are available to a large portion of children before they enter kindergarten. We limit our analysis to state and districtwide pre-K programs in the United States from 2000 through 2016. In order to obtain the most accurate effect estimates, we restrict our analysis to experimental and quasi-experimental research designs with the highest internal validity. We synthesize the short-term cognitive effects of pre-K and find large positive effects of scaled-up public pre-K programs on student pre-kindergarten test scores. In particular, we find that the overall effect on math scores is over a third of a standard deviation and the overall effect on reading scores is three-fifths of a standard deviation. This review is restricted to studies focused on short term results of pre-K programs; our search uncovered only one study rigorously assessing the impacts of scaled-up pre-K programs on student achievement after kindergarten. More research is needed on the sustained effects of pre-K as policymakers debate whether to expand or adopt such programs.

Educational Attainment Effects of Public and Private School Choice

Abstract: The two fastest growing school choice options are charter schools and private school voucher programs (independently, as tax credit scholarships, and as part of educational savings accounts). Most of the research assessing the effects of these programs focuses on student achievement. I review the literature to determine the impact public and private school choice programs are having on high school completion, college enrollment, and college persistence which, ultimately, may be different and of greater consequence than test scores. Furthermore, as educational attainment affects earnings and other life outcomes, those findings are reported when available. In sum, of the 12 studies presented it appears that school choice programs are having a positive effect on educational attainment overall, with similar results for both types of choice programs. However, there is too little research to draw firm conclusions at this time.