Showing papers by "Arkansas Department of Education published in 2018"
TL;DR: The authors employ probit regression analysis to compare the adult voting activity of students who participated in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) to their matched public school counterparts and find evidence that private school voucher students are more or less likely to vote in 2012 or 2016 than students educated in public schools.
Abstract: We employ probit regression analysis to compare the adult voting activity of students who participated in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) to their matched public school counterparts. We use a sophisticated matching algorithm to create a traditional public school student comparison group using data from the state-mandated evaluation of the MPCP. By the time the students are 19-26 years old, we do not find evidence that private school voucher students are more or less likely to vote in 2012 or 2016 than students educated in public schools. These results are robust to all models and are consistent for all subgroups.
18 citations
TL;DR: This article used survey effort measures as a proxy measure of character skills related to grit and self-control in a high school sample of high school students by studying their relationship with external measures reported by teachers and other direct performance tasks.
Abstract: Character skills, including conscientiousness, grit or self-control are important determinants of relevant life outcomes. However, researchers struggle to find valid measures of these skills and many existing datasets lack any measures of them at all. This limits research on how these important skills could be better supported and developed. Recent research has shown the potential of parametrizations of survey effort measures as proxy measures of character skills related to conscientiousness, to either complement other collected measures or to add to datasets that lack such measures. This study provides further validation of these survey effort measures in a sample of high school students by studying their relationship with external measures reported by teachers, other direct performance task measures of related skills, high school academic outcomes, and college attendance. Our results show promise for survey effort measures to be used as proxy measures of character skills related to grit and self-control.
7 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the impact of the El Dorado Promise on college enrollment, AA completion, and BA completion on average and by student subgroup (students of color, white students, students with above average GPAs, and students with below-average GPAs).
Abstract: The El Dorado Promise is a universal “first dollar” Promise program that guarantees a full tuition scholarship to all students who attend the El Dorado School District from grades K-12, and a partial scholarship for those who enroll in for at least 9th-12th grade. While prior research on Promise Programs has found that Promise scholarships increase postsecondary matriculation, few studies have examined the impact of a Promise scholarship on college completion or the differential impact of a Promise scholarship on college completion by student characteristics. We use a difference-in-differences strategy to examine the impact of the El Dorado Promise on college enrollment, AA completion, and BA completion on average and by student subgroup (students of color, white students, students with above-average GPAs, and students with below-average GPAs). We find that overall the Promise was associated with an 11.4 percentage point increase in postsecondary enrollment, no change in AA completion, and a 10.7 percentage point increase in BA completion. Students of color and students with below-average GPAs saw the biggest gains in college enrollment, while students of color and students with above-average GPAs saw the biggest gains in BA completion. These results indicate that Promise programs operating in rural areas can have a positive and significant impact on postsecondary outcomes for students, particularly students traditionally underrepresented in postsecondary institutions.
2 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the educational emphases of science teachers in Evangelical Protestant (EP) schools, including teaching basic content knowledge, improving scientific reasoning skills, and presenting real-world applications of science.
Abstract: I examine the educational emphases of science teachers in Evangelical Protestant (EP) schools, including (1) teaching basic content knowledge, (2) improving scientific reasoning skills, and (3) presenting real-world applications of science. Using a nationally representative sample of US ninth-graders, I find differences in these educational emphases between science teachers in EP schools and science teachers in secular private, Catholic, and public schools. I also find suggestive evidence that differences in STEM-related student outcomes across school sectors, which have been demonstrated in prior research, are associated with cross-sector differences in the emphases of science teachers.
2 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the differences in cost-effectiveness and return-on-investment (ROI) for public charter schools and traditional public schools in eight major cities in the United States and found that public charters outperform TPS on both productivity metrics overall and for all eight cities.
Abstract: We examine the differences in cost-effectiveness and return-on-investment (ROI) for public charter schools and traditional public schools (TPS) in eight major cities in the United States. The cities are Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, New York City, San Antonio, and the District of Columbia. We utilize data on how much money is invested in public charter schools and TPS, what levels of student achievement are attained across the two public school sectors, and how much economic payoff our society can expect to receive as a result of the educational investments in each sector. Ours is the first study to examine these differences across the United States at the city level. We find that public charter schools outperform TPS on both productivity metrics overall and for all eight cities. On average, public charter schools are around 35 percent more cost-effective and produce 38-53 percent higher return-on-investment than TPS, depending on how one weights the sample.
2 citations