Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Proposition 2½ Overrides on School Segregation in Massachusetts

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Zabel
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Unintended Consequence ◽  
School Segregation ◽  
The Impact

I investigate a possible unintended consequence of Proposition 2½ override behavior—that it led to increased segregation in school districts in Massachusetts. This can occur because richer, low-minority towns tend to have more successful override votes that attract similar households with relatively high demands for public services who can afford to pay for them. To evaluate this hypothesis, I collect panel data on override behavior from 1982 to 2012 and merge this with data on school district enrollments and other district- and town-level characteristics. I find evidence that passing overrides earmarked for schools results in a significant decrease in the percent of nonwhite students enrolled in Massachusetts school districts. This happens in districts with below-average nonwhite school enrollments, and hence increases segregation.

Teach for America Placement and Teacher Vacancies: Evidence from the Mississippi Delta

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Chris Curran
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Mississippi Delta ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
The State ◽  
Teach For America ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Teacher Labor

Background/Context Teach for America (TFA) represents an influential yet controversial preparation route for new teachers. In recent years, TFA has received criticism from traditionally trained teachers and schools of education on the basis that they are crowding out or taking positions away from non-TFA teachers. Despite this criticism, research on TFA has tended to focus on its impact on student outcomes rather than on its implications for teacher labor markets. Research Questions This study explores the relationship between TFA placement in school districts in the Mississippi Delta and district advertised vacancies to provide the first evidence on the impact of TFA on teacher labor market outcomes. The questions addressed include the following: What is the relationship between TFA presence in a Mississippi school district and the number of district vacancies advertised through the state board of education? Do these relationships vary by characteristics of the vacancy such as grade level or subject area? Setting This study uses data on school districts in the state of Mississippi for an 11-year period from 2001 through 2011. Research Design This study utilizes two primary analytic strategies. The first encompasses school district and year fixed effects with a series of time-varying control variables to identify the impact of TFA placement off changes in the use of TFA by districts over time. The second approach capitalizes on an abrupt increase in the presence of TFA in Mississippi starting in 2009 by using a difference-in-differences design. A series of robustness and sensitivity checks are also included. Findings/Results The results indicate that the presence of TFA in a district predicts approximately 11 fewer advertised vacancies per year per district and that each additional TFA teacher placed in a district predicts approximately one less advertised vacancy. Conclusions/Recommendations The results indicate that in the Mississippi Delta, TFA appears to be filling teacher vacancies. This suggests that the continued use of TFA by districts may be a viable solution to addressing teacher shortages.

scholarly journals Mobility, Targeting, and Private-School Vouchers

2000 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J Nechyba
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
School District ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Residential Mobility ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Private School ◽  
School Vouchers ◽  
School Voucher ◽  
The Impact

This paper uses general-equilibrium simulations to explore the role of residential mobility in shaping the impact of different private-school voucher policies. The simulations are derived from a three-district model of low-, middle-, and high-income school districts (calibrated to New York data) with housing stocks that vary within and across districts. In this model, it is demonstrated that school-district targeted vouchers are similar in their impact to nontargeted vouchers but vastly different from vouchers targeted to low-income households. Furthermore, strong migration effects are shown to significantly improve the likely equity consequences of voucher programs. (JEL I22, I28, H73)

scholarly journals Do Suspensions Affect Student Outcomes?

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Lacoe ◽  
Matthew P. Steinberg
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Reading Achievement ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Instrumental Variable ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
School District Of Philadelphia

Discipline reformers claim that suspensions negatively affect suspended students, while others suggest reforms have unintended consequences for peers. Using student panel data from the School District of Philadelphia, we implement student fixed effects and instrumental variable (IV) strategies to examine the consequences of suspensions for offending students and their peers. A suspension decreases math and reading achievement for suspended students. The effects are robust to IV estimates leveraging a district-wide policy change in suspension use. Suspensions are more salient for students who personally experience suspension than for their peers. Exposure to suspensions for more serious misconduct has very small, negative spillovers onto peer achievement, but does not change peer absences.

Is the 2014 E-Rate reform a game changer? An empirical analysis of Pennsylvania data

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna Grzeslo ◽  
Yang Bai ◽  
Bumgi Min ◽  
Krishna Jayakar
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Urban School ◽  
Urban School Districts ◽  
Rural School Districts ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Disadvantaged School ◽  
Game Changer

Purpose This study aims to analyze the impact of the 2014 E-Rate reforms on the pattern of distribution of funds of the program. Design/methodology/approach Using Pennsylvania data, the paper investigates whether a school district that successfully applied for funding received increased support post-reforms, and what socio-economic characteristics of school districts were associated with successful applications. Furthermore, it asks whether the reforms reduced the barriers that disadvantaged school districts face in obtaining support. Findings The finding suggests that, even after controlling for changes in the school districts’ eligibility and application skills, the amount of funding committed to the school districts was still significantly higher after the reform. Originality/value The analysis shows that, immediately after the reform, the non-urban school districts were committed more funding than urban school districts were; they also received more funds than they would have without the reforms. This indicates that the 2014 reform might have benefited disadvantaged applicants, especially rural school districts.

The role of district leaders for organization social capital

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 296-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith H. Hooge ◽  
Nienke M. Moolenaar ◽  
Karin C.J. van Look ◽  
Selma K. Janssen ◽  
Peter J.C. Sleegers
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Network ◽  
School District ◽  
School Districts ◽  
School Principals ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Social Capital ◽  
The Impact ◽  
District Governance

Purpose Although it is assumed that school district governance by districts leaders can impact schools’ capacity to improvement and educational quality, there is little systematic evidence to support this claim. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how governance goals and interventions affect school districts’ social capital. Design/methodology/approach The empirical enquiry used quantitative data on district leaders enacting governance as perceived by their school principals. These data were collected among 399 school principals of 23 Dutch school districts in elementary education, using a survey. Social network data on social capital within school districts were collected using a social network survey among educational administrators (i.e. district leaders, central office administrators and school principals). Additionally, examples of the relation between school district social capital and governance at six school districts were described. Findings Results suggest that district leaders can promote the organizational social capital of their school districts through focusing on educational goals. In addition, the findings show that they can reinforce their impact by using interventions varying in coercion level, of which offering support to school principals appears to be “a golden button” to make organizational social capital thrive. Research limitations/implications Limitations to the study are the generalizability of the findings (they can be questioned because “convenience sampling” was used) and warrant a longitudinal design to examine how organization social capital develops over time. Originality/value The study is unique as it addresses the impact district leaders may have on their districts’ social capital by focusing on social network approach in the study of school district governance.

Impact of Litigation on Compliance With California Physical Education Laws in Elementary Schools

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 721-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah R. Thompson ◽  
Bhaani K. Singh ◽  
Annie Reed ◽  
Robert García ◽  
Monica Lounsbery ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Matched Control ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Unintended Consequence ◽  
Related Research ◽  
Youth Physical Activity ◽  
Accountability Mechanism ◽  
Effective Public Health

Background: School physical education (PE) is one of the most effective public health tools to increase youth physical activity, yet compliance with PE mandates is low. In an effort to ensure adherence to state PE law, a 2013 lawsuit was filed against 37 California school districts that were found to be noncompliant. This study sought to assess school personnel’s perceptions of the lawsuit’s impact on PE mandate compliance, understand barriers and facilitators to lawsuit compliance, and identify potential unintended consequences of the lawsuit. Methods: Phone interviews (n = 97) were conducted with personnel in districts/schools that were parties to the lawsuit and in matched control districts/schools that were not parties to the lawsuit. Results: Interviewees reported that PE minutes increased in schools that were parties to the lawsuit, primarily due to settlement requirements mandating PE tracking and reporting, thereby increasing accountability for PE. Time lost on paperwork was the most often cited barrier to compliance. Unwillingness to participate in PE-related research for fear of incrimination was the primary unintended consequence. Conclusions: When existing PE minute laws are not implemented or enforced, greater accountability is needed. In this case, litigation appears to be an effective accountability mechanism to increase compliance with law.

scholarly journals Retaining Science Teachers in Rural School Districts: Examining the Unintended Consequences of the No Child Left Behind Act

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
James R Harrington
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Rural School ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Rural School Districts ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
The Impact

Previous case studies find that rural school districts have been struggling to recruit and retain high quality teachers after the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Scholars and practitioners argue this labor market problem is even more dire in hard-to-recruit subject areas such as science and mathematics. While there is ample antidotal evidence, there is still no empirical studies that have leveraged a longitudinal dataset to estimate the impact of NCLB on teacher retention in rural school districts. To better examine the intended and unintended consequences of NCLB, this study leverages a longitudinal statewide panel dataset at the district level to examine the capability of rural school districts to recruit and retain science teachers. We find that rural school districts near metropolitan or micropolitan statistical areas employed fewer science teachers after the NCLB passage, while remote rural school districts did not experience a decline. This article highlights that rural school districts have differential effects on their ability to recruit and retain science teachers based on their proximity to urban areas.

Retrospective analysis of the resilience of Russian regions as socio-economic systems

2019 ◽  
pp. 46-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir V. Klimanov ◽  
Sofiya М. Kazakova ◽  
Anna A. Mikhaylova
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Financial Indicators ◽  
Russian Regions ◽  
Integral Index ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Economic Resilience ◽  
Correlation Dependence ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The article examines the impact of various socio-economic and financial indicators on the resilience of Russian regions. For each region, the integral index of resilience is calculated, and its correlation dependence with the selected indicators is revealed. The study confirms the relationship between fiscal resilience and socio-economic resilience of the regions. The analysis of panel data for 75 regions from 2007 to 2016 shows that there are significant differences in the dynamics of indicators in different periods. In particular, the degree of exposure to the negative effects of the crises of 2008—2009 and 2014—2015 in non-resilient regions is higher than in resilient ones.

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