scholarly journals Feeling the Florida Heat? How Low-Performing Schools Respond to Voucher and Accountability Pressure

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Elena Rouse ◽  
Jane Hannaway ◽  
Dan Goldhaber ◽  
David Figlio
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Instructional Practices ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Test Score ◽  
School Accountability ◽  
Low Performing Schools ◽  
Accountability System ◽  
Public Elementary Schools ◽  
New Evidence

While numerous studies have found that school accountability boosts test scores, it is uncertain whether estimated test score gains reflect genuine improvements or merely “gaming” behaviors. This paper brings to bear new evidence from a unique five-year, three-round survey conducted of a census of public elementary schools in Florida that is linked with detailed administrative data on student performance. We show that schools facing accountability pressure changed their instructional practices in meaningful ways, and that these responses can explain a portion of the test score gains associated with the Florida school accountability system. (JEL H75, I21, I28)

scholarly journals The Promise and Pitfalls of Using Imprecise School Accountability Measures

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 91-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J Kane ◽  
Douglas O Staiger
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Small Schools ◽  
Market Value ◽  
School Accountability ◽  
School Level ◽  
Accountability Systems ◽  
Accountability Measures

In recent years, most states have constructed elaborate accountability systems using school-level test scores. However, because the median elementary school contains only 69 children per grade level, such measures are quite imprecise. We evaluate the implications for school accountability systems. For instance, rewards or sanctions for schools with scores at either extreme primarily affect small schools and provide weak incentives to large ones. Nevertheless, we conclude that accountability systems may be worthwhile. Even in states with aggressive financial incentives, the marginal reward to schools for raising student performance is a small fraction of the potential labor market value for students.

An Examination of Test Score Trajectories Around School Switching Due to Grade Configuration

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-75
Author(s):  
Richard W. DiSalvo
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Test Score ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Grade Configuration ◽  
American Education ◽  
National Data ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Student Academic Performance ◽  
Grade Configurations ◽  
New Evidence

Do grade configurations affect student academic performance? To bring new evidence to this question, I use recent district-by-grade data for nearly the entire United States which contain measures of test score achievement and rates of school switching induced by grade configuration. Past research has found that student performance is on average relatively low following switches due to grade configuration, but in fact students perform relatively better in the grades just prior to these switches. In the national data, I find that this so-called “top dog/bottom dog” pattern appears for all terminal grade choices among grades 3 through 8, is geographically widespread, and is robust to controlling for grade-specific effects of a rich set of covariates. Thus I establish that the top dog/bottom dog pattern is a very pervasive phenomenon in American education. I explore potential mechanisms and discuss policy and research implications.

scholarly journals Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Accreditation:Impact on Elementary Student Performance

2004 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Darlene Y. Bruner ◽  
Lance Lamar Brantley
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Reading Achievement ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Multiple Regression Model ◽  
Fifth Grade ◽  
Elementary Student ◽  
Public Elementary Schools ◽  
Significant Difference

Currently, 848 Georgia public elementary schools that house third- and fifth-grades in the same building use the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) accreditation as a school improvement model. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether elementary schools that are SACS accredited increased their levels of academic achievement at a higher rate over a five-year period than elementary schools that were not SACS accredited as measured by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). Independent variables included accreditation status, socioeconomic status (SES) of schools, and baseline scores of academic achievement. Dependent variables included mathematics and reading achievement scores. There was a statistically significant difference found when examining the SES of schools and baseline scores of the elementary schools. SACS accredited elementary schools had higher SES and higher baseline scores in third- and fifth grade mathematics and reading. However, the multiple regression model indicated no statistically significant differences in gain scores between SACS accredited and non-SACS accredited elementary schools in third- and fifth-grade mathematics and reading achievement during the five year period examined in this study.

scholarly journals The “Pupil” Factory: Specialization and the Production of Human Capital in Schools

2018 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 616-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland G. Fryer
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Reading Test ◽  
Potential Productivity ◽  
Public Elementary Schools ◽  
Randomized Field Experiment ◽  
Average Impact ◽  
Reading Test Scores

I conducted a randomized field experiment in traditional public elementary schools in Houston, Texas designed to test the potential productivity benefits of teacher specialization. The average impact of encouraging schools to specialize their teachers on student achievement is −0.11 standard deviations per year on a combined index of math and reading test scores. I argue that the results are consistent with a model in which the benefits of specialization driven by sorting teachers into a subset of subjects based on comparative advantage is outweighed by inefficient pedagogy due to having fewer interactions with each student, though other mechanisms are possible. (JEL D31, E32, J22, J24, J31)

The Gender-bias Effect of Test Scoring and Framing: A Concern for Personnel Selection and College Admission

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Paz Espinosa ◽  
Javier Gardeazabal
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Gender Bias ◽  
Personnel Selection ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
College Admission ◽  
Bias Effect ◽  
Multiple Choice Tests ◽  
Choice Tests ◽  
Correction For Guessing

AbstractThis paper analyzes gender differences in student performance in Multiple-Choice Tests (MCT). We report evidence from a field experiment suggesting that, when MCT use a correction for guessing formula to obtain test scores, on average women tend to omit more items, get less correct answers and lower grades than men. We find that the gender difference in average test scores is concentrated at the upper tail of the distribution of scores. In addition, gender differences strongly depend on the framing of the scoring rule.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document