scholarly journals Demographics, Fiscal Health, and School Quality: Shedding Light on School Closure Decisions

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherrilyn M. Billger
Keyword(s):  
School Quality ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Fiscal Health ◽  
Closure Decisions

scholarly journals Short-Run Impacts of Accountability on School Quality

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 119-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonah Rockoff ◽  
Lesley J Turner
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
York City ◽  
School Quality ◽  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Short Run

In the fall of 2007, New York City began using student tests and other measures to assign each school a grade (A to F), and linked grades to rewards and consequences, including possible school closure. These grades were released in late September, arguably too late for schools to make major changes in programs or personnel, and students were tested again in January (English) and March (math). Despite this time frame, regression discontinuity estimates indicate that receipt of a low grade significantly increased student achievement, more so in math than English, and improved parental evaluations of school quality. (JEL H75, I21, I28, J45)

Predicting School Closures in an Era of Austerity: The Case of Chicago

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Weber ◽  
Stephanie Farmer ◽  
Mary Donoghue
Keyword(s):  
Central Business District ◽  
Capital Budgeting ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Public Facilities ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Multinomial Logit Models ◽  
Business District ◽  
Closure Decisions

What factors do administrators consider when (dis)investing in public facilities? We model school closure decisions in Chicago from 2003 to 2013 with multinomial logit models that estimate the decision to close or “turnaround” schools as a function of building, student, geographic, political, and neighborhood factors during two mayoral administrations. The results from our specifications validate the “official” rationale for closures and turnarounds: Low test scores are associated with closures and turnarounds under Mayor Daley, and underutilization is associated with closures under Mayor Emanuel. However, our findings also reveal some distance between technical-rational decision making and the realities of capital budgeting under austerity. The race of students and proximity to both the Central Business District and charter schools also predicted closures. This suggests multiple, potentially conflicting, interests that school districts balance to serve the needs of school-age populations and taxpayers and also the potential for burdening already vulnerable populations with the negative effects of disinvestment.

The Effects of Consistency among Simultaneous Forecasts on Weather-Related Decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
Chen Su ◽  
Jessica N. Burgeno ◽  
Susan Joslyn
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Telephone ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Weather Event ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Computerized Task ◽  
Closure Decisions ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
User Trust

AbstractPeople access weather forecasts from multiple sources [mobile telephone applications (“apps”), newspapers, and television] that are not always in agreement for a particular weather event. The experiment reported here investigated the effects of inconsistency among forecasts on user trust, weather-related decisions, and confidence in user decisions. In a computerized task, participants made school-closure decisions on the basis of snow forecasts from different sources and answered a series of questions about each forecast. Inconsistency among simultaneous forecasts did not significantly reduce trust, although inaccuracy did. Moreover, inconsistency may convey useful information to decision-makers. Not only do participants appear to incorporate the information provided by all forecasts into their own estimates of the outcome, but our results also suggest that inconsistency gives rise to the impression of greater uncertainty, which leads to more cautious decisions. The implications for decisions in a variety of domains are discussed.

Student Interpretations of a School Closure: Implications for Student Voice in Equity-Based School Reform

2011 ◽  
Vol 113 (8) ◽  
pp. 1633-1667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Kirshner ◽  
Kristen M. Pozzoboni
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
School Reform ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
School Quality ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
School Students

Background/Context School closure is becoming an increasingly common policy response to underperforming urban schools. Districts typically justify closure decisions by pointing to schools’ low performance on measures required by No Child Left Behind. Closures disproportionately fall on schools with high percentages of poor and working-class students of color. Few studies have examined how students interpret or respond to school closures. Purpose Our purpose was to document narratives articulated by students about the closure of their high school. Doing so is important because students, particularly students of color from low-income families, are often left out of policy decisions that affect their lives. Population/Participants Research participants were recruited from the population of youth who had attended the closed school and who remained in the district during the subsequent year. Twenty-three percent of students at the school were African American, 75% were Latino, and 2% were White. Over 90% of students were eligible for free and reduced lunch. A total of 106 students responded to surveys and peer interviews, and 12 youth who had dropped out of school participated in focus groups. Research Design This was a youth participatory action research (YPAR) study, designed collaboratively by former Jefferson students, university researchers, and adult community members. Data sources included open-ended surveys, peer interviews, focus groups, and field notes describing public events and YPAR meetings. Findings Our data show that most respondents did not agree with the decision to close their school. Student disagreement surfaced two counternarratives. First, students critiqued the way the decision was made—they felt excluded from the decision-making process that led to closure. Second, they critiqued the rationale for the decision, which suggested that students needed to be rescued from a failing school. Students articulated features of Jefferson that they valued, such as trusting relationships with adults, connection to place, and sense of belonging, which they felt were discounted by the decision. Conclusions/Recommendations Evidence from this study lends support to developmental and political justifications for robust youth participation in equity-based school reform. By developmental justification, we mean evidence that young people were ready to participate, which counters discourses about youth as immature or unprepared. By political justification, we mean evidence that youth articulated interests that were discounted in the decision-making process and that challenged normative assumptions about school quality. In our conclusion, we point to examples of expanded roles that students could play in decision-making processes.

The Effects of School Closure Threats on Student Performance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Ming Chiu ◽  
Sung Wook Joh ◽  
Lawrence Khoo
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
School Quality ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Excess Capacity ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Mainland Chinese ◽  
1997 Handover ◽  
The Government

Abstract We exploit a natural experiment to test whether school closure threats can increase staff effort and improve performance. The Hong Kong government overestimated post-1997-Handover mainland Chinese immigration and local births, creating excess capacity in many school districts. In 2003, with student enrollment falling to new lows (increasing cost per student), the government announced that it would close schools that were unable to recruit enough students. Since schools compete for students within their own district, the accidental excess capacity created closure threats that varied by district. Difference-in-differences analyses show that after initiation of this policy, student scores in heavily overbuilt districts were lower than scores in other districts and lowest in districts with the fewest students per class. Although closure threats were counterproductive for improving performance, the school closures eventually improved overall school quality, as typically, the lowest performing schools in each district closed.

SEKOLAH GRATIS DAN MUTU SEKOLAH: STUDI KASUS DI SMAN 2 BABAT TOMAN MUSI BANYUASIN SUMSEL

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Afriantoni Afriantoni ◽  
Ibrahim Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
School Quality ◽  
School Policy ◽  
School Education ◽  
Education Quality ◽  
Free School ◽  
School Costs

This study aimed to describe in depth between the link of school policy and the school quality improvement. The method in this study is a qualitative method using the case study presented descriptively. This research was conducted at SMA Negeri 2 Babat Tomat Kabupaten Musi Banyuasin. Based on this study it was found that the First, free school policy can help the economy / ease the burden of school costs to be incurred by the parents. Second, the policy constraints of the application for free school educa-tion at SMAN 2 Babat Toman is not very effective, so that the students' interest is not increasing, infrastructure is one of the obstacles in the implementation of free school education, how the quality of schools will be increased if it is not supported by facilities and complete infrastructure. Third, the quality of school education free SMAN 2 Babat Toman already realized well with regard to input, input turns unselected maximum, that is the students. Fourth, the implementation of free school education in Banyuasin, the quality of school SMAN 2 Babat Toman Muba Sumsel was not increased. This means that the implementation for free school education quality of school SMAN 2 Babat Toman was not increased.Keywords : free schools, school quality, case studies

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