David Houston

University students who were provided with a free gym card (in a randomized experiment) exercised more and had a significant improvement in academic performance. The treated students were also less likely to drop out of classes
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....

Line graph showing cumulative state adoption of chiropractic boards over time

I'm John Fallon, a labor economist on the job market. My JMP uncovers something wild: when chiropractors got licensed in the early 1900s, medical boards responded by making it HARDER to become a doctor.

Why would competition lead to stricter regulations?
🧵

john-fallon-econ.com

(1/9)

i'm not really a Star Wars person but I would 100% go to the webinar on sampling hard-to-reach planets

That standards-based reform altered culture of schooling in a way that had consequences for kids' mental heath = interesting and not entirely implausible hypothesis that is profoundly difficult to test (and, contrary to the author, is relative well-trodden ground)

This article, however, ain't it

Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges* Abstract. We use anonymized admissions data from several colleges linked to income tax records and SAT and ACT test scores to study the determinants and ca

Recently accepted by #QJE, “Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges,” by Chetty (@Oppinsights), Deming, and Friedman: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...

Saving this for myself — nice, concise account of the intersection between ideology and partisan sorting

Excited to share that I'm writing a book: a history of the debates over funding public schools from the 1960's to now.
(Yes the working title is tongue in cheek.)

Now I just need to finish writing—stay tuned!

And if you want to follow my work, you can do so here: www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/...

Early Grade Retention Harms Adult Earnings (Forthcoming Article) - This paper provides new causal evidence on the effects of grade retention on educational attainment, behavioral outcomes, and labor market performance by analyzing Texas’s read...

Forthcoming in AEJ: Applied Economics: "Early Grade Retention Harms Adult Earnings" by Jiee Zhong. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

📢 New postdoc opportunity at Annenberg!

The Annenberg Institute is seeking a postdoctoral research associate for a 2‐year appointment to join a diverse community of scholars committed to educational equity and improvement!

More info here: annenberg.brown.edu/opportunitie...

new paper by Sean Westwood:

With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research

Atkinson Hyperlegible Font - Braille Institute Read easier with Atkinson Hyperlegible Font, crafted for low-vision readers. Download for free and enjoy clear letters and numbers on your computer!

periodic reminder of the existence of Atkinson Hyperlegible, a free font available from the Braille Institute designed to improve readability for people with low vision

I use it in talks because it's pretty and also because, as an audience member, I am perpetually squinting at people's slides

Update your syllabus and stay on the frontier - it will increase your students’ wages. Epic work by my colleagues @barbarabiasi.com and @profsongma.bsky.social #linkoftheday

www.barbarabiasi.com/uploads/1/0/...

Happy to say that the reading/teaching guide for Unequal Lessons is now live! It's chockful of prompts and resources for folks who are using the book in reading groups or classes.

You can find it on the NYU Press book page or access it directly here:
nyu.app.box.com/s/hcffzukiyq...

We’re still fighting about pandemic-era school closures — but do they still matter? Short answer: yes, but only a bit.

Short answer: yes, but only a bit.

I know that the job market is rough this year for Econ PhDs. @utoronto.ca has expanded its postdoc funding. If you are on the market and work on school finance or early childhood education and are interested in a PostDoc, let me know! #econsky #educsky postdoc.sgs.utoronto.ca/current-post...

Administrative Designs and Access to Political Arenas in Public Education What administrative and political features render spaces of political action publicly accessible? Drawing on Schattschneider's core elements of visibility and scope, we offer a framework to identify ...

How do administrative designs shape access to democracy? We analyze U.S. school district websites and meetings to show how bureaucracy and group mobilization facilitate access to school board info and the democratic process. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @jonathanecollins.bsky.social

Here's my thread of this year's new scholars in Economics of Education and Education Policy.

These PhD students and postdocs are on the job market, so take a look (and spread the word to others who might benefit from exposure).

And now onto the scholars... 👇

Is college enrollment plummeting? Reports of the death of the bachelor’s degree have been greatly exaggerated.

Popular discourse attributes falling college enrollments to the rising cost of four-year college.

That story is wrong in multiple ways, as @mattbarnum.bsky.social points out in his latest roundup of the evidence (citing a new working paper of ours):

www.chalkbeat.org/2025/11/11/i...

Twenty Years of DQC - Data Quality Campaign Twenty Years of DQC For two decades, the Data Quality Campaign has been the preeminent voice advocating for transforming the role of data to ensure that people can make education and workforce decisio...

It’s an honor to serve as Chair of the Board for the @dqcdata.bsky.social as we celebrate 20 years of making data work for policymakers, families, and communities.

Hear my and other leaders' thoughts about the continued importance of DQC's work here: dataqualitycampaign.org/about/twenty...

5 years post-pandemic, Massachusetts public schools have seen sustained enrollment declines. Is this a temporary disruption, or did the pandemic change how families evaluate schools?

@joshua-goodman.com, Abigail Francis, & James Wyckoff will dig into the data with Susanna Loeb.

buff.ly/dByipCW

Teaching About Schooling: Integrating Education Politics into Political Science Curricula Education is a vital tenet of a democratic society, equipping citizens with the skills necessary to self-govern. Individuals also experience K12 education policy consistently throughout their lives...

Here's the published, peer-reviewed version:

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Are you a political scientist who studies/teaches education policy? Read this. Use it to improve your syllabi.

Are you an education researcher who studies/teaches politics? Read this. Use it to improve your syllabi.

@camarnzen.bsky.social and @chloeoneill.bsky.social explore how political science courses can better integrate education politics into the curriculum in “Teaching About Schooling: Integrating Education Politics into Political Science Curricula.”

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1551...

Screenshot of working paper: The Consequences of Faculty Sexual Misconduct

📣 New NBER Working Paper out today 📣

"The Consequences of Faculty Sexual Misconduct"
Sarah Cohodes & Katherine Leu

What we're watching: A new take on "Frankenstein," a lavish legal drama starring Kim Kardashian and a Tracy Morgan-led spinoff.

sometimes an Oxford comma can make all the difference

What are the tradeoffs of one-on-one vs. small group (3:1) tutoring in an online setting?

We ran an RCT and surveyed tutors working in both conditions to find out.

Now out in EEPA
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...

@annenberginstitute.bsky.social working paper
edworkingpapers.com/ai24-976

🧵

"it reframes the teacher shortage not only as a question of supply, but also as an issue of status and opportunity, raising important questions about how to recruit, support, and elevate teaching to make it both accessible and appealing to the next generation."

edworkingpapers.com/policy-pract...

I'd love to help make BlueSky one of the places where young scholars introduce themselves and their work to the world.

If you're a PhD student whose work at least partially focuses on economics of education or education policy, reply to this thread and I'll highlight your work.

NOTICE: Service Disruption NCES.ED.GOV is currently unavailable due to a service disruption. We greatly appreciate your patience as this issue is resolved. Please check back shortly.

ruh roh

📢 #EdWorkingPapers: Bathroom security or surveillance?

@drsamviano.bsky.social & colleagues find that schools increasingly treat restrooms as sites of control, using vape detectors & staff patrols. Students are skeptical; administrators are supportive.

📄 edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1307