Education Finance and Policy Journal

Linking Teacher Quality, Student Attendance, and Student Achievement Abstract. Research on the effectiveness of educational inputs, particularly research on teacher effectiveness, typically overlooks teachers’ potential impact on behavioral outcomes, such as student at...

From 2016, Seth Gershenson’s “Linking Teacher Quality, Student Attendance, and Student Achievement”—a top-cited Spencer Foundation study—shows that great teachers boost both learning and attendance, proving teaching is truly multidimensional.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/EDFP...
#EFP

The Effects of Charter High Schools on Academic Achievement and College Enrollment: Evidence from Los Angeles Abstract. This paper estimates the causal effects of enrollment in one of five oversubscribed high-quality Los Angeles charter schools using a lottery design. Enrolling in a charter school increased e...

Sarah J. Reber, Dennis Rünger & Mitchell D. Wong’s “The Effects of Charter High Schools on Academic Achievement and College Enrollment” find that attending high-quality LA charter schools boosts test scores and 4-year college enrollment—especially at UC campuses.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...

Assessing Principals’ Assessments: Subjective Evaluations of Teacher Effectiveness in Low- and High-Stakes Environments Abstract. Teacher effectiveness varies substantially, yet principals’ evaluations of teachers often fail to differentiate performance among teachers. We offer new evidence on principals’ subjective ev...

#FridayFeature: From 2017, Grissom & Loeb’s “Assessing Principals’ Assessments,” a top IES-funded study, shows that principals rate most teachers highly in both high- and low-stakes settings, though low-stakes evaluations reveal more nuance.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/EDFP...

Does Developmental Education Reform Help or Hinder the Success of Language Minority Students? An Exploration by Language Minority, ESOL, and Foreign-Born Status Abstract. Community colleges may face challenges supporting the unique needs of language minority (LM) students whose primary language is not English. Florida provides a unique context for examining w...

#ThrowbackThursday: From 2023, Mokher, Park-Gaghan & Hu find that Florida’s developmental education reform benefitted most students—but ESOL and foreign-born students gained the most from flexible pathways and added support.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#HigherEd

Supporting the STEM Pipeline: Linking Applied STEM Course-Taking in High School to Declaring a STEM Major in College Abstract. Recently, through the support from the Obama administration, the traditional STEM curricula (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in high schools are being updated with integra...

#FridayFeature: NSF-funded research by Michael A. Gottfried & Robert Bozick shows that high school students who take applied STEM courses like tech & engineering, are more likely to choose STEM majors in college.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/EDFP...
#STEMEducation #EdResearch

Public Schools and Their Pensions: How Is Pension Spending Affecting U.S. School Districts? Abstract. State and local government decisions about how school funding is raised and allocated have profound impacts on American public education, and in recent years, experts have documented large i...

Rising pension costs are reshaping U.S. school districts. Sarah F. Anzia’s “Public Schools and Their Pensions” finds districts boost revenue but cut staff, mainly non-teaching, as pension spending grows.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#TakeawayTuesday #EdResearch #SchoolFinance

Does School District Consolidation Cut Costs? Abstract. Consolidation has dramatically reduced the number of school districts in the United States. Using data from rural school districts in New York, this article provides the first direct estimat...

#FridayFeature: In “Does School District Consolidation Cut Costs?” Duncombe & Yinger find consolidation lowers per-pupil operating costs, but high adjustment costs—especially for capital spending, limit net savings.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#EFP #SchoolFinance #K12

Gaining, Losing, and Regaining Merit-based Scholarships Abstract. Georgia offers two merit-based scholarships to in-state college students: HOPE Scholarships, which provide partial tuition support, and Zell Miller Scholarships, which provide full tuition s...

#TakeawayTuesdayThrowback: In “Gaining, Losing, and Regaining Merit-based Scholarships,” Ribar & Rubenstein show that HOPE & Zell Miller awards are far from static—many students lose them, few regain them, and disparities by race, gender, and income persist.

Read more: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...

Hire Today, Gone Tomorrow: New Teacher Classroom Assignments and Teacher Mobility Abstract. This article explores whether new teachers are assigned to tough classrooms and whether such classroom assignment is associated with higher teacher mobility. It utilizes the statewide admini...

#FridayFeature: New teachers are often placed in tougher classrooms with more disadvantaged students—raising turnover rates. Li Feng’s “Hire Today, Gone Tomorrow” highlights how classroom assignments shape teacher mobility.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/EDFP...
#EFP #TeacherMobility #EducationPolicy

Gifted & Talented Programs and Racial Segregation Abstract. Racial segregation can occur not only between schools but also within schools, and there has been particular concern that gifted & talented (G&T) programs may increase within-school segregat...

#TakeawayTuesday: “Gifted & Talented Programs and Racial Segregation.” Owen Thompson found that G&T programs enroll disproportionately more White & Asian students, modestly increasing within-school segregation.
🔗: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#EFP #EducationPolicy #EquityInEducation #Diversity

Assessed by a Teacher Like Me: Race and Teacher Assessments Abstract. Do teachers assess same-race students more favorably? This paper uses nationally representative data on teacher assessments of student ability that can be compared with test scores to determ...

#FridayFeature: In “Assessed by a Teacher Like Me: Race and Teacher Assessments,” Amine Ouazad finds teachers assess same-race students more favorably, an effect seen as early as kindergarten through grade 5, even after controlling for test scores.
🔗: doi.org/10.1162/EDFP_a_00136

Leveraging Experimental and Observational Evidence to Assess the Generalizability of the Effects of Early Colleges in North Carolina Abstract. Early college high schools (ECHSs) in North Carolina are small public schools of choice on college campuses that seek to promote attaining postsecondary credits in high school, college readi...

#ThrowbackThursday: In EFP Volume 18, Issue 4, Fall 2023 article, Fuller, Lauen & Unlu find ECHS gains in college readiness & enrollment generalize beyond RCTs to all schools.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#EFP #EducationPolicy #CollegeReadiness

Teacher Quality and Teacher Mobility Abstract. There is growing concern among policy makers over the quality of the teacher workforce in general, and the distribution of effective teachers across schools. The impact of teacher attrition ...

#FridayFeature: In “Teacher Quality and Teacher Mobility,” Li Feng & Tim R. Sass find that top- and bottom-quartile teachers leave at higher rates than average ones, and effective teachers are more likely to stay when surrounded by strong peers.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/EDFP...

Assessing the Relative Progressivity of the Biden Administration's Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Proposal Abstract. We quantify the total stock of balances eligible for the Biden administration's 2022 student loan forgiveness proposal and examine which groups would have benefited most. Up to $442 billion ...

#TakeawayTuesday: In “Assessing the Relative Progressivity of the Biden Administration's Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Proposal,” Jacob Goss, Daniel Mangrum & Joelle Scally find up to $442B eligible, with younger, low-credit, Black & Hispanic borrowers benefiting most.
🔗: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...

#FridayFeature:
In “Peaks, Cliffs, and Valleys” (EFP), Robert M. Costrell and Michael Podgursky show how nonlinear pension incentives affect when teachers stay or retire—raising questions of efficiency, equity, and reform.
Read more:https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp.2009.4.2.175
#EFP

Private Schools and Student Achievement Abstract. We investigate the effects of private schools on reading and numeracy scores using rich population data. Conditional on lagged test scores and narrowly defined neighborhood indicators, Catho...

#ThrowbackThursday:
In “Private Schools and Student Achievement” (Fall 2023), Ebrahim Azimi, Jane Friesen, and Simon Woodcock find Catholic and non-Christian faith schools raise scores, while others show smaller or negligible effects.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#EFP

#FridayFeature: “Explaining Gaps in Readiness for College-Level Math: The Role of High School Courses” by Mark C. Long, Patrice Iatarola, and Dylan Conger.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...

#TakeawayTuesday: “Assessing the Relative Progressivity of the Biden Administration's Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Proposal” by Jacob Goss, Daniel Mangrum, and Joelle Scally.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#EFP

#FridayFeature: 2010 EFP article "Mix and Match: What Principals Really Look for When Hiring Teachers" by Douglas N. Harris, Stacey A. Rutledge, William K. Ingle, and Cynthia C. Thompson.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#EFP

AEFP invites applications for the editorship of EFP, the association’s flagship journal. Applications are due Nov 1. Read more about it here: aefpweb.org/callfore...

#TakeawayTuesday: “A Bridge to Graduation: Post-Secondary Effects of an Alternative Pathway for Students Who Fail High School Exit Exams," by Jane Arnold Lincove, Catherine Mata, and Kalena E. Cortes.
🔗: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#EFP

#FridayFeature: "Teacher Mobility, School Segregation, and Pay-Based Policies to Level the Playing Field" by Charles T. Clotfelter, Helen F. Ladd, and Jacob L. Vigdor, explores whether salary differentials address unequal teacher quality.
🔗: doi.org/10.1162/EDFP...
#EFP

#TakeawayTuesday: "Paying for Free Lunch: The Impact of CEP Universal Free Meals on Revenues, Spending, and Student Health," Michah W. Rothbart, Amy Ellen Schwartz, and Emily Gutierrez examine the fiscal and health impacts of the CEP.
🔗: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#EFP

#FridayFeature: "Does Teacher Evaluation Improve School Performance? Experimental Evidence from Chicago's Excellence in Teaching Project," by Matthew P. Steinberg and Lauren Sartain.
🔗: doi.org/10.1162/EDFP...
#EFP

#TakeawayTuesday: “CTE-Focused Dual Enrollment: Participation and Outcomes” by Julie A. Edmunds, Fatih Unlu, Brian Phillips, Christine Mulhern, and Bryan C. Hutchins. 
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#EFP

#FridayFeature: In "Development, Discouragement, or Diversion? New Evidence on the Effects of College Remediation Policy," Judith Scott-Clayton and Olga Rodriguez examine the complex role of remedial coursework in higher education.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/EDFP...
#EFP

#TakeawayTuesday: "Testing, Teacher Turnover, and the Distribution of Teachers Across Grades and Schools," Dillon Fuchsman, Tim R. Sass, and Gema Zamarro investigate whether high-stakes testing contributes to teacher attrition and mobility.
Link: doi.org/10.1162/edfp...
#EFP

#FridayFeature: “Does Student Sorting Invalidate Value-Added Models of Teacher Effectiveness?”, a 2011 study by Cory Koedel and Julian R. Betts, takes a closer look at a major critique of value-added models (VAMs) in education.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/EDFP...
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#FridayFeature: “Can Value-Added Measures of Teacher Performance Be Trusted?” by Cassandra M. Guarino, Mark D. Reckase, and Jeffrey M.
In this study, the authors evaluate how accurately value-added models estimate teacher effectiveness.
Read more: doi.org/10.1162/EDFP...
#EFP