A Research-Based Case For Florida’s Education Reforms
Advocates of the so-called “Florida Formula,” a package of market-based reforms enacted throughout the 1990s and 2000s, some of which are now spreading rapidly in other states, traveled to Michigan this week to make their case to the state’s lawmakers, with particular emphasis on Florida’s school grading system. In addition to arguments about accessibility and parental involvement, their empirical (i.e., test-based) evidence consisted largely of the standard, invalid claims that cross-sectional NAEP increases prove the reforms’ effectiveness, along with a bonus appearanceof the argument that since Florida starting grading schools, the grades have improved, even though this is largely (and demonstrably) a result of changes in the formula.
As mentioned in a previous post, I continue to be perplexed at advocates’ insistence on using this “evidence,” even though there is a decent amount of actual rigorous policy research available, much of it positive.
So, I thought it would be fun, though slightly strange, for me to try on my market-based reformer cap, and see what it would look like if this kind of testimony about the Florida reforms was actually research-based (at least the test-based evidence). Here’s a very rough outline of what I came up with:
- One of the big conundrums in social policy is that lawmakers and the public demand evidence that policies work before supporting them, but also that you have to try policies before you know whether they work. Florida was an earlier adopter of some of the education reforms spreading across the nation today. As a result, they have been around long enough to be subject to some strong policy evaluation, which might inform the rest of the nation, including your state.
- The evidence thus far, though tentative, is encouraging. Specifically:
1. There is some indication (also here, here and here) that the A-F grading system, as part of a larger accountability system, led to modest but statistically discernible improvements in the performance of the small number of schools receiving the lowest grades. These improvements do not appear to be entirely the result of undesirable “gaming” behaviors, such as teaching to the test; (but, as is often the case in test-