Education Research Report

THIS WEEK 
Education Research Report

Computer simulation to the identification of symptoms in children with ADHD

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

The introduction of computer simulation to the identification of symptoms in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has potential to provide an additional objective tool to gauge the presence and severity of behavioral problems, Ohio State University researchers suggest in a new publication. Most mental health disorders are diagnosed and treated based on clinical interviews

Head Start generated large increases in adult human capital and economic self-sufficiency

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

This paper evaluates the long-run effects of Head Start using large-scale, restricted 2000-2018 Census-ACS data linked to the SSA’s Numident file, which contains exact date and county of birth. Using the county rollout of Head Start between 1965 and 1980 and age-eligibility cutoffs for school entry, the study finds that , including a 0.65-year increase in schooling, a 2.7-percent increase in high

Why Does the U.S. Have the Best Research Universities?

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

Incentives, Resources, and Virtuous Circles: Around 1875 the U.S. had none of the world’s leading research universities; today, it accounts for the majority of the top-ranked. Many observers cite events surrounding World War II as the source of this reversal. This study presents evidence that U.S. research universities had surpassed most countries’ decades before WWII. An explanation of their dom

Growing educational inequality during the pandemic

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

What are the effects of school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic on children's education? Online education is an imperfect substitute for in-person learning, particularly for children from low-income families. Peer effects also change: schools allow children from different socio-economic backgrounds to mix together, and this effect is lost when schools are closed. Another factor is the respon

Large spillover effects from a large-scale early childhood intervention on educational attainment

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

This study leverages insights from sociology to explore the role of neighborhoods on human capital formation at an early age by estimating the spillover effects from a large-scale early childhood intervention on the educational attainment of over 2,000 disadvantaged children in the United States. The study documents large spillover effects on both treatment and control children who live near trea

Little to no equity-producing effects of the Texas Top 10% Plan over its 18-year period

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

The Top 10% Plan admissions policy has now been in place in Texas for over two decades. This study analyzes 18 years of post-Top 10% Plan data to look for evidence of increased access to the selective Texas flagship campuses among all Texas high schools, providing a detailed description of changes in enrollment patterns at the flagship campuses from Texas high schools after the implementation of

A National Study of School Spending and House Prices

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

This is the first national study of the causal impact of school spending and local taxes on housing prices by pairing variation induced by school finance reforms with 25 years of national data on housing prices. The analysis speaks to two classic questions in economics: whether school spending matters and whether it is provided at efficient levels. The results indicate that households highly valu

Schools: early executive functions, but not cognitive skills, predict the likelihood of receiving disciplinary referrals

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

This study uses field experiments with nearly 900 children to investigate how skills developed at ages 3-5 drive later-life outcomes. The researchers find that skills map onto three distinct factors - cognitive skills, executive functions, and economic preferences. Returning to the children up to 7 years later, they find that executive functions, but not cognitive skills, predict the likelihood o

When Equity Is Optional: School Accountability Systems Fail to Help Most Vulnerable Students Under ESSA

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 8d

Five years into the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are doing a wildly varied job of serving vulnerable students and closing persistent gaps required by the law, new analyses from the Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed) show. With the Biden administration taking office next month amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the data in All4Ed’s When Equity Is Optional reports shows

Teacher Preparation's Diversity Problem

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 11d

Closing the teacher diversity gap is one of the most important steps we can take to make public education more equitable. But as many school systems across the country have prioritized the issue, one institution has largely escaped scrutiny: teacher preparation programs. This report uses data from the U.S. Department of Education to compare the demographics of each state's teacher preparation pro

Postsecondary enrollments declined 2.5 percent

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 11d

Complete report Overall postsecondary enrollments declined 2.5 percent in fall 2020, nearly twice the rate of enrollment decline reported in fall 2019. Undergraduate enrollment was the primary driver for this decline, decreasing 3.6 percent or over 560,200 students from 2019. Most notable is the public two-year sector, which suffered the most from enrollment decline this fall while all other majo

School Closures During the 1918 Flu Pandemic

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 11d

The COVID-19 pandemic has reignited interest in responses to the 1918-19 influenza pandemic, the last comparable U.S. public health emergency. During both pandemics, many state and local governments made the controversial decision to close schools. This study examines the short- and long-run effects of 1918-19 pandemic-related school closures on children. The authors find precise null effects of

Lead Exposure Reduces Academic Performance

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 11d

This study leverages a natural experiment, where a large national automotive racing organization switched from leaded to unleaded fuel, to study how ambient lead exposure and nutrition impact learning in elementary school. The average race emitted more than 10 kilograms of lead — a quantity sim

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