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Articles 1 - 30 of 37
Full-Text Articles in Education
Helping Hand Or A Hurdle Too High? An Evaluation Of Developmental Coursework At Arkansas's Flagship University, Evan Rhinesmith
Helping Hand Or A Hurdle Too High? An Evaluation Of Developmental Coursework At Arkansas's Flagship University, Evan Rhinesmith
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
High school graduation serves as an important gateway to increased professional opportunities. Not only does a high school graduate improve the national economy, a high school diploma is the key to opening the door to college. However, obtaining a high school degree does not necessarily ensure college readiness. In fact, many high school graduates are not prepared for college coursework, but still apply to and attend college in our college for all system. The class of 2013 saw only 38 percent of students test at a level considered prepared for college on the reading portion of the NAEP, but the …
Promises Fulfilled? A Systematic Review Of The Impacts Of Promise Programs, Elise Swanson, Angela Watson, Gary W. Ritter, Malachi Nichols
Promises Fulfilled? A Systematic Review Of The Impacts Of Promise Programs, Elise Swanson, Angela Watson, Gary W. Ritter, Malachi Nichols
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
This review examines the existing evidence on the impacts of Promise Programs on community development, K-12 academic achievement, and student postsecondary outcomes. Promise Programs are place-based, guaranteed college scholarships offered to all students who graduate from a certain school or district while meeting the minimum thresholds of the program. We delineate Promise Programs by their design - whether the scholarships are available to all students, are awarded based on merit, or are awarded based on need. We also note the applicability of Promise Programs - whether the funds be used at a wide range of postsecondary institutions, or if they …
Whether To Approve An Education Savings Account Program In Texas: Preventing Crime Does Pay, Corey A. Deangelis, Patrick J. Wolf
Whether To Approve An Education Savings Account Program In Texas: Preventing Crime Does Pay, Corey A. Deangelis, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Decision-makers in Texas have proposed an Education Savings Account (ESA) that would allow all families to take a fraction of their public education financing to a school of their choice. If the ESA funding amount exceeds the school tuition level, families would be able to use these funds for other educational expenses such as tutoring, textbooks, educational therapy, online learning, and college costs. While this is may be viewed as obvious benefits to individual children and their families, the impacts on society overall are less clear. We estimate the impact of the proposed ESA on criminality from 2016 to 2035. …
Integration In Little Rock Area, Part 5: Are Students Moves More Integrative Or Segregative?, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Integration In Little Rock Area, Part 5: Are Students Moves More Integrative Or Segregative?, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
School integration has been a contentious policy issue in Little Rock since the 1950s. Recent charter expansions have raised questions about the current level of integration in public schools (charter and traditional) in the Little Rock metro area. As part of our series on integration in Little Rock, this brief examines the impact of student moves on the overall level of integration in the Little Rock area public school system.
Integration In Little Rock, Part 2: Racial And Socioeconomic Integration In Little Rock Metro Area Public Schools, Elise Swanson, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Integration In Little Rock, Part 2: Racial And Socioeconomic Integration In Little Rock Metro Area Public Schools, Elise Swanson, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Arkansas Education Reports
This report is a continuation of our analysis of racial and socioeconomic integration and segregation in the Little Rock Area between 2008-09 and 2014-15. The Little Rock Metropolitan Area is characterized by a variety of schooling options for students and families, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, private schools, and homeschooling. In this report, we focus on the current level of racial and socioeconomic integration in traditional public schools and charter schools, as well how student moves into and out of public schools in the Little Rock Area affect levels of integration in the schools they choose to leave …
Integration In The Little Rock Area, Part 4: What Is The Current Level Of Integration In Little Rock?, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Integration In The Little Rock Area, Part 4: What Is The Current Level Of Integration In Little Rock?, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
School integration has been a contentious policy issue in Little Rock since the 1950s. Recent charter expansions have raised questions about the current level of integration in public schools (charter and traditional) in the Little Rock Area. As part of our series on integration in Little Rock, this brief examines the prevalence of hyper segregated white, black, and economically disadvantaged schools, and calculates the average difference between school demographics and the area’s demographics.
Integration In The Little Rock Area, Part 3: Where Do Students Move?, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Integration In The Little Rock Area, Part 3: Where Do Students Move?, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
School integration has been a contentious policy issue in Little Rock since the 1950s. Recent charter expansions have raised questions about the current level of integration in public schools (charter and traditional) in the Little Rock Area. As part of our series on integration in Little Rock, this brief examines the differences in school-level demographics and academics between the schools students leave and the schools these students enter
Integration In The Little Rock Area, Part 2: Disproportionalities Among Student Movers, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Integration In The Little Rock Area, Part 2: Disproportionalities Among Student Movers, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
School integration has been a contentious policy issue in Little Rock since the 1950s. Recent charter expansions have raised questions about the current level of integration in public schools (charter and traditional) in the Little Rock Area. As part of our series on integration in Little Rock, this brief examines the demographics and academic performance of students switching between public school sectors, and disproportionate representation of certain students among sector switchers
Integration In Little Rock, Part 1: Patterns Of Enrollment And Characteristics Of Student Movers, Elise Swanson, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Integration In Little Rock, Part 1: Patterns Of Enrollment And Characteristics Of Student Movers, Elise Swanson, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Arkansas Education Reports
This report examines trends in racial and socioeconomic composition of public schools in the Little Rock area between 2008-09 and 2014-15. The Little Rock metropolitan area is characterized by a variety of schooling options for students and families, including multiple traditional public school districts, public charter schools, private schools, and homeschooling. We examine the demographics of each public sector in the area, and whether students who move are representative of the sector they choose to exit. This report is structured around two main research questions.
Integration In The Little Rock Area, Part 1: Demographic Trends In Enrollment, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Integration In The Little Rock Area, Part 1: Demographic Trends In Enrollment, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
School integration has been a contentious policy issue in Little Rock since the 1950s. Recent charter expansions have raised questions about the current level of integration in public schools (charter and traditional) in the Little Rock Area. As an introduction to this work, we begin by examining broad changes in enrollment before we drill down in later briefs and study the impacts of individual moves
Cross-Subsidization Of Teacher Pension Normal Cost: The Case Of Calstrs, Robert M. Costrell, Josh B. Mcgee
Cross-Subsidization Of Teacher Pension Normal Cost: The Case Of Calstrs, Robert M. Costrell, Josh B. Mcgee
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Under traditional defined benefit pension plans, annual contributions are set at a uniform percentage of pay to fund accruing benefits. That normal cost rate masks wide variation in the cost of individual benefits, generating an extensive and non-transparent pattern of cross-subsidization. We provide a comprehensive analysis of cross-subsidies in employer contributions across all entry and exit ages. The gains and losses of winners and losers must add up to zero, and we explain why they do not in some previous work, which claims that nearly all teachers are winners in the California Teachers Retirement System. To the contrary, we find …
Boosting Graduation Rates In Texas Through Education Savings Accounts, Patrick J. Wolf
Boosting Graduation Rates In Texas Through Education Savings Accounts, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Graduating from high school is a crucial outcome for young people. Unfortunately, 12 percent of Texas students fail to earn the vital credential of a high school diploma. Private school choice has a proven track record of increasing graduation rates. In this study I draw upon prior research, Texas demographics, and conservative assumptions to forecast that the launch of a universal private school choice program in the form of Education Savings Accounts in the fall of 2017 would generate 11,809 additional high school graduates in the Lone Star State by 2022. In other words, of those students attending high school …
Kids Vs. Adults: Using Observations And Student Surveys To Evaluate The Arkansas Teacher Corps, Elise Swanson, Gary W. Ritter
Kids Vs. Adults: Using Observations And Student Surveys To Evaluate The Arkansas Teacher Corps, Elise Swanson, Gary W. Ritter
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
This study is an evaluation of the Arkansas Teacher Corps, an alternative teacher certification program that places teachers in high needs schools in rural, southern Arkansas. This evaluation focuses on an intermediate goal of the organization — effective teaching practices — and uses a matching strategy to determine the effectiveness of Arkansas Teacher Corps Fellows. Data comes from third party observations and student surveys. ATC teachers are rated significantly higher on constructs of content knowledge, teacher-student relationships in class, and teacher-student relationships out of class by students. There are no significant differences between ATC and non-ATC teachers noted by observers …
When Students Don't Care: Reexamining International Differences In Achievement And Non-Cognitive Skills, Gema Zamarro, Collin Hitt, Ildefonso Mendez
When Students Don't Care: Reexamining International Differences In Achievement And Non-Cognitive Skills, Gema Zamarro, Collin Hitt, Ildefonso Mendez
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Policy debates in education are often framed by using international test scores, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The obvious presumption is that observed differences in test scores within and across countries reflect differences in cognitive skills and general content knowledge, the things which achievement tests are designed to measure. We challenge this presumption, by studying how much of the within-country and between-country variation in PISA test scores is associated with student effort, rather than true academic content knowledge. Drawing heavily on recent literature, we posit that our measures of student effort are actually proxy measures of …
Postsecondary Remediation And Rogers’ Academic Guarantee, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Postsecondary Remediation And Rogers’ Academic Guarantee, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
Over a decade ago, Rogers School District implemented a policy called the Academic Conclusion P.4 Guarantee, promising to reimburse eligible graduates who have to enroll in remedial courses in college. In this brief, we examine Arkansas’s college remediation policy, Rogers’ policy, and how this might affect other Arkansas school districts.
Graduation Rates In Arkansas: An Updated Analysis, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Graduation Rates In Arkansas: An Updated Analysis, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Arkansas Education Reports
High school graduation rate has become an increasingly important measure of school performance over the past fifteen years. Graduation is an important event, as studies have shown that failing to graduate from high school is associated with several negative consequences including lower lifetime wages, poorer health, and an increased likelihood of incarceration. This paper examines several district- and school-level variables that may impact the high school graduation rate in a given school, district or region.
Personality As A Predictor Of Unit Nonresponse In Panel Data: An Analysis Of An Internet-Based Survey, Albert Cheng, Gema Zamarro, Bart Orriens
Personality As A Predictor Of Unit Nonresponse In Panel Data: An Analysis Of An Internet-Based Survey, Albert Cheng, Gema Zamarro, Bart Orriens
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Unit nonresponse or attrition in panel data sets is often a source of nonrandom measurement error. Why certain individuals attrite from longitudinal studies and how to minimize this phenomenon have been examined by researchers. However, this research has typically focused on data sets collected via telephone, postal mail, or face-to-face interviews. Moreover, this research usually focuses on using demographic characteristics such as educational attainment or income to explain variation in the incidence of unit nonresponse. We make two contributions to the existing literature. First, we examine the incidence of unit nonresponse in an internet panel, a relatively new, and hence …
Comparing Performance Of Methods To Deal With Differential Attrition In Lottery Based Evaluations, Gema Zamarro, Kaitlin Anderson, Jennifer L. Steele, Trey Miller
Comparing Performance Of Methods To Deal With Differential Attrition In Lottery Based Evaluations, Gema Zamarro, Kaitlin Anderson, Jennifer L. Steele, Trey Miller
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
In randomized controlled trials, it is common for attrition rates to differ by lottery status, jeopardizing the identification of causal effects. Inverse probability weighting methods (Hirano et al, 2003; Busso et al., 2014) and estimation of informative bounds for the treatment effects (e.g. Lee, 2009; Angrist et al., 2006) have been used frequently to deal with differential attrition bias. This paper studies the performance of various methods by comparing the results using two datasets: a district-sourced dataset subject to considerable differential attrition, and an expanded state-sourced dataset with much less attrition, differential and overall. We compared the performance of different …
Estimating The Demand For And Supply Of Early Childhood Education In Northwest Arkansas, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj
Estimating The Demand For And Supply Of Early Childhood Education In Northwest Arkansas, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj
Publications and Presentations
The Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center (HWCEC) partnered with the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas to conduct a study that delivers insight to the Northwest Arkansas community about the existing landscape of early childhood education in 2016. Detailed data about the availability and use of early childhood education in Benton and Washington Counties, along with possible barriers preventing early childhood education providers from gaining and maintaining quality accreditation, are presented in this study. Additionally, the CBER researchers estimate the demand for and supply of …
School Choice: The Personal And The Political, James V. Shuls
School Choice: The Personal And The Political, James V. Shuls
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Enrollment in school choice programs is growing, so is overall support for school choice. Many have analyzed what demographic characteristics impact attitudes towards school choice. This paper adds to the literature by exploring the interaction between personal decisions regarding school choice and broader support for school choice programs. Focus groups were conducted in St. Louis and Kansas City with 35 parents of school age children. Participant responses indicate that school choice programs illicit mixed emotions from parents. Most participants personally support school choice and exercise choice themselves by sending their children to magnet, charter, or private schools. At the same …
You Can Often Get What You Want: Assessing The Match Between Parent Preferences And Private Schools Of Choice, Evan Rhinesmith, Patrick J. Wolf
You Can Often Get What You Want: Assessing The Match Between Parent Preferences And Private Schools Of Choice, Evan Rhinesmith, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Providing parents choices in education has become an increasingly popular instrument for reforming education in the United States. While existing research on parent satisfaction in private school choice programs shows that parents are satisfied with the schools they have chosen, there is not much to explain their satisfaction. Previous research using parent surveys asks parents to rate and/or grade their school of choice, while comparing their response to their thoughts on their previous public school. This paper reports new empirical evidence that looks to offer a possible explanation for parents’ satisfaction. Using data from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, we …
Kids Through College: How Helena-West Helena And Kipp Delta Are Serving All Students, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Kids Through College: How Helena-West Helena And Kipp Delta Are Serving All Students, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
Two years ago, KIPP Through College advisors from KIPP Delta Collegiate High School started working at Central High in Helena. What’s happened since reveals the power of collaboration and suggests best practices for all schools.
Disparate Use Of Exclusionary Discipline: Evidence On Inequities In School Discipline From A U.S. State, Kaitlin Anderson, Gary W. Ritter
Disparate Use Of Exclusionary Discipline: Evidence On Inequities In School Discipline From A U.S. State, Kaitlin Anderson, Gary W. Ritter
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
There is much discussion in the United States about exclusionary discipline (suspensions and expulsions) in schools. According to a 2014 report from the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, Black students represent 15% of students, but 44% of students suspended more than once, and 36% of expelled students. This analysis uses seven years of individual infraction-level data from public schools in Arkansas. We examine whether disproportionalities exist within schools, or are instead, a function of the type of school attended. We find that marginalized students are more likely to receive exclusionary discipline, even after controlling for the nature …
Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High Achieving Arkansas Schools, 2015, Charlene A. Reid, Gary W. Ritter
Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High Achieving Arkansas Schools, 2015, Charlene A. Reid, Gary W. Ritter
Arkansas Education Reports
As promised, with the release of the PARCC results at the school and district level, the spring edition of the OEP Awards will highlight high-performing schools in Arkansas based on their performance in the Math and Literacy exams at the Elementary, Middle, Junior High and High School level.
2015 Northwest Arkansas Report Card, Sarah Mckenzie, Gary Ritter
2015 Northwest Arkansas Report Card, Sarah Mckenzie, Gary Ritter
Education Report Card
This report card presents a regional overview of districts in Benton and Washington counties as well as key performance indicators for each district.
The Participant Effects Of Private School Vouchers Across The Globe: A Meta-Analytic And Systematic Review, M. Danish Shakeel, Kaitlin Anderson, Patrick J. Wolf
The Participant Effects Of Private School Vouchers Across The Globe: A Meta-Analytic And Systematic Review, M. Danish Shakeel, Kaitlin Anderson, Patrick J. Wolf
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
School voucher programs (a.k.a. opportunity scholarships) are scholarship programs - frequently government funded - that pay for students to attend private schools of their choice. Many private school vouchers programs have been initiated around the world with the goal of increasing the academic performance of students. Voucher programs are often viewed as a way to increase achievement and satisfaction for individual students and families, while at the same time creating competitive pressures that encourage other schools in the area to improve. Countries like Chile and India have developed extensive school voucher programs. While many studies have been conducted on school …
Comparing And Validating Measures Of Character Skills: Findings From A Nationally Representative Sample, Gema Zamarro, Albert Cheng, M. Danish Shakeel, Collin Hitt
Comparing And Validating Measures Of Character Skills: Findings From A Nationally Representative Sample, Gema Zamarro, Albert Cheng, M. Danish Shakeel, Collin Hitt
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Though researchers now are aware of the potential importance of character skills, such as conscientiousness, grit, self-control, and a growth mindset, researchers struggle to find reliable measures of these skills. In this paper, we use data collected from the Understanding America Study, a nationally representative internet panel to study the validity of innovative measures of character skills based on measures of survey effort. We believe surveys themselves can be seen as a behavioral tasks and that respondents provide meaningful information about their character skills by way of the effort they put forward on surveys. In particular, we compare measures of …
Advanced Placement In Arkansas: Increasing Equity, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Advanced Placement In Arkansas: Increasing Equity, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
Each spring, secondary students across Arkansas sit for Advanced Placement (AP) Exams. Arkansas has one of the most aggressive policies promoting AP in the nation. Despite this, Arkansas students are still struggling with inequitable and inadequate access to AP courses. This brief examines the effects of Arkansas’ AP legislation on equity, adequacy, and productivity in AP policy, particularly for the state’s low-income and minority students.
Measuring Teacher Conscientiousness And Its Impact On Students: Insight From The Measures Of Effective Teaching Longitudinal Database, Albert Cheng, Gema Zamarro
Measuring Teacher Conscientiousness And Its Impact On Students: Insight From The Measures Of Effective Teaching Longitudinal Database, Albert Cheng, Gema Zamarro
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Although research has been unable to find strong links between observable teacher characteristics and a teacher’s ability to improve student achievement, it has generally not considered the role that teacher non-cognitive skills play in affecting student outcomes. In this article, we validate several novel performance-task measures of teacher conscientiousness based upon the effort that teachers exert completing a survey and use these measures to examine the role that teacher conscientiousness plays in affecting both student test scores and student non-cognitive skills. We conduct our analysis using the Measure of Effective Teaching Longitudinal Database where teachers were randomly assigned to their …
The Fiscal Effects Of Eliminating The Louisiana Scholarship Program On State Education Expenditures, Julie R. Trivitt, Corey A. Deangelis
The Fiscal Effects Of Eliminating The Louisiana Scholarship Program On State Education Expenditures, Julie R. Trivitt, Corey A. Deangelis
Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications
Eliminating the Louisiana Scholarship Program has been proposed as a way to reduce state education expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year. Drawing upon Louisiana’s education funding formulas, we determine that the overall effect of removing the program will increase state education expenditures. It is true that the state would avoid $41.6 million of spending if the voucher program is eliminated. However, each current voucher student who returns to a public school increases the local district’s necessary education expenditures without increasing the local tax revenue for schools, obligating the state to provide increased funding to the district. While our results depend …