Copyright (c) 2009 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson Recent documents in C. Kirabo Jackson en-us Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:15:22 PST 3600 http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/16 http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/16 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:58:03 PDT In Trinidad and Tobago students are assigned to secondary schools after fifth grade based on achievement tests, leading to large differences in the school environments to which students of differing initial levels of achievement are exposed. This paper uses instrumental variables based on the discontinuities created by the assignment mechanism, and exploits rich data which include the students' test scores at entry and secondary school preferences to address self-selection bias. I find that attending a better school has large positive effects on examination performance at the end of secondary school. The effects are about twice as large for girls than for boys. Clement (Kirabo) Jackson Peer Reviewed Papers http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/15 http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/15 Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:18:34 PDT Using exogenous secondary school assignments to remove self-selection bias to schools and peers, I obtain credible estimates of (1) the effect of attending schools with higher-achieving peers, and (2) the direct effect of peer quality improvements within schools, on the same population. While students at schools with higher-achieving peers have better academic achievement, within-school increases in peer achievement improve outcomes only at high-achievement schools. Estimates suggest that peer quality can account for over half of school value-added among the top quartile of schools, but little value-added for other schools. The results reveal some large and important differences by gender. Clement (Kirabo) Jackson Working Papers http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/14 http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/14 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:39:41 PDT In Trinidad and Tobago students are assigned to secondary schools after fifth grade based on achievement tests, leading to large differences in the school environments to which students of differing initial levels of achievement are exposed. Using both a regression discontinuity design and rule-based instrumental variables to address self-selection bias, I find that being assigned to a school with higher-achieving peers has large positive effects on examination performance. These effects are about twice as large for girls than for boys. This suggests that ability-grouping reinforces achievement differences by assigning the weakest students to schools that provide the least value-added. Clement (Kirabo) Jackson Other Papers http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/13 http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/13 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:39:37 PDT Using student examination data linked to longitudinal teacher personnel data, we document that a teacher's students have larger test score gains when she experiences an improvement in the observable characteristics of her colleagues. Using within-school and within-teacher variation, we further show that a teacher's students have larger test score gains when she has more effective colleagues (based on their own students' achievement gains from an out-of-sample pre-period). A one standard deviation increase in average teacher peer quality is associated with an increase of 0.02 and 0.04 standard deviations in student test score growth in reading and math respectively (about one third of the own-teacher effect). These spillovers are strongest for less experienced teachers, persist over time and teachers perform best when they are the weakest of their peer group- suggesting a peer learning interpretation. Consistent with this interpretation, conditioning on historical peer quality reduces the explanatory power of individual teacher effects by twenty percent. Clement (Kirabo) Jackson Peer Reviewed Papers http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/11 http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/11 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:39:29 PDT The reshuffling of students due to the end of student busing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg provides a unique opportunity to investigate the relationship between changes in student attributes and changes in teacher quality that are not confounded with changes in school or neighborhood characteristics. Comparisons of OLS and IV results suggest that the spatial correlation between teachers' residences, students' residences and schools could lead to spurious correlation between student attributes and teacher characteristics. The re-shuffling of students led to teacher resorting so that schools that experienced a repatriation of black students experienced a decrease in various measures of teacher quality (including estimated value-added). I provide evidence that this was primarily due to a labor supply response. Clement (Kirabo) Jackson Peer Reviewed Papers http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/12 http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/12 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:38:49 PDT This paper evaluates the first year of Harvard's Financial Aid Initiative, which increased aid and recruiting for students from low income backgrounds. Using rich data from the Census and administrative sources, we estimate family incomes for the vast majority of plausible applicants from the U.S. We find that the Initiative had a significant effect almost entirely because it attracted a pool of applicants that was larger and slightly poorer. It appears that very similar standards of admission were used for this group as had been used in previous years. This group, once admitted, enrolled at a rate very similar to that of previous years. Thus, there are a greater number of low income students in the Class of 2009 than in the Class of 2008 simply because more well-qualified, low income students applied. Put another way, the initiative did not create a new form of affirmative action-rather, there was an untapped supply of able, low income students. Many apparently qualified students still do not apply, and a disproportionate share of these "missing applicants" come from high schools that have little or no tradition of sending applications to selective private colleges. Targeted outreach to such "one offs" - that is, students who are one of only a few qualified students from their school in recent years - may be a way for selective private colleges to increase their income diversity. Christopher Avery Other Papers http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/10 http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/10 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:02:16 PDT Clement (Kirabo) Jackson Peer Reviewed Papers http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/8 http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/8 Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:37:11 PST We exploit arguably exogenous train schedule changes in Washington DC to investigate the relationship between public transportation provision, the risky decision to consume alcohol, and the criminal decision to engage in alcohol-impaired driving. Using a triple differences strategy, we provide evidence that both DUI arrests and alcohol related fatal traffic accidents fell, while alcohol related arrests increased, as a result of the expanded hours of Metro operation. However, we find that these effects may be due, in part, to individuals shifting their drinking to evenings when the Metro offered late night service from other evenings. Furthermore, we provide strong evidence that these effects were localized to areas close to Metro Stations and may reflect spatial shifting. Given evidence of both temporal and geographic shifting, the overall effects of public transportation provision on drinking and DUI behaviors on the entire DC area may be small. Clement (Kirabo) Jackson Working Papers http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/5 http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/5 Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:35:06 PST I analyze the longer-run effects of a program that pays both 11th and 12th grade students and teachers for passing scores on Advanced Placement exams. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, I find that affected students attend college in greater numbers, are more likely to remain in college beyond their freshman year, and have improved college GPAs. Moreover, the program improves college outcomes even for those students who would have enrolled in college without the program. I also find evidence of increased college graduation for black and Hispanic students ─ groups that tend to underperform in college. This evidence suggests that relatively late high-school interventions may confer lasting positive and large effects on student achievement in college, and may be effective at improving the educational outcomes of minority students. The finding of enduring benefits when extrinsic motivators are no longer provided is important in light of concerns that incentive-based-interventions may lead to undesirable practices such as "teaching-to-the-test" and cheating. Clement (Kirabo) Jackson Working Papers http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/1 http://works.bepress.com/c_kirabo_jackson/1 Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:40:18 PST The Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program pays both students and teachers for passing grades on Advanced Placement (AP) exams. The program was implemented in schools serving primarily low-income, minority populations. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, I find that program adoption is associated with increased AP course enrollment and AP exam taking. Moreover, the program is associated with an increase in students scoring above 1100/24 on the SAT/ACT, and an increase in students matriculating in college. I find no evidence that the rewards distorted behaviors in undesirable ways. I present empirical evidence that teachers and students were not simply aiming to maximize their rewards. This is corroborated by anecdotal evidence that the increases in AP participation were due to better access to AP courses, changes in teacher and peer norms towards AP courses, and better student information. The per-student program costs are small relative to reasonable estimates of the lifetime benefits that may accrue to affected students such that the program may ameliorate sub-optimal educational investments. Clement (Kirabo) Jackson Peer Reviewed Papers