Working Paper: NBER ID: w10591
Authors: Eric A. Hanushek; Margaret E. Raymond
Abstract: The leading school reform policy in the United States revolves around strong accountability of schools with consequences for performance. The federal government's involvement through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 reinforces the prior movement of many states toward policies based on measured student achievement. Analysis of state achievement growth as measured by the National Assessment of Educational progress shows that accountability systems introduced during the 1990s had a clear positive impact on student achievement. This single policy instrument did not, however, also lead to any narrowing in the black-white achievement gap (though it did narrow the Hispanic-white achievement gap). Moreover, the balck-white gap appears to have been harmed over the decade by increasing minority concentrations in the schools. An additional issue surrounding stronger accountability has been a concern about unintended consequences related to such things as higher exclusion rates from testing, increased drop-out rates, and the like. Our analysis of special education placement rates, a frequently identified area of concern, does not show any responsiveness to the introduction of accountability systems.
Keywords: school accountability; student performance; No Child Left Behind; racial achievement gap
JEL Codes: H7; I2; J1
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Introduction of accountability systems in states (H79) | Significant improvements in student achievement (I24) |
| Consequential accountability systems (L14) | Greater achievement growth compared to non-consequential systems (O57) |
| Consequential accountability (D70) | Average improvement in student performance (D29) |
| Accountability measures (H83) | Benefits to Hispanic students (I24) |
| Accountability measures (H83) | Least improvement for black students (I24) |
| Accountability systems (H83) | No significant increases in special education placements (I24) |