Working Paper: NBER ID: w23922
Authors: Mark J. Chin; Thomas J. Kane; Whitney Kozakowski; Beth E. Schueler; Douglas O. Staiger
Abstract: In 2011-12, Newark launched a set of educational reforms supported by a gift from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. Using data from 2009 through 2016, we evaluate the change in Newark students’ achievement growth relative to similar students and schools elsewhere in New Jersey. We measure achievement growth using a “value-added” model, controlling for prior achievement, demographics and peer characteristics. By the fifth year of reform, Newark saw statistically significant gains in English and no significant change in math achievement growth. Perhaps due to the disruptive nature of the reforms, growth declined initially before rebounding in recent years. Aided by the closure of low value-added schools, much of the improvement was due to shifting enrollment from lower- to higher-growth district and charter schools. Shifting enrollment accounted for 62 percent of the improvement in English. In math, such shifts offset what would have been a decline in achievement growth.
Keywords: education reform; achievement growth; value-added model; Newark; school closures; charter schools
JEL Codes: H41; H43; I21; I24; I28
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Newark's educational reforms (I28) | student achievement growth (I24) |
| enrollment shifts from lower to higher-growth schools (I23) | achievement growth (O49) |
| Newark's educational reforms (I28) | math achievement growth (C12) |
| Newark's educational reforms (I28) | achievement growth in Newark schools (I24) |
| early years of reform (B13) | decline in achievement growth (O49) |