Working Paper: NBER ID: w29608
Authors: Joshua Angrist; Peter Hull; Parag A. Pathak; Christopher R. Walters
Abstract: In large urban districts, schools enrolling more white students tend to have higher performance ratings. We use an instrumental variables strategy leveraging centralized school assignment to explore this relationship. Estimates from Denver and New York City suggest the correlation between school performance ratings and white enrollment shares reflects selection bias rather than causal school value-added. In fact, value-added in these two cities is essentially unrelated to white enrollment shares. A simple regression adjustment is shown to yield school ratings that are uncorrelated with race, while predicting value-added as well or better than the corresponding unadjusted measures.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: I21; I24; I26; I28
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| School performance ratings (I21) | White enrollment shares (I24) |
| White enrollment shares (I24) | School performance ratings (I21) |
| Value-added (D46) | White enrollment shares (I24) |
| School ratings (I21) | Value-added (D46) |
| Adjusted school ratings (I24) | Value-added (D46) |
| Racially balanced progress rating (J15) | Causal value-added (D46) |