The Effects of School Reform Under NCLB Waivers: Evidence from Focus Schools in Kentucky / Sade Bonilla, Thomas Dee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bonilla, Sade.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Dee, Thomas.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w23462.

NBER working paper series no. w23462

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Effects of School Reform Under NCLB Waivers

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2017.

Summary:

Under waivers to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the federal government required states to identify schools where targeted subgroups of students have the lowest achievement and to implement reforms in these "Focus Schools." In this study, we examine the Focus School reforms in the state of Kentucky. The reforms in this state are uniquely interesting for several reasons. One is that the state developed unusually explicit guidance for Focus Schools centered on a comprehensive school-planning process. Second, the state identified Focus Schools using a "super subgroup" measure that combined traditionally low-performing subgroups into an umbrella group. This design feature may have catalyzed broader whole-school reforms and attenuated the incentives to target reform efforts narrowly. Using regression discontinuity designs, we find that these reforms led to substantial improvements in school performance, raising math achievement by 17 percent and reading achievement by 9 percent.

Notes:

Print version record

June 2017.