Changing the Odds: Student Achievement after Introduction of a Middle School Math Intervention / Julian R. Betts, Andrew C. Zau, Karen Volz Bachofer, Dina Polichar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Betts, Julian R.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Zau, Andrew C.

Bachofer, Karen Volz.

Polichar, Dina.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30870.

NBER working paper series no. w30870

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2023.

Summary:

The paper evaluates math performance at four high-need middle schools during a four-year intervention, which was designed to help math teachers diagnose students' areas of need and to design lesson plans responsive to those needs. Before the intervention began, the researchers pre-selected four comparison schools by matching based on achievement and also on demographics. A difference-in-difference analysis finds a significant increase of about 0.11 standard deviation in test scores per year for students in the program schools. Supplementary event study and synthetic control analyses to detect year-by-year effects lack precision but are weakly suggestive of a smaller impact in year 1 than later years. A cost analysis considers the affordability of extending similar programs.

Notes:

Print version record

January 2023.