Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement

July 1, 2016 • Working Papers • By Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Jesse Rothstein and Julien Lafortune

Abstract We study the impact of post-1990 school finance reforms, during the so=called “adequacy” era, on absolute and relative spending and achievement in low-income school districts. Using an event study…

Can school finance reforms improve student achievement?

March 1, 2016 • Policy Brief • By Julien Lafortune, Jesse Rothstein and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

The achievement gap between rich and poor students in the United States is large and growing. On average, children from low-income families have lower test scores, lower rates of high…

Selection Bias in College Admissions Test Scores

June 1, 2009 • Scholarly Publications • By Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Jesse Rothstein and Melissa Clark

Economics of Education Review, 28(3):295-307. June 2009. [accordions] [accordion title="Abstract" load="hide"]Data from college admissions tests can provide a valuable measure of student achievement, but the non-representativeness of test-takers is an important concern. We examine selectivity bias in both state-level and school-level SAT and ACT averages. The degree of selectivity may differ importantly across and within schools, and across and within states. To identify within-state selectivity, we use a control function approach that conditions on scores from a representative test. Estimates indicate strong selectivity of test-takers in “ACT states,” where most college-bound students take the ACT, and much less selectivity in SAT states. To identify within- and between-school selectivity, we take advantage of a policy reform in Illinois that made taking the ACT a graduation requirement. Estimates based on this policy change indicate substantial positive selection into test participation both across and within schools. Despite this, school-level averages of observed scores are extremely highly correlated with average latent scores, as across-school variation in sample selectivity is small relative to the underlying signal. As a result, in most contexts the use of observed school mean test scores in place of latent means understates the degree of between-school variation in achievement but is otherwise unlikely to lead to misleading conclusions. [/accordion] [/accordions]