Research

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Politics and Children’s Books: Evidence from School Library Collections (Working Paper: Updated 10/2/2023) (Accepted: American Educational Research Journal)

The recent spike in book challenges has put school libraries at the center of heated political debates. I investigate the relationship between local politics and school library collections using data on books with controversial content in 6,631 public school libraries. Libraries in conservative areas have fewer titles with LGBTQ+, race/racism, or abortion content and more Christian fiction and discontinued Dr. Seuss titles. This is true even though most libraries have at least some controversial content. I also find that state laws that restrict curricular content are negatively related to some kinds of controversial books. Finally, I present descriptive short-term evidence that book challenges in the 2021-22 school year have had “chilling effects” on the acquisition of new LGBTQ+ titles.

Immigrant Integration in the United States: The Role of Adult English Language Training. (August 2023). American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. (w/Blake Heller)

While current debates center on whether and how to admit immigrants to the United States, little attention has been paid to interventions designed to help immigrants integrate after they arrive. Public adult education programs are the primary policy lever for building the language skills of the over 23 million adults with limited English proficiency in the United States. We leverage the enrollment lottery of a publicly-funded adult English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program in Massachusetts to estimate the effects of English language training on voting behavior and employer-reported earnings. Attending ESOL classes more than doubles rates of voter registration and increases annual earnings by $2,400 (56%). We estimate that increased tax revenue from earnings gains fully pay for program costs over time, generating a 6% annual return for taxpayers. Our results demonstrate the social value of post-migration investments in the human capital of adult immigrants.

The Effect of Charter School Openings on Traditional Public Schools in North Carolina and Massachusetts. (May 2022). American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.

The rapid expansion of charter schools in the U.S. has fueled concerns about their impact on the traditional public schools. I estimate the effect of charter school openings on traditional public schools in Massachusetts and North Carolina by comparing schools near actual charter sites to those near proposed charter sites that were never ultimately occupied. I find that charter openings reduce public school enrollment by around 5 percent. I find no impact of charter openings on student achievement in math or ELA, and my 95 percent confidence interval rules out effects larger than 0.05 standard deviations in either direction. I find no effect of charter openings on attendance and suspensions.

Working Papers

The Effect of the Second Trump Administration and the Attendance of Immigrant-Origin Students

Intensified immigration enforcement activity under the second Trump administration has increased anxiety for immigrants in the United States, including many families with school-age children. This study provides early evidence on the effects of the second Trump presidency on the attendance of students who are likely from immigrant families. Using a difference-in-differences design that compares English learners (ELs) and non-English learners, I find negative effects on the attendance of EL students in both Rhode Island and Connecticut. In Connecticut, average monthly attendance declined by 0.07 standard deviations and chronic absenteeism increased by over half a percentage point. In Rhode Island, daily absences for EL students increased by close to 4%. I present corroborating evidence that anxiety/awareness of enforcement activity, as proxied by data from google searches, relate to increases in absences. Together with other recent work, these findings suggest that immigration enforcement activities under the second Trump presidency are having disruptive effects on students and schools in a variety of settings nationwide.

High School Effects on Civic Engagement (Working Paper)

Preparing young people for the rights and responsibilities of citizenship is cited as a fundamental purpose of public education, yet little is known about whether or how K-12 schools impact civic engagement. Using education records, birth records, and national voting records for nine cohorts of ninth-grade students in Indiana, I estimate and assess the validity of high school effects on adult voting. I find that schools have meaningful and significant effects on voting. School effects on test scores and college-going behavior are positively related to adult voting. Civic school effects are positively related to participation/performance on some civics-related AP exams.

The Decline of Adult Education in the United States: Exploring Supply-Side and Demand-Side Explanation. (w/Blake Heller)

In 2000, public adult education programs served 2.7 million adult learners in the United States. By 2023, enrollments had fallen under 1.3 million. We consider supply-side and demand-side explanations for this trend. We rule out changes in aggregate demand as a primary driver but find evidence that changes in the demographics of adult learners may help explain these shifts. As demand for basic skills training from native-born adults has declined, demand for English language instruction from immigrants has increased. Through regression models and a survey experiment, we present evidence that the increasing immigrant share of adult education enrollments has decreased public willingness to invest as costs have risen, constraining supply and leading to unmet demand for adult English language training.

The Effect of Mississippi’s Test-Based Promotion Policy (w/Marcus Winters)

We apply a regression discontinuity design to investigate the effect of retention under Mississippi’s third grade test-based promotion policy on student outcomes through the sixth grade. Retention led to large improvements in ELA scores, though we find no significant impacts in math. The test score impacts are driven by Black and Hispanic students. Retention did not significantly impact attendance rate or the likelihood that a student is later classified as having a disability.

Who benefits from the GED? New regression discontinuity evidence from Massachusetts. (w/Blake Heller)

A mature body of research has examined the labor market returns to passing the GED, typically finding modest (or negligible) benefits for the individual. In this study, we use a regression discontinuity research design to estimate the impact of obtaining the GED on postsecondary outcomes for two self-selected groups of test-takers in Massachusetts: high school dropouts who do and do not enroll in publicly funded adult basic education (ABE) classes. In contrast with previous work, we find that earning a GED credential substantially increases enrollment and persistence in postsecondary education for ABE students who marginally pass the GED, but find no such effects for dropouts who do not participate in ABE. Specifically, our IV estimates indicate that earning a GED increases the likelihood that ABE participants ever enroll in college by 33.4-55.8 percentage points and increases enrollment for four or more quarters by 25.4-33.7 percentage points, depending on the specification. We hypothesize that although ABE students are negatively selected in terms of academic skills, they are positively selected on dimensions of non-cognitive skills and motivation relative to non-ABE test-takers. Our findings highlight a policy-relevant population of GED test-takers for whom earning a GED may be particularly beneficial and furthers our understanding of who does and does not benefit from this credential.

Policy Writing and Reports

New Evidence on Trickle-Down and Trickle-Up Influences in Civic Engagement. (2023). Sandra Day O’Connor Institute Policy Brief.

Politics and School Libraries: What Shapes Students’ Access to Controversial Content. (2023). Brookings Brown Center Chalkboard.

What Can State and Local Leaders Do for Immigrants in Their Communities Right Now? Center for Growth and Opportunity. (w/Blake Heller)

Charter School Authorizing in California. Technical Report. Getting Down to Facts II.  (2018). Policy Analysis for California Education, PACE. (w/Martin R. West)

Access to Postsecondary Schooling and the GED: New Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Massachusetts. 2017. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Policy Brief. (w/Blake Heller).