EdWorkingPapers Policy and Practice Series
The Effects of High School Remediation on Long-Run Educational Attainment
Every year, millions of high school students take remedial courses. In Florida alone, nearly a quarter of high schoolers took a remedial English course during the 2022-23 school year. Remedial courses offer additional instructional time, often with smaller class sizes and differentiated support from qualified teachers, to help struggling students improve in the subject area. Yet despite how common these courses are, we still know very little about how they actually affect students’ chances of success in college.
The Four Day Gamble: The Quasi-Experimental Effects of Four-Day School Week Adoption on Teacher, Principal, and Paraprofessional Staff Turnover and District Financial Outcomes
With education budgets under strain nationwide, a growing number of districts, especially rural districts, have adopted four-day school weeks (4DSW) in an effort to reduce costs. Between 1999 and 2019, 4DSW adoption grew by over 500%, with further acceleration in the years following the pandemic, and nearly 90% of districts with 4DSW are rural. The primary motivators for adopting a 4DSW are to (1) generate cost savings, as one fewer day of classes each week means districts can use fewer resources, leading to lower spending (2) help rural and budget-constrained districts reduce educator turnover by offering improved work-life balance
A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence Linking Mathematics and Science Professional Development Interventions to Teacher Knowledge, Classroom Instruction, and Student Achievement
Professional development (PD) for teachers is one of the most common strategies schools use to improve teaching. But with so many approaches out there, how do we know which ones actually make a difference, and why?
Impacts of Oversubscribed Boston Pre-K Programs through Middle School
This study finds that Boston Public Schools’ (BPS) Pre-K program leads to stronger middle school outcomes than other preschool options. Although differences in outcomes between BPS Pre-K participants and non-participants were small in the early elementary years, some benefits re-emerge in middle school, suggesting a “sleeper effect,” where Pre-K benefits become larger as students continue on their academic trajectory.
The Impacts of Grade Retention Policy With Minimal Retention
This study evaluates Michigan’s third-grade reading policy, which flags students with low reading scores for potential retention. Although few students were actually retained, being flagged led to a small but statistically significant gain in reading achievement, about 0.045 standard deviations (SD), in the following year. The positive effects appear driven not by retention itself, but by increased support from schools and more engagement from families once students were flagged.
Lifting Up Attendance in Rural Districts: A Multi-Site Trial of a Personalized Messaging Campaign
As rural districts continue to struggle with high rates of chronic absenteeism, this study finds that personalized caregiver messages can be a low-cost and effective tool to improve attendance.