The Effect of Preferential Admissions on the College Participation of Disadvantaged Students: The Role of Pre-College Choices

Exploiting the randomized expansion of preferential college admissions in Chile, we show they increased admission and enrollment of disadvantaged students by 32%. But the intended beneficiaries were nearly three times as many, and of higher average ability, than those induced to be admitted. The evidence points to students making pre-college choices that caused this divergence. Using linked survey-administrative data, we present evidence consistent with students being averse to preferential enrollment, misperceiving their abilities, and having social preferences towards their friends (although social preferences did not mediate the admission impacts). Simulations from an estimated structural model suggest that aversion to the preferential channel more than halved the enrollment impacts, by inducing some to forgo preferential admission eligibility, and that students' misperceptions worsened the ability-composition of college entrants, by distorting pre-college investments into admission qualifications. The results demonstrate the importance of understanding high school students' preferences and beliefs when designing preferential admissions

Teacher labor markets, school vouchers and student cognitive achievement: Evidence from Chile

This dissertation develops and structurally estimates an equilibrium model of the Chilean school system and uses the model to assess the effect of teacher wage and accreditation policies on student achievement. In the model, potential teachers choose between teaching in a public school, teaching in a private school, working in the non-teaching sector and not working; parents choose whether to enroll their children in public or private schools; and private schools set tuition and teacher wages. The equilibrium of the model determines the distribution of student cognitive achievement. The estimation is based on a unique dataset that combines three rich data sources from Chile: student test score data, household survey data and teacher survey data. Chile is an ideal environment for studying school choice, because it has thirty years of experience with a school voucher system and a large private school sector. I use a two-step estimation approach that addresses the issue of potentially multiple equilibria. The estimated model fits the data well. Policy experiments show that an increase in the wages of public school teachers accompanied by minimum teacher competency requirements would increase average student test scores without a large increase in government costs. A larger increase in test scores could be achieved by making the wages of public school teachers more directly tied to their skills than in the current system. Under the existing voucher plan, both policies could be partially financed by the increased voucher revenues that result from an increased demand for public education

Teacher labor markets, school vouchers and student cognitive achievement: Evidence from Chile

This dissertation develops and structurally estimates an equilibrium model of the Chilean school system and uses the model to assess the effect of teacher wage and accreditation policies on student achievement. In the model, potential teachers choose between teaching in a public school, teaching in a private school, working in the non-teaching sector and not working; parents choose whether to enroll their children in public or private schools; and private schools set tuition and teacher wages. The equilibrium of the model determines the distribution of student cognitive achievement. The estimation is based on a unique dataset that combines three rich data sources from Chile: student test score data, household survey data and teacher survey data. Chile is an ideal environment for studying school choice, because it has thirty years of experience with a school voucher system and a large private school sector. I use a two-step estimation approach that addresses the issue of potentially multiple equilibria. The estimated model fits the data well. Policy experiments show that an increase in the wages of public school teachers accompanied by minimum teacher competency requirements would increase average student test scores without a large increase in government costs. A larger increase in test scores could be achieved by making the wages of public school teachers more directly tied to their skills than in the current system. Under the existing voucher plan, both policies could be partially financed by the increased voucher revenues that result from an increased demand for public education

Teacher Quality in Public and Private Schools under a Voucher System: The Case of Chile

Chile is unusual in having long-term experience with nationwide school vouchers. A key criticism of school voucher systems is that they make it easier for private schools to attract better teachers to the detriment of public schools. This paper uses longitudinal data from Chile to estimate a discrete choice dynamic programming (DCDP) model of teacher and nonteacher labor supply decisions and to explore how wage policies affect the composition of the teacher labor force in public and private schools. In the model, individuals first decide whether to get a teaching degree and then choose annually from among five work/home sector alternatives. Empirical results show that private voucher schools attract better teachers than public schools. However, the existence of the private voucher sector also draws higher-productivity individuals into the teaching profession

High School Math Curriculum, Students' Course Selection and Education Outcomes * (JOB MARKET PAPER)

Abstract Twenty-one states are increasing the requirements for a high school diploma so that all students graduate college-ready. The new graduation requirements include completion of Algebra, Geometry and Algebra II. Before this recent set of reforms, states had graduation requirements related to the number of math credits, irrespective of math course content. To quantify the potential impact of requiring Algebra, Geometry and Algebra II for high school graduation on educational attainment and math knowledge, I develop a dynamic, discrete choice model of high school attendance, math course selection and educational attainment. I estimate the parameters of the model using data from NELS:88/2000 under the old policy and simulate behavior under the new graduation requirement. Model simulations show that educational attainment at age 18 is very responsive to the policy change, but college completion by age 25 is less so. The on-time high school graduation rate falls from 84 to 59 percent, and the proportion of students opting for a GED during the four years of high school increases from 2 to 20 percent. The overall proportion of individuals who earn an advanced degree remains roughly constant, moving from 37 to 36 percent. * I would like to thank my dissertation committee Kenneth I. Wolpin, Petra E. Todd and Flavio Cunha for their support and insight. I am grateful to Rebecca A. Maynard for the opportunities available to IES Pre-Doctoral Fellows. I would also like to than

Durable renal response and safety with add-on belimumab in patients with lupus nephritis in real-life setting (BeRLiSS-LN). Results from a large, nationwide, multicentric cohort

Belimumab was recently approved for treatment of lupus glomerulonephritis (LN)