New Evidence on Teacher Labor Supply

Recent evidence on the large variance in teacher effectiveness has spurred renewed interest in teacher labor market policies. A substantial body of prior research documents that more highly qualified teachers tend to work in more advantaged schools, although this literature cannot determine the relative importance of supply versus demand factors in generating this equilibrium outcome. To isolate the importance of teacher labor supply, we attended three large teacher job fairs in Chicago during the summer of 2006 and collected detailed information on the specific schools at which teachers interviewed. We document a substantial variation in the number of applicants per school, with some schools having fewer than five applicants and others schools having over 300 applicants, even after controlling for the number and type of positions advertised at the school. We show that the demographic characteristics of schools strongly predict the number of applicants to the school in the expected direction. Interestingly, the geographic location of the school is an extremely strong predictor of applications, even after controlling for a host of observable school and neighborhood characteristics.

Replication and robustness in developmental research.

Replications and robustness checks are key elements of the scientific method and a staple in many disciplines. However, leading journals in developmental psychology rarely include explicit replications of prior research conducted by different investigators, and few require authors to establish in their articles or online appendices that their key results are robust across estimation methods, data sets, and demographic subgroups. This article makes the case for prioritizing both explicit replications and, especially, within-study robustness checks in developmental psychology. It provides evidence on variation in effect sizes in developmental studies and documents strikingly different replication and robustness-checking practices in a sample of journals in developmental psychology and a sister behavioral science-applied economics. Our goal is not to show that any one behavioral science has a monopoly on best practices, but rather to show how journals from a related discipline address vital concerns of replication and generalizability shared by all social and behavioral sciences. We provide recommendations for promoting graduate training in replication and robustness-checking methods and for editorial policies that encourage these practices. Although some of our recommendations may shift the form and substance of developmental research articles, we argue that they would generate considerable scientific benefits for the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)

The Role of Mediators in the Development of Longitudinal Mathematics Achievement Associations

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/115932/1/cdev12416_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/115932/2/cdev12416.pd

Ending Social Promotion: Results from Summer Bridge

In the 1996-97 school year, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began a national trend when it included a required summer program, Summer Bridge, as a central component of its efforts to end social promotion. Over 21,000 students in the third, sixth, and eighth, or promotional gate grades, have attended Summer Bridge each year, making it one of the largest and most sustained summer school programs in the country. This report presents a rigorous and careful evaluation of Chicago's Summer Bridge program. It is designed to address the following central questions that arise in the use of summer programs to support low-achieving students under high-stakes testing: - To what extent is Summer Bridge effective in increasing students' test scores and allowing more students to be promoted? And, how do the short-term effects of the program vary by whether students have very low skills or are closer to the test scores required for promotion? - To what extent is there evidence that large-scale mandatory summer programs can produce uniform effects across students and schools? To what extent do summer programs like Summer Bridge provide positive learning environments for students? - How did staffing characteristics, teachers' implementation of the curriculum, and classroom learning environments shape the program's impacts? - Can a summer program provide help for low-achieving students that is sustained over time? Over the last four years, a team of researchers at the Consortium on Chicago School Research has assembled a diverse data set to examine these questions. We analyzed the achievement of all students in Summer Bridge, surveyed and interviewed participating teachers and students about their experiences, and conducted in-depth classroom observations in 12 schools. This report brings together this qualitative and quantitative research to take a multifaceted look at Summer Bridge from its inception through the summer of 2000

Early Childhood Education at Scale: Lessons From Research for Policy and Practice

This AERA Open special topic takes stock of the current knowledge about scaled-up early childhood education (ECE) programs. Rapidly rising ECE participation rates in recent decades have coincided with wide variability in the types of programming available for young children. This expansion makes understanding heterogeneity in effects of ECE crucial. Three articles in this special topic explore heterogeneity in ECE program effects with regard to timing, context, domains, programmatic features, counterfactual conditions, and child characteristics. In addition to exploring heterogeneity, understanding possible mechanisms for improving ECE experiences and outcomes for children and their families is crucial. Articles in this special topic explore three potential drivers for improving ECE services and outcomes, including professional development, curriculum and instruction, and parental supports for ECE educators

Kindergarten skills and fifth-grade achievement: Evidence from the ECLS-K

Human capital

Replication and robustness in developmental research.

Replications and robustness checks are key elements of the scientific method and a staple in many disciplines. However, leading journals in developmental psychology rarely include explicit replications of prior research conducted by different investigators, and few require authors to establish in their articles or online appendices that their key results are robust across estimation methods, data sets, and demographic subgroups. This article makes the case for prioritizing both explicit replications and, especially, within-study robustness checks in developmental psychology. It provides evidence on variation in effect sizes in developmental studies and documents strikingly different replication and robustness-checking practices in a sample of journals in developmental psychology and a sister behavioral science-applied economics. Our goal is not to show that any one behavioral science has a monopoly on best practices, but rather to show how journals from a related discipline address vital concerns of replication and generalizability shared by all social and behavioral sciences. We provide recommendations for promoting graduate training in replication and robustness-checking methods and for editorial policies that encourage these practices. Although some of our recommendations may shift the form and substance of developmental research articles, we argue that they would generate considerable scientific benefits for the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)