Despite evidence that informational interventions can influence K-12 school choices, we know little about the mechanisms through which they work and the factors that produce heterogeneity in student responses. Through a school-level randomized controlled trial conducted in 473 New York City middle schools serving 115,000 eighth graders, we…

The Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) is a multijurisdictional test that law students can use to gain admission to the bar in 37 states and territories. Despite this near-universal applicability and the potential of UBE to affect law schools' admissions, diversity, affordability, and employment outcomes, no research to date has examined the impacts of…

Online courses provide flexible learning opportunities, but research suggests that students may learn less and persist at lower rates compared to face-to-face settings. However, few studies have investigated more distal effects of online education. In this study, we analyzed 6 years of institutional data for three cohorts of students in 13 large…

Despite high prices, many college students do not re-file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or file late, making college less affordable. Low-cost technological interventions delivering personalized information and/or advising may improve refiling and academic outcomes, but questions remain regarding the efficacy of this…

Many states use high-school exit examinations to assess students' career and college readiness in core subjects. We find meaningful consequences of barely passing the mathematics examination in Massachusetts, as opposed to just failing it. However, these impacts operate at different educational attainment margins for low-income and higher-income…

Using an additional decade of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Children and Young Adults (CNLSY), this study replicated and extended Deming's evaluation of Head Start's life cycle skill formation impacts in three ways. Extending the measurement interval for Deming's adulthood outcomes, we found no statistically significant…

Few interventions reduce inequality in reading achievement, let alone higher-order thinking skills, among adolescents. We study policy debate--an extracurricular activity focused on improving middle and high schoolers' critical thinking, argumentation, and policy analysis skills--in Boston schools serving large concentrations of economically…

Interdistrict desegregation programs, which provide opportunities for urban children of color to attend suburban schools, are a potential means of addressing persistent racial inequalities in educational opportunities and outcomes. These voluntary programs offer a test of whether nonresident students can leverage the resources and social capital…

This study is the first large-scale examination of the impact of for-profit colleges on the enrollment and outcomes of students at other postsecondary institutions. Using data primarily from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and a differences-in-differences approach, I estimate the effect of a new for-profit college…

This article examines the impacts of the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC), a statewide college-preparatory curriculum that applies to the high school graduating class of 2011 and later. Our analyses suggest that the higher expectations embodied in the MMC had slight impact on student outcomes. Looking at student performance in the ACT, the only…

School turnaround has emerged as a predominant strategy to improve chronically low-performing schools, although the approach remains controversial. This meta-analysis synthesizes results from 35 studies to examine the relationship between school turnaround and various student outcomes. We find that school turnaround is associated with improved…

Income gaps in college enrollment, persistence, and graduation raise concerns for those interested in equal opportunity in higher education. We present findings from a randomly assigned scholarship for low-income students at a medium-sized public 4-year university. The program focused solely on the first four semesters of enrollment and tied aid…

Policymakers and practitioners are increasingly interested in students' deeper learning skills, or the interpersonal and intrapersonal skills students need to succeed in school, careers, and civic life. This article presents evidence about whether the concept of deeper learning--applied across a variety of approaches--has potential merit as a…

Most community college students are referred to developmental education courses to build basic skills. These students often struggle in these courses and college more broadly. CUNY Start is a prematriculation program for students assessed as having significant remedial needs. CUNY Start students delay matriculation for one semester and receive…

This systematic synthesis examines the intended and unintended consequences of performance-based funding (PBF) policies in higher education. Within this synthesis, we focus particularly on evidence from research studies with strong causal inference designs in an effort to understand the impacts of these policies. PBF adoption is generally…