Estimating the Returns to Urban Boarding Schools: Evidence from Seed

43 Pages Posted: 31 Jan 2011 Last revised: 5 Apr 2023

See all articles by Vilsa Curto

Vilsa Curto

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Roland G. Fryer

Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); American Bar Foundation; University of Chicago

Date Written: January 2011

Abstract

The SEED schools, which combine a "No Excuses'' charter model with a five-day-a-week boarding program, are America's only urban public boarding schools for the poor. We provide the first causal estimate of the impact of attending SEED schools on academic achievement, with the goal of understanding whether changing a student's environment through boarding is a cost-effective strategy to increase achievement among the poor. Using admission lotteries, we show that attending a SEED school increases achievement by 0.198 standard deviations in reading and 0.230 standard deviations in math, per year of attendance. Despite these relatively large impacts, the return on investment in SEED is less than five percent due to the substantial costs of boarding. Similar "No Excuses'' charter schools -- without a boarding option -- have a return on investment of over eighteen percent.

Suggested Citation

Curto, Vilsa and Fryer, Roland G., Estimating the Returns to Urban Boarding Schools: Evidence from Seed (January 2011). NBER Working Paper No. w16746, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1751444

Vilsa Curto (Contact Author)

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Roland G. Fryer

Harvard University - Department of Economics ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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American Bar Foundation

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