Download This PaperUsing School Choice Lotteries to Test Measures of School Effectiveness
15 Pages Posted: 17 Jan 2014
Date Written: January 2014
Abstract
Value-added models (VAMs) are increasingly used to measure school effectiveness. Yet random variation in school attendance is necessary to test the validity of VAMs, and to guide the selection of models for measuring causal effects of schools. In this paper, I use random assignment from a public school choice lottery to test the predictive power of VAM specifications. In VAMs with minimal controls and two or more years of prior data, I fail to reject the hypothesis that school effects are unbiased. Overall, many commonly used VAMs are accurate predictors of student achievement gains.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Deming, David James, Using School Choice Lotteries to Test Measures of School Effectiveness (January 2014). NBER Working Paper No. w19803. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2380435
Register to save articles to
your library
Feedback
Feedback to SSRN
If you need immediate assistance, call 877-SSRNHelp (877 777 6435) in the United States, or +1 212 448 2500 outside of the United States, 8:30AM to 6:00PM U.S. Eastern, Monday - Friday.
