AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZNEW YORK UNIVERSITY

 LEANNA STIEFEL

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY 

ROSS RUBENSTEINSYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

 JEFFREY ZABEL

TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Can Reorganizing K-8 Education Improve Academic Performance? The Impact of Grade Span on Student Achievement

US Department of Education Institute for Education Sciences grant R305E040096 provided support for work leading to this paper.

Overview

Motivation and lit review Why might grade span matter?

Data and description of NYC grade spans

Analysis and Results

Conclusions

Motivation for Study

Why might grade span matter?

Indirect effects through relationships with:

Timing and number of school transitions

Student-school matching School culture

Conceptual Model: Grade Span and Student Performance

School Transitions

Number Timing

timintimeiet

Peer Effects Across age groups Within classrooms

School Features

Coordination among teachers School culture

Student Performance

Previous Literature

Much attention to, and controversy over, middle schools (6-8)

Four previous good quality studies Middle schools lower on-time high school

graduation K-8s in Philadelphia outperform middle schools Higher self-esteem and perceived safety in K-8 vs.

middle schools 6th graders in elementary school have fewer

behavioral problems relative to those in middle school

Considerable experimentation but little evidence

Five-fold increase in percentage of middle schools (6-8) between 1971 and 2002

Recent trend toward K-8 schools

Considerable experimentation with grade span as policy reform, but little rigorous evidence on effects for different types of students

Contributions of Current Study

Exploits grade span variation in nation’s largest district (New York City)

Uses longitudinal student data to track cohorts over five years Examines transitions across grades and across

schools, rather a single point in time

Measure gains in academic performance between third grade and the eighth grade Eighth grade critical juncture for high school

readiness

Data

Elementary and middle grades in NYC 915 schools Approximately 28 grade span configurations

Include students making “Standard Academic Progress” (SAP) from 4th to 8th grade

Track students’ “academic paths”Sequence of grade span configurations a student might attend between 4th and 8th grades (e.g. K-5 to 6-8)

Trends in Grade Span

More K-5 and 6-8Fewer K-6 and 7-8More K-8

Many Paths From 4th to 8th Grade

Examples of Paths Percent of students Articulate as expected K-5 to 6-8 47% K-8 4% Graduate on time and joined midstream K-6 to 6-8 9% Switch early to be on time at next level K-6 to 6-8 early 5%

Analyses

Basic models:Regress eighth grade scores (math and reading) on academic paths, controlling for third grade scores and a variety of student characteristics

Sensitivity analyses Attrition Non-SAP students Interactions with race and performance

Do Grade Spans Look Different?

Yes!

For example K-8 compared to 6-8:

-- start with lower performance in 3rd grade-- end with higher performance in 8th grade-- have lower percentage of white and Asian-- have higher percentage of black-- have poorer students

Important to control for these differences

Math ReadingK-8 0.12 0.18K-6 to 7-8K-4 to 5-8K-5 to 6-9

Articulate on Time and Joined in MidstreamK-6 to 6-8K-6 to 7-9K-5 to 5-8K-6 to 5-8 0.10 0.12K-5 to K-8 0.16 0.19

Articulate Early to be on Time at Next LevelK-6 to 6-8 earlyK-8 to 6-8K-5 to 5-8 early

Academic Paths: 8th graders in 2001-2002, SAP Cohort

Threats to Validity and Unanswered Questions

Attrition bias from exclusion of exiting and retained students Approach: Correction for non-random attrition in panel data

Are effects different for non-SAP students who enter later? Approach: Model of short-term gains for retained and

exiting students

Are effects different by sub-groups? Approach: Interactions between grade span and

student characteristics (race, low performance)

What happens when correct for attrition out of SAP?

Still find comparatively better performance in math and reading for students in:

K-8 whole timeSwitch into K-8A few others (K-6/5-8)

Students who enter late or are retained

Do they do as well in K-8’s as SAP students who have been there since 3rd grade?

Yes and sometimes better

from 7th to 8th grade for students in SAP and latecomers

SAP always do better in K-8

New entrants and retainees do better even or the same

Subgroup Analysis: 8th Graders in 2001-02

Do lower achieving students do better in some paths? (Compared to K-5/6-8)

Yes, but only in math. They do better in K-8 In reading, they do worse in K-8 and most other

paths.

Do black, Hispanic or Asian Students do better in some paths? No particular paths stand out

Conclusions

Grade span appears to matter Significantly larger long-term gains for

students in K-8 Effects hold in various specifications and

for students not making standard academic progress

Little evidence of differential effects for minority and low-performing students

Cautions and unanswered questions

What features of K-8 are particularly effective?

Would scaling up to all K-8 have same effects?

Experimental designs could improve validity of results