Erin M. Fahle

More than Just a Nudge: Supporting Kindergarten Parents with Differentiated and Personalized Text-Messages

Recent studies show that texting-based interventions can produce educational benefits in children across a range of ages. We study effects of a text-based program for parents of kindergarten children, distinguishing a general program from one adding differentiation and personalization based on each child’s developmental level. Children in the differentiated and personalized program were 63 percent more likely to read at a higher level (p < 0.001) compared to the general group, and their parents reported engaging more in literacy activities. Effects were driven by children further from average levels of baseline development, indicating that the effects likely stemmed from text content.

The Relationship Between Test Item Format and Gender Achievement Gaps on Math and ELA Tests in Fourth and Eighth Grades

Prior research suggests that males outperform females, on average, on multiple-choice items compared to their relative performance on constructed-response items. This paper characterizes the extent to which gender achievement gaps on state accountability tests across the United States are associated with those tests’ item formats. Using roughly 8 million fourth- and eighth-grade students’ scores on state assessments, we estimate state- and district-level math and reading male-female achievement gaps. We find that the estimated gaps are strongly associated with the proportions of the test scores based on multiple-choice and constructed-response questions on state accountability tests, even when controlling for gender achievement gaps as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) or Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments, which have the same item format across states. We find that test item format explains approximately 25% of the variation in gender achievement gaps among states.

How Much Do Test Scores Vary Among School Districts? New Estimates Using Population Data, 2009–2015:

This paper provides the first population-based evidence on how much standardized test scores vary among public school districts within each state and how segregation explains that variation. Using estimates based on roughly 300 million test score records in math and English Language Arts (ELA) for Grades 3 through 8 from every U.S. public school district during the 2008–09 to 2014–15 school years, we estimate intraclass correlations (ICCs) as a measure of between-district variation. We characterize the variation in the ICCs across states as well as the patterns in the ICCs over subjects, grades, and cohorts. Further, we investigate the relationship between the ICCs and measures of racial and socioeconomic segregation. We find that between-district variation is greatest, on average, in states with high levels of both White-Black and economic segregation.

The Implications of Reduced Testing for Teacher Accountability

Every-grade, every-year testing plays a prominent part in U.S. education policy and research, but the rise of standardized testing has been met with frustration and opposition. In response, policymakers have proposed legislation designed to curb the amount of standardized testing. There is little empirical evidence, however, about the potential impact of these alternate approaches on current evaluation systems. Using data from a large, urban school district, we compare value-added (VA) estimates from every-year, every-grade testing to those from two reduced-testing scenarios. We find marginal changes in the value-added estimates in both approaches relative to more traditional VA estimates. Estimates from annual testing in alternating subjects are slightly less precise but have lower associations with prior student achievement than biennial testing in both subjects. Further, there is significant decrease in the number of teachers for whom scores can be estimated in both approaches, exacerbating long-standing concerns with VA methodology.