School finance reform and the distribution of student achievement

Julien Lafortune; Jesse Rothstein; Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

doi:10.1257/app.20160567

School finance reform and the distribution of student achievement

Julien Lafortune, Jesse Rothstein, Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

School of Education and Social Policy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

273 Scopus citations

Abstract

We study the impact of post- 1990 school finance reforms, during the so- called "adequacy" era, on absolute and relative spending and achievement in low- income school districts. Using an event study research design that exploits the apparent randomness of reform timing, we show that reforms lead to sharp, immediate, and sustained increases in spending in low- income school districts. Using representative samples from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, we find that reforms cause increases in the achievement of students in these districts, phasing in gradually over the years following the reform. The implied effect of school resources on educational achievement is large.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1-26
Number of pages	26
Journal	American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Volume	10
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20160567
State	Published - Apr 1 2018

Funding

* Lafortune: University of California, Berkeley, 530 Evans Hall #3880, Berkeley CA 94720 (email: julien@ econ.berkeley.edu); Rothstein: University of California, Berkeley, 2521 Channing Way #5555, Berkeley, CA 94720 (email: [email protected]); Schanzenbach: Northwestern University, Annenberg Hall, Room 205, 2120 Campus Drive, Evanston IL 60208 (email: [email protected]). This research was supported by funding from the Spencer Foundation and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. We are grateful to Apurba Chakraborty, Elora Ditton, and Patrick Lapid for excellent research assistance. We thank Julie Cullen, Tom Downes, Kirabo Jackson, Rucker Johnson, Richard Rothstein, Max Schanzenbach, and conference and seminar participants at APPAM, AEFP, Bocconi, Brookings, Chicago, Erasmus, Wisconsin (IRP), LSE, New York University, Northwestern, Princeton, RAND, Teachers’ College, Texas A&M, Warwick, and the 2015 Stavanger-Bergen-Berkeley workshop for helpful comments and discussions.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Economics, Econometrics and Finance

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1257/app.20160567

Cite this

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School finance reform and the distribution of student achievement

Abstract

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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Replication data for: School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement

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School finance reform and the distribution of student achievement

Abstract

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Datasets

Replication data for: School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement

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