Making the Grade: The Sensitivity of Education Program Effectiveness to Input Choices and Outcome Measures

This paper demonstrates the acute sensitivity of education program effectiveness to the choices of inputs and outcome measures, using a randomized evaluation of a mother-tongue literacy program. The program raises reading scores by 0.64 SD and writing scores by 0.45 SD. A reduced-cost version instea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The review of economics and statistics 2021-05, Vol.103 (2), p.251-264
Main Authors: Kerwin, Jason T., Thornton, Rebecca L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Classroom observation
Classrooms
Conceptual models
Educational programs
Evaluation research
Native language
Productivity
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Summary:This paper demonstrates the acute sensitivity of education program effectiveness to the choices of inputs and outcome measures, using a randomized evaluation of a mother-tongue literacy program. The program raises reading scores by 0.64 SD and writing scores by 0.45 SD. A reduced-cost version instead yields statistically insignificant reading gains and some large negative effects (−0.33 SDs) on advanced writing. We combine a conceptual model of education production with detailed classroom observations to examine the mechanisms driving the results; we show they could be driven by the program initially lowering productivity before raising it, and potentially by missing complementary inputs in the reduced-cost version.
ISSN:0034-6535
1530-9142
DOI:10.1162/rest_a_00911