Not So Simple: Great Recession’s Nuanced Impact on Student Learning Outcomes Contextualized under No Child Left Behind and Georgia Público
Wang, John (Spring 2018)
Published
Abstract
The Great Recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, causing sharp declines to GDP and unemployment. The impact of the Great Recession on student learning outcomes has not been studied very often. When the issue is addressed, it is typically not done in a rigorous manner. We examine the effects of the Great Recession in the context of No Child Left Behind and Georgia to determine the average effects on student learning outcomes, proxied by student test pass rates in Math, Reading, English-Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. We conduct hypothesis tests to determine how poorer schools compare to richer schools by separating Title I Schools, in which 40% of students are on free/reduced lunch, and Non-Title I Schools, in which <40% of students are on free/reduced lunch. We distinguish between subject tests that are assessed under Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and those that are not because failing to pass tests assessed under AYP result in consequences, incentivizing schools to focus on those tests. Furthermore, we test whether there are distinctions between Elementary/Middle Schools and High Schools. We also use empirical models to examine effect magnitudes of the Great Recession in Title I Elementary/Middle Schools test pass rates. Our results find that there are similar effect directions between both Title I and Non-Title I Schools, significant decreases for tests not assessed by AYP for Elementary/Middle Schools but not High Schools, and significant increases for Reading/English-Language Arts for Elementary/Middle Schools as well Math/Science for High Schools. The empirical models confirm the effect directions and find statistically significant effect sizes for all test pass rates except Social Studies. Inaddition, we find that there are different effects of the Great Recession among different quantiles for each test pass rate. Results reveal a nuanced impact of the Great Recession and highlight two key implications: The Great Recession’s potential effect on long term learning outcomes and meeting AYP. The results extend beyond Georgia given that the Great Recession’s far reaching effect. Future research directions expands on the work by including different levels of education data as well as future economic downturns.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
I. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..1
II. Brief Background.………….…………………………………………………………........………………….....…........…….....6
III. Review of Factors Affecting Student Achievement.…….……………………………...……...........................................…….15
IV. Data and Methodology.......……………………………………………………...……….....….…..............................…...….…19
V. Results ………………………..……………………….……………………………………...............….......................….…….25
VI. Discussion.......………………………………………………………………………………................……….………...….…34
VII. Conclusion.....……………………………………………………………………………...........…………………………..…40
VIII. References ....………..…………………………………………………………………………………...…..……….………43
IX. Appendix….. ....………..………………………………………………………………………...……………………….……48
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