The Impact of School Reform on Student Performance

Publication Date: February 2004

Publisher: Furman Center for Real Estate

Author(s): Amy Ellen Schwartz; Leanna Stiefel; Dae Yeop Kim

Research Area: Education

Keywords: schools; Community and Economic Development

Type: Article

Abstract:

This paper evaluates the impact of the New York Networks for School Renewal Project, a whole school reform initiated by the Annenberg Foundation as part of a nationwide reform strategy. It uses data on students in randomly chosen control schools to estimate impacts on student achievement, using an intent-to-treat design. After controlling for student demographic, mobility, and school characteristics, the authors find positive impacts for students attending reform schools in the fourth Grade, mixed evidence for fifth Grade, and slight to no evidence for sixth Grade. On average, there is a small positive impact. The paper illustrates how relatively inexpensive administrative data can be used to evaluate education reforms.