Are Expectations Alone Enough? Estimating the Effect of a Mandatory College-Prep Curriculum in Michigan

Abstract

This article examines the impacts of the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC), a statewide college-preparatory curriculum that applies to the high school graduating class of 2011 and later. Our analyses suggest that the higher expectations embodied in the MMC had slight impact on student outcomes. Looking at student performance in the ACT, the only clear evidence of a change in academic performance comes in science. Our best estimates indicate that ACT science scores improved by 0.2 points (or roughly 0.04 SD) as a result of the MMC. Our estimates for high school completion are sensitive to the choice of specification, though some evidence suggests that the MMC reduced graduation for the least prepared students.

Keywords

standards accountability achievement graduation high school

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abadie

Diamond

Hainmueller

(2010). Synthetic control methods for comparative case studies: Estimating the effect of California’s tobacco control program. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 105, 490–505.

Acemoglu

Angrist

(2001). How large are human-capital externalities? Evidence from compulsory-schooling laws. In Rogoff

(Ed.), NBER macroeconomics annual 2000 (Vol. 15, pp. 9–74). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Achieve

Inc

. (2013). Closing the expectations gap: An annual 50-state progress report on the alignment of high school policies with the demands of college and careers. Retrieved from http://www.achieve.org/files/2013ClosingtheExpectationsGapReport.pdf

Adelman

(1999). Answers in the tool box: Academic intensity, attendance patterns, and bachelor’s degree attainment. Washington, DC: National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and Lifelong Learning.

Allensworth

Lee

V. E.

Montgomery

Nomi

(2009). College preparatory curriculum for all: Academic consequences of requiring algebra and English I for ninth graders in Chicago. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31, 367–391.

Allensworth

Nomi

Montgomery

Lee

V. E.

Mazzeo

(2010, August). College prep for all? What we’ve learned from Chicago’s efforts (Policy Brief). Chicago, IL: Consortium on Chicago School Research.

Angrist

J. D.

Krueger

A. B.

(1991). Does compulsory school attendance affect schooling and earnings? The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106, 979–1014.

Betts

J. R.

Rose

(2004). The effect of high school courses on earnings. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 86, 497–513.

Bloom

H. S.

Ham

Melton

O’Brien

(2001). Evaluating the accelerated schools approach: A look at early implementation and impacts on student achievement in eight elementary schools. Available from http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/full_94.pdf

10.

Buddin

Croft

(2014). Do stricter high school graduation requirements improve college readiness? (ACT Working Paper Series working paper WP-2014-1). Available from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED560234

11.

Cherry

J. D.

(2004). Final report of the Lt. Governor’s commission on higher education & economic growth. Governor’s Office. Available from www.cherrycommission.org

12.

Cortes

K. E.

Goodman

Nomi

(2015). Intensive math instruction and educational attainment: Long-run impacts of double-dose algebra. Journal of Human Resources, 50, 108–158.

13.

Davis-Kean

P. E.

Eccles

J. S.

Simpkins

S. D.

(2006). Math and science motivation: A longitudinal examination of the links between choices and beliefs. Developmental Psychology, 42, 70–83.

14.

DeCicca

P. P.

Lillard

D. R.

(2001). Higher standards, more dropouts? Evidence within and across time. Economics of Education Review, 20, 459–473.

15.

Dee

T. S.

Jacob

B. A.

(2007). Do high school exit exams influence educational attainment or labor market performance? In Gamoran

(Ed.), Standards-based reform and the poverty gap: Lessons for No Child Left Behind (pp. 154–200). Washington, DC: Brookings University Press.

16.

Dee

T. S.

Jacob

B. A.

(2011). The impact of No Child Left Behind on student achievement. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 30, 418–446.

17.

Domina

Saldana

(2012). Did raising the bar level the playing field? Mathematics curricular intensification and inequality in American High Schools, 1982-2004. American Education Research Journal–Social and Institutional Analysis, 49, 685–708.

18.

Frank

K. A.

Maroulis

Duong

Kelcey

(2013). What would it take to change an inference? Using Rubin’s causal model to interpret the robustness of causal inferences. Education, Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 35, 437–460.

19.

Frank

K. A.

Muller

Schiller

K. S.

Riegle-Crumb

Mueller

A. S.

Crosnoe

Pearson

(2008). The social dynamics of mathematics course-taking in high school. American Journal of Sociology, 113, 1645–1696.

20.

Goodman

J. S.

(2012). The labor of division: Returns to compulsory math coursework (HKS Working Paper RWP12-032). Cambridge, MA: Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

21.

Grodsky

Kalogrides

Warren

J. R.

(2009). State high school exit examinations and NAEP long-term trends in reading and mathematics, 1971-2004. Education Policy, 23, 589–614.

22.

Heckman

LaFontaine

(2010). The American high school graduation rate: Trends and levels. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 92, 244–262.

23.

Herlihy

C. M.

Kemple

J. J.

Smith

T. J.

(2005). Making progress toward graduation: Evidence from the talent development high school model. New York, NY: MDRC.

24.

Hyman

(2016). ACT for all: The effect of mandatory college entrance exams on postsecondary attainment and choice. Education Finance and Policy. Advance online publication. doi:10.1162/EDFP_a_00206

25.

Jacob

(2001). Getting tough? The impact of high school graduation exams. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 23, 99–121.

26.

Jacob

(2005). Accountability, incentives and behavior: The impact of high-stakes testing in Chicago public schools. Journal of Public Economics, 89, 761–796.

27.

Jenkins

K. N.

Kulick

R. B.

Warren

J. R.

(2006). High school exit examinations and state-level completion and GED rates, 1975 through 2002. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 28, 131–152.

28.

Koretz

(2002). Limitations in the use of achievement tests as measures of educators’ productivity. The Journal of Human Resources, 37, 752–777.

29.

Lee

D. S.

(2009). Training, wages, and sample selection: Estimating sharp bounds on treatment effects. The Review of Economic Studies, 76, 1071–1102.

30.

Levine

P. B.

Zimmerman

D. J.

(1995). An empirical analysis of the welfare magnet debate using NLSY (NBER Working Paper No. 5264). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

31.

Montgomery

Allensworth

E. M.

(2010). Passing through Science: The effects of raising graduation requirements in science on course-taking and academic achievement in Chicago (Research report). Chicago, IL: Consortium on Chicago School Research.

32.

Murnane

R. J.

(2013). US high school graduation rates: Patterns and explanations. Journal of Economic Literature, 51, 370–422.

33.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2013). The Nation’s report card: Trends in academic progress 2012 (NCES 2013 456). Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

34.

Nomi

(2012). The unintended consequences of an algebra-for-all policy on high-skill students: The effects on instructional organization and students’ academic outcomes. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 34, 489–505.

35.

Nomi

Allensworth

(2009). Double-dose algebra as an alternative strategy to remediation: Effects on students’ academic outcomes. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2, 111–148.

36.

Oreopoulos

(2006). Estimating average and local average treatment effects of education when compulsory schooling laws really matter. The American Economic Review, 152–175.

37.

Oreopoulos

(2007). Do dropouts drop out too soon? Wealth, health and happiness from compulsory schooling. Journal of public Economics, 91, 2213–2229.

38.

Papay

J. P.

Murnane

R. J.

Willett

J. B.

(2010). The consequences of high school exit examinations for low-performing urban students: Evidence from Massachusetts. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 32, 5–23.

39.

Riegle-Crumb

(2006). The path through math: Course sequences and academic performance intersection of race-ethnicity and gender. American Journal of Education, 113, 101–122.

40.

Sadler

P. M.

Tai

R. H.

(2007). The two high-school pillars supporting college science. Science, 317, 457–458.

41.

Schneider

Swanson

C. B.

Riegle-Crumb

(1997). Opportunities for learning: Course sequences and positional advantages. Social Psychology of Education, 2(1), 25–53.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

1.16 MB

0.00 MB