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The Review of Economics and Statistics Vol. 92 No. 2 2010

Left Behind by Design: Proficiency Counts and Test-Based Accountability

Derek Neal; Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

University of Chicago

Abstract

We show that within the Chicago Public Schools, both the introduction of NCLB in 2002 and the introduction of similar district-level reforms in 1996 generated noteworthy increases in reading and math scores among students in the middle of the achievement distribution but not among the least academically advantaged students. The stringency of proficiency requirements varied among the programs implemented for different grades in different years, and our results suggest that changes in proficiency requirements induce teachers to shift more attention to students who are near the current proficiency standard.

DOI
10.1162/rest.2010.12318
Volume
92
Issue
2
Pages
263-283
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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