The Economics of Equity in K-12 Education

Goldy Brown III is an Assistant Professor and the Director of Whitworth University's Education Administration Program. He has served as a former professor and routine guest speaker in college courses, where he has gained valuable experience leading college level discussions on educational foundations and leadership. In addition, he has conducted seminars on “what principals look for when hiring a teacher.” He also has seven years of experience as a K-12 leader, serving as a principal. Schools that he led received four state recognition awards for closing the achievement gap between low-income and affluent students. Dr. Brown has also published articles on school leadership. His research focuses on Leading for traditionally underserved students and effective educational programming & policy for traditionally underserved students. Christos A. Makridis serves as a Research Professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business in Arizona State University, a Digital Fellow at the Digital Economy Lab in Stanford University, a Non-resident Fellow at the Institute for Religious Studies at Baylor University, a Senior Adviser at Gallup, and a Senior Adviser on the National Artificial Intelligence Institute at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Christos previously served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers managing the cybersecurity, technology, and space activities, as a Non-resident Fellow at the Cyber Security Project in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, as a Digital Fellow at the Initiative at the Digital Economy in the MIT Sloan School of Management, and as a Visiting Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Christos earned a Bachelor’s in Economics and Minor in Mathematics at Arizona State University, as well a dual Masters and PhDs in Economics and Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University. https://www.christosmakridis.com/

Introduction

Section I: Educational Programs that have Produced Some Positive Results

Chapter 1: The Economic Value of Parent and Community Involvement

(Albert A. Cheng & Bob Maranto)

Changing Family Structure, Schools, and Society

School and Family Inputs

The Education Production Function

The Coleman Report

Waning Attention to Family Inputs

Waxing Attention Paid School Finance

Family Inputs and Children’s Outcomes

Sociology Research and Evidence

Evidence from the Understanding American Study

Educational Research on Parent Involvement and Community Engagement

Evaluations of Family Support Interventions

Implications for Policy and Practice and Future Research

Chapter 2: Social Emotional Learning in Pre-K-12 Schools

(Mark Brackett, Nicole Elbertson, Tangular A. Irby, & Krista L. Smith)

RULER as a Case Study

Best Practices in Equitable Implementation of SEL

Commit to Making Equitable SEL a Priority

Hire and Maintain a Diverse Staff to Instruct and Model SEL

Get to Know Students to Ensure Lessons and Examples are Relevant and Meaningful

Acknowledge Ethnocentrism and Bias in SEL Programs and Practices and Correct for Them

Ensure SEL is Not Misused to Control Marginalized Groups

Choose Words Carefully

Ensure Accessibility of All Tools, Strategies, and Content

Consider Using SEL as a Means to Transform Inequitable Settings and Systems

Partner with Parents, Caregivers, and the Community

Be Curious and Open to Feedback

Use SEL for Prevention as Well as Intervention

Monitor All SEL Efforts Over Time and Strive for Continuous Improvement

Conclusion and Policy Implications

Chapter 3: Quality and Intentionality: Making Afterschool Programs More Effective

(Goldy Brown III)

Taxonomy of Government-Funded Afterschool Interventions

Academic Improvement

Social Emotional Learning

Exposure, Recreation, and STEM

Improving Afterschool Programs: Quality & Intentionality

Implementation Questions and Recommendations

Recommendations for Programming

Personnel and Attendance

Funding

Potential Cost-Effective Analysis

Preventing Negative Behavior

Further Research Regarding Afterschool Programming

Chapter 4: Career, Technical, & Higher Education Opportunities for Traditionally Underserved Students

(Walter Ecton)

Background and Evidence on CTE Outcomes

Vocational Education in the International Context

Examining CTE in Today’s Context

Data

Descriptive Findings

Methods

Results and Discussion

Recommendations for Policy and Practice

Define Intended Outcomes for Specific CTE Programs

Build Partnerships to Strengthen CTE Programs

Only Offer High-Quality, Relevant CTE Programs

Ensure Access to CTE for the Students Who Stand to Benefit Most

Focus on Equitable Participation in CTE

Opportunities for Future Research and Questions for Policymakers

Chapter 5: Turning Hurdles into Launch Pads: Improving Equity and Efficiency through Increased High School Graduations in the United States

(Aidan Vining & David Weimer)

Available Evidence on Ethnicity/Race (Minority) and Income Differences

Why Does It Matter? The Social Value of High School Completion

High School Graduation Shadow Prices for the United States

Estimation Steps

Estimation Issues

Shadow Price Estimates

Benefits and Discount Rates

Benefits Including Externalities

Applicability of the Estimates to Minority and Economically Disadvantaged Students

Increasing Minority and Disadvantaged Student Graduation

CBA and CEA Evidence

Promising Interventions that Have Not (Yet) Been Shown to Offer Positive Net Benefits

Conclusions and Policy Implications

Section II: Changes Needed at the State and Local Level to Make Positive Results More Widespread

Chapter 6: Getting Past the Current Trade-Off Between Privacy and Equity in Educational Technology

(Ryan Baker)

The Promise of Artificially Intelligent Educational Technology

The Risk of Algorithmic Bias

The Push Towards Prioritizing Privacy

Alternative Ways to Protect Privacy While Improving Algorithmic Effectiveness

Recommendations for State Educational Agencies and School Districts

Provide Demographic Data to Vendors for the Purpose of Checking for Algorithmic Bias

Incentivize Vendors to Conduct Algorithmic Bias Audits, or Conduct them Directly

Rather than Asking Vendors to Delete Data, Ask them to Secure it

Encourage Vendors to Adopt Data Infrastructures that Enable Privacy-Protecting Analyses

Conclusions

Chapter 7: Identifying, Establishing, and Distributing the Economic Value of the Classroom Teacher

Matthew Springer & Christopher Brooks

Quantifying the Economic Value of Teachers

Maximizing Teacher Value: Policy Reforms to Compensation, Recruitment, Evaluation, and Retention

The Problem: Teacher Compensation Policies Fail to Recognize the Value of Teachers

Potential Policies for Improvement: Teacher Performance Incentives

Challenges in Evaluating and Retaining the Most Effective and Valuable Teachers

The Problem: Teacher Evaluation Systems Neither Adequately Differentiate Teachers by Ability Nor Emphasize the Economic Value of Teachers

The Solution: Evaluation Systems that Emphasize Robust Measures of Value-Added

The Problem: Teacher Retention is Low, Especially for Highly Effective Teachers, and School Leaders Have Limited Capacity for Removing Ineffective Teachers

Potential Policies for Improvement: Tenure Reforms, Principal Accountability, and Increased Incentives

Equity: How Can We Get the Most Effective Teachers to Work with the Least Advantaged Students

Conclusion and Recommendations

Compensation

Evaluation

Retention

Distribution

Chapter 8: Effective School Choice Systems in a State (Corey DeAngelis)

Politicization of Public School COVID-19 Responses

Incentives in the Governance of Public and Private Schools

Empowering Families and Improving Outcomes

Understanding the Incentives Behind Funding Students, Not Systems

Implementable State Policy Recommendations

K-12 Education’s New Special Interest

Chapter 9: The Economic Value of Expanding Effective Systemic School Changes that raise the achievement of Low-Income Students (F. Mike Miles)

Ignoring System Principles

A Different System

Key Obstacles to Systemic Change

The Navarré Point

Other Obstacles



Constraints of an Interconnected System
Status Quo Bias
Risk Aversion
Failure to Assess the Future

How to Change the System

Eight Principles of a New Education System

Learning Happens Everywhere and Anytime

Learning is Personalized and Students Own their Learning

Parents have Access to an Expanded Number of Choices of Schools and Programs

The System Offers a New Employee Value Proposition and Compensation is Tied to what the System Values Most

Learning is Increasingly Focused on How to Think and How to Learn

The School, Community, and Family Provide Students with a Set of Required Experiences, Not Just Specific Courses

Community Groups are Tapped to Educate Students in Many Non-Core Subjects

Governing Entities Check and Balance one another and Encourage Innovation

At the Operational Level

A Focus on Outcomes

Alignment Throughout the Organization

Accountability

Support

Progress Monitoring

Budget Priorities

Compensation and Incentives

Capacity

Leadership Density

System Principles

Vision for the Future

The Pace of Change

Adaptability

A Model for Systemic Reform

The Pace of Change

Reimagined Schools?

About the Contributors

References