Essays in Education and Labor Economics

Abstract

This paper explores treatment effects in three different contexts: an extended school year pilot program in an urban school district, a library summer reading program serving twenty-one urban school districts, and states passing the Equal Rights Amendment during the 1970s and 1980s. Estimates generated using two years of intervention data along with difference-in-differences and nearest neighbor approaches show that a new extended school year (ESY) program in the North Kansas City School District (NKCS) improved mathematics MAP test scores in the 4th grade treatment group and mathematics as well as communication arts MAP test scores in the 3rd grade treatment group when compared to the corresponding control group by approximately .3 standard deviations. This is a large and statistically significant effect and indicates that the ESY intervention is improving achievement for these groups. Summer learning loss has been well documented in the education literature. One attempt at combating this learning loss has been through the contributions of public libraries and their associated summer programs. Assessing program impact is difficult because public libraries cross the boundaries of multiple school districts. This study highlights a case study which outlines a data-driven, research method that can be used to measure program impact by linking incongruent sources of academic data. The paper discusses the challenges associated with working with data provided by multiple school districts and finds that participation in this particular summer reading program is associated with better outcomes for elementary school students. The United States Constitution does not guarantee equal rights based on gender. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), passed by Congress in 1972, was intended to remedy this situation, but only thirty-five of the requisite thirty-eight states passed the law before its 1982 expiration. Making this topic relevant for today, the ratification of an unrelated amendment 203 years after its Congressional approval has given ERA supporters renewed hope of its eventual passage. In fact, in 2018 the ERA was passed by both Nevada and Illinois taking the total number of passing states to thirty-seven, just one state short of the number needed for ratification. The state by state variation in terms of ERA ratification affords the opportunity to examine the labor market effects of this legislation. Because the existence of the gender wage gap has been well-established in the literature, the findings may be helpful in constructing policy interventions that can eliminate it. In this study, we find that, relative to men and other women, white women in ERA states were more likely to enter the labor force, but non-white women were the beneficiaries of increased pay and hours of work.