One Day Too Late? Mobile Students in an Era of Accountability

• In Event: Using Data to Predict Student Outcomes

Abstract

As mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), school accountability systems in all states currently require that a school is accountable only if the student has been enrolled in the school for a full academic year. This paper investigates the school response to this eligibility requirement using regression-discontinuity framework. I find that schools that face accountability pressure behave strategically in an attempt to boost the assessed student performance in tests that count for accountability purposes, creating significant achievement gaps between eligible and ineligible mobile students. I propose an alternative approach to mobile students in accountability systems that eliminates this undesired incentive, which ironically leaves behind students whom NCLB specifically aspires not to leave behind.

Author

• Umut Ozek, American Institutes for Research