Estimating the Impact of a High School Conversion Into Small Academies: Evidence From Synthetic Control Methods

• In Event: 31.092 - Poster Session 5
  In Poster Session: 31.092-1 - Methodological Approaches to Program Evaluation in the Schools

Abstract

The small schools movement, spurred in part by advocacy and funding from the Gates Foundation in the mid-2000s, has had a mixed record of success in improving struggling schools. This paper examines the impact of converting an underperforming comprehensive high school into four small academies in a large Southeastern district. To test the district’s claim that converting the high school into academies would improve performance and engagement outcomes, we employ a synthetic control matching design to construct a counterfactual high school drawn from multiple untreated schools that provides a better comparision unit than any single school. Results indicate the counterfactual high school outperformed the academies on nearly all outcome measures, suggesting policymakers should exercise caution when considering small school initiatives.

Authors

• Darryl Vernois Hill, Wake County Public School System

• Matthew A Lenard, Wake County Public School System

• Lindsay Coleman Page, University of Pittsburgh