F Is for Failure? New Evidence of the Impact of New York City's (Discontinued) School Performance Reporting System

• In Event: 16.060 - Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: 16.060-7 - Test-Based Accountability and Achievement Gaps

Abstract

We extend the literature on the impact of public performance reporting systems by considering new evidence from schools in New York City. Earlier studies found positive impacts of receiving F-grade ratings on subsequent school performance following the program’s first year. Using a regression discontinuity design, we confirm similar F-grade impacts in the last year that the summary letter grades were given to schools before the policy was amended. We then show that schools that would have received an F-grade the following year made no significant improvements, despite the fact that the city publicly provided otherwise nearly identical information about school performance. This evidence strongly suggests that accountability-induced improvements are at least partially driven by responses to summary assessments of performance.

Authors

• Marcus Winters, Boston University

• Joshua M. Cowen, Michigan State University