Making the Cut: An Optimization Approach to Setting Cut Points for Targeted Policy Interventions in Education

• In Event: Advances and New Considerations in On-Track Indicator Systems

Abstract

Early warning indicators (EWI) or early warning systems (EWS) are becoming more prevalent in education as a way to inform educators on the design and implementation of early interventions for targeted students. While there is a fast growing literature on the implementation, use, and effects of such systems, there has been little guidance on how to establish cutpoints on leading indicators that can optimally separate target and non-target students. This paper borrows tools from the field of medicine and introduces an approach to cutpoint identification that minimizes misclassification error and can be used in EWI/EWS. In an application of the method, I identify cutpoints on early grade reading assessments to identify students who show evidence of needing an academic intervention.

Author

• Alec Kennedy