The Promise of Synthetic Estimation Techniques in Credibly Examining the Impact of Equity-Focused Educational Programs

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 12:40 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Innovative Methods, Measures, and Theories for Educational Policy Research and Evaluation (Table 8)

Abstract

Although the field of education is witnessing an increase in equity-centered policies, adopting such transformational levers at scale is significantly challenging. One key challenge undermining efforts to scale equity-centered policies is that demonstrating their impact tends to be undermined by limited data, the absence of comparable antecedents, and a corresponding paucity of rigorous quantitative models that offer credible causal estimates. To advance the evidentiary base for nascent transformational policies, this paper demonstrates how an emerging econometric causal design – synthetic controls – provides a promising methodological pathway for credible evaluations of programs with limited comparable cases and illustrates the strengths of a synthetic control model by employing it to evaluate the outcomes of a college enrollment affirmative action policy in South Africa.

Author

• Tafadzwa Tivaringe, Spencer Foundation