Coursework: ITP Seminar

Spyros Konstantopoulos
College of Education
Michigan State University

The purpose of this study is toexamine the effects of class size on eighth grade students’ cognitive andnon-cognitive outcomes in four European countries (Hungary, Lithuania, Romaniaand Slovenia). We used TIMSS data from 2003, 2007, and 2011. Statistical analyseswere based on instrumental variable (IV) methods and a regression discontinuitydesign (RDD). Cognitive outcomes were mathematics, physics, biology, chemistryand earth science. Non-cognitive outcomes were students’ self-reports on five variablesthat were available across all three cycles of TIMSS: a) learning the subjectwell; b) learning the subject quickly; c) enjoy learning the subject; d) thesubject is hard; and e) the subject is one’s weakness. All non-cognitive items followeda Likert-type format (1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=disagree; and 4=stronglydisagree). The main independent variable was class size. Student,teacher/classroom and school covariates were also included in the analyses. IVestimates indicated that in Romania in 2003 smaller classes had significant andpositive effects on academic scores in mathematics, physics, chemistry andearth science and in 2007 on enjoying learning mathematics. In Lithuania in2011 smaller classes had significant and positive effects on enjoying learning biologyand chemistry and learning chemistry well. Estimates of analyses that used aRDD indicated small class effects on some non-cognitive outcomes in Lithuaniaand Romania, but only in 2007. Overall, class size effects were not systematicacross years, countries, and outcomes. The effects that were statisticallysignificant however, were also substantial in magnitude and typically muchlarger than the effects reported from Project STAR.  

Dr. Larry Hedges
Department of Statistics
Northwestern University

Dr. Henry May
School of Education
University of Delaware

Dr. Stephen Raudenbush
University of Chicago

Dr. Jayanti Owens
Dept. of Sociology
Brown University

Are Black and Latinx students suspended and expelled from school at higher rates than White students because of their greater exposure to punitive schools (“racialized sorting”)or because they are perceived and/or treated more harshly for identical misbehavior in the same types of schools (“differential behavior perceptions” and “differential treatment/support,” respectively)? This article disentangles these three key mechanisms of racial disparities in school discipline by combining school administrative data with an online video vignette experiment with 1,000 teachers across the U.S. As front-line actors, teacher-respondents provide both textual and quantitative reports of a randomly-assigned student’s misbehavior and their decisions on whether to instigate school intervention. I find that racialized school sorting plays the largest role: if White students were to equally attend disadvantaged and minority schools, they would experience similarly high rates of school discipline as Black and Latinx students. Differential behavior perceptions and differential treatment/support also gain some empirical support.