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Moving Matters: The Causal Effect of Moving Schools on Student Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Amy Ellen Schwartz

    (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 13244)

  • Leanna Stiefel

    (Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and Institute for Education and Social Policy New York University New York, NY 10012)

  • Sarah A. Cordes

    (College of Education Temple University Philadelphia, PA 19122)

Abstract
Policy makers and analysts often view the reduction of student mobility across schools as a way to improve academic performance. Prior work indicates that children do worse in the year of a school move, but has been largely unsuccessful in isolating the causal effects of mobility. We use longitudinal data on students in New York City public elementary and middle schools to isolate the causal effects of school moves on student performance. We account for observed and time-invariant differences between movers and non-movers using rich data on student sociodemographic and education program characteristics and student fixed effects. To address the potential endogeneity of school moves arising from unobserved, time-varying factors, we use three sets of plausibly exogenous instruments for mobility: first-grade school grade span, grade span of zoned middle school, and building sale. We find that in the medium term, students making structural moves perform significantly worse in both English language arts (ELA) and math, whereas those making nonstructural moves experience a significant increase in ELA performance. In the short term, there is an additional negative effect for structural moves in ELA. These effects are meaningful in magnitude and results are robust to a variety of alternative specifications, instruments, and samples.

Suggested Citation

  • Amy Ellen Schwartz & Leanna Stiefel & Sarah A. Cordes, 2017. "Moving Matters: The Causal Effect of Moving Schools on Student Performance," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 12(4), pages 419-446, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:edfpol:v:12:y:2017:i:4:p:419-446
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Sarah A Cordes & Amy Ellen Schwartz & Leanna Stiefel & Jeffrey Zabel, 2016. "Is neighbourhood destiny? Exploring the link between neighbourhood mobility and student outcomes," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(2), pages 400-417, February.
    8. Hanushek, Eric A. & Kain, John F. & Rivkin, Steven G., 2004. "Disruption versus Tiebout improvement: the costs and benefits of switching schools," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 1721-1746, August.
    9. Emilyn Ruble Whitesell & Leanna Stiefel & Amy Ellen Schwartz, "undated". "Unexpected Arrivals: The Spillover Effects of Mid-Year Entry on Stable Student Achievement in New York City," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 4c6b242db6a948468e815de66, Mathematica Policy Research.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gigliotti, Philip & Sorensen, Lucy C., 2018. "Educational resources and student achievement: Evidence from the Save Harmless provision in New York State," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 167-182.
    2. Nan Jiang & Gail Pacheco & Kabir Dasgupta, 2019. "Understanding the transient population: insights from linked administrative data," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 111-136, June.
    3. Vicki Been & Ingrid Ellen & David N. Figlio & Ashlyn Nelson & Stephen Ross & Amy Ellen Schwartz & Leanna Stiefel, 2021. "The Effects of Negative Equity on Children’s Educational Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 28428, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Philip Garboden & Inessa Love & Thuy Doan, 2019. "Wellbeing and Housing Report Supplement," Working Papers 2019-8, University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
    5. Cordes, Sarah A. & Schwartz, Amy Ellen & Elbel, Brian, 2023. "The effects of owner-occupied housing on student outcomes: Evidence from NYC," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    6. Carlson, Deven & Miller, Hannah & Haveman, Robert & Kang, Sohyun & Schmidt, Alex & Wolfe, Barbara, 2019. "The effect of housing assistance on student achievement: Evidence from Wisconsin," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 61-73.
    7. Hill, Darryl V. & Hughes, Rodney P. & Lenard, Matthew A. & Liebowitz, David D. & Page, Lindsay C., 2023. "New schools and new classmates: The disruption and peer group effects of school reassignment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    8. Katharine L. Bradbury & Mary A. Burke & Robert K. Triest, 2013. "The effect of foreclosure on Boston Public School student academic performance," Working Papers 13-12, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    9. Thurston Domina & Deven Carlson & James Carter & Matthew Lenard & Andrew McEachin & Rachel Perera, 2021. "The Kids on the Bus: The Academic Consequences of Diversity‐Driven School Reassignments," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(4), pages 1197-1229, September.
    10. Katharine L. Bradbury & Mary A. Burke & Robert K. Triest, 2014. "Within-school spillover effects of foreclosures and student mobility on student academic performance," Working Papers 15-6, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    11. Contreras, Dante & González, Luis & Láscar, Samuel & López, Verónica, 2022. "Negative teacher–student and student–student relationships are associated with school dropout: Evidence from a large-scale longitudinal study in Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    12. Haepp, Tobias & Lyu, Lidan, 2018. "The Impact of Primary School Investment Reallocation on Educational Attainment in Rural Areas of the People’s Republic of China," ADBI Working Papers 821, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    13. Inessa Love & Philip Garboden, 2019. "Drivers of well-being in Hawaii: Quantifying individual and community impacts," Working Papers 2019-7, University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
    14. Tasminda K. Dhaliwal & Soledad De Gregorio & Ann Owens & Gary Painter, 2021. "Putting Homelessness in Context: The Schools and Neighborhoods of Students Experiencing Homelessness," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 693(1), pages 158-176, January.
    15. Sylvia Dixon, 2018. "Student Mobility Across Schools and its Links to Underachievement," Treasury Working Paper Series 18/01, New Zealand Treasury.

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