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Given the growing influence of non-academic organizations in the policy sphere, it is important to investigate the evidence both produced by and relied on by these organizations. Using citation analysis, a methodology primarily used in academic literature, we investigated the evidence base supporting the grey literature published by leading global management consulting firms (GMCFs) and international organizations (IOs). With the topic of the skills needed for the future of work as a case study, we collected 234 reports published by influential GMCFs and IOs over twenty years. By extracting references from the bibliographies of these reports we: 1) analyzed referencing patterns by measuring citation counts, institutional self-referencing and utilization of scholarly sources; 2) compared reference patterns across GMCFs and IOs; and 3) described the most influential sources. Overall, both GMCFs and IOs showed increasing reliance on grey literature, demonstrated high levels of self-referencing, and had considerable variation in the number of sources referred to. Across type of publishing organization, we found that IOs had better referencing practices than GMCFs. Our findings call into question the evidence-base behind the reports published by these policy actors. We emphasize the need to rely on strong academic literature to inform policy decisions around the future of work.

Many studies examine the importance of teachers in students’ learning, but few exist on the contribution of principals. We measure the effect of principals on gains in primary test scores in North Carolina and estimate the standard deviation of principals’ value added to be 0.12–0.17. We find that the match between principals and schools accounts for a significant amount of principals’ value added and also find that replacing the current principal has little effect on non-test-score school inputs and outcomes regardless of the new principal’s value added, but that brand new principals have a detrimental effect.

We present evidence of a positive relationship between school starting age and children’s cognitive development from ages 6 to 18 using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and large-scale population-level birth and school data from the state of Florida. We estimate effects of being old for grade (being born in September vs. August) that are remarkably stable—always around 0.2 SD difference in test scores—across a wide range of heterogeneous groups, based on maternal education, poverty at birth, race/ethnicity, birth weight, gestational age, and school quality. While the September-August difference in kindergarten readiness is dramatically different by subgroup, by the time students take their first exams, the heterogeneity in estimated effects on test scores effectively disappears. We do, however, find significant heterogeneity in other outcome measures such as disability status and middle and high school course selections. We also document substantial variation in compensatory behaviors targeted towards young-for-grade children. While the more affluent families tend to redshirt their children, young-for-grade children from less affluent families are more likely to be retained in grades prior to testing. School district practices regarding retention and redshirting are correlated with improved outcomes for the groups less likely to use those remediation approaches (i.e., retention in the case of more affluent families and redshirting in the case of less affluent families.) Finally, we find that very few school policies or practices mitigate the test score advantage of September-born children.

During the past half-century, there has been a trend toward increasing the minimum age a child must reach before entering school in the United States. States have accomplished this by moving the school-entry cutoff date earlier in the school year. The evidence presented in this paper shows that these law changes increased human capital accumulation and hence adult wages. Backing up the cutoff by one month increases average male hourly earnings by approximately 0.6 percent. The evidence also suggests that the majority of the cohort benefits from backing up the cutoff, not just those who must delay entry.

Does the grade-level configuration of a school affect academic achievement? This research examines the effect of attending a middle/junior high school on academic outcomes in British Columbia, Canada, relative to attending a school from kindergarten through grade 8. Using an OLS strategy, I find that attending a middle/junior high school reduces grades 4 to 7 achievement gains in math and reading by 0.125-0.187 and 0.055-0.108, respectively. Similar-sized estimates are found for math using a 2SLS strategy. Finally, large negative effects on grade 10 and grade 12 English exams are also found. Est-ce que la configuration des programmes en niveaux primaire, collège, secondaire affecte les résultats scolaires? Ce texte examine les effets de l'introduction d'un segment intermédiaire entre primaire et secondaire sur les résultats scolaires en Colombie Britannique (Canada) par rapport à un cursus continu du jardin d'enfance à la 8ième année. A l'aide de la méthode des moindres carrés ordinaires, on montre le passage par ce stade intermédiaire entre la 4ième et la 7ième année réduit la performance scolaire en mathématiques et en lecture de 0.125 à 0.187, et de 0.055 à 0.108 respectivement. Ces résultats sont confirmés pour les mathématiques en utilisant la méthode des moindres carrés à deux étapes. Enfin, on découvre aussi de forts effets négatifs sur les notes en anglais en 10ième et 12ième années.

Over the past 70 years, all states in the United States began to publicly subsidize kindergarten using state revenue. The variation in adoption dates across states allows for a unique opportunity to measure the effectiveness of the largest early education program implemented in recent history. The significant, immediate increase in the availability of kindergarten within a state is used to identify the effect of enrollment in kindergarten. Hispanic children, non-English speakers, children from immigrant households, and children of low socioeconomic status benefit the most from the increased availability of kindergarten. Hispanic children with access to kindergarten are 17% less likely to be below grade for their age and earn wages 5% higher as adults.

As school leaders, principals can influence student achievement in a number of ways, such as hiring and firing of teachers, monitoring instruction and maintaining student discipline, among many others. We measure the effect of individual principals on gains in math and reading achievement between grades 4 and 7 using a value-added framework. We estimate that a one standard deviation improvement in principal quality can boost student performance by 0.289 to 0.408 standard deviations in reading and math, while the principal at the 75th percentile improves scores by 0.170 to 0.193 relative to the median principal. Our results imply that isolating the most effective principals and allocating them accordingly between schools can have a significant positive effect on reducing achievement gaps. En tant que leaders, les directeurs d'école peuvent influencer les résultats des étudiants de nombreuses manières, par exemple en engageant et renvoyant des enseignants, en surveillant le processus d'instruction, en maintenant la discipline dans le corps étudiant, etc. On mesure l'effet de directeurs particuliers sur les gains faits en mathématiques et lecture entre la 4e et la 7e années en utilisant un cadre conceptuel de valeur ajoutée. On estime qu'une amélioration de la qualité du directeur d'un écart-type peut accroître la performance de l'étudiant en lecture et en mathématiques de 0.289 à 0.408 écart-type, alors que le directeur se situant au 75e percentile améliore les scores de 0.170 à 0.193 par rapport au directeur médian. Ces résultats signifient que d'identifier les directeurs les plus efficaces et de les répartir de manière appropriée entre les écoles peut avoir un effet positif significatif sur la réduction des écarts de performance.

In this study, the authors investigated three questions: whether students' outcomes were improved by grading participation more intensely; who benefits most from increased participation; and, whether students who would benefit from more intensive grading choose it when they are given the choice. An eight-month field experiment was used to elicit students' preferences for and randomly assign them to different grading intensities. The authors found that grading students on weekly participation is more effective than biweekly and that students who prefer not to be graded weekly, with lower GPAs and lower self-control scores, benefit most from the weekly participation grading intervention. When students were given a choice, however, those who would benefit the most were no more likely to choose weekly grading than were others.