The Gap within the Gap: Using Longitudinal Data to Understand Income Differences in Student Achievement

Katherine Michelmore and Susan Dynarski

No 22474, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Gaps in educational achievement between high- and low-income children are growing. Administrative datasets maintained by states and districts lack information about income but do indicate whether a student is eligible for subsidized school meals. We leverage the longitudinal structure of these datasets to develop a new measure of persistent economic disadvantage. Half of 8th graders in Michigan are eligible for a subsidized meal, but just 14 percent have been eligible for subsidized meals in every grade since kindergarten. These children score 0.94 standard deviations below those never eligible for subsidies and 0.23 below those occasionally eligible. There is a negative, linear relationship between grades spent in economic disadvantage and 8th grade test scores. This is not an exposure effect: the relationship is almost identical in 3rd grade, before children have been differentially exposed to five more years of economic disadvantage. Survey data show that the number of years that a child will spend eligible for subsidized lunch is negatively correlated with her current household income. Years eligible for subsidized meals can therefore be used as a reasonable proxy for income. Our proposed measure can be used in evaluations to estimate heterogeneous effects, to improve value-added calculations, and to better target resources.

JEL-codes: I24 I28 I32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published as Katherine Michelmore & Susan Dynarski, 2017. "The Gap Within the Gap," AERA Open, vol 3(1).

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Working Paper: The Gap within the Gap: Using Longitudinal Data to Understand Income Differences in Student Achievement (2016)
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