Specialized High Schools Presentation

5/27/2018 Specialized High Schools Presentation

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April 20, 2012

Is Elitism a Myth? A Study of NewYork City Specialized High SchoolsBonnie Kong

Thursday, April 19, 12


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Overview: NYC Specialized High

Schools

! The NYC Department of Education runs nine specialized high schools

to accommodate gifted students

! Seven of the nine schools emphasize math and science

! Frequently ranked by US News and World Report as the best high

schools in the country

! Benefits of attending these schools include competitive peer groups,challenging courses, and strong alumni networks



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Overview: The Process

! Interested students take the Specialized High School Admissions Test(SHSAT) in the eighth grade. It is available only to NYC residents.

! Approximately 26,000 students take it each year and only 4,000students are admitted to one of the schools

!

Admission to each school is based on a cutoff score and rank in theexam.

! The SHSAT exam consists of a verbal and math section, wherestudents are given 75 minutes for each section.



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Overview: Previous Studies

! Study by Dobbie and Fryer in 2011 also examined the effects of NYCspecialized high schools with greater emphasis on SAT scores andcollege enrollment.

! A study by Abdulkadiroglu, Angrist, and Pathak in 2011 examined

exam schools in Boston and NYC with a focus on state exam results.! Both studies found little effect of an exam school on student

achievement.



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Key Factors: Specialized HS

! Stuyvesant High School

! Bronx High School of Science

! Queens High School for the Sciences at York College

! High School of American Studies at Lehman College

!

High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College

! Brooklyn Technical High School

! Not in this study: Staten Island Technical High School, Brooklyn Latin

School, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of the Performing ArtsThursday, April 19, 12


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Data Description

! Received individual level data from the NYC Department of Education

! Enrollment data (2003-07)

! SHSAT results (2002-06)

! Regents results (2001-11)

! Graduation indicators per student (2006-10)

! Received data from NYC DOE website

! Graduation rates of schools (2001-06)

! School budgets (2001-06)

!

Class size (2011)



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Descriptive Statistics: Students



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Research Design

! Merge student level data with unique student ID generated by theNYC DOE

! Regression Discontinuity Design, which shows both sides of thecutoff score (cs*)

! E[!i | scorei = cs* + "]"-> 0+ =E[!i | scorei = cs* - "]"-> 0+



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0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Brooklyn Tech

Tech Other School

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30

HSMSE

HSMSE Other School

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Lehman

Lehman Other School

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

QHSS

QHSS Other School

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30

Bronx Science

Bronx Science Other School

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Stuyvesant

Stuyvesant Other School

First Stage Results:

Enrollment in Schools



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Reduced Form Estimates:

Graduation Results

0.89

0.9

0.91

0.92

0.93

0.94

0.95

0.96

0.97

0.98

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Brooklyn Tech

0.86

0.88

0.9

0.92

0.94

0.96

0.98

1

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

HSME

0.87

0.88

0.89

0.9

0.91

0.92

0.93

0.94

0.95

0.96

0.97

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Lehman

0.87

0.88

0.89

0.9

0.91

0.92

0.93

0.94

0.95

0.96

0.970.98

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

QHSS

0.9

0.91

0.92

0.93

0.94

0.95

0.96

0.97

0.98

0.99

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Bronx Science

0.9

0.91

0.92

0.93

0.94

0.95

0.96

0.97

0.98

0.99

1

1.01

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Stuyvesant



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Reduced Form Estimates:

Math Regents Results

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Brooklyn Tech

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

HSME

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Lehman

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

QHSS

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Bronx Science

74

76

78

80

82

84

86

88

90

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Stuyvesant



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Findings

!

Students who attend a specialized high school only perform marginallybetter on Regents exams.

! Students who attend a specialized high school are equally as likely tograduate than the students who score below the cutoff score.

! Many students who are accepted into a specialized high school choose toattend another school, with the exception of Stuyvesant HS.



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Conclusion

! Attending a specialized high school does not have significant impact on a

students short term success.

! It would be interesting to measure the long term impacts such as collegeenrollment and career success, as these are variables that cannot bemeasured statistically.

! NYCs school system is known for its abundance in school choice, whichmay explain why many students choose to go to another institutiondespite being accepted to a specialized high school.



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Questions/ Comments

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Specialized High Schools Presentation