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School crowding, year-round schooling, and mobile classroom use: Evidence from North Carolina

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  • McMullen, Steven C.
  • Rouse, Kathryn E.

Abstract

This study exploits a unique policy environment and a large panel dataset to evaluate the impact of school crowding on student achievement in Wake County, NC. We also estimate the effects of two education policy initiatives that are often used to address crowding: multi-track year-round calendars and mobile classrooms. We estimate a multi-level fixed effects model to identify effects that are not confounded by other school, family, and individual characteristics. Results suggest that severely crowded schools have a negative impact on reading achievement but have no discernable impact on math achievement. Both mobile classrooms and year-round calendars are found to have a small negative impact on achievement in the absence of crowding, but a positive impact in crowded schools, though these policies are only able to partially offset the negative impact of crowding.

Suggested Citation

  • McMullen, Steven C. & Rouse, Kathryn E., 2012. "School crowding, year-round schooling, and mobile classroom use: Evidence from North Carolina," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 812-823.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:31:y:2012:i:5:p:812-823
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2012.05.005
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    Cited by:

    1. Graves Jennifer & McMullen Steven & Rouse Kathryn, 2018. "Teacher Turnover, Composition and Qualifications in the Year-Round School Setting," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(3), pages 1-27, July.
    2. Figlio, D. & Karbownik, K. & Salvanes, K.G., 2016. "Education Research and Administrative Data," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    3. Depro, Brooks & Rouse, Kathryn, 2015. "The effect of multi-track year-round academic calendars on property values: Evidence from district imposed school calendar conversions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 157-171.
    4. Graves, Jennifer, 2013. "School calendars, child care availability and maternal employment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 57-70.
    5. Jennifer Graves & Steven McMullen & Kathryn Rouse, 2013. "Multi-Track Year-Round Schooling as Cost Saving Reform: Not Just a Matter of Time," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 8(3), pages 300-315, July.
    6. Sun, Shengmin & Chen, Jiawei & Chen, Jiaying, 2023. "Cohort crowding in education and employment: Evidence from China's compulsory education law," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 391-411.
    7. Takyi, Stephen Appiah & Azerigyik, Richard Apatewen & Amponsah, Owusu, 2019. "The effects of multi-track year-round education on the delivery of senior high school education in Ghana. Lessons from global MT-YRE systems," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human capital; Educational economics;

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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