Availability of large, multilevel longitudinal databases in various fields including labor economics (with workers and firms observed over time) and ed- ucation research (with students and teachers observed over time) has increased the application of panel-data models with multiple levels of...

When a student receiving Title IV financial aid, such as a Pell Grant, withdraws after attending for 60% or less of an enrollment period, federal aid rules require colleges to return a portion of students’ Title IV aid disbursals to the U.S. Department of Education, in a policy known as...

Abstract: In this article, we carefully examine two important implementation issues when estimating propensity scores using generalized boosted models (GBM), a promising machine learning technique. First, we examine which of the following methods for tuning GBM lead to better covariate balance...

In this study we reconsider the relationship between heavy and persistent marijuana use and high school dropout status using a unique prospective panel study of over 4500 7th grade students from South Dakota who are followed up through high school. Propensity score weighting is used to adjust...

Ballou and Podgursky analyze the issues surrounding the debate over whether increasing salaries for teachers leads to a more qualified teaching workforce. The authors find little evidence to support the link between increased salaries and teacher quality, then address two questions: 1) What went...

The objective of this dissertation is to understand the circumstances under which non-experimental methods yield unbiased estimates of the effect of magnet school attendance on student achievement. This dissertation has two main analyses. In the first analysis, non-experimental estimates (via...