A continuum of ages exists at school entry due to the use of a single school cutoff date-making the "oldest" children approximately 20 percent older than the "youngest" children. We provide substantial evidence that these initial maturity differences have long-lasting effects on student...

This policy brief aims to help policymakers, educators, and researchers better understand census funding, a special education finance model used by several states and the federal government. Under this model, aid levels are based primarily on total district enrollment and a fixed amount per...

This study examined responses to state capitation policies for special education finance between 1991 to 1992 and 2003 to 2004. Capitation refers to distributing funds based on the entire student enrollment. Disability rates tended to fall following capitation reforms, primarily in more...

This study extends recent findings of a relationship between the relative age of students among their peers and their probability of disability classification. Using three nationally representative surveys spanning 1988-2004 and grades K-10, we find that an additional month of relative age...

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...

This policy brief aims to help policymakers, educators, and researchers better understand census funding, a special education finance model used by several states and the federal government. Under this model, aid levels are based primarily on total district enrollment and a fixed amount per...

Several states and the federal government distribute aid for special education programs based primarily on total district enrollment and a fixed aid amount per student, a method called census funding. In this policy brief, we address three questions to help policy makers, educators, and...

Economists have identified a substantial adult wage premium attached to high school leadership activity. Unresolved is the extent to which it constitutes human capital acquisition or proxies for an "innate" unobserved skill. We document a determinant of high school leadership activity that is...