RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Are Middle Schools More Effective?
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 660
OP 682
DO 10.3368/jhr.XL.3.660
VO XL
IS 3
A1 Bedard, Kelly
A1 Do, Chau
YR 2005
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XL/3/660.abstract
AB While nearly half of all school districts have adopted middle schools, there is little quantitative evidence of the efficacy of this educational structure. We estimate the impact of moving from a junior high school system, where students stay in elementary school longer, to a middle school system for on-time high school completion. This is a particularly good outcome measure because middle school advocates argued that this new system would be especially helpful for lower achieving students. In contrast to the stated objective, we find that moving to a middle school system decreases on-time high school completion by approximately 1–3 percent.