A Replication of a Quasi-Experimental Approach to Estimating Middle School Structural Transition Effects on Student Learning Trajectories

• Published in: Educational policy (Los Altos, Calif.) Vol. 36; no. 7; pp. 1612 - 1651
• Main Authors: Atteberry, Allison, Wedow, Robbee, Cook, Nathan J., McEachin, Andrew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.11.2022; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Attribution Theory; Comparative Analysis; Data; Developmental Tasks; Education policy; Educational Research; Effects; Elementary school students; Grade 4; Grade 5; Grade 6; Grade 7; Heterogeneity; Institutional Characteristics; Learning; Mathematics Achievement; Middle School Students; Public Schools; Quasi-experimental methods; Reading Achievement; Reproducibility; School Districts; Student Adjustment; Student Characteristics; Transitions; achievement; educational policy; elementary education
• ISSN: 0895-9048; 1552-3896
• DOI: 10.1177/0895904820987797

Using a dataset that includes over 17 million students from across all 50 states, we estimate the causal impact of making structural transitions into middle school (in grades 4, 5, 6, or 7) on student math and reading achievement trajectories. This dataset provides an ideal opportunity to engage in the valuable scientific practice of conducting replication studies. Prior research on the impacts of middle school transitions is of high quality and rests on a strong causal warrant, but the study settings vary greatly and use data from a prior decade. We conduct a replication (i.e., using the same methods on different data) using larger, broader, and more recent data. We extend prior analyses in ways that may further strengthen the causal warrant. Finally, we explore heterogeneity of effects across subgroups and states, which may help reconcile differences in the magnitude of estimated effects across studies.