One of the frustrating things about education research is that we’re stuck judging whether something works in the classroom by how much student achievement improves, as measured by standardized test scores. It’s an objective measure but we also care about things other than how well a school drills students in the main theme of a passage or the difference between rational and irrational numbers. A school might be great at inspiring kids to be clear writers, persuasive speakers, creative artists but none of those accomplishments would be reflected in a typical test score.  

Researchers are apparently frustrated, too, and a team of them, led by Northwestern University economist C. Kirabo Jackson, has come up with a new index that combines test scores with two other measurable things. It’s one stab at finding a way forward.   

The study, “Who Benefits From Attending Effective Schools? Examining Heterogeneity in High School Impacts,” is a draft, working paper, circulated by the National Bureau of Economics Research in December 2020.

• The new three-part effectiveness index combines increases in test scores with improvements in social and emotional skills and student behavior. 

• The researchers found that Chicago high schools that improve all three (test scores, social and emotional skills and behavior) propel more students to graduate high school, go to college and reduce the number of students who get arrested.  

• Researchers can detect which schools are boosting social and emotional measures and improving student behavior but this study didn’t delve into what the schools are doing. It’s unclear if effective schools consciously embarked upon programs to improve these attributes or were staffed by caring teachers or some combination of the two. 

• The names of the most effective Chicago schools were not disclosed. 

1. Jackson, C. Kirabo, Porter, Shanette C, Easton, John Q, Kiguel, Sebastián, Who Benefits From Attending Effective Schools? Examining Heterogeneity in High School Impacts, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series,  December 2020. 
2. C. Kirabo Jackson, Shanette C. Porter, John Q. Easton, Alyssa Blanchard, and Sebastián Kiguel (February 2020 working paper)  “School effects on socio-emotional development, school-based arrests and educational attainment.” Circulated by both  the National Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) an by the National Bureau of Economic Research.   
3. C. Kirabo Jackson. “What Do Test Scores Miss? The Importance of Teacher Effects on Non–Test Score Outcomes,” Journal of Political Economy, 2018, Vol. 126, No. 5.