Sarah Cohodes, Assistant Professor, Teachers College, Columbia University

Specialized programming for high-achieving late elementary and middle school students is common in the United States but has not shown a consistent pattern of gains in short-run standardized test scores. Studying Advanced Work Class (AWC), a long-standing program in the Boston Public Schools (BPS), provides an opportunity to estimate longer-term academic impacts of such a program. AWC is an accelerated curriculum delivered in dedicated classrooms for high-achieving fourth through sixth graders. Fuzzy regression discontinuity estimates based on eligibility scores show that AWC has positive but imprecise impacts on test scores and improves longer-term outcomes. AWC increases Advanced Placement exam-taking, on time high-school graduation, and college enrollment. These gains are driven by Black and Latino/a students. An analysis of mechanisms highlights the importance of staying ``on track'' throughout high school, with little evidence that peer effects contribute to AWC gains.

Sarah Cohodes is an Assistant Professor of Education Policy and Economics at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Faculty Affiliate at Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. Her research uses quantitative causal inference methods to evaluate policies and programs that are intended to increase access to high-quality education. She is particularly interested in how young people and their families make choices about education and how school and college quality interact with those decisions. Sarah holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University, an Ed.M. in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a B.A. in Economics from Swarthmore College. Prior to her PhD, she worked in educational research for six years at the Urban Institute and the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University.