No More Excuses
Roland G. Fryer, Jr.
Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics
Harvard University
EdLabs
NBER
Why EdLabs Was Founded
“If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to
impose on America the mediocre education performance
that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act
of war.”
A Nation at Risk (1983)
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Mexico
Chile
Slovak Republic
$16,000
$14,000
$12,000
$10,000
$8,000
$6,000
$4,000
$2,000
Mexico
Chile
Turkey
Israel
Greece
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Ireland
United States
Luxembourg
Hungary
500
Poland
Hungary
Czech Republic
New Zealand
Portugal
South Korea
Finland
Czech Republic
Sweden
Poland
Austria
Slovak Republic
France
Norway
Slovenia
Denmark
Iceland
Estonia
Germany
Australia
Belgium
New Zealand
Netherlands
Canada
Japan
Switzerland
Finland
United Kingdom
Source: OECD, Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2009
Germany
Australia
Spain
Italy
Ireland
Japan
Canada
France
Belgium
Netherlands
United Kingdom
Sweden
Iceland
Denmark
Austria
United States
Norway
Switzerland
Luxembourg
South Korea
Why EdLabs Was Founded
United States vs. OECD Countries
Mathematics Literacy Among 15-Year-Olds, 2009
600
550
OECD Average
450
400
Annual Expenditure Per Student, 2007
OECD Average
Source: Education at a Glance 2010: OECD Indicators
3
Overview
The Achievement Gap
Among cities that participate in NAEP, the magnitude of racial differences in educational
achievement is startling.
Percent Proficient, 8th Grade Math, NAEP 2011
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
66
78
69
61
66
66
65
47
43
31
17
11
10
21
16
34
25
10
6
12
3
9
7
44
10
58
34
17
10
44
8
44
39
9
22
5
32
12
13
8
white
black
Hispanic
Percent Proficient, 8th Grade Reading, NAEP 2011
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
65
59
40
55
12
8
14
18
45
7
36
29
25
13
56
46
41
34
12
63
56
9
7
10
9
41
44
38
37
46
26
12
12
12
15
13
16
6
13
11
white
black
Hispanic
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Why EdLabs Was Founded
What if we could
have closed the
international
achievement gap
By 1998?
On average,
American students
lag 0.75 s.d. behind
their top ranked
international peers
on the PISA test
The international achievement gap cost
$1.3 -$2.3 trillion in lost GDP in 2008
there is a 1.2%2% growth
premium for a 1
s.d. increase in
academic
achievement
Based upon Calculations from McKinsey (2009)
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5
Why EdLabs Was Founded
What if we could
have eliminated the
racial achievement
gap by 1998?
Nearly 30% of
the population
is
The racial achievement gap cost
$310 -$525 billion in lost GDP in 2008
--------------------------------------------------------And $1.5 – $2.5 trillion
cumulatively from 1998-2008
0.8 s.d. behind
their white
peers in math
and reading
and
there is a 1.2%2% growth
premium for a 1
s.d. increase in
academic
achievement
Based upon Calculations from McKinsey (2009)
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6
Why EdLabs Was Founded
Accounting for educational achievement drastically reduces racial and socioeconomic inequality
across a wide range of important life outcomes.
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7
Why EdLabs Was Founded
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8
Conventional Wisdom Has Failed
Percentage of Teachers with a
Master's Degree or Higher
Total Expenditure Per Pupil (2008-09 $))
$12,000
100%
$10,508
$10,000
80%
$6,000
$5,243
40%
49.6%
20%
23.5%
27.5%
1961
1971
53.1%
56.8%
61.8%
$8,949
1990
1995
$7,347
$8,000
60%
$8,790
$12,11
6
$11,438
$6,049
$6,268
1975
1980
$4,000
$2,000
0%
1981
1991
2001
2006
$0
1970
1985
2000
2005
Student to Teacher Ratio
24:1
325
22.3 :1
Reading and Math Achievement of 9, 13, and 17 year-olds,
1971-2008
300
22:1
20.4 :1
20:1
9 yearolds
13 yearolds
17 yearolds
275
18.7 :1
250
17.9 :1
18:1
17.2 :1
225
17.3 :1
16.0 :1 15.6 :1
16:1
200
175
14:1
1970
1971 1975 1980 1984 1988 1990 1994 1996 1999 2004 2008
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
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Annual Treatment Effect on Student Achievement (in SD
units)
The Achievement Gap
1
Past Interventions vs. the Racial Achievement Gap
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-0.2
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Results From High-Performing Charters
Harlem
Children’s
Zone
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Charter Results
A. Broad Surveys
0.4
B. High Performers
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
Math
Reading
0.1
0.05
0
-0.05
-0.1
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Edlabs’ Research: Finding the Vaccine
The key goal is to translate charter schools’ successful policies into common principles and then transplant
them into traditional public schools. To this end, EdLabs initiated a multi-year study of NYC charters to
determine which policies and practices are the most correlated with student achievement.
Correlation of “Traditional” Inputs and Math Effectiveness
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Edlabs’ Research: Finding the Vaccine
Correlation of Within-School Inputs and Math Effectiveness
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Edlabs’ Research Findings: Finding the Vaccine
The key goal is to translate charter schools’ successful policies into common principles and then transplant them into
traditional public schools. To this end, EdLabs initiated a multi-year study of NYC charters that determined that the
following five policies and practices have the greatest correlation with student achievement:
More Time in School
• Extended day, week, and school years are all integral components of successful school
models. In the case of Harlem Children’s Zone’s Promise Academy, students have
nearly doubled the amount of time on task compared to students in NYC public schools.
Small Group Tutoring
• In top performing schools, classroom instruction is supplemented by individualized
tutoring, both after school and during the regular school day.
Human Capital Management
• Successful charters reward teachers for performance and hold them accountable if they
are not adding value.
Data Driven Instruction and Student Performance Management
• In the top charter schools, students are assessed frequently, and then, in small groups,
re-taught the skills they have not yet mastered.
Culture and Expectations
• In successful schools, students buy into the school’s mission and into the importance of
their education in improving their lives.
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Implementation
Increased Time in School
The school day was extended in Apollo schools during the 2010-11 school year:
7:45am – 4:15pm Monday through Thursday, and 7:45am – 3:15pm on Fridays.
This was an average of an hour longer per school day.
The school year was extended by five school days. Apollo students reported for
school on August 16, 2010, while the rest of the district began on August 23, 2010.
A: Instructional Hours per Year
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Bottom line: The difference between instructional time in 2009-10 and 2010-11 amounts to
approximately 30 school days – that’s 6 additional weeks of school for students.
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Implementation
Human Capital
In addition to finding nine new principals, teacher turnover spiked to 53%
in Apollo schools over the summer of 2010. Value-added data shows that
teachers who returned as Apollo teachers had a much stronger history of
increasing student achievement in every subject, relative to those who
left.
Teacher Departure Rates
Teacher Value Added
0.2
60%
0.1
50%
0
40%
Apollo
Schools
30%
-0.1
-0.6
2009-10
Social
Studies
Stayed
0%
2008-09
Science
-0.3
10%
2007-08
Reading
Left
Comparison -0.4
Schools
-0.5
2006-07
Math
-0.2
20%
2005-06
Language
-0.7
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Implementation
High Dosage Differentiation: Tutoring and Double-Dosing
•All sixth and ninth grade students received daily 2:1 tutoring in math
•Seventh, eighth, tenth, and eleventh graders received an extra reading or math
course if they had tested behind grade level in the previous year
• All told, middle school students received approximately 215 hours of
tutoring/double-dosing, and high school students received 189.
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Implementation
Data-Driven Instruction
•In addition to required HISD assessments, Apollo schools administered two
additional comprehensive benchmark assessments in four core subjects: math,
reading, science, and social studies.
•After each assessment, teachers received student-level data and used this to
have one-on-one goal-setting conversations with students.
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Implementation
Culture and Expectations
At the end of the 2009-10 school year, The New Teacher Project
interviewed all teachers in what would become Apollo schools. Those who
returned for the 2010-11 year showed a demonstrably stronger
commitment to the Apollo 20 philosophy.
Interview Responses
3.5
3
2.5
2
Left
1.5
Stayed
1
0.5
0
No Excuses
Alignment
Student Commitment Student
with Mission Achievement to Students Motivation
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Implementation
Culture and Expectations
Reports from student focus groups provide a lens into the culture shift.
1.Pre-Treatment: There were lots of fights and “wilding out” all the time.
Teachers didn’t give homework. People just showed up and basically went
through the motions. Observers noted rowdy hallways, messing around,
not taking school very seriously.
2.Treatment Fall: The extended school day was a big shift. Constant
complaints of exhaustion. Everyone’s tired. The students are tired. The
teachers are tired.
3.Treatment Spring: “The food in the cafeteria sucks.” “I had a hamburger
that wasn’t any good.”
• Student: “The apples taste like soap.”
• Project Manager: “Next time I visit I’ll figure out why the apples
tasted like soap.”
From a teacher in Fall 2011: “The sixth graders from last year
who are seventh graders now have started to shift the whole school
culture. The climate is really changing – it’s calmer everywhere, and there
are no more fights.”
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Apollo 20 In Context
Pooling all grades together, the results are strikingly similar to those
achieved by the Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy Middle Skill
and KIPP – two of the country’s most recognized charter operators.
Treatment Effects in Context
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
Math
Reading
0.1
0.05
0
Average NYC
Charter
Harlem Children's
Zone (MS)
Average KIPP (MS)
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Houston Year 1
Denver Year 1
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Using an estimate of the correlation between test scores and future
earnings, we can calculate a rough rate of return for the first year of the
Apollo experiment and compare it to other popular education
interventions.
Initiative
Cost/Student
IRR
Apollo 20 (Houston)
$1,837
21.66 %
DSSN Turnaround (Denver)
~$2,500
15.20 %
“No Excuses” Charter School
$2,496
18.50 %
Early Childhood Education
$8,879
7.6 %
Reduced Class Size
$3,501
6.20 %
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Long-Term HCZ Effects
Preliminary Survey Findings
College-Going Indicators
Health Outcomes and Behaviors
100.00%
0.6
80.00%
0.5
0.4
60.00%
0.3
40.00%
0.2
20.00%
0.1
0.00%
Took SAT
Accepted to College
Woodcock Johnson (Cumulative
Effects)
0
No Anxiety Symptoms Health Outcome Index
Social Outcomes (Odds Ratios)
0
0.5
-1
0.4
-2
0.3
-3
0.2
-4
0.1
Nutrition Index
Pregnancy (Girls)
Incarceration (Boys)
-5
0
Math
Reading
-6
•Lottery winners are 5.5 times less likely to get pregnant
•We identified 7 lottery losers who are currently incarcerated, compared to 1 lottery
winner (more complete stats are forthcoming)
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