Interpreting Tests of School VAM Validity

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2016
Volume: 106
Issue: 5
Pages: 388-92

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We develop over-identification tests that use admissions lotteries to assess the predictive value of regression-based value-added models (VAMs). These tests have degrees of freedom equal to the number of quasi-experiments available to estimate school effects. By contrast, previously implemented VAM validation strategies look at a single restriction only, sometimes said to measure forecast bias. Tests of forecast bias may be misleading when the test statistic is constructed from many lotteries or quasi-experiments, some of which have weak first stage effects on school attendance. The theory developed here is applied to data from the Charlotte-Mecklenberg School district analyzed by Deming (2014).

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:106:y:2016:i:5:p:388-92
Journal Field
General
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-24