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%% Books @book{fds301047, Author = {JL Vigdor}, Title = {From Immigrants to Americans: The Rise and Fall of Fitting In}, Year = {2009}, Month = {December}, Abstract = {This book evaluates the assimilation of immigrants in the United States between 1850 and 2007, placing contemporary immigrants in historical perspective. It finds that on average, the path toward the American mainstream is traveled more rapidly by modern immigrants than it was by their predecessors a century ago. The average does not tell the whole story, however. Some contemporary groups exhibit extraordinary rates of naturalization and economic progress, while others lag behind to an extent never before witnessed. The lack of legal status is a major impediment to assimilation for many of these groups.}, Key = {fds301047} } %% Journal Articles @article{fds301050, Author = {R MacCoun and PJ Cook and C Muschkin and JL Vigdor}, Title = {Distinguishing spurious and real peer effects: Evidence from artificial societies, small-group experiments, and real schoolyards}, Journal = {Review of Law and Economics}, Volume = {4}, Number = {3}, Year = {2008}, ISSN = {1555-5879}, Abstract = {In a variety of important domains, there is considerable correlational evidence suggestive of what are variously referred to as social norm effects, contagion effects, information cascades, or peer effects. It is difficult to statistically identify whether such effects are causal, and there are various non-causal mechanisms that can produce such apparent norm effects. Lab experiments demonstrate that real peer effects occur, but also that apparent cascade or peer effects can be spurious. A curious feature of American local school configuration policy provides an opportunity to identify true peer influences among adolescents. Some school districts send 6th graders to middle school (e.g., 6th-8th grade "junior high"); others retain 6th graders for one additional year in K-6 elementary schools. Using administrative data on public school students in North Carolina, we have found that sixth grade students attending middle schools are much more likely to be cited for discipline problems than those attending elementary school, and the effects appear to persist at least through ninth grade. A plausible explanation is that these effects occur because sixth graders in middle schools are suddenly exposed to two cohorts of older, more delinquent peers. © 2008 by bepress.}, Key = {fds301050} } @article{fds301053, Author = {CT Clotfelter and HF Ladd and JL Vigdor}, Title = {Teacher credentials and student achievement in high school: A cross-subject analysis with student fixed effects}, Journal = {Journal of Human Resources}, Volume = {45}, Number = {3}, Pages = {655-681}, Year = {2010}, ISSN = {0022-166X}, Abstract = {We use data on statewide end-of-course tests in North Carolina to examine the relationship between teacher credentials and student achievement at the high school level. We find compelling evidence that teacher credentials, particularly licensure and certification, affects student achievement in systematic ways and that the magnitudes are large enough to be policy relevant. Our findings imply that the uneven distribution of teacher credentials by race and socioeconomic status of high school students-a pattern we also document-contributes to achievement gaps in high school. In addition, some troubling findings emerge related to the gender and race of the teachers. © 2010 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.}, Key = {fds301053} } @article{fds301054, Author = {P Arcidiacono and JL Vigdor}, Title = {does the river spill over? estimating the economic returns to attending a racially diverse college}, Journal = {Economic Inquiry}, Volume = {48}, Number = {3}, Pages = {537-557}, Year = {2010}, ISSN = {0095-2583}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2009.00236.x}, Abstract = {This article evaluates the frequently argued but heretofore little tested hypothesis that increasing minority representation in elite colleges generates tangible benefits for majority-race students. Using data on graduates of 30 selective universities, we find only weak evidence of any relationship between collegiate racial composition and the postgraduation outcomes of white or Asian students. Moreover, the strongest evidence we uncover suggests that increasing minority representation by lowering admission standards is unlikely to produce benefits and may in fact cause harm by reducing the representation of minority students on less selective campuses. While affirmative action may still be desirable for the benefits it conveys to minority students, these results provide little support for " spillover" effects on majority-race students. (JEL I2, J15, J24). [T]he attainment of a diverse student body is a constitutionally permissible goal for an institution of higher education. The atmosphere of 'speculation, experiment and creation'-so essential to the quality of higher education-is widely believed to be promoted by a diverse student body.-Lewis Powell, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (438 U.S. 265, 1978, pp. 311-12, quoting Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234, 1957, p. 263). © 2009 Western Economic Association International.}, Doi = {10.1111/j.1465-7295.2009.00236.x}, Key = {fds301054} } @article{fds301052, Author = {CT Clotfelter and HF Ladd and JL Vigdor}, Title = {New destinations, new trajectories? The educational progress of Hispanic youth in North Carolina.}, Journal = {Child Dev}, Volume = {83}, Number = {5}, Pages = {1608-1622}, Year = {2012}, Month = {September}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22966926}, Abstract = {Since 1990, Latin American immigrants to the United States have dispersed beyond traditional gateway regions to a number of "new destinations." Both theory and past empirical evidence provide mixed guidance as to whether the children of these immigrants are adversely affected by residing in a nontraditional destination. This study uses administrative public school data to study over 2,800 8- to 18-year-old Hispanic youth in one new destination, North Carolina. Conditional on third-grade socioeconomic indicators, Hispanic youth who arrive by age 9 and remain enrolled in North Carolina public schools close achievement gaps with socioeconomically similar White students by sixth grade and exhibit significantly lower high school dropout rates. Their performance resembles that of first-generation youth in more established immigration gateways.}, Doi = {10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01797.x}, Key = {fds301052} } @article{fds301048, Author = {CT Clotfelter and HF Ladd and CG Muschkin and JL Vigdor}, Title = {Success in Community College: Do Institutions Differ?}, Journal = {Research in Higher Education}, Pages = {1-20}, Year = {2013}, ISSN = {0361-0365}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11162-013-9295-6}, Abstract = {Community colleges are complex organizations and assessing their performance, though important, is difficult. Compared to 4-year colleges and universities, community colleges serve a more diverse population and provide a wider variety of educational programs that include continuing education and technical training for adults, and diplomas, associates degrees, and transfer credits for recent high school graduates. Focusing solely on the latter programs of North Carolina's community colleges, we measure the success of each college along two dimensions: attainment of an applied diploma or degree; or completion of the coursework required to transfer to a 4-year college or university. We address three questions. First, how much variation is there across the institutions in these measures of student success? Second, how do these measures of success differ across institutions after we adjust for the characteristics of the enrolled students? Third, how do our measures compare to the measures of success used by the North Carolina Community College System? Although we find variation along both dimensions of success, we also find that part of this variation is attributable to differences in the kinds of students who attend various colleges. Once we correct for such differences, we find that it is not possible to distinguish most of the system's colleges from one another along either dimension. Top-performing institutions, however, can be distinguished from the most poorly performing ones. Finally, our adjusted rates of success show little correlation either to measurable aspects of the various colleges or to the metrics used by the state. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.}, Doi = {10.1007/s11162-013-9295-6}, Key = {fds301048} } @article{fds301049, Author = {JL Vigdor}, Title = {Weighing and Measuring the Decline in Residential Segregation}, Journal = {CITY & COMMUNITY}, Volume = {12}, Number = {2}, Pages = {169-177}, Year = {2013}, Month = {June}, ISSN = {1535-6841}, url = {http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000320545800006&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=47d3190e77e5a3a53558812f597b0b92}, Doi = {10.1111/cico.12023}, Key = {fds301049} } %% Policy Briefs @misc{fds301051, Author = {JL Vigdor}, Title = {Solving America's Math Problem}, Year = {2013}, Month = {December}, Key = {fds301051} }
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