Beware the misguided use of scatterplots to infer causation from correlation.

"Newer, quasi-experimental research finds more consistent evidence that past funding increases had positive effects on student outcomes."

via @aefplivehandbook.bsky.social: livehandbook.org/k-12-educati...

Tomorrow on the final day of #APPAM25, the EPI Community has 3 presentations:

8:30 AM Professor Kevin Stange on the role of a liberal arts education
8:30 AM Professor Natasha Pilkauskas on SNAP emergency allotments
10:15 AM EPI alum Brittany Vasquez on how subsidized meals affect student outcomes

Great coverage of my new paper with Jeremy Fiel @ricesocsci.bsky.social in @edweek.org
www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

Slow Progress: School Finance Reforms and Racial Disparities in Funding journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3...

"Results highlight limitations of class-based state reforms to address racial/ethnic disparities."

Really interesting to see a state court find a school CAPITAL funding system unconstitutional! #edusky

www.axios.com/local/phoeni...

There's a narrative that because the bivariate correlation between education spending and student test scores is small/null, education spending doesn't matter.

But causal research has begun to show that this simple association is probably biased downward. Education spending matters a lot.

Dept. of Ed has cut off funds to schools that spread their COVID relief funds out rather than spending them quickly. These schools had already budgeted & signed contracts for things like tutoring, construction projects, & mental health supports.

Michigan school buildings will need $23 billion in repairs and upgrades
https://www.chalkbeat.org/detroit/2025/03/20/michigan-school-buildings-need-billions-in-repairs/

"Good data are not partisan — they are the foundation of good policy."

"regardless of who you are or where you come from, our nation’s public schools will serve you and educate you to a standard of excellence. Aspirations like this have driven our country’s prosperity for decades..." www.slowboring.com/p/what-the-d...

The NCES websites are still working, but Education data was one of our first rescue targets. If you are looking for NCES data, much of it is available on DataLumos. You can see what we and others have rescued on our DR Tracker: baserow.datarescueproject.org/public/grid/...

Mass public education is one of our civilization's greatest accomplishments. It's worth fighting for.

Core ED functions include: processing 17+ million FAFSAs, providing 6.4 million students with Pell Grants, disbursing 6.4 million student loans, and managing loan repayments for 43 million borrowers. None of this happens magically, without people.

Increasing the identified student percentage (ISP) threshold from 25% to 60% would take CEP away from at least 21,000 schools serving 11.4 million students.

An additional 18,000+ non-CEP schools (with 9.4 million students) would lose the ability to sign up for the program.

Our friends at Brookings have been preparing for this moment. www.brookings.edu/collection/w...

Super happy to see this accepted! academic.oup.com/qje/advance-...

1880 per-capita school expenditures, by state #SkyMaps

Many are skeptical that capital spending matters for students.

This impressive new study by @barbarabiasi.bsky.social and others provides compelling evidence of benefits for low-income kids.
insights.som.yale.edu/insights/doe...