December 15, 2006

(Abstracts and Papers)
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

230 South LaSalle Street

Chicago, Illinois 60604

7:30-8:10 Continental Breakfast

8:10-11:00 Session 1

"Convergence or Divergence:
The Evolution of Black-White Achievement Gaps During Elementary School"

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"The Academic Achievement Gap in Grades 3 to 8"

Charles Clotfelter, Duke University
Helen Ladd, Duke University
Jacob Vigdor, Duke University

9:15-9:25 Coffee Break

"School Quality and the Black-White Achievement Gap"
Eric Hanushek, Stanford University
Steven Rivkin, Amherst College

Discussants: Roland Fryer, Harvard University
Jonathan Guryan, University of Chicago
Sean Reardon, Stanford University

11:00-11:15  Coffee Break

11:15-12:30 Session 2

"The Effects of Reform in Public Schools"

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"Preferences and Heterogeneous Treatment Effects in a Public School Choice Lottery"
Justine Hastings, Yale University
Thomas Kane, Harvard University
Douglas Staiger, Dartmouth College

Discussant: Patrick Bayer, Duke University

12:30-2:30 Lunch Break and Presentation

12:30-12:45 Lunch served

"Variation in the Short and Long Term Impacts of High Stakes Testing"
Derek Neal, University of Chicago
Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, University of Chicago

Discussant: Brian Jacob, Harvard University

2:00-2:30 Dessert and break

2:30-3:45 Session 3

"Household Resources and Achievement Among Children"

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"Does Money Really Matter? Estimating Impacts of Family Income on Young Children’s Achievement with Data from Random-Assignment Experiments"
Pamela Morris, MDRC
Greg Duncan, Northwestern University
Christopher Rodrigues, MDRC

Discussant: Lisa Barrow, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank

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