Job Market Paper

Heterogeneous Effects of Class Size Reduction: Teacher Experience, Student Performance, and Non-Test Outcomes across North Carolina Classrooms." 

This paper examines the impact of a statewide school spending policy —North Carolina's class size reduction (CSR) law — within the broader context of entrenched disparities in access to educational resources across classrooms. Specifically, I explore how the effects of CSR interact with pre-existing disparities in access to experienced teachers, a critical factor often overlooked in the class size reduction literature. Due to the sorting and assortative matching of students and teachers within schools, the distribution of experienced teachers is uneven, contributing to differential access to educational quality even within the same school. Using rich administrative data that links students to their teachers and classrooms, I employ an event study and difference-in-differences (DID) framework to estimate the heterogeneous effects of class size reduction across classrooms. While the average policy effect is statistically insignificant at 0.02σ increase while holding teacher experience constant, significant heterogeneities exist across classrooms. Students in classrooms with teachers with 6 to 14 years of experience gained a 0.05σ in math scores. The CSR effect on student suspensions and attendance is also examined. The findings show an insignificant increase in suspension and a statistically significant improvement in attendance. These effects are generally homogenous across teachers. This study sheds light on how disparities in schooling resources, particularly the distribution of teacher experience, complicate the intended benefits of statewide policies like CSR. These findings have important implications for policymakers implementing efficient and effective policies while promoting educational equity.

Ongoing research

Electricity Supply and Human Capital Accumulation of Women and Girls. A Study from Tajikistan.

(with Charles Becker and Uyanga Gansukh)

This study investigates how disruptions in electricity supply affect educational attainment among women and girls in Tajikistan. In this country, energy shortages are frequent due to aging infrastructure and a reliance on hydropower. While numerous studies highlight the benefits of electricity access on educational outcomes, most focus on the positive effects of new electrification rather than the consequences of interruptions. Using 30 years of nightlight satellite data, spanning the period from 1992 to 2022, and household-level data on educational attainment from the Tajikistan Demographic and Health Survey, we capture the effects of these outages at a subnational level. Our analysis exploits the exogenous disruptions in energy supply, such as Tajikistan’s 2009 disconnection from the Central Asian Power System and the discontinuation of natural gas imports from a neighboring country in 2013, on school enrollment within the event study framework. This study contributes to the literature by examining electricity’s role on the intensive margin and aims to inform policies addressing gender-based economic disparities. Moreover, the recent approval of additional financing for the Tajikistan Rural Electrification Project (World Bank 2021) to connect rural populations to the power grid, along with a multimillion-dollar grant (World Bank 2023) to enhance Tajikistan’s secondary education system, underscores the timeliness and significance of this research.

Bright Spot Schools: Wake County Public School System's quest to eliminate grade level proficiency gaps across racial/ethnic student groups. 

(with Meghan Scrimgeour, Ph.D. (WCPSS)and  Colleen Paeplow, Ph.D. (WCPSS)

This research project aligns with WCPSS's commitment to closing the achievement gap across the largest public school district in North Carolina, addressing a challenge that persists both statewide and nationwide despite considerable national efforts and investments. By utilizing restricted-use administrative data, WCPSS calculates achievement disproportionality ratios, identifying "Bright Spot Schools" that excel in minimizing these disparities while serving diverse student populations. To complement the quantitative data, WCPSS conducts comprehensive interviews with the principals of these successful schools to uncover effective strategies and best practices, as well as student focus groups to gather insights into the day-to-day experiences of students at these schools. The insights gained from these interviews, backed by data, will then be applied district-wide, showcasing a data-driven approach to fostering equity in education.

Publications

Clotfelter, Charles T., Steven W. Hemelt, Helen F. Ladd, and Mavzuna R. Turaeva. 2023. "School Segregation in the Era of Color-Blind Jurisprudence and School Choice." Urban Affairs Review 1-41.

Turaeva, Mavzuna R., and Charles M. Becker. 2022. "Daughters-In-Law and Domestic Violence: Patrilocal Marriage in Tajikistan." Feminist Economics DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2022.2060518.

Clotfelter, Charles T., Helen F. Ladd, Calen R. Clifton, and Mavzuna R. Turaeva. 2021. "School Segregation at the Classroom Level in a Southern ‘New Destination’ State." Race and Social Problems 13: 131-160.

Working Papers

Helen Ladd, Mavzuna Turaeva (2018). Parental preferences for charter schools in North Carolina: Implications for racial segregation and isolation. CALDER Working Paper No. 196-0618-1

Wes, Austin, Chen Bingjie, Dan Goldhaber, et al. 2019. "Path to the Principalship and Value Added: A Cross-State Comparison of Elementary and Middle School Principals." Academia Working Paper No. 213-0119-1