Illinois policy reform making the ACT a graduation requirement (identification strategy)¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

A policy reform in Illinois that "made the ACT a graduation requirement," which the authors use to identify the within- and across-school selectivity of ACT takers. By compelling near-universal test taking, the reform provides a benchmark against which selection into voluntary test participation is estimated. The article uses it as the source of identification for all selection estimates reported.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• The reform must make ACT test taking effectively universal within affected schools so that observed scores approximate the full population of students

Constraints¶

• Identification is specific to the Illinois policy change and the period in which it applied

Target Learners¶

• high school students in Illinois subject to graduation requirements

Target Learning Goals¶

• accurate measurement of student achievement using college admissions test data

Claims¶

• ACT participation is positively selected across schools: higher-achieving schools have higher participation rates [+W]
• Within schools, higher-achieving students are more likely to take the ACT [+W]
• School-level averages of observed admissions test scores are extremely highly correlated with average latent scores [+W]

Related Elements¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Melissa Clark, Jesse Rothstein, Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach. (2007). Selection Bias in College Admissions Test Scores. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, Education Research Section. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/selection-bias-in-college-admissions-test-scores