Promotion power measure of high school effects on long-term student success¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 7 claims (7 for) · 2 studies (2 associational), q1–q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 7 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Promotion power is defined as "a school's effect on the long-term success of its students as indicated by high school graduation, college or career readiness, college enrollment and persistence, and success in the job market." The measure was computed for each Louisiana public high school, and is intended to isolate school contributions "separately from other factors, such as family resources and students' learning before high school."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Must be computed per school so that schools serving different student populations can be compared

Constraints¶

• Designed to level the playing field only "to the extent possible," per the study's own qualifier

Target Learners¶

• Louisiana public high school students

Target Learning Goals¶

• High school graduation
• college and career readiness
• college enrollment and persistence
• job market success

Claims¶

• Students at high promotion power high schools have substantially better expected long-term outcomes than similar students at average promotion power schools [+W]
• The Louisiana study separated high schools' contributions to long-term success from family resources and students' learning before high school [+W]
• Promotion power measures are designed to permit fair comparisons of schools serving different student populations [+W]
• Louisiana high schools vary widely in their success in promoting graduation, college enrollment, and earnings [+W]
• DC public high schools show wide variation in promotion power for college-ready SAT scores, graduation, and college enrollment [+W]
• Schools with high promotion power for high school graduation tended also to have high promotion power for college enrollment [+W]
• Student background characteristics are less strongly related to promotion power scores than to status measures [+W]

Related Elements¶

• Promotion power measure of Louisiana high schools
• Promotion power: a school-effectiveness measure separating school contributions from student background

Examples¶

• Use promotion power measures as information for districts, schools, and parents about high school performance
• Use statistical adjustment to separate school effects from family resources and prior learning when rating schools

Key Sources¶

• Jonah Deutsch, Matthew Johnson, and Brian Gill. (2020). The Promotion Power Impacts of Louisiana High Schools (Executive Summary). Mathematica. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/es-the-promotion-power-impacts-of-louisiana-high-schools