Deliver salient, personalized ability signals to encourage educational investments¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 mixed) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The paper recommends using customized signals of ability, such as a message in students' test-score results reports signaling their "potential to succeed in Advanced Placement (AP) coursework," as a low-cost lever to increase educational investments. The strategy works by giving students new information about their own ability, prompting them to revise self-assessments and enrollment plans. Its effectiveness depends on the signal being made salient to students.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• The signal must be made salient to students; non-surveyed students who received the signal did not respond to it.

Constraints¶

• Evidence comes from a 2013 PSAT-based AP signal in one district (Oakland Unified School District); effects were observed among surveyed students only.

Target Learners¶

• high school students considering Advanced Placement coursework

Target Learning Goals¶

• increasing participation and investment in advanced coursework
• increasing AP exam taking and college-credit eligibility

Claims¶

• Students who were not surveyed for the study did not respond to the ability signal [~W]

Related Strategies¶

• Addressing Stereotype Threat

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Naihobe Gonzalez. (2017). How Learning About One's Ability Affects Educational Investments: Evidence from the Advanced Placement Program. Working Paper 52, Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/how-learning-about-ones-ability-affects-educational-investments-evidence-from-the-advanced-placement