Martin R West
Biographic Data
| ID | 3605763 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Martin R West |
| GIVEN NAMES | Martin R |
| FAMILY NAME | West |
| SIGNATURE | WEST M R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Harvard University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 130 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Dispositional mindfulness: Dissociable affective and cognitive processes
Mindfulness has been linked to a range of positive social-emotional and cognitive outcomes, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. As one of the few traits or dispositions that are associated with both affective and cognitive benefits, we asked whether mindfulness is associated with affective and cognitive outcomes through a shared, unitary process or through two dissociable processes. We examined this in adolescents using behavioral measures…
Federalism, Race, and the Politics of Turnaround: U.S. Public Opinion on Improving Low-Performing Schools and Districts
Public support for school improvement policies can increase the success and durability of those reforms. However, little is known about public views on turnaround. We capitalize on a nationally representative 2017 survey ( N = 4,214) to uncover opinions regarding which level of government should lead on turnaround and state takeover of troubled districts. We find controversy surrounding state intervention into low-performing schools is not driven…
Beyond the 30-Million-Word Gap: Children’s Conversational Exposure Is Associated With Language-Related Brain Function
Children’s early language exposure impacts their later linguistic skills, cognitive abilities, and academic achievement, and large disparities in language exposure are associated with family socioeconomic status (SES). However, there is little evidence about the neural mechanisms underlying the relation between language experience and linguistic and cognitive development. Here, language experience was measured from home audio recordings of 36 SES…
Endogenous Stratification in Randomized Experiments
Policymakers are often interested in estimating how policy interventions affect the outcomes of those most in need of help. This concern has motivated the practice of disaggregating experimental results by groups constructed on the basis of an index of baseline characteristics that predicts the values of individual outcomes without the treatment. This paper shows that substantial biases may arise in practice if the index is estimated by regressin…
Promise and Paradox: Measuring Students’ Non-Cognitive Skills and the Impact of Schooling
We used self-report surveys to gather information on a broad set of non-cognitive skills from 1,368 eighth graders. At the student level, scales measuring conscientiousness, self-control, grit, and growth mindset are positively correlated with attendance, behavior, and test-score gains between fourth grade and eighth grade. Conscientiousness, self-control, and grit are unrelated to test-score gains at the school level, however, and students atten…
Sticker Shock: How Information Affects Citizen Support for Public School Funding
This study examines the role of information in shaping public opinion in the context of support for education spending. While there is broad public support for increasing government funding for public schools, Americans tend to underestimate what is currently spent. We embed a series of experiments in a nationally representative survey administered in 2012 (n = 2,993) to examine whether informing citizens about current levels of education spendin…
Relative Performance Information and Perceptions of Public Service Quality: Evidence From American School Districts
The publication of information about public service performance has expanded dramatically in recent decades. Multiple experiments have shown that relative performance information influences citizens’ evaluations of local services. It is unclear whether this information leads citizens to update their beliefs or temporarily employ different criteria, however, and we do not know if the influence of performance information will extend to contexts in …
The Impact of Home-Based Child Care Provider Unionization on the Cost, Type, and Availability of Subsidized Child Care in Illinois: Impact of Home-Based Child Care Provider Unionization
In February 2005, Illinois became the first U.S. state to grant home‐based child care providers (HBCPs) the right to form a labor union in order to bargain collectively with the state government. This policy inspired similar efforts across the country and represents a potentially important direction for child care policy. To date, the implications of labor unions for the cost, type, and availability of subsidized child care have not been evaluate…
Teachers Unions and Public Education: A Discussion of Terry Moe's Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America's Public Schools
Public education is one of the most important “public goods” of a democratic society. In recent decades, public policy analysts, public intellectuals, and politicians have debated the state of public education in the United States and have argued about the sorts of public policies that might best promote the academic achievement, educational success, and political socialization of youth. Terry Moe and John Chubb have been important contributors t…
Citizen Perceptions of Government Service Quality: Evidence from Public Schools
Conventional models of democratic accountability hinge on citizens’ ability to evaluate government performance accurately. In recent years, public reporting of governmental performance has expanded in many policy domains, potentially enhancing citizen capacities to make accurate evaluations. Yet there is little evidence on the degree to which citizen perceptions correspond to actual service quality. Using survey data, we find that citizens’ perce…
Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School’: Historical Resistance to State Schooling, Contemporary Private Competition and Student Achievement across Countries
Nineteenth-century Catholic doctrine strongly opposed state schooling. We show that countries with larger shares of Catholics in 1900 (but without a Catholic state religion) tend to have larger shares of privately operated schools even today. We use this historical pattern as a natural experiment to estimate the causal effect of contemporary private competition on student achievement in cross-country student-level analyses. Our results show that …
The Efficacy of Choice Threats within School Accountability Systems: Results from Legislatively Induced Experiments
Targeted stigma and school voucher threats under a revised 2002 Florida accountability law have positive impacts on school performance as measured by the test score gains of their students. In contrast, stigma and public school choice threats under the US federal accountability law, No Child Left Behind, do not have similar effects in Florida. Estimation relies upon individual-level data and is based upon regression analyses that exploit disconti…
Participation in a national, means-tested school voucher program
We use data from a sample of applicants to a national means-tested school voucher program and a national sample of the population eligible for the program to evaluate the factors leading families to use school vouchers. Our analysis divides the process of voucher usage into two distinct stages: initial application and subsequent take-up. Using a nested logit model, we find that some factors, like religious affiliation and religious service attend…
Relative Performance Information and Perceptions of Public Service Quality: Evidence From American School Districts
The publication of information about public service performance has expanded dramatically in recent decades. Multiple experiments have shown that relative performance information influences citizens’ evaluations of local services. It is unclear whether this information leads citizens to update their beliefs or temporarily employ different criteria, however, and we do not know if the influence of performance information will extend to contexts in …
Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School’: Historical Resistance to State Schooling, Contemporary Private Competition and Student Achievement across Countries
Nineteenth-century Catholic doctrine strongly opposed state schooling. We show that countries with larger shares of Catholics in 1900 (but without a Catholic state religion) tend to have larger shares of privately operated schools even today. We use this historical pattern as a natural experiment to estimate the causal effect of contemporary private competition on student achievement in cross-country student-level analyses. Our results show that …
Citizen Perceptions of Government Service Quality: Evidence from Public Schools
Conventional models of democratic accountability hinge on citizens’ ability to evaluate government performance accurately. In recent years, public reporting of governmental performance has expanded in many policy domains, potentially enhancing citizen capacities to make accurate evaluations. Yet there is little evidence on the degree to which citizen perceptions correspond to actual service quality. Using survey data, we find that citizens’ perce…
Sticker Shock: How Information Affects Citizen Support for Public School Funding
This study examines the role of information in shaping public opinion in the context of support for education spending. While there is broad public support for increasing government funding for public schools, Americans tend to underestimate what is currently spent. We embed a series of experiments in a nationally representative survey administered in 2012 (n = 2,993) to examine whether informing citizens about current levels of education spendin…
Participation in a national, means-tested school voucher program
We use data from a sample of applicants to a national means-tested school voucher program and a national sample of the population eligible for the program to evaluate the factors leading families to use school vouchers. Our analysis divides the process of voucher usage into two distinct stages: initial application and subsequent take-up. Using a nested logit model, we find that some factors, like religious affiliation and religious service attend…
The Efficacy of Choice Threats within School Accountability Systems: Results from Legislatively Induced Experiments
Targeted stigma and school voucher threats under a revised 2002 Florida accountability law have positive impacts on school performance as measured by the test score gains of their students. In contrast, stigma and public school choice threats under the US federal accountability law, No Child Left Behind, do not have similar effects in Florida. Estimation relies upon individual-level data and is based upon regression analyses that exploit disconti…
Federalism, Race, and the Politics of Turnaround: U.S. Public Opinion on Improving Low-Performing Schools and Districts
Public support for school improvement policies can increase the success and durability of those reforms. However, little is known about public views on turnaround. We capitalize on a nationally representative 2017 survey ( N = 4,214) to uncover opinions regarding which level of government should lead on turnaround and state takeover of troubled districts. We find controversy surrounding state intervention into low-performing schools is not driven…
The Impact of Home-Based Child Care Provider Unionization on the Cost, Type, and Availability of Subsidized Child Care in Illinois: Impact of Home-Based Child Care Provider Unionization
In February 2005, Illinois became the first U.S. state to grant home‐based child care providers (HBCPs) the right to form a labor union in order to bargain collectively with the state government. This policy inspired similar efforts across the country and represents a potentially important direction for child care policy. To date, the implications of labor unions for the cost, type, and availability of subsidized child care have not been evaluate…
Participation in a national, means-tested school voucher program
We use data from a sample of applicants to a national means-tested school voucher program and a national sample of the population eligible for the program to evaluate the factors leading families to use school vouchers. Our analysis divides the process of voucher usage into two distinct stages: initial application and subsequent take-up. Using a nested logit model, we find that some factors, like religious affiliation and religious service attend…
The Efficacy of Choice Threats within School Accountability Systems: Results from Legislatively Induced Experiments
Targeted stigma and school voucher threats under a revised 2002 Florida accountability law have positive impacts on school performance as measured by the test score gains of their students. In contrast, stigma and public school choice threats under the US federal accountability law, No Child Left Behind, do not have similar effects in Florida. Estimation relies upon individual-level data and is based upon regression analyses that exploit disconti…
Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School’: Historical Resistance to State Schooling, Contemporary Private Competition and Student Achievement across Countries
Nineteenth-century Catholic doctrine strongly opposed state schooling. We show that countries with larger shares of Catholics in 1900 (but without a Catholic state religion) tend to have larger shares of privately operated schools even today. We use this historical pattern as a natural experiment to estimate the causal effect of contemporary private competition on student achievement in cross-country student-level analyses. Our results show that …
Teachers Unions and Public Education: A Discussion of Terry Moe's Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America's Public Schools
Public education is one of the most important “public goods” of a democratic society. In recent decades, public policy analysts, public intellectuals, and politicians have debated the state of public education in the United States and have argued about the sorts of public policies that might best promote the academic achievement, educational success, and political socialization of youth. Terry Moe and John Chubb have been important contributors t…
Citizen Perceptions of Government Service Quality: Evidence from Public Schools
Conventional models of democratic accountability hinge on citizens’ ability to evaluate government performance accurately. In recent years, public reporting of governmental performance has expanded in many policy domains, potentially enhancing citizen capacities to make accurate evaluations. Yet there is little evidence on the degree to which citizen perceptions correspond to actual service quality. Using survey data, we find that citizens’ perce…
The Impact of Home-Based Child Care Provider Unionization on the Cost, Type, and Availability of Subsidized Child Care in Illinois: Impact of Home-Based Child Care Provider Unionization
In February 2005, Illinois became the first U.S. state to grant home‐based child care providers (HBCPs) the right to form a labor union in order to bargain collectively with the state government. This policy inspired similar efforts across the country and represents a potentially important direction for child care policy. To date, the implications of labor unions for the cost, type, and availability of subsidized child care have not been evaluate…
Promise and Paradox: Measuring Students’ Non-Cognitive Skills and the Impact of Schooling
We used self-report surveys to gather information on a broad set of non-cognitive skills from 1,368 eighth graders. At the student level, scales measuring conscientiousness, self-control, grit, and growth mindset are positively correlated with attendance, behavior, and test-score gains between fourth grade and eighth grade. Conscientiousness, self-control, and grit are unrelated to test-score gains at the school level, however, and students atten…
Sticker Shock: How Information Affects Citizen Support for Public School Funding
This study examines the role of information in shaping public opinion in the context of support for education spending. While there is broad public support for increasing government funding for public schools, Americans tend to underestimate what is currently spent. We embed a series of experiments in a nationally representative survey administered in 2012 (n = 2,993) to examine whether informing citizens about current levels of education spendin…
Relative Performance Information and Perceptions of Public Service Quality: Evidence From American School Districts
The publication of information about public service performance has expanded dramatically in recent decades. Multiple experiments have shown that relative performance information influences citizens’ evaluations of local services. It is unclear whether this information leads citizens to update their beliefs or temporarily employ different criteria, however, and we do not know if the influence of performance information will extend to contexts in …
Beyond the 30-Million-Word Gap: Children’s Conversational Exposure Is Associated With Language-Related Brain Function
Children’s early language exposure impacts their later linguistic skills, cognitive abilities, and academic achievement, and large disparities in language exposure are associated with family socioeconomic status (SES). However, there is little evidence about the neural mechanisms underlying the relation between language experience and linguistic and cognitive development. Here, language experience was measured from home audio recordings of 36 SES…
Endogenous Stratification in Randomized Experiments
Policymakers are often interested in estimating how policy interventions affect the outcomes of those most in need of help. This concern has motivated the practice of disaggregating experimental results by groups constructed on the basis of an index of baseline characteristics that predicts the values of individual outcomes without the treatment. This paper shows that substantial biases may arise in practice if the index is estimated by regressin…
Federalism, Race, and the Politics of Turnaround: U.S. Public Opinion on Improving Low-Performing Schools and Districts
Public support for school improvement policies can increase the success and durability of those reforms. However, little is known about public views on turnaround. We capitalize on a nationally representative 2017 survey ( N = 4,214) to uncover opinions regarding which level of government should lead on turnaround and state takeover of troubled districts. We find controversy surrounding state intervention into low-performing schools is not driven…
Dispositional mindfulness: Dissociable affective and cognitive processes
Mindfulness has been linked to a range of positive social-emotional and cognitive outcomes, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. As one of the few traits or dispositions that are associated with both affective and cognitive benefits, we asked whether mindfulness is associated with affective and cognitive outcomes through a shared, unitary process or through two dissociable processes. We examined this in adolescents using behavioral measures…
Psychology (9 works) · Political science (7 works) · School Choice and Performance (7 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Business (4 works) · Economics (4 works) · Cognition (3 works) · Developmental psychology (3 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (3 works) · Law (3 works)