The conventional approaches to mediation analysis such as path analysis and structural equation modeling typically involve specifying two structural models, one for the mediator and the other for the outcome. We employ an alternative approach that avoids some strong identification assumptions invoked by the conventional approaches. By applying a…

The purpose of this study is to understand how a policy that provided college-prep coursework for low-skill students may affect instructional organization within schools, and how such effects on instructional organization may have unintended consequences on academic outcomes of high-skill students who were not targeted by the policy. The author…

This study evaluates a curriculum policy that required college preparatory coursework for all students, using data from Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Beginning in 1997, CPS ended remedial coursework and required all students to complete a college-preparatory course sequence for graduation. In this study, the authors constrain their analysis to the…