So, what do you do? Research Revealed

Friends and family often ask me “So, what are you working on?” Such kind-hearted questions of loyal interest usually cause a cacophony of reactions in any academic’s brain: How should I answer? How many details do they really want about my research? Are they prone to narcolepsy?

Since I started my research fellowship, I’ve gotten many more questions about what types of research I’m working on and what, if anything, I’m learning. As we near the end of the fall semester, and the halfway point through the first year of my fellowship, I thought it might be a good time to take stock of what I’ve learned. Perhaps others will find the following few bullets of results more enlightening and interesting than I’m sure many of my in-person responses to such questions have been in the past.

 

1. To probably no one’s surprise, tuition costs at public colleges and universities have been rising ever more rapidly over the past decade or so. Just how fast you might ask? By nearly 200 percent since 1992 – which is much much faster than inflation (represented by the CPI-U line below):


And this figure tells us it doesn’t really matter which type of public college you look at – prices were on the climb everywhere. Underlying these trends are huge year-to-year increases in tuition and fees (often in the ballpark of 15 to 20 percent!) at public institutions across the country (e.g., California riots!?). Such increases were especially prevalent after the year 2000.

With a colleague, I’ve learned that large increases in the cost of attending 4-year public institutions of higher learning are causing college-going students to do at least two things: (1) Substitute down within state systems of higher education – they become less likely to go to the top, flagship schools, and more likely to go to less selective 4-years or 2-year institutions; (2) Go out of state to college, rather than attend local 4-year schools that have become relatively more expensive. Further, these effects are largest among low-income student populations. Both findings hold potentially deleterious implications for college completion rates and the robustness of local labor markets.

2. For a while now, economists and policymakers have been concerned about the effects mandatory high-stakes high school exit exams might have on student dropout. Using district-level dropout data from 1998 to 2008, I find that the existence of an exit exam is associated with an increase in the high school dropout rate of about 0.55 percentage points, relative to if no consequential exit exam policy were in place.

Turns out, this effect is concentrated among 12th grade students (1.44 percentage point increase), minority groups, and is almost exclusively driven by states in which students do not have access to alternative graduation pathways (i.e., replacement educational experiences for those unable to pass some or all of the state’s exit exam).

To put these findings in context, you might ask what average dropout rates looked like over this period of time… and if you did… I could happily show you:


Perhaps the silver lining to such findings is that, if alternate ways, beyond retest opportunities, for students to demonstrate mastery of state standards mitigate the increases in dropout rates otherwise observed when students are exposed to high-stakes, rigorous exit exams, this suggests that such state-level policies may be able to reduce some of the social costs associated with high school exit exams. Nevertheless, this assumes at least two important things: First, the alternate graduation pathways crafted by states are indeed adequate proxies for the educational experience and skills students would have received if the goal were still to help them successfully pass the exit exam; and second, teachers, schools, and administrators are not strategically funneling underprepared or minority students into alternate graduation pathways and thereby sub-par high school educational experiences. These two points are worthy targets for future research.

3. For those of you interested in K-12 research… I discovered an interesting impact of the main sanction embedded in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law on school-level student performance: In terms of math and reading proficiency, schools performed worse the year after being labeled as “failing to meet adequate yearly progress” IF the reason for failure was that the school missed the aggregate student achievement goal (e.g., only 53% of the school’s students were proficient in math, when the goal was 62%). But, if the school met this aggregate benchmark, but failed to make progress solely because of a particular student subgroup (such as special education students, African American students, Asian students, Limited English Proficient students, etc.) – students within the failing subgroup performed better the following year.

So, schools that meet achievement targets for the aggregate student group, yet fail to meet at least one demographic subgroup’s target see between 3 and 6 percent more students in the failing subgroup score proficiently the following year, compared to if no accountability pressure were in place. I see this as a story of scope: Broad failure leads to little improvement, whereas focused failure allows schools to more effectively direct scarce resources. For all its negative aspects, NCLB did shine a spotlight on traditionally underserved student populations – and it looks like it increased their performance (at least in one state).

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If you’ve made it to this point, congratulations. Thinking about some of the major things I’ve learned over the past year or so, as a function of being engaged in research concerning the economics of education and education policy was helpful for me – and I hope that some of you loyal readers found this write-up interesting, provocative, and policy-relevant at best… and an acceptable substitute for Nyquil at worst. I’d love to hear thoughts, impressions, or questions that this raised for you. Also, I promise more riveting posts from my better half soon.

I'm loving Autumn

Right, now, I'm loving....

My husband, who is graciously cleaning up dinner while I rest. Having a one year old is exhausting!

The fresh flowers I cut every Wednesday from our CSA.

The butter dish we bought from the local art festival this summer. It's a beautiful, functional thing that sits on our table most of the time- what could be better? I loooove butter, and I figure the grass-fed butter we've been buying is good for nursing moms and babies, so I've been indulging. Also, I figured out why butter knives have that funny shape. Genius.

The full-fledged autumn that is raging here as we bring in October. If spring comes with hope spontaneously bubbling up, autumn finds me holding onto it with fierce, triumphant determination. (We won't talk now about what happens to it in January. Let's just say there's a reason it needs to be reborn every spring.)

The Harry Potter Christmas music I listen to in the fall, until it's time for regular Christmas music.

Speaking of Harry Potter, I just found out today that Local State University has a QUIDDITCH team! What?!?!?!

Emails from my sister! (Hola at ya, sis!)

Looking forward to the farmer's market tomorrow with friends, and hoping to try a pre-made dinner from a cooked-food CSA.

Successful communication that is occasionally happening between me and Baby H. She's signing a lot, but still is inconsistent with translating actual desires into language! And then, of course, I have to understand her!

The written schedules I've been making up for our week. Seems silly to me, but it definitely helps.

The hat I'm knitting for Baby H. It's quite a step up from my only, unfinished previous knitting project- but so far I've got it onto double pointed needles, so I'm thinking it's going well. And, I'm going to work on it. Happy Weekend, all!

Saturdays of Summer

I've been spending the last weeks grocery shopping, figuring out how to change our registration, enjoying a visit from my in-laws (hi Grandmom and Grandpop!), keeping the floors clean of choking hazards, moving money around to meet two cycles of bills from two different states paid from two different bank accounts, recovering from a weird death-by-exhaustion virus, and teaching the baby to sleep. But today- today was Saturday. A SUMMER Saturday. We squeezed every last drop of goodness out of it, despite E fighting the death-by-exhaustion virus.

We started with a walk to a local ice cream store that sells donuts in the morning. It was still pretty cool, and was a great activity for E and me- a long walk for me, donuts for him. That guy will do almost anything for a donut. And they were delicious. We got back before it got too hot, and gave E a haircut while the baby napped. (Hey, sometimes you have to do some chores, even on Summer Saturdays). I was very excited to use an excess of blueberries I had bought this week to make blueberry syrup while E and H spent some quality time together, and I cleaned up (after drinking my third decaf coffee in two years) while they both took naps. A quick trip to the store for more fruit for a party tomorrow, and pancakes with blueberry syrup for dinner. Baby H is now sleeping- she puts herself to sleep most nights now, though tonight took two tries because I accidentally left the vent closed in her room, which was apparently making a scary noise when the AC ran. (She communicates just fine without talking, thanks. And she's quite sensitive. I don't know how I ended up with this one.) Unfortunately, we can't take an after dinner walk with the baby sleeping, which we both still mourn- so I thought I'd update the old blog.

Baby H is quickly becoming NOT a baby! She will be one in less than a month! She pulled herself all the way up for the first time yesterday, and had her first convincing, unprompted sign yesterday (light) and her first convincing, unprompted word today (duck). She also helps me call for E when it's time for him to come read her books once she's in her pj's. She tries to say all kind of words, but they mostly just sound the same- dog, duck, frog, cat, quack, giraffe (af), pretty much anything we say. She still can't say "ma," though, or roll off her back, so we probably have a few months left of babyhood. I can see the thunder clouds of toddlerdom looming, though, especially when she doesn't get her way on something. Yikes.

Expressing the Times

A moving haiku:


Towers of boxes
imprison sweet sanity
babe remains unpacked.

Goodbye to Grace

I cried when we said goodbye to our doctor at the University Hospital the other day. The doctor who was grace to us. The doctor who lent us a house to live in when it was dangerous for me and baby H to be far from the hospital. The one who was as anxious as E to get Baby H to see me when I was in the recovery room, who decided she was "warm enough" to leave the newborn nursery. The one who has been one of the clearest pictures of Jesus' care for us here. The one who I'm pretty sure isn't even into Jesus, who has had her own terrible troubles over the time we've known her. She looked better than she ever has, and hugged us when we left, and I cried as she was walking out the door.

We hopefully won't be back there, where we have had some of the most terrifying, stressful, and amazing experiences of our lives. Which lead me to reflect- have I ever gone there and not cried? I'm pretty sure the answer is no. Terrifying, stressful, and amazing will do that to you. While I hope we have a good doctor in our next location, I also hope we don't have any reason to know them quite so well. But the taste of sweet grace lingers through the bitterness.

Baby H's Update

Momma says if I can't crawl, the least I can do is write my own update. I told her I'm working on the crawling, but it's true that language does come much easier to me, so I figured I'd oblige.

I can scoot backwards, and turn around. But really- life is usually better if you stay more still. Easier to take things in that way. I love playing with my toys- I have a few that I like to play with all by themselves, but my favorite is when Momma sets me up with my basket of little toys. I take them out one by one, and check how they each taste, and if they make a noise when I shake them. Sometimes I stop to play with one for a minute. Once I've taken them all out, I start playing with the basket. When I get it turned over and start eating it, Momma knows she better come up with a new game before I a) consume some of the wicker or b) start screaming.

Momma and Dada keep taking all the stuff around the house and putting it in boxes. I don't really like the days they do that, because everything looks different and they don't pay as much attention to me. I do like having all the boxes around- they are fun to touch, and bang on, and try to climb over. I'd be more successful if I could go forward, I'm sure.

I can say dada, and I say it all the time. Momma and Dada think I don't know what it means, but I do. I just can't say anything else, so I use it for everything.

I love to eat! Somedays I just eat a bite or two, but today at dinner I was so hungry, I ate a serving of sweet potato and oatmeal, and then a whole jar of carrots, and then a few bites of rice cereal, before I finished off with some peas. I can sometimes drink from a cup, but it's pretty messy, and sometimes it's more fun to just spit it out. I still love nursing, too- especially in the middle of the night when I wake up and want a cuddle! Which I do a lot. I mean, who wouldn't love that?

Momma says I'm about 19 pounds. I don't know how she knows, I haven't been to the doctor's in forever. We're going tomorrow to get checked up and say goodbye to Momma and Dada's favorite doctor. I think she's just OK.

Momma has been taking me out in my new stroller recently. Sometimes we go on the swings- I like that a lot! I like when Dada plays with me before work or before bed. When I think he's not around, I usually don't sleep as well. On we weekends we have Dada-daughter time. Momma usually leaves. I don't know where she goes or what she does.

I like to be outside. And read books. And see new people, as long as they don't grab me. Kids are my favorite. Feel free to come visit me!

(Almost) Two Years in Tiny Town

So, it turns out our time in Tiny Town is coming to a close. While we started this blog to record our transition from Big Eastern City to Small Midwestern Town, it probably ended up being more about Baby H- who is by far the best result of our time here. We've made some super excellent friends, too- I'm pretty sure Jesus sent them here just for us. I'm thinking he probably has some other purpose for their lives, but I know that was one of them.

We'll be moving - in less than three weeks!- to Midsize Midwestern City. So much closer to home, physically and culturally. I'm sure when we get there we'll realize all the ways we've adjusted to small town life- but right now what still stands out are the things I haven't let go of from city living.

I took the baby carrier instead of the stroller for a walk with a friend and her baby the other day, because I didn't think we could fit two huge strollers on the sidewalk. We walked in the street, though. And speaking of that huge stroller, we keep in the in the trunk of the car. Which we lock. And I don't ever leave it alone on the front porch, or outside a shop, or anywhere. Much to the amusement of my friend from Even Tinier Town. We still lock our doors, of course. I usually notice if we leave change in the cup holders. I even worry when I'm in the shower that someone is going to break in and steal Baby H from her bed. That last one is probably more a result of paranoia than city life, but hey- she's awfully cute.

I know I'll miss the slow pace, the safe walks, the grocery store that's less than 50 yards from our door, and the beautiful town. I'll probably, at times, even regret the addition of convenient take-out - but then again, probably not for a while. We will surely miss our friends here, especially while we are making new ones. But overall, we're excited for this change.

Midsize City, here we come! As soon as we pack some boxes, that is.

On Baby Books and Crying

A friend, who has no children yet, asked me a while ago which parenting books I'd recommend. I surprised myself by answering none. I have read a few parenting books- a few pages here and there of Dr. Sears before Baby H was born, and since then a little bit of Baby Whisperer and The No-Cry sleep series, and endless online opinions. I have next-to-no knowledge of baby care, so I didn't want to mess H up too badly. I have definitely learned some helpful things from everything I've read. At the time, though, they all made me stressed out and unsure of my own parenting, especially in the short term.

Baby H, once she woke up from her born-too-soon sleepiness, was not all sweetness and light. I imagine no baby is, though really, I don't have much to compare her to. So, while Dr. Sears did encourage me to pick up my crying baby (which I did, in fact, have a physical compulsion to do), he also added to my anxiety when she would. not. stop. crying. Which she did, frequently, maxing out at about forty minutes at a stretch around two or three months, no matter what we did. And, to my credit, her crying intensity has impressed even the family practice nurses. I also felt guilty (at times) for leaving her alone on the floor too long, though in retrospect, I think she could have used a lot less stimulation in those early weeks and months. I felt terrible if I went to the bathroom before picking her up if she woke up in the night. So, while usually the guilt only lasted for a day or two after reading the books, it wasn't terribly helpful.

As H got older, friends told us they had great success with Baby B, the same age as H, using a gentle, limited crying-out method. When I heard how Baby B fell asleep for naps without 45 minutes of involvement from mom, I felt silly for not at least trying it. But, I was sure then (and still am now) that H would only cry harder and harder, loosing all control, and would probably cause herself some minor physical or psychological damage before falling asleep out of sheer exhaustion. So I rocked, and held, and danced, and nursed, and did whatever I could to get her to eventually sleep. Until, one day, long after baby B was falling asleep independently, I noticed H had a tired cry. And she did, once, quiet down after starting to cry and fall asleep in the car. Previously, she'd just scream until we got home. (She still does sometimes.) But, from that day, she spent some time fussing or crying in her crib sometimes. And I felt bad- if I thought about Dr. Sears.

But then, when she got really worked up, and I went to comfort her, and would pick her up and sometimes even (gasp!) let her fall asleep in my arms, I'd feel bad thinking about the Baby Whisperer. She says any baby over four months should be on at least a four hour schedule, and if your baby isn't you should spend two weeks forcing them into one. And, you should not let your baby fall asleep in your arms, or nursing, or bouncing, because they will not fall asleep in their beds. But, H still doesn't take a long enough nap to be on a four hour schedule. And, despite several rounds where she needed help falling asleep for a week or more, she also can frequently put herself to sleep now. On the other hand, I did get one gem out the BW- H has a personality type that enjoys a schedule or routine, but is very easily disrupted from one. I'm not sure exactly what I did differently once I realized that- I think I just realized H needed my help to keep a routine, she wasn't going to magically get sleepy at the same time every day. And now we're good.

So yes, I rock my baby to sleep, or even nurse her to sleep. Sometimes for weeks at a time.  And yes, I let my baby cry in her crib. Sometimes for too long. Sometimes she falls asleep alone. And sometimes I go in and help her. I do all kinds of things that some parenting methods approve of and some don't, and some parents approve of and some don't. And sometimes I do things differently from day to day, because sometimes I just can't take any. more. crying. And, sometimes I just don't want to spend 45 minutes coaxing her to sleep. But mostly I try to stay away from the parenting books. Or, at least, take the helpful and not feel guilty about the rest.

So, my no-children-yet friend, here's my advice: Maybe read a baby book. Or not. Feel free to nurse your baby to sleep, or lay them down awake, or whatever you want. You probably should know that if you nurse them to sleep every. single. time. they sleep until they are 19 months old, you'll probably have a hard time breaking that habit. But hey- no college students nurse to sleep. Do what works. And don't feel guilty.

Warm woolen mittens

You know the song "These are a few of my favorite things?" Well, here are a few of mine lately.

The way Baby H likes the "Doe, a Deer" song, speaking of the Sound of Music. She'd probably like "These are few of my favorite things," too, but I can't remember enough words to get very far.

Winter is dying. Even though it's 15 degrees and our hot water pipes froze (again), I know spring is coming. It's supposed be FOURTY degrees this weekend. That's like a heat wave.

How Baby H looks adoringly at me. I have mixed feelings, however, about how only I can lay her down at bedtime. But the "I love my mamma" stare just melts your heart.

Artisan bread in five minutes a day. We're going to turn into bread over here.

That Baby H is finally on something resembling a schedule. Three naps a day, and somewhat consistent times, with somewhat consistent lengths, of usually at least 40 minutes. Bliss.

Glee and The Mentalist. And salt and pepper popcorn.

This morning we're going to pick my mom up from the airport instead of skyping.

Leslie the PA declared H infection-free yesterday. Maybe a tooth is in our future, after all?

Baby H's little laugh! Poor ticklish kid.

Winter Cooking

Well, the baby has (sometimes) been sleeping longer, and I've been spending most of my extra time in the kitchen. This past week's menu included waffles with ground flax seed mixed into the wet ingredients. I added it mostly to pretend that the waffles had some nutritional value, but it had an excellent side benefit- since flax seed (and water) is a substitute for egg, it made the waffles have a nice, light, "eggy" texture that was fun. I had a hard time remembering to take them out on time, though, so most of the leftovers will be a little dark by the time we toast them up.

I also made (Molly Weasley's- thanks K!) onion soup. Where has onion soup been all my life? The blurb in the cookbook said it "has long been a favorite recipe of the poor"- I generally consider myself well-versed in recipes of the poor, and onion soup had never even occurred to me! I made a few errors in the recipe- one of them being accidentally doubling it- so I was a little nervous how it would turn out, since I'd never made it. When I tasted it, I actually thought- "Oh! It tastes like onion soup mix!" How I never realized there was an actual onion soup behind onion soup mix gives me a good laugh.

I made hot dog rolls yesterday with my favorite "roll" recipe. I usually use all water, instead of milk, and sometimes olive oil instead of butter. Also, oatmeal instead of potato flakes. Fresh sauteed onions are better, per some of the comments, though last night I just added a few flakes- I didn't want too much onion flavor. I think I might be spoiled for life.

In an update to the pizza crust saga- in the latest efforts, I used our usual recipe, but heated our oven as hot as it would go (550- who knew?), made the pizzas as thin as I could, and poked them all over with a fork to try and prevent bubbles. I popped the ones that formed anyway- use a fork, NOT your hand in an oven mitt! I burned myself a few times from the steam. I pre-cooked the crusts and brought them to our church group to top and cook there, and was very pleased with the results. A, I bet they would have frozen great- but what to freeze them in? I suppose I could make them a little smaller and maybe they would fit in a gallon bag? And L, I'm gonna give your recipe a go, too, before I give up!

Tonight we're having beans with sage, and hopefully spinach artichoke dip. Tomorrow we're having mac & cheese and the rest of the hot dogs. We'll probably have chicken pot pie this weekend- and something else. Then, shopping day! Who knew I could write so much about food?

I think I hear the baby waking up- we're going to the big library to get some sleep books on how to get your baby to take longer naps! She can roll over now- sometimes. And, she gets really mad when she can't. Poor kiddo!

Winter

I had a Christmas retrospective post half written, but the video wouldn't load, and I didn't have enough witty commentary to fill the space. This, perhaps, is a good representation of how I feel about January. Too much white, not enough fun. Really, why don't we have Christmas on January 25th? Who's with me?

So, I'm waiting for spring. This is the time of year when I count down the days, the hours, the dark nights, and the cold minutes. By my reckoning, we have about another two months. I'll be happy with 35 and sunny, but 75 and flip flops would be even better. I did take the baby for a walk in the 18 degree weather the other day. It was sunny, and not windy, but still- that's desperation for you. I think she was comfy, but my face was cold. I didn't bring a scarf for myself.

In the meantime, I'm cooking. Yesterday we had roasted carrot soup and irish soda bread- quite an excellent combination. The day-old bread, toasted, really was as good as they said. I'm learning to make artisan bread in five minutes a day (not that I have the book), but I had to take a break or else we'd eat nothing but bread. Tomorrow we're having rice and beans in attempt to save our grocery budget from our Christmas excess. I learned to make fried rice that we actually enjoyed eating. We ordered take-out Chinese the other day, but it was disappointing- next time we'll save our money and get a 5 dollar footlong. I'm still on the quest for the perfect pizza crust. Tonight's was a dud, perhaps because I used all whole-wheat flour. Fortunately, E likes pizza in all its forms. I've been eating waffles from the freezer for breakfast, and attempting to remember to eat fruit with lunch. When I worked, I'd pack myself a healthy lunch and eat it without much thought. Now, I'll usually have a sandwich or leftovers, but then it feels like a waste of time to sit and eat fruit. Until I'm hungry later- usually too hungry for fruit!

Since the preceding paragraph was probably only of interest to my Dad, we'll move on to the main attraction- Baby H. This evening aside, she has been delightful. She still only naps for 30 or 40 minutes, which is not her most delightful attribute. Currently, though, she is displaying one of her better traits- going to bed and sleeping all through the evening. She is usually up twice (sometimes once!) in the night, and we can frequently convince her to sleep until 8, so no complaints here. Or, at least, they are usually limited to the afternoon when she wakes up too early from her third nap, and even then I limit them to immediate family. She smiles, laughs, is ticklish, loves to be naked, jumps and smiles in her jumper (thanks A!), likes her toys, tolerates increasing amounts of tummy time, eats like a champ, and has her Dad wrapped around her little finger. She likes to watch people & kids, so I try and get her out a couple times a week. This also wears her out and encourages good nap time behavior. I think she will be really confused when we start putting her in her car seat without her super-awesome-warm-cute hat (THANKS again, A!). But probably, if she knew spring was coming, she'd be ready for it, too.