Description/Abstract
Generalizing the group interaction model of Lee (2007), we identify and estimate the effects of student level social spillovers on standardized test performance in New York City (NYC) elementary schools. We leverage student demographic data to construct within-classroom social networks based on shared student characteristics, such as a gender or ethnicity. Rather than aggregate shared characteristics into a single network matrix, we specify additively separate network matrices for each shared characteristic and estimate city-wide peer effects for each one. Conditional on being in the same classroom, we find that the most important student peer effects are shared ethnicity, gender, and primary language spoken at home. We show that altering classroom composition changes the impact of these networks. Particularly, low ethnic diversity is correlated with low impact for shared ethnicity. We discuss identification of the model and its implications for within- and between-group test performance gaps along several demographic traits.
Document Type
Working Paper
Date
Fall 11-2021
Keywords
Peer Effect, Network, Homophily, Education
Language
English
Funder(s)
Institute of Education Sciences (award number: R305A170270)
Series
Working Papers Series
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Institute of Education Sciences (award number: R305A170270). We would like to thank the NYC Department of Education for providing data and for their support, especially the Office of Pupil Transportation, Alexandra Robinson, and Tim Calabrese. For data support, advice, and suggestions, we also thank Meryle Weinstein, Sarah Cordes, and Joanna Bailey. We thank Stephen Ross, seminar participants at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, the AEFP conference, and Daniel Patrick Moynihan Summer Workshop in Education and Social Policy for useful comments on previous drafts. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the NYC Department of Education.
Disciplines
Economic Policy | Economics | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
ISSN
1525-3066
Recommended Citation
Horrace, William C.; Jung, Hyunseok; Pressler, Jonathan L.; and Schwartz, Amy Ellen, "What Makes a Classmate a Peer? Examining Which Peers Matter in NYC Elementary Schools" (2021). Center for Policy Research. 302.
https://surface.syr.edu/cpr/302
Source
Local input
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Additional Information
Working paper no. 241