Presentation yesterday at an NBER meeting in Cambridge, MA: a new preprint on targeted acceleration in middle school math. 1/2
Conversation
“We study a targeted multi-year accelerated curriculum that enables students to finish Algebra I and Geometry before high school. Entry to the program is based on 5th-grade scores in the statewide math test, with a cutoff at the 80th percentile, enabling a highly credible regression discontinuity analysis of
the impacts of the program. Following students for 13 years after entry, we show that the accelerated curriculum has significant positive effects on the probabilities that marginally eligible girls enter selective colleges, complete a bachelor’s degree within 5 years, and graduate in STEM or business/economics. The share of girls with a degree in STEM nearly doubles (from 6% to 11%), with a comparable effect on degrees in business and economics. In contrast, we find negligible effects on boys, implying that the accelerated program brings girls up to the level of similar-scoring boys in completion of degrees in the most highly-paid fields.”
Preprint link: conference.nber.org/conf_papers/f2 2/2
![David Watson 🥑](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="96" height="96"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Post your reply
v interesting! I saw Giuliano present on related research where most of the positive impact seemed to fall on the boys in the study, so cool to see everybody is benefiting!
Thanks for sharing. Have you heard about the Math Academy program? Curious to know your thoughts.
Teaching is a work of heart and a smart financial decision, too! With master's degree tuition and financial support, AZTR encourages career stability and growth.
Apply by December 1st for early consideration into our June 2025 cohort in Phoenix. Link in bio! 
1:07
Really interesting. now worth debating the obsession with the rat race liberal parents have regarding early completion of courses, esp if the effect is concentrated only among marginally eligible girls and no boys at all. Clearly something unrelated to math. Cc