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Does Mandatory Basic Education Improve Achievement Test Scores of Afdc Recipients?

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  • Kathryn Parker Boudett

    (Harvard University)

  • Daniel Friedlander

    (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation)

Abstract

A recent random assignment evaluation of California's Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) program showed that welfare recipients required to participate in basic education did not improve reading and math skills relative to controls. Reliability of test score effects estimates was reduced, however, because only a third of the GAIN sample actually participated in basic education. In the present article, we reanalyze the GAIN data, focusing on the impact of education for those who participated in education. We find a somewhat more positive overall effect and confirm test score impacts in one county. We identify some uncertainty regarding test impacts for individuals with lower initial skills .

Suggested Citation

  • Kathryn Parker Boudett & Daniel Friedlander, 1997. "Does Mandatory Basic Education Improve Achievement Test Scores of Afdc Recipients?," Evaluation Review, , vol. 21(5), pages 568-588, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:evarev:v:21:y:1997:i:5:p:568-588
    DOI: 10.1177/0193841X9702100503
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Murnane, Richard J & Willett, John B & Levy, Frank, 1995. "The Growing Importance of Cognitive Skills in Wage Determination," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 77(2), pages 251-266, May.
    2. Francisco L. Rivera-Batiz, 1992. "Quantitative Literacy and the Likelihood of Employment among Young Adults in the United States," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 27(2), pages 313-328.
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