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Dressed for Success? The Effect of School Uniforms on Student Achievement and Behavior

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  • Elisabetta Gentile
  • Scott A. Imberman

Abstract

Uniform use in public schools is rising, but we know little about how they affect students. Using a unique dataset from a large urban school district in the southwest United States, we assess how uniforms affect behavior, achievement and other outcomes. Each school in the district determines adoption independently, providing variation over schools and time. By including student and school fixed-effects we find evidence that uniform adoption improves attendance in secondary grades, while in elementary schools they generate large increases in teacher retention.

Suggested Citation

  • Elisabetta Gentile & Scott A. Imberman, 2011. "Dressed for Success? The Effect of School Uniforms on Student Achievement and Behavior," NBER Working Papers 17337, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17337
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Johanna Lacoe, 2013. "How Feelings of Safety at School Affect Educational Outcomes," Working Paper 9314, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    2. Sara Valdebenito & Hannah Gaffney & Darrick Jolliffe, 2023. "PROTOCOL: School‐based interventions for reducing disciplinary school exclusion: An updated systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), September.
    3. Leonardo Becchetti & Fabio Pisani, 2014. "Family Economic Well-Being, and (Class) Relative Wealth: An Empirical Analysis of Life Satisfaction of Secondary School Students in Three Italian Cities," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 503-525, June.
    4. Chakrabarti, Rajashri & Roy, Joydeep, 2016. "Do charter schools crowd out private school enrollment? Evidence from Michigan," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 88-103.

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    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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