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Umut Özek

@uozek.bsky.social

Senior economist at RAND. Engineer turned economist. Education policy, immigration/immigrant students. Opinions mine.

155 Posts1550 Follower1044 Folgt
Umut Özek@uozek.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Great work by @jieezhong.bsky.social! If you are trying to make sense of the evidence on test-based grade retention policies, I have a new chapter that just came out @aefplivehandbook.bsky.social: livehandbook.org/k-12-educati...

Test-Based Grade Retention

Holding back students deemed not ready for more challenging course content is a practice nearly as old as formal education in the United States. Yet this practice has evolved considerably over the pas...

livehandbook.org

Matt Barnum@mattbarnum.bsky.social · 5mo ago

New: There's a lot of enthusiasm for tough early-grade retention policies, modeled after Mississippi. And there's some good reason for this. But a new study complicates matters: In Texas, retained third graders were far less likely to finish HS as a result. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/03/10/t...

Andrew Bacher-Hicks@abacherhicks.bsky.social · 5mo ago

🚨Ed policy researchers, look at the newest special call! 📲 We’re eager to fund RCTs and quasi-experimental studies that produce actionable evidence on how K–12 cell phone policies affect student learning, behavior, and well-being. 🗓️ 3-page LOIs due May 1. Learn more: bit.ly/47n9e1L

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Umut Özek@uozek.bsky.social · 5mo ago

And declines in student achievement among Hispanic and Spanish-speaking students, both U.S. and foreign born. www.nber.org/papers/w34452

The Effects of Immigration Enforcement on Student Outcomes in a New Era of Immigration Policy in the United States

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

nber.org

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Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Pretty well established finding that immigration raids of workplaces reduce student test performance for nearby schools, including for non-vulnerable students. The general DHS surge appears to be doing the same for student performance. www.nber.org/papers/w34452

This study presents the first evidence, to our knowledge, of the effects of the surge in interior immigration apprehensions in 2025 in the United States on student academic performance using detailed student-level administrative records from Florida. We find evidence that immigration enforcement reduced test scores for both U.S.-born and foreign-born Spanish-speaking students while also reducing the likelihood that these students are involved in disciplinary incidents in schools. Both of these effects are more pronounced for students in middle and high schools.
Keung Hui@keunghui.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Story updated with Durham Public Schools saying 21% of students were absent Tuesday amid the Border Patrol surge. Wake County Supt. Robert Taylor said he's highly concerned about the academic impact of parents keeping their kids home. www.newsobserver.com/news/local/e... #nced #ncpol #wcpss

Umut Özek@uozek.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Nice summary of our paper and related work by @tomdee.bsky.social and @kslungaardmumma.bsky.social here. www.chalkbeat.org/2025/11/10/i...

ICE arrests could hurt student test scores, study says — and not just for immigrants

A study of a large Florida school district found that the effects of immigration enforcement on students’ academic performance was concentrated in high-poverty schools. The test score declines also oc...

chalkbeat.org

Prof Dynarski@dynarski.bsky.social · 9mo ago

New evidence on how ICE is affecting student learning https://drive.google.com/file/d/1erU5Oe0vJYdVjuqQi4sfhUGxS0BGjWl8/view?usp=drivesdk

Cara Jackson@carajackson.bsky.social · 10mo ago

New study on the impact of cellphone bans from Figlio & @uozek.bsky.social - evidence backs MCPS policy. Featured in @chalkbeat.org www.chalkbeat.org/2025/10/20/n... Paper in @nber.org www.nber.org/system/files... cc @julieyangmoco.bsky.social

School cellphone bans have spread with little hard data. A new study finds benefits and costs.

Researchers studying a large urban district in Florida found modest improvements in test scores after schools banned cellphones. They also saw suspensions rise.

chalkbeat.org

Morgan Polikoff@mpolikoff.bsky.social · 10mo ago

New study on student cellphone bans finds short-term increases in discipline issues but ultimately improvements in both attendance and student achievement. www.nber.org/papers/w3438...

The Impact of Cellphone Bans in Schools on Student Outcomes: Evidence from Florida

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

nber.org

The Hechinger Report@hechingerreport.org · 10mo ago

Cellphone bans can help kids learn — but Black students are suspended more as schools make the shift Thirty states now limit or ban cellphone use in classrooms, and teachers are noticing children paying attention to their lessons again. But it’s not clear whether this policy — unpopular with…

Cellphone bans can help kids learn — but Black students are suspended more as schools make the shift

Thirty states now limit or ban cellphone use in classrooms, and teachers are noticing children paying attention to their lessons again. But it’s not clear whether this policy — unpopular with students and a headache for teachers to enforce — makes an academic difference. If student achievement goes up after a cellphone ban, it’s tough to know if the ban was the reason. Some other change in math or reading instruction might have caused the improvement. Or maybe the state assessment became easier to pass. Imagine if politicians required all students to wear striped shirts and test scores rose.

hechingerreport.org

Umut Özek@uozek.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Main takeaway: "...cellphone bans could improve student outcomes, yet these benefits come at the cost of elevated suspension rates in the short term. The challenge that educators face is to minimize these short-term adverse effects until a new status quo is established in schools."

John Holbein@johnholbein1.bsky.social · 10mo ago

New work on school cell phone bans just dropped. "Bans...led to a[n] ... increase in student suspensions in the short-term ... but disciplinary actions began to dissipate after the first year." "We find significant improvements in student test scores in the second year of the ban."

Umut Özek@uozek.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Nice summary of this paper by @futureedgu.bsky.social www.future-ed.org/research-not...

Research Notes: Does High School Remediation Improve Postsecondary Outcomes?

Many school districts offer remediation courses to help students who are behind academically catch up. A study by Umut Özek of the RAND Corporation finds that while high school remediation improves…

future-ed.org

The JHR@j-humanresources.bsky.social · last yr.

High school remediation might hurt college chances? A study by @uozek.bsky.social finds students assigned remedial ELA courses in FL were 20% less likely to earn a 2 or 4 year degree, largely due to being tracked away from advanced courses. #Education doi.org/10.3368/jhr....

The Effects of High School Remediation on Long-Run Educational Attainment Umut Özek This study examines the effects of remedial courses in high school on postsecondary outcomes using a regression discontinuity design and explores the mechanisms behind these effects. I find that being placed in the remedial schedule and taking an additional remedial course in high school reduces the likelihood of attaining a 2- or 4-year college degree by 20 percent. The findings also suggest that nearly half of this adverse effect is driven by the tracking effect of remediation, which significantly reduces students’ access to advanced courses in high school not only in the remediation subject but also in other core subjects.
Umut Özek@uozek.bsky.social · last yr.

Like Chris, I am from a country with two inflation numbers - the official one and the unofficial one that is significantly higher. I hope we can avoid that here in the U.S.

Chris Karbownik @chriskarbownik.bsky.social · last yr.

If you don't like the numbers just make them up. I was born in a country that had "full employment". Based on experience I don't recommend going this way. Also it's ironic that he hates China so much but basically is turning US into China

Umut Özek@uozek.bsky.social · last yr.

Really glad that this paper found a great home! This is the third paper that came out of a project that started in 2018...hard to believe that we will have (at least) one more related paper after 7 years!

The JHR@j-humanresources.bsky.social · last yr.

High school remediation might hurt college chances? A study by @uozek.bsky.social finds students assigned remedial ELA courses in FL were 20% less likely to earn a 2 or 4 year degree, largely due to being tracked away from advanced courses. #Education doi.org/10.3368/jhr....

The Effects of High School Remediation on Long-Run Educational Attainment Umut Özek This study examines the effects of remedial courses in high school on postsecondary outcomes using a regression discontinuity design and explores the mechanisms behind these effects. I find that being placed in the remedial schedule and taking an additional remedial course in high school reduces the likelihood of attaining a 2- or 4-year college degree by 20 percent. The findings also suggest that nearly half of this adverse effect is driven by the tracking effect of remediation, which significantly reduces students’ access to advanced courses in high school not only in the remediation subject but also in other core subjects.
Umut Özek@uozek.bsky.social · last yr.

This is a great summary! In a nutshell, I show that high school remediation could hurt college degree attainment. Why? Mostly because it hinders student access to advanced high school courses...especially for those with higher baseline achievement.

Annenberg Institute@annenberginstitute.bsky.social · last yr.

📢 New #EdWorkingPapers Policy and Practice Series summary features @uozek.bsky.social‬’s “The Effects of High School Remediation on Long-Run Educational Attainment”! 📄 edworkingpapers.com/policy-pract... #EdExchange

Umut Özek@uozek.bsky.social · last yr.

Here is a great non-techical summary of the paper that came out as part of Annenberg policy and practice series: edworkingpapers.com/policy-pract...

The Effects of High School Remediation on Long-Run Educational Attainment

Every year, millions of high school students take remedial courses. In Florida alone, nearly a quarter of high schoolers took a remedial English course during the 2022-23 school year. Remedial courses...

edworkingpapers.com

Annenberg Institute@annenberginstitute.bsky.social · last yr.

📢 #EdWorkingPapers: High school remediation lowers the chance of earning a college degree by 20%. Nearly half the effect comes from reduced access to advanced courses, not just in the remedial subject, but across the core curriculum. 🔍 ‪@uozek.bsky.social‬ 📄 bit.ly/456aTbO