Effects of Advanced Course-taking on Math and Science Achievement: Addressing Selection Bias Using Propensity Scores

Does taking advanced courses improve scores on basic achievement tests? This question is difficult to answer because there are many systematic differences between students who choose to take advanced courses and those who don’t. This paper uses cutting-edge propensity score methods to control for the selection bias that exists when studying the effects of advanced course-taking on a basic achievement test in math and science. In particular, the...