Breakfast at the Desk: The Impacts of Universal Classroom Breakfast Programs and Other Early Intervention Policies on Academic Performance

Dallas Dotter

Using rare longitudinal data that follow public school students into postsecondary education, I evaluate the causal impacts of three policies which target students early in their educational careers. First, I use a difference in differences regression design to estimate the effects on student outcomes of providing free school breakfasts to all students in relatively low income schools. Second, I exploit the discontinuity in school entry ages among student born near ?cutoff? dates to investigate the persistence of school starting age effects and the mechanisms by which they occur. Finally, a regression discontinuity design is used to estimate the causal effects of gifted and talented education programs on students? secondary and postsecondary outcomes. These rigorous quantitative analyses will contribute to the knowledge of whether and how such broadly used policies can affect the educational trajectories of students, including beyond the scope for which they are initially designed.

About Dallas Dotter

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