CEPA Working Paper No. 20-07 - The Effects of Educational Supports for the "Missing One-Oﬀs" in Vocational High Schools

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel

A growing body of evidence indicates vocationally focused programs can improve high-school completion and long-run economic outcomes. Expansion, however, may harm low-income, academically successful “missing one offs” who are capable and motivated to enter highly selective universities. This study evaluates Escuela Desarrollo de Talentos (EDT), a college-preparatory Chilean program for such students in vocational high schools. Using a fuzzy regression-discontinuity design, results show no graduation increase, but higher math performance in courses and on college entrance exams, alongside reduced further postsecondary vocational training.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages35

Reading Time1 h 28 min

AccessFree to download

1. Introduction

Educational inequality and the “missing one offs”

Chilean EDT program overview

Data and identification strategy

CEPA Working Paper No. 20-07 The Eﬀects of Educational Supports for the "Missing One-Oﬀs" in Vocational High Schools AUTHORS Thomas S. Dee Stanford University Graciela I. Pérez-Núñez Stanford University ABSTRACT A growing body of evidence suggests that vocationally focused programs of study substantially improve high-school completion and longer-run economic success. However, the corresponding recommendations to expand vocational programs may have unintended, negative consequences for low-income, academically successful students (i.e., the “missing one oﬀs”) who have the capacity and motivation to attend highly selective universities. This study contributes to our understanding of these issues by examining an innovative, college-preparatory program targeted to academically successful Chilean students attending vocational high schools serving lower-income communities. This program (Escuela Desarrollode Talentos or EDT) provides academic and social-emotional supports aligned with admission to selective universities. We examine the educational eﬀects of EDT participation using a fuzzy regression-discontinuity design based on its eligibility rules. We ﬁnd that the EDT program did not increase the probability of graduating from high school but did increase performance in math courses. We also ﬁnd corresponding evidence suggesting that EDT participation increased math performance on college entrance exams and shifted students away from further postsecondary vocational training and towards matriculation at elite universities. Acknowledgements-We gratefully acknowledge the data-related support of Escuela Desarollo de Talentos of the University of Chile, Servicio de Información de Educación Superior (Higher Education Information Service), Centro de Estudios del Ministerio de Educación de Chile (Department of Studies of the Chilean Ministry of Education), and Departamento de Evaluación, Medicióny Registro Educacional (Department of Assessment, Measurement and Educational Records) . VERSION July 2020 Suggested citation: Dee, T.S. , & Perez-Nunez, G.I. (2020) . The Eﬀects of Educational Supports for the"Missing One-Oﬀs" in Vocational High Schools. (CEPA Working Paper No.20-07) . Retrieved from Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis: [http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp20-07](http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp20-07) 1 1. Introduction A growing body of empirical evidence (e.g., Kemple and Willner, 2008; Brunner, Dougherty and Ross, 2019; Dougherty, 2018; Edmunds et al, 2012; Berger et al, 2014) suggests that well-designed, vocationally focused secondary programs of study can have substantial positive effects both on students’ near-term educational attainment and on longer-run economic success. For example, Kemple and Willner (2008) find that random assignment toa career academy increases earnings by 11 percent. Other carefully identified studies also find evidence that vocational high schools increased the probability of high-school graduation (e.g., Dougherty, 2018; Hemelt, Lenard and Paeplow, 2019). Based in part on such evidence, Cullen et al. (2013) argue that vocationally focused high school programs are chronically underutilized in the U.S. Compellingly, they note that, while the vast majority of U.S. high schools have a traditional, academic, college-preparatory focus, most students will not complete a college degree within six years of their on-time high-school graduation.1 One fundamental concern with the recommendation to expand vocational education is that it may exacerbate educational inequality for an important subset of students. Current opportunities for vocational training are concentrated among students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. A reasonable concern is that the expanded availability of such programs would increasingly redirect lower-income students who are academically talented and motivated away from highly selective post-secondary opportunities. Recent empirical evidence h

FAQs

What problem does the paper address regarding expanding vocational education?

The paper argues that expanding vocational education could worsen inequality by redirecting low-income but academically talented students away from highly selective postsecondary opportunities.

What is the EDT program studied in the paper?

EDT (Escuela Desarrollo de Talentos) is a free two-year Chilean college-preparatory program for academically successful students in vocational high schools, offering academic and social-emotional supports aligned with selective university admissions.

How did the authors measure the educational effects of EDT participation?

The study uses rich longitudinal data and a fuzzy regression-discontinuity design based on EDT eligibility rules.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel