The Elite Illusion: Achievement Effects at Boston and New York Exam Schools - Supplementary Material

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mali

Supplementary material to “The Elite Illusion: Achievement Effects at Boston and New York Exam Schools” details how original data files are processed into analysis-ready datasets. Appendix C focuses on Boston data, describing sources including exam school applications, enrollment records, MCAS test scores, College Board records (PSAT/SAT/AP), and National Student Clearinghouse data. It explains sample construction procedures, filtering rules, and variable transformations, including offer coding and enrollment reshaping for grade- and exam-school-year measures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Appendix C: Boston Data

C.1 Sources

Exam School Application File

Enrollment File

MCAS Test File

Econometrica Supplementary Material SUPPLEMENT TO “THE ELITE ILLUSION: ACHIEVEMENT EFFECTS AT BOSTON AND NEW YORK EXAM SCHOOLS” (Econometrica, Vol. 82, No. 1, January 2013, 137–196) BY ATILA ABDULKADIRO˘GLU, JOSHUA ANGRIST, AND PARAG PATHAK This document describes the processing steps from the original data ﬁles to the analysis ﬁles used in the main paper. APPENDIX C: BOSTON DATA BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS is the source for four data sets: the exam school application ﬁle, the enrollment ﬁle which contains student demographic and school attendance information, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test score ﬁle, the College Board test ﬁle which contains PSAT, SAT, and AP scores, and data from the National Student Clearinghouse. This appendix describes these data sets and the procedures used to construct the analysis sample. C.1. Sources Exam School Application File The exam school application ﬁle contains a record for each student consisting of a registration number, application year, grade, date ofbirth, preferences over three exam schools, and scores on the ISEE verbal, quantitative, reading, and math sections. Each record also includes the rank of each student by the exam schools on their preference list and the school where the student receivesan offer (if any) . This data set covers students in grades 7, 9, and 10 and application years 1999–2008. Since there are a small number of grade 10 applicants, we kept students applying for grades 7 and 9 only. Table C.I indicates the steps involved in processing the exam application ﬁle. We excluded duplicate observations, applicants from private schools, and those who did not rank or were not ranked by any exam school. We also dropped students who obtained an offer at an exam school that is not on their preference list. For each applicant, the exam school application ﬁle indicates whether the student receives an offer at a school to which they’ve applied. For a given application year, grade, and school, we compute the lowest-ranked student to obtain an offer from that school. Each student is then coded as obtaining an offer at an exam school if her score is above this minimum cutoff for any school that is on her preference list. © 2014 The Econometric Society DOI: 10.3982/ECTA10266 TABLE C.I PROCESSING OF BOSTON EXAM SCHOOL APPLICATION DATAa | Application Year | Total Number
of Records
(1) | Excluding
Duplicate
Observations
(2) | Excluding
Applicants
From Private
Schools
(3) | Excluding
Students Who
Did Not Rank
an Exam School
(4) | | Excluding
Students Who
Are Not Ranked
by an Exam School
(5) | Excluding
Students Who
Obtain an
Offer at a
School They
Do Not Rank
(6) | | Excluding
Students Not
Matched to
Boston Public
Schools at Baseline
(7) | Excluding
Students
Previously
Enrolled in
Exam School
(8) | Excluding
Students With
No Observed
Outcome
MCAS
Test Scores
(9) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | Panel A. 7th Grade Applicants | | | | | | | | | 1999 | 2,353 | 2,353 | 1,353 | 1,307 | 1,307 | | | 1,307 | 1,180 | 1,180 | 1,000 | | 2000 | 2,283 | 2,283 | 1,252 | 1,165 | 1,165 | | | 1,165 | 1,125 | 1,125 | 1,032 | | 2001 | 2,317 | 2,317 | 1,299 | 1,196 | 1,196 | | | 1,196 | 1,193 | 1,193 | 1,100 | | 2002 | 2,365 | 2,365 | 1,304 | 1,237 | 1,236 | | | 1,236 | 1,235 | 1,235 | 1,118 | | 2003 | 2,494 | 2,494 | 1,386 | 1,251 | 1,251 | | | 1,251 | 1,240 | 1,240 | 1,127 | | 2004 | 2,217 | 2,217 | 1,206 | 1,174 | 1,174 | | | 1,174 | 1,172 | 1,172 | 1,083 | | 2005 | 2,062 | 2,062 | 1,116 | 1,105 | 1,105 | | | 1,099 | 1,095 | 1,095 | 1,001 | | 2006 | 2,079 | 2,079 | 1,184 | 1,166 | 1,166 | | | 1,161 | 1,158 | 1,158 | 1,052 | | 2007 | 1,992 | 1,992 | 1,086 | 1,081 | 1,080 | | | 1,073 | 1,068 | 1,068 | 974 | | 2008 | 1,874 | 1,874 | 1,050 | 1,049 | 1,040 |

FAQs

What is the purpose of the supplementary material in this document?

It documents the processing steps that convert the original data files into the analysis files used in the main paper.

Which data sources are used for the Boston datasets in Appendix C?

The appendix uses exam school application records, BPS enrollment snapshots, MCAS test scores, College Board test records (PSAT, SAT, AP), and National Student Clearinghouse data.

How are exam school offers coded from the application file?

For each application year, grade, and school, the lowest-ranked offered student defines a cutoff; applicants receive an offer at an exam school when their score exceeds the cutoff for any school on their preference list.

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mali