Does Mandatory Basic Education Improve Achievement Test Scores of Afdc Recipients?

Abstract

A recent random assignment evaluation of California's Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) program showed that welfare recipients required to participate in basic education did not improve reading and math skills relative to controls. Reliability of test score effects estimates was reduced, however, because only a third of the GAIN sample actually participated in basic education. In the present article, we reanalyze the GAIN data, focusing on the impact of education for those who participated in education. We find a somewhat more positive overall effect and confirm test score impacts in one county. We identify some uncertainty regarding test impacts for individuals with lower initial skills.