ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS
NaYoung Hwang (2024) “The Benefits of Familiarity: The Effects of Repeated Student-Teacher Matching on School Discipline” Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. (forthcoming).
Using administrative data from elementary school students in Indiana, I investigate the effects of having the same teacher for two consecutive years on school disciplinary outcomes. Controlling for student and teacher fixed effects, I find that student-teacher rematches reduce the probability of receiving exclusionary school discipline, including suspensions and expulsions, and these effects are larger for students enrolled in special education services and students with prior disciplinary records. My results provide empirical evidence that repeated student-teacher matching can result in positive disciplinary outcomes. The findings of this study highlight the importance of having familiar teachers for students’ development, particularly for those who often find it difficult to build close relationships with teachers.
NaYoung Hwang, Patrick Graff, and Mark Berends. (2024) “Racialized Early Grade (Mis) Behavior: The Links Between Same-Race/Ethnicity Teachers and Discipline in Elementary School.” AERA Open, 10, 23328584231222185.
Studies persistently show disparities in exclusionary discipline across racial/ethnic groups in U.S. schools. Using administrative data from kindergarteners through fifth graders in Indiana, we examine the effects of student-teacher race/ethnicity matching on disciplinary outcomes. We find that Black students exhibit lower rates of suspension and expulsion when they study with Black teachers—driven mainly by fewer defiance and profanity offenses. By contrast, for Latinx and White students, having a teacher of the same race/ethnicity is not associated with suspension and expulsion. In light of the shortage of Black teachers in the teacher workforce, our findings underscore the vulnerability of Black students to exclusionary discipline in the early stages of schooling.
NaYoung Hwang and Cory Koedel. (2024) “Helping or Hurting: The Effects of Third Grade Retention on Student Outcomes” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (forthcoming).
We evaluate the effects of grade retention on students’ academic, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes in Indiana. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that third-grade retention increases achievement in English Language Arts (ELA) and math immediately and substantially, and the effects persist into middle school. We find no evidence of grade retention effects on student attendance or disciplinary incidents, again into middle school. Our findings combine to show that Indiana’s third-grade retention policy improves achievement for retained students without adverse impacts along (measured) nonacademic dimensions.
NaYoung Hwang, Patrick Graff, and Mark Berends (2023). “Timing and Dosage Matter: Same Race/Ethnicity Teachers and Student Achievement” Educational Policy, 37(5), 1349-1379.
NaYoung Hwang, Emily K. Penner, Miles Davison, Tanya Sanabria, Paul Hanselman, Thurston Domina, & Andrew M Penner (2022). “Reining in Punitive Discipline: Recent Trends in Exclusionary School Discipline Disparities” Socius. 8, 1-18.
NaYoung Hwang and Brian Kisida. (2022) “Spread Too Thin: Elementary School Teacher Specialization and Teacher Effectiveness” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 44(4), 593-607.
Paul Hanselman, Thurston Domina, and NaYoung Hwang. (2022) “Educational Inequality Regimes amid Algebra-for-All: The Provision and Allocation of Expanding Educational Opportunities” Social Forces. 100(4), 1722-1751.
NaYoung Hwang, Brian Kisida, and Cory Koedel. (2021) “A Familiar Face: Student-Teacher Rematches and Student Achievement” Economics of Education Review 85.
NaYoung Hwang and Brian Fitzpatrick. (2021) “Male Teacher Assignment in Elementary Schools” AERA Open 7 : 23328584211054106.
NaYoung Hwang and Brian Fitzpatrick. (2021) “Student-Teacher Gender Matching and Academic Achievement” AERA Open. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F23328584211040058
NaYoung Hwang and Thurston Domina. (2021) “Peer Disruption and Learning: Links between Suspensions and the Educational Achievement of Non-Suspended Students” Education Finance and Policy. 16(3), 443-463.
NaYoung Hwang, Marcela Reyes, and Jacquelynne S. Eccles. (2019) “Who Holds a Fixed Mindset and Whom does it Harm in Mathematics?” Youth & Society 51(2), 247-267.
Marcela Reyes and NaYoung Hwang. (2019) “Middle School Language Classification Effects on High School Achievement and Behavioral Outcomes” Educational Policy 35(4), 590-620.
Thurston Domina, Andrew McEachin, Paul Hanselman, Priyanka Agarwal, NaYoung Hwang, and Ryan Lewis. (2019) “Beyond Tracking and Detracking: The Dimensions of Organizational Differentiation in Schools” Sociology of Education 92(3), 293-322.
NaYoung Hwang. (2018) “Suspensions and Achievement: Varying Links by Type, Frequency, and Subgroup” Educational Researcher 47(6), 363-374.
NaYoung Hwang and Thurston Domina. (2017) “Adolescent Work Intensity and Youth Development: Link Vary by Race/Ethnicity” Journal of Research on Adolescence 27(2), 312-327.
Thurston Domina, Paul Hanselman, NaYoung Hwang, and Andrew McEachin. (2016) “Detracking and Tracking Up Mathematics Course Placements in California Middle Schools, 2003–2013” American Educational Research Journal 53(4), 1229-1266.
NaYoung Hwang, Jahyeong Lee, and Kihye Yi. (2012) “The Determinants of Working Hours of Adolescents in South Korea: Focusing on Family Background, Educational Aspirations and School Engagement” Studies on Korean Youth 23(1), 223-250.
NaYoung Hwang, and Jahyeong Lee. (2011) “The Meaning of Part-time Job Experience for Vocational High School Students in South Korea'' Anthropology of Education 14(3), 233-260.
NaYoung Hwang, Yeo-jung Hwang, and Kyung-keun Kim. (2011) “Could English Program in Korea (EPIK) Be an Effective Policy?” Korean Journal of Sociology of Education 21(4), 235-262.