Publications in Refereed Journals

English as a Second Dialect Policy and Achievement of Aboriginal Students in British Columbia ,
with J. Friesen and B. Krauth, Canadian Public Policy, 40(2), June 2014, 182-192

Abstract: Since the 1980s, the BC Ministry of Education has offered funding to support the language development of students who speak non-standard dialects of English. In practice, the students who are supported by this funding are almost exclusively Aboriginal, and English as a Second Dialect (ESD) funding has grown to be an important source of supplemental funding for Aboriginal students in many
school districts. We exploit the staggered uptake of ESD funding by school districts to identify its effect on academic achievement. We find a sizable positive effect of ESD on grade seven reading
achievement among Aboriginal students.

How Student Disability Classifications and Learning Outcomes Respond to Special Education Funding Rules: Evidence from British Columbia, 
with Jane Friesen and Ross Hickey, Canadian Public Policy, 38(2), June 2012, pp. 147-166

Abstract: In 2002, British Columbia eliminated supplemental grants to school districts for some students with special needs. This study provides estimates of the response of special needs designations 
and academic performance to this funding change. Using student-level panel data, we find that students were less likely to receive a gifted, moderate behavioural disorder, or mild mental illness 
designation under the new funding rules. We study standardized test scores in grade 7, finding that the reading scores of gifted students declined substantially among those exposed to the new 
funding rules for the longest duration. 

Non-Standard English Dialects and the Effect of Supplementary Funding on Educational Achievement', 
with M. Campbell, J. Friesen and B. Krauth, Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Vol. 35(2), 2011, pp.190-197

Abstract: British Columbia provides school districts with supplementary funding to support the language development of students who speak a non-standard English dialect. Many of the students who 
attract this supplements are Aboriginal. We describe this policy, and record a striking increase in uptake of the funds on behalf of Aboriginal students over the last decade. We describe the 
results of an evaluation study that measured the effect of supplementary funding on test score gains between grades 4 and 7. The study found that the funding supplement substantially improved 
the reading scores of the average Aboriginal student.