The effect of stand-your-ground laws on student achievement.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To examine how "stand-your-ground" (SYG) laws affect children's academic performance.

Methods

We analyze 2008-2018 nationwide school district-level math and reading/language arts (RLA) test scores for 3rd-8th grade students combined with information on SYG laws by state and year. We implement two estimation approaches-two-way-fixed effects and group-time average treatment effects-and conduct analyses stratified by student race (Black, White) and area income level.

Results

We find negative effects of SYG on math achievement among all students using both estimation approaches (-0.0377 standard deviation decline, p < 0.001 and -0.0493, p < 0.001). We find adverse effects of SYG on math among White students (-0.0315, p = 0.001 and -0.0312, p = 0.08) and among s

SUBMITTER: Ruffini K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11304866 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature