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American Mobility and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, Northwestern University Introduction American Mobility and the Expansion of Schools and Public Education Mobility over the 20th century Constructing the Dataset John Parman, Northwestern University Mobility Then and Now School Quality and Mobility Conclusion January 22nd, 2008

American Mobility Introduction and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, Northwestern University “Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, Introduction is a great equalizer of the conditions of men.” Schools and – Horace Mann, 1848 Mobility over the 20th century Constructing the In the first half of the 20th century, the American public Dataset education system went through a massive expansion, with Mobility Then and Now access to public schools and the quality of those schools School Quality and dramatically improving. However, this same period witnessed Mobility a major decline in intergenerational mobility. This paper uses Conclusion historical data to explain why mobility declined as the public education system expanded and became more egalitarian.

American Mobility Brief Summary of Results and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, Northwestern ◮ Income mobility substantially declined during the University introduction and expansion of public grammar schools Introduction and high schools. Schools and Mobility over the ◮ Communities with greater access to public graded 20th century schools were less mobile than communities with poor Constructing the Dataset school access. Mobility Then and ◮ Persistence in the tails of income distribution was Now School Quality and significantly higher in communities greater access to Mobility graded schools. Conclusion ◮ As schools improved, people of at all income levels increased educational attainment but the increases for wealthy families were much larger than those for poor families.

American Mobility Outline of Presentation and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, Northwestern University ◮ Overview of mobility and public education over the 20th Introduction century Schools and Mobility over the ◮ Data sources and the construction of an 20th century intergenerational dataset Constructing the Dataset ◮ Comparisons of income mobility between 1915 and 2001 Mobility Then and Now ◮ Mobility estimates conditional on school quality and School Quality and access Mobility ◮ Elasticity of educational investments with respect to Conclusion income and school quality/access ◮ Concluding remarks

American Mobility American Intergenerational Mobility and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, Northwestern University ◮ Modern estimates put American income mobility Introduction roughly equivalent to or below that of other developed Schools and Mobility over the countries (Solon, 2002). 20th century ◮ Occupational and wealth mobility studies revealed Constructing the Dataset relatively high mobility at the turn of the century Mobility Then and (Ferrie, 2005). Now School Quality and ◮ A major decline in occupational mobility occurred over Mobility the first half of the 20th century. Conclusion ◮ Earnings data have never been available to estimate income mobility in the first half of the 20th century.

American Mobility The Transition to Modern Schools and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, Northwestern ◮ The first half of the 20th century was also a period of University dramatic change in the American educational system. Introduction ◮ Common schools were being replaced by graded schools Schools and Mobility over the and high schools. 20th century Constructing the ◮ Compulsory schooling and child labor laws were Dataset introduced. Mobility Then and Now ◮ There were high returns to education at the time, School Quality and particularly for high school. Mobility Conclusion ◮ Transition in Iowa was rapid and early: the number of graded classrooms in Iowa went from 4,520 in 1894 to 6,458 by 1904 (the school-age population grew by less than 4 percent over the same period).

American Mobility Data Sources and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, ◮ 1915 Iowa State Census Northwestern University ◮ Occupation and annual earnings ◮ Years of education by type: common school, grammar Introduction school, high school and college Schools and ◮ Religion, months unemployed, value of farm or home, Mobility over the 20th century years in US, years in Iowa, birthplace Constructing the ◮ 1900 Federal Census Dataset ◮ Family characteristics: location, number of siblings, Mobility Then and Now birth order School Quality and ◮ Father’s birthplace, age, occupation Mobility ◮ Reports of the County Superintendents of Schools Conclusion ◮ Distribution of school types by township ◮ School district finances: taxes, instructional expenditures, capital expenditures ◮ Attendance rates, graduation rates, teacher salaries, textbooks used, tuition

American Mobility Matching Procedure and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, Northwestern University Introduction Schools and Mobility over the 1900 Federal 1900 School 20th century Census Records •Males age 20-35 g •Father’s income •Income, occupation, •Father’s education Constructing the •Household location •Schooling types educational attainment •Father’s location Dataset •Father’s age, birthplace •School expenditures •Father’s occupation and occupation •Tuition and book costs •Birth order, number of Mobility Then and •Attendance data siblings •Curriculum Now 1915 Iowa I 1915 Iowa I Census Census School Quality and Mobility Conclusion 7,914 sons 3,487 matches 1,094 matches 665 matches

American Mobility Iowa Census Records and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, Northwestern University Introduction Schools and Mobility over the 20th century Constructing the Dataset Mobility Then and Now School Quality and Mobility Conclusion

American Mobility Federal Census Records and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, Northwestern University Introduction Schools and Mobility over the 20th century Constructing the Dataset Mobility Then and Now School Quality and Mobility Conclusion

American Mobility Iowa School Districts and the Expansion of Public Education Figure 1: Map of Adair County, IA with township divisions shown, 1904. John Parman, Source: Huebinger, Melchoir, "Atlas of the state of Iowa." Davenport, IA: Iowa Publishing Co., Northwestern 1904. 1904. University Introduction Schools and Mobility over the 20th century Constructing the Dataset Mobility Then and Now School Quality and Mobility Conclusion

American Mobility Iowa School Districts and the Expansion of Public Education Figure 2: Detail of Prussia, Grove, Summerset and Lee townships in Adair County. Source: John Parman, Huebinger, Melchoir, "Atlas of the state of Iowa." Davenport, IA: Iowa Publishing Co., 1904. Northwestern University Introduction Schools and Mobility over the 20th century Constructing the Dataset Mobility Then and Now School Quality and Mobility Conclusion

American Mobility County Superintendent Records and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, Northwestern University Introduction Schools and Mobility over the 20th century Constructing the Dataset Mobility Then and Now School Quality and Mobility Conclusion

American Mobility County Superintendent Records and the Expansion of Public Education John Parman, Northwestern University Introduction Schools and Mobility over the 20th century Constructing the Dataset Mobility Then and Now School Quality and Mobility Conclusion

American Mobility Sample Statistics and the Expansion of Public Education Table 1: Summary statistics for Iowa father ‐ son sample, 1915 John Parman, Northwestern Father's income observed for all yes no no University Father's education observed for all yes yes no Father's occupation observed for all yes yes yes Introduction (1) (2) (3) Schools and Mobility over the Son's log annual earnings 6.26 6.32 6.44 20th century (.67) (.69) (.66) Constructing the Father's log annual earnings 6.68 6.68 6.68 Dataset (.76) (.76) (.76) Mobility Then and Son's age 25.3 26.4 27.0 Now (5.4) (6.0) (5.1) School Quality and Father's age 57.0 59.0 60.2 Mobility (7.4) (8.4) (8.9) Conclusion Son's years of education 9.1 9.1 9.2 (2.5) (2.6) (2.7) Father's years of education 7.9 7.8 7.8 (2.7) (2.6) (2.6) No. observations 1094 1480 3487 Notes: All values are for the year 1915. Standard deviations are given in parentheses. An observation is considered one father ‐ son pair.