In a forthcoming paper with David Figlio, Krzysztof Karbownik and Jeffrey Roth, Dhuey takes an empirical approach in understanding the disadvantages faced by children based on their age of entry to primary school, specifically those that are the youngest of their group.
Notable differences in outcomes are also present in receiving disability status, while test scores and high school graduation rates are similar across the oldest and youngest students.
[6] The subsidization resulted in increases in access to and enrollment in kindergarten, and subsequently reduced the probability of students being below grade for their age: primarily so for low-income children.
Dhuey and Lipscomb look at the census funding model for special education programs within the United States in a 2011 report on its advantages and disadvantages.
Census funding reduces fiscal incentives for districts to over-identify disabilities, and also offers benefits in its ease of application, transparency and ability to be modified.
With Smith in 2014, Dhuey looks at the role that high-quality school principals can play in increasing student achievement, through the measure of math and reading test scores in British Columbia, Canada.
[10] Principal quality is measured through the characteristics of the policies they implement, addressing areas such as class size, student assessment and teacher allocation.
The implication of their findings is that the identification of quality principals and subsequent dispersion of them across schools can play a significant role in reducing gaps in performance across students.
Dhuey's findings on the considerable advantages for older children in classroom environments, and the rise of academic redshirting, is cited in pieces published in the Wall Street Journal,[12] the Toronto Star[13] and Slate.