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on Education |
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Issue of 2013‒03‒16
25 papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Courtney A. Collins; Li Gan |
| Abstract: | This paper examines schools’ decisions to sort students into different classes and how those sorting processes impact student achievement. There are two potential effects that result from schools creating homogeneous classes—a “tracking effect,” which allows teachers to direct their focus to a more narrow range of students, and a peer effect, which causes a particular student’s achievement to be influenced by the quality of peers in his classroom. In schools with homogeneous sorting, both the tracking effect and the peer effect should benefit high performing students. However, the effects would work in opposite directions for a low achieving student; he would benefit from the tracking effect, but the peer effect should decrease his score. This paper seeks to determine the net effect for low performing students in order to understand the full implications of sorting on all students. We use a unique student-level data set from Dallas Independent School District that links students to their actual classes and reveals the entire distribution of students within a classroom. We find significant variation in sorting practices across schools and use this variation to identify the effect of sorting on student achievement. Implementing a unique instrumental variables approach, we find that sorting homogeneously by previous performance significantly improves students’ math and reading scores. This effect is present for students across the score distribution, suggesting that the net effect of sorting is beneficial for both high and low performing students. We also explore the effects of sorting along other dimensions, such as gifted and talented status, special education status, and limited English proficiency. |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18848&r=edu |
| By: | Booth, Alison L. (Australian National University); Cardona Sosa, Lina (University of Essex); Nolen, Patrick J. (University of Essex) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of single-sex classes on the pass rates, grades, and course choices of students in a coeducational university. We randomly assign students to all-female, all-male, and coed classes and, therefore, get around the selection issues present in other studies on single-sex education. We find that one hour a week of single-sex education benefits females: females are 7% more likely to pass their first year courses and score 10% higher in their required second year classes than their peers attending coeducational classes. We find no effect of single-sex education on the probability that a female will take technical classes and there is no effect of single-sex education for males. Furthermore we are able to examine potential mechanisms driving the single-sex effect for females. We find that the results are consistent with a reduction in stereotype threat for females and are not due to a potential tracking effect. |
| Keywords: | single-sex, education, gender, experiment |
| JEL: | C91 C92 J16 J33 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7207&r=edu |
| By: | Björn Alecke; Claudia Burgard; Timo Mitze |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of tuition fees on the university enrollment and location decision of high school graduates in Germany. After a Federal Constitutional Court decision in 2005, 7 out of 16 German federal states introduced tuition fees for higher education. In the empirical analysis, we use the variation over time and across regions in this institutional change in order to isolate the causal effect of tuition fees on student enrollment and migration. Controlling for a range of regional- and university-specific effects, our results from Difference-in-Differences estimations show that there is generally no effect of tuition fees on internal enrollment rates. However, we find a redirecting effect on first-year students‘ migratory behavior as indicated by a signicant drop in the gross in-migration rates in fee-charging states. Further, our results point at a stronger migration response of male students, which, however, can mainly be attributed to a “border effect”. That is, interregional migration flows of male students are redirected from fee-charging universities to those universities that are geographically close by while being located in a non-charging neighboring state. Controlling for these border effects, the relocating trend in long-distance migration of university freshmen does not show any particular gender differences. |
| Keywords: | Tuition fees; gender differences; higher education; student migration; policy evaluation; Difference-in-Differences |
| JEL: | D04 I23 J16 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0404&r=edu |
| By: | Nicole Schneeweis |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I study the impact of immigrant concentration in primary schools on educational outcomes of native and migrant students in a major Austrian city between 1980-2001. The outcome measures of interest are track attendance after primary education and grade repetition. Using variation in the fraction of students with migration background among adjacent cohorts within schools and drawing special attention to time trends, the analysis shows that migrant students suffer from school-grades with a higher share of migrant students, while natives are not affected on average. These negative spill-over effects are particularly strong between students from the same area of origin, indicating that peer groups in schools form along ethnic dimensions. |
| Keywords: | school choice, migrants, ethnic minorities, segregation |
| JEL: | I21 J15 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:nrnwps:2013_02&r=edu |
| By: | Hideo Akabayashi (Keio University); Ryuichi Tanaka (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies) |
| Abstract: | Whether universal preschool education can eliminate the achievement gap among children in the long term has been debated in the United States and elsewhere. This paper offers new evidence from the experience of massive preschool education expansion in Japan. Using prefecture-level panel data, we estimate the effects of preschooling expansion on two measures of long-term educational achievement: high school and college advancement rates. We find that the expansion of both kindergarten and nursery schools have a significant positive impact on high school and college advancement rates, and the effect of attendance in nursery school is stronger than that in kindergarten. |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kei:dpaper:2012-033&r=edu |
| By: | Hansen, Jörgen (Concordia University); Liu, Xingfei (Concordia University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we develop and estimate a structural, dynamic model of schooling decisions using data extracted from the Canadian Youth in Transition Survey (YITS). The model incorporates forward-looking behavior and expectations about future benefits from investing in education. The results suggest that the effect of an increase in parental income on educational attainment is modest. For example, a 25 percent increase in parental income is predicted to increase post-secondary education (PSE) attendance by one percent only. However, our results indicate that financial resources, other than parental income, play a role in PSE enrollment. In particular, our model predicts that an increase in PSE tuition fees by $2,500 per grade level (for grade 13 and above) will reduce attendance in these grades by almost 9 percentage points for males and by 6.5 percentage points for females. We also simulate the impacts of changes in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reading scores. Specifically, an increase of test scores with one standard deviation (which is comparable to the difference in average score for high school drop-outs and those with some PSE) increases PSE attendance by 10.2 percentage points for males and by 6.6 percentage points for females. At the same time, high school dropout rates are predicted to fall by 3.2 percentage points for males and by 2.8 percentage points for females. We also take advantage of the dynamics of the model and explore how a 25 percent increase in future wages for PSE students will affect current schooling decisions. This leads to an increase in PSE attendance by 2.2 percentage points for males and by 3.1 percentage points for females. |
| Keywords: | educational attainment, structural estimation, forward-looking behavior, parental income, tuition fees, cognitive ability |
| JEL: | J01 I21 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7237&r=edu |
| By: | Cremer, Helmuth (TSE, IDEI); Maldonado, Dario (University Bogota) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies oligopolistic competition in education markets when schools can be private and public and when the quality of education depends on "peer group"effects. In the first stage of our game schools set their quality and in the second stage they fix their tuition fees. We examine how the (subgame perfect Nash) equilibrium allocation (qualities, tuition fees and welfare) is affected by the presence of public schools and by their relative position in the quality range. When there are no peer group effects, efficiency is achieved when (at least) all but one school are public. In particular in the two school case, the impact of a public school is spectacular as we go from a setting of extreme differentiation to an efficient allocation. However, in the three school case, a single public school will lower welfare compared to the private equilibrium. We then introduce a peer group effect which, for any given school is determined by its student with the highest ability. These PGE do have a significant impact on the results. The mixed equilibrium is now never efficient. However, welfare continues to be improved if all but one school are public. Overall, the presence of PGE reduces the effectiveness of public schools as regulatory tool in an otherwise private education sector. |
| Keywords: | Education, peer-group effects, mixed duopoly |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:26910&r=edu |
| By: | Fairlie, Robert W. (University of California, Santa Cruz); Robinson, Jonathan (University of California, Santa Cruz) |
| Abstract: | Computers are an important part of modern education, yet large segments of the population – especially low-income and minority children – lack access to a computer at home. Does this impede educational achievement? We test this hypothesis by conducting the largest-ever field experiment involving the random provision of free computers for home use to students. 1,123 schoolchildren grades 6-10 in 15 California schools participated in the experiment. Although the program significantly increased computer ownership and use, we find no effects on any educational outcomes, including grades, standardized test scores, credits earned, attendance and disciplinary actions. Our estimates are precise enough to rule out even modestly-sized positive or negative impacts. The estimated null effect is consistent with survey evidence showing no change in homework time or other "intermediate" inputs in education for treatment students. |
| Keywords: | computers, education, experiment |
| JEL: | I24 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7211&r=edu |
| By: | Arcidiacono, Peter (Duke University); Aucejo, Esteban (London School of Economics); Hotz, V. Joseph (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | The low number of college graduates with science degrees – particularly among under-represented minorities – is of growing concern. We examine differences across universities in graduating students in different fields. Using student-level data on the University of California system during a period in which racial preferences were in place, we show significant sorting into majors based on academic preparation, with science majors at each campus having on average stronger credentials than their non-science counterparts. Students with relatively weaker academic preparation are significantly more likely to leave the sciences and take longer to graduate at each campus. We show the vast majority of minority students would be more likely to graduate with a science degree and graduate in less time had they attended a lower ranked university. Similar results do not apply for non-minority students. |
| Keywords: | STEM majors, minorities, college graduation |
| JEL: | I23 I24 J15 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7227&r=edu |
| By: | Juan Yang (School of Economics and Management, Beijing Normal University); Terry Sicular (University of Western Ontario); Desheng Lai (School of Economics and Management, Beijing Normal University) |
| Abstract: | The substantial shift in rural schooling levels and the contemporaneous changes in educational finance policy including tax and fees reform, two exempt and one compensation policy and school rearrangement policy, raise the need for a fresh look at the determinants of rural education. In this paper we have examined the determinants of rural high school attainment and changes in those determinants between the years 2002 and 2007 at multiple levels (individual, family and community level). We find that the increasing importance of community versus household and individual factors in determining rural children’s schooling attainment between 2002 and 2007. In addition, government expenditures have a significant and positive impact on high school attainment in both years, with a shift in the relative importance of budgetary versus extrabudgetary funding. |
| Keywords: | Rural Education; High School Attainment; Family Background; Public Finance; Human Capital; China |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwo:hcuwoc:20131&r=edu |
| By: | Josep-Oriol Escardíbul (University of Barcelona & IEB); Toni Mora (Universitat Internacional de Catalunya & IEB) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the impact of teacher gender towards students’ test results in a blinded Math test administered to students in Catalonia (Spain). The data for this analysis are drawn from a sample of secondary school students who participated in an international blind-test known as the “Mathematical Kangaroo” in 2008. The estimation considers a two-stage procedure since participation on the test leads to the presence of sample selection. Results show a correlation between female teacher gender and student results. Moreover, students with female teachers have a higher probability of participating in the “Kangaroo” test (in this case, the effect being more marked among male students). |
| Keywords: | Grading, teacher gender, two-stage procedure, gender stereotypes |
| JEL: | I28 J16 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2013/6/doc2013-7&r=edu |
| By: | Michelle Miller-Adams (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and Grand Valley State University); Bridget Timmeney (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research) |
| Abstract: | The Kalamazoo Promise has led to a pronounced shift in the college-going patterns of Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) students who attend the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center (KAMSC). Following the introduction of the Kalamazoo Promise in 2005, the percentage of KPS KAMSC students attending public, in-state institutions of higher education has almost doubled—a shift that reflects the program rules of the Promise, which covers tuition and fees only at public postsecondary institutions in Michigan. The percentage of non-KPS KAMSC students attending an in-state, public institution also rose in the post-2006 period but only very slightly, suggesting that the Promise has shifted college choices among the eligible student population. |
| Keywords: | Kalamazoo Promise, universal scholarship program, college decision |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:2013-014&r=edu |
| By: | Bol, Thijs; Witschge, Jacqueline; Van de Werfhorst, Herman; Dronkers, Jaap |
| Abstract: | Tracked educational systems are associated with a greater social inequality in children’s educational achievement. Until now research has assumed that the impact of tracking on the inequality of educational opportunity is independent of other educational institutional features. Using data from the 2006 PISA survey, we study how central examinations affect the association between tracking and inequality. We find that parent’s social class has a larger effect on student achievement in systems without central examinations, whereas in systems with central examinations this relationship is attenuated. We argue that central examinations help hold schools accountable for their performance, thereby making it more likely for schools to allocate students to tracks and reward them on the basis of objective indicators, thereby reducing the impact of parental status on children’s performance. |
| Keywords: | tracking, stratification, inequality of educational opportunity, PISA |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:44675&r=edu |
| By: | Lisa Schulkind (Department of Economics, Trinity College) |
| Abstract: | Teenage mothers tend to have poor economic outcomes later in life. However, the girls who become teenage mothers come from less advantaged backgrounds than those who delay childbearing until later in life, making causality difficult to establish. This paper examines the effect of having a child during high school versus becoming a young mother, but one who has already finished high school. I compare the outcomes of girls who have a child in the end of their senior year of high school to a control group comprised of girls who give birth a few months later. I find that girls who give birth during the school year are 9 percentage points less likely to graduate from high school; however, this has little effect on their eventual labor market outcomes. Despite being much more likely to obtain a High School degree, the control group does not enjoy higher earnings later in life, and is not any more likely to be working. |
| Keywords: | Teenage Childbearing, Signaling Value, High School Degree |
| JEL: | J13 I20 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tri:wpaper:1304&r=edu |
| By: | Prettner, Klaus |
| Abstract: | We introduce publicly funded education in R&D-based economic growth theory. The framework allows us to i) incorporate a realistic process of human capital accumulation for industrialized countries, ii) reconcile R&D-based growth theory with the empirical evidence on the relationship between economic prosperity and population growth, iii) revise the policy invariance result of semi-endogenous growth frameworks, and iv) show that the transitional effects of an education reform tend to be qualitatively different from its long-run impact. -- |
| Keywords: | human capital accumulation,technological progress,scale-free economic growth,public education policy |
| JEL: | I25 J24 O11 O31 O41 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:149&r=edu |
| By: | Youyou BAENDE BOFOTA (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between social capital and children’ educational outcomes in Tanzania, using panel data from the Kagera Health and Development Survey (KHDS). By exploiting the panel structure of the data, we use several econometric techniques - fixed effect, first difference and 2SLS - to address social capital endogeneity issue and omitted variable bias. We find evidence that social capital available in the family affects significantly student attainment and that the magnitudes are large enough to explain a substantial proportion of variation in children schooling in Tanzania in the short term. More importantly, this positive impact lasts over the long term. |
| Keywords: | Social capital, Education, Developing countries, Tanzania |
| Date: | 2013–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2013003&r=edu |
| By: | Stijn BAERT (Ghent University); Bart COCKX (Ghent University, Université Catholique de Louvain (IRES), CESIfo and IZA) |
| Abstract: | This article decomposes the observed gaps in educational attainment and school-to-work transitions between grandchildren of natives and immigrants in Belgium into (i) differences in observed family endowments and (ii) a residual “pure ethnic gap”. It innovates by explicitly taking delays in educational attainment into account, by identifying the moments at which the pure ethnic gaps arise, by disentangling the decision to continue schooling at the end of a school year from the achievement within a particular grade, and by integrating the language spoken at home among observed family endowments. The pure ethnic gap in educational attainment is found to be small if delays are neglected, but substantial if not and for school-to-work transitions. It is shown that more than 20% of the pure ethnic gap in graduating from secondary school without delay originates in tenth grade. Language usage explains only part of the gap in school-to-work transitions for low educated. |
| Keywords: | dynamic discrete choice, dynamic selection bias, educational attainment, school-to-work transitions, ethnic minorities, discrimination |
| JEL: | C35 J15 J70 |
| Date: | 2013–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2013005&r=edu |
| By: | Duarte, Duarte (University of Algarve); V. Martins, Paula (University of Algarve) |
| Abstract: | The adoption of business process improvement strategies is currently a concern of most organizations. The quest for the benefits of this improvement on resource optimization and the responsiveness of the organizations has raised several proposals for process improvement methodologies. These approaches differ both in the principles that support them, and in the specific area to which they are intended. However, proposals and results of scientific research on process improvement in higher education institutions, extremely complex and unique organizations, are still scarce. This research project intends to propose the extension of a process improvement model for this particular type of organization. We propose to undertake a review of process areas, goals and practices used in reference maturity models, such as Capability Maturity Model Integration or Business Process Maturity Model, to determine which ones apply to academic organizations and which should be included, adapted or deleted. The resulting maturity model will be further validated in a Portuguese higher education institution. This study is being developed under the University of Algarve Informatics Engineering Doctorate program. |
| Keywords: | Maturity; Education; Process; Improvement |
| JEL: | I23 |
| Date: | 2013–03–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:cieodp:2013_005&r=edu |
| By: | Graziella Bertocchi; Monica Bozzano |
| Abstract: | We investigate the historical determinants of the education gender gap in Italy in the late nineteenth century, immediately following the country’s Unification. We use a comprehensive newly-assembled database including 69 provinces over twenty-year sub-samples covering the 1861-1901 period. We find robust evidence that female primary school attainment, relative to that of males, is positively associated with the medieval pattern of commerce, along the routes that connected Italian cities among themselves and with the rest of the world. The effect of medieval commerce is particularly strong at the non-compulsory upperprimary level and persists even after controlling for alternative long-term determinants reflecting the geographic, economic, political, and cultural differentiation of medieval Italy. The long-term influence of medieval commerce quickly dissipates after national compulsory primary schooling is imposed at Unification, suggesting that the channel of transmission was the larger provision of education for girls in commercial centers. |
| Keywords: | education gender gap, medieval commerce, Italian Unification, political institutions, family types; |
| JEL: | E02 H75 I25 J16 N33 O15 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:recent:088&r=edu |
| By: | Christina Clark Tuttle; Brian Gill; Philip Gleason; Virginia Knechtel; Ira Nichols-Barrer; Alexandra Resch |
| Abstract: | This report shows that Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) middle schools have significant and substantial positive impacts on student achievement in four core academic subjects: reading, math, science, and social studies. One of the report’s analyses confirms the positive impacts using a rigorous randomized experimental analysis that relies on the schools’ admissions lotteries to identify comparison students, thereby accounting for students’ prior achievement, as well as factors such as student and parent motivation. The latest findings from Mathematica’s multiyear study of KIPP middle schools, the report is the most rigorous large-scale evaluation of KIPP charter schools to date, covering 43 KIPP middle schools in 13 states and the District of Columbia. Student outcomes examined included state test results in reading and math, test scores in science and social studies, results on a nationally normed assessment that includes measures of higher-order thinking, and behaviors reported by students and parents. |
| Keywords: | KIPP, Middle Schools, Achievement, Education |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2013–02–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:7680&r=edu |
| By: | Landersø, Rasmus (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit); Nielsen, Helena Skyt (Aarhus University); Simonsen, Marianne (Aarhus University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of school starting age on crime while relying on variation in school starting age induced by administrative rules; we exploit that Danish children typically start first grade in the calendar year they turn seven, which gives rise to a discontinuity in children's school starting age. Analyses are carried out using register-based Danish data. We find that higher age at school start lowers the propensity to commit crime, but that this reduction is caused by incapacitation while human capital accumulation is unaffected. Importantly, we also find that the individuals who benefit most from being old-for-grade are those with high latent abilities whereas those with low latent ability seem to be unaffected by being old-for-grade in school. |
| Keywords: | old-for-grade, school start, criminal charges, violence, property crime |
| JEL: | I21 K42 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7228&r=edu |
| By: | Gerald Eisenkopf; Pascal Sulser |
| Abstract: | We present results from a field experiment at Swiss high schools in which we compare the effectiveness of a classroom experiment against conventional economics teaching. We randomly assigned classes into different teaching environments or a control group. Our results suggest that both teaching methods improve economic understanding considerably in contrast to classes without prior training. We do not observe a significant overall effect of the classroom experiment, but more able students benefit from the experiment while others lose out. Furthermore there is no robust impact of economic training on social preferences, measured as both individual behavior in incentivized decisions or political opinions. |
| Keywords: | Education of Economics, Classroom Experiments, Field Experiments, Indoctrination |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:twi:respas:0080&r=edu |
| By: | Callie Shenker and Katherine Eyal |
| Abstract: | Tutorial programs offer academic support to students at the tertiary level. in a randomised trial, the effect of encouragement provision on tutorial uptake was explored on second-year economics students at the University of Cape Town. The experiment used a tutorial group-clustered randomisation design to send informative emails regarding he impact that tutorials can have on grades. This led to a substantial increase in tutorial attendance amongst treated students, particularly for males and previous high academic achievers. The increase in attendance however did not translate into an improvement in final grades. this was partially attributed to the fact that the treatment did not appeal to low academic achievers, for whom tutorials would have proved most beneficial. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:332&r=edu |
| By: | Joshua Congdon-Hohman (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross); Anil Nathan (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross); Justin Svec (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how model uncertainty affects students' choice of major. To account for this uncertainty, the students apply a max-min operator to their optimization problem. We show analytically that greater uncertainty in a particular major causes the student to be less likely to choose that major and that greater uncertainty across all majors causes fewer students to major in science, technology, engineering, and math. To test the model's assumptions and predictions, we have conducted a novel survey of college freshmen. The results from this survey are consistent with assumptions and implications of the theoretical model. |
| Keywords: | Major choice, model uncertainty, STEM |
| JEL: | D81 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hcx:wpaper:1301&r=edu |
| By: | Novarese, Marco; Di Giovinazzo, Viviana |
| Abstract: | This article uses university administration data to investigate the relation between student behavior (rapid response in finalizing enrolment procedures) and academic performance. It shows how student solicitude in enrolment, or a lack of it, can be a useful forecast of academic success. Several explanations can be given, including the greater or lesser tendency to procrastinate. |
| Keywords: | Procrastination, academic performance, motivation |
| JEL: | D90 I21 |
| Date: | 2013–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:45008&r=edu |