|
on Education |
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Issue of 2016‒04‒23
twenty-one papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Thomas S. Dee; Will Dobbie; Brian A. Jacob; Jonah Rockoff |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we show that the design and decentralized, school-based scoring of New York’s high school exit exams – the Regents Examinations – led to the systematic manipulation of test sores just below important proficiency cutoffs. Our estimates suggest that teachers inflate approximately 40 percent of test scores near the proficiency cutoffs. Teachers are more likely to inflate the scores of high-achieving students on the margin, but low-achieving students benefit more from manipulation in aggregate due to the greater density of these students near the proficiency cutoffs. Exploiting a series of reforms that eliminated score manipulation, we find that inflating a student’s score to fall just above a cutoff increases his or her probability of graduating from high school by 27 percent. These results have important implications for educational attainment of marginal high school graduates. For example, we estimate that the black-white graduation gap is about 5 percent larger in the absence of test score manipulation. |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22165&r=edu |
| By: | Almeida,Rita Kullberg; Bresolin,Antonio; Pugialli Da Silva Borges,Bruna; Mendes,Karen; Menezes Filho,Naercio |
| Abstract: | To address the educational gap, many Latin American countries are focusing on extension of the school day and enrichment of the curriculum. In Brazil, a nationwide policy -- Mais Educação -- was implemented in 2008 with this objective. This paper explores the nationwide rollout of the program across the country and compares the performance of schools before and after implementation of the program. The paper quantifies the impacts of the program on student learning and dropout rates in urban areas, and investigates the heterogeneity of impacts by several characteristics of the program's implementation. Participating schools are compared with nonparticipating schools after controlling for school selection into the program based on observable characteristics using propensity score matching. The analysis finds that participation in Mais Educação has on average no impacts on school dropout rates and average negative impacts on mathematics test scores. The negative impacts on student achievement are stronger in the short term, which suggests that the negative effects may be reduced as the program improves its implementation. In addition, especially for fifth-grade schools, the level of student spending is associated with reduced dropout rates. Interestingly, in schools choosing the fields of Portuguese and/or sports in the added hours, the program is associated with lower test scores in Portuguese and mathematics. Finally, for the sample of fifth-grade schools, heterogeneous impacts are seen in the program according to the GDP per capita of the city where the school is located. The higher the GDP per capita, the greater the positive impact of the program on mathematics test scores and on dropout rates. |
| Keywords: | Cultural Policy,Education For All,Secondary Education,Tertiary Education,Primary Education |
| Date: | 2016–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7644&r=edu |
| By: | Philip Verwimp |
| Abstract: | It is well-known that more educated women have their first child at later age compared to less educated women. The causality of this relationship and the mechanisms behind it however are another matter. In this paper we use a regression discontinuity design to infer the causal effect of prolonged schooling on the timing of the first child as well as the drivers of the effect. We tracked and interviewed 375 young Burundian women who took part in their countries ‘Concours Nationale’, a nationwide test taken at age 15.5 on average that decides whether or not someone can continue their education. Failure or success in this test strongly affects age at first child. As a lot of girls manage to circumvent the test score cut-off point set by the Ministry of Education, we employ a fuzzy method whereby the assignment into treatment serves as an instrumental variable for effective treatment. We find an ITT of -13 and a LATE of -54 percentage points on the probability to have had a pregnancy four years after the test and of -27 before age 20. An additional year of secondary school reduces the probability to become pregnant by 8 percentage points. We also find evidence for several channels raised in the literature to explain the finding (incarceration, knowledge and modernization). The results are robust to alternative specifications. |
| Keywords: | schooling; fertility; contraception; Africa; regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | J13 I21 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/229281&r=edu |
| By: | joana stocker (Zayed University) |
| Abstract: | Although self-concept is a construct widely studied in the West, little is known about its features in Arab countries, especially considering high school students. Based on Marsh and Shavelson’s multidimensional and hierarchical self-concept model, this study aims to uncover individual differences amongst self-concept dimensions within Emirati high school graders. Schools were selected with support from the Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority and each school selected respective classes. All the ethical approvals were ensured. A social-demographic questionnaire was built (22 items) and an adaptation of the Self-Description Questionnaire was used, with 75 items in a 6-points Likert agreement scale, distributed through seven self-concept dimensions (Verbal, Mathematics, Problem Solving, Academic, Arabic, English, Peers, and Parent Relations). Most students were females (53.7%), with ages between 13 and 20 years old (M=15.66; SD=1.03), and evenly distributed across the three high school grades: 31.8% from 10th grade, 33.4% from 11th grade, and 34.7% from 12th grade. SPSS was used to perform ANOVA and T-test analyses. Considering gender, male students present higher levels of Maths, Peers and Parents Relations self-concept than the female students. However, girls got significantly higher grades in all achievement domains (Maths, English, Arabic, GPA). They also perceive themselves as significantly studying more hours a week, actively participating more in group works, studying harder for tests, wishing to pursue higher educational levels, and feeling less anxious at school than boys. Considering school grades (10th, 11th, 12th), generally students from higher grades present higher academic achievement, being the differences in self-concept dimensions inconsistent. Some of these results corroborate Western and previous Arab researches, while others need additional studies. Further discussions will be presented. |
| Keywords: | self-concept; high school; individual differences; academic achievement; gender; Emirati |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:3505507&r=edu |
| By: | Azmat, Ghazala; Bagues, Manuel; Cabrales, Antonio; Iriberri, Nagore |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of providing feedback to college students on their position in the grade distribution by using a randomized control experiment. This information was updated every six months during a three-year period. In the absence of treatment, students'; underestimate their position in the grade distribution. The treatment significantly improves the students'; self-assessment. We find that treated students experience a significant decrease in their educational performance, as measured by their accumulated GPA and number of exams passed, and a significant improvement in their self-reported satisfaction, as measured by survey responses obtained after information is provided but before students take their exams. Those effects, however, are short lived, as students catch up in subsequent periods. Moreover, the negative effect on performance is driven by those students who underestimate their position in the absence of feedback. Those students who overestimate initially their position, if anything, respond positively. |
| Keywords: | randomized field experiment; ranking; Relative performance feedback; school performance. |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11201&r=edu |
| By: | Umut Dur; Parag A. Pathak; Tayfun Sönmez |
| Abstract: | Affirmative action schemes must confront the tension between admitting the highest scoring applicants and ensuring diversity. In Chicago's affirmative action system for exam schools, applicants are divided into one of four socioeconomic tiers based on the characteristics of their neighborhood. Applicants can be admitted to a school either through a slot reserved for their tier or through a merit slot. Equity considerations motivate equal percentage reserves for each tier, but there is a large debate on the total size of these reserve slots relative to merit slots. An issue that has received much less attention is the order in which slots are processed. Since the competition for merit slots is influenced directly by the allocation to tier slots, equal size reserves are not sufficient to eliminate explicit preferential treatment. We characterize processing rules that are tier-blind. While explicit preferential treatment is ruled out under tier-blind rules, it is still possible to favor certain tiers, by exploiting the distribution of scores across tiers, a phenomenon we call statistical preferential treatment. We characterize the processing order that is optimal for the most disadvantaged tier assuming that these applicants systematically have lower scores. This policy processes merit slots prior to any slots reserved for tiers. Our main result implies that Chicago has been providing an additional boost to the disadvantaged tier beyond their reserved slots. Using data from Chicago, we show that the bias due to processing order for the disadvantaged tier is comparable to that from the 2012 decrease in the size of the merit reserve. |
| JEL: | C78 I21 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22109&r=edu |
| By: | ALEJANDRO LOPEZ RODRIGUEZ (UNIVERSITY OF GUADALAJARA - CUCEA); JOSE ALBERTO BECERRA SANTIAGO (UNIVERSITY OF GUADALAJARA - CUCEA); DIEGO ARMANDO CHAVEZ COVARRUBIAS (UNIVERSITY OF GUADALAJARA - CUCEA) |
| Abstract: | The University of Guadalajara is the second largest in Mexico and has nearly 250,000 students. For years it has offered e-learning and b-learning on their academic programs using Learning Management Systems. However, thanks to the increasingly accessible and advanced technologies, it is important to offer students new ways of learning, with flexible and interactive activities.Now, it has begun experimenting with the use of 3D virtual worlds for education. It has built a three-dimensional digital campus so that students can build their own avatars, and can carry out their learning activities and tasks in an advanced graphical atmosphere. Using virtual worlds in education allows high interactivity, voice communications, and environments that simulate reality.This work shows evidence of some interesting results obtained by making use of 3D virtual learning technologies (v-learning), supported by low-cost and high availability systems. |
| Keywords: | 3D, v-learning, b-learning, virtual, education, innovation |
| JEL: | I23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:3506185&r=edu |
| By: | Stephen Hickson (University of Canterbury) |
| Abstract: | Do females achieve lower grades in economics than males? What role does personality type play in any difference if one exists? This study examines a cohort of first year students who all took Principles of Economics courses and completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator questionnaire at a large publically funded New Zealand university. I find that males do enjoy a comparative advantage in economics (or females a comparative disadvantage). This does not disappear when personality type is controlled for but does persist. Some personality types also achieve higher grades in their study than others. Most studies in the literature have tended to focus on economics but I am able to conduct the same analysis on the other first year courses that these students take. This enables a point of comparison allowing me to examine if gender and personality type effects are unique to economics or whether economics is actually no different to other disciplines. |
| Keywords: | Principles of Economics, Gender, Personality Type, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator |
| JEL: | A22 |
| Date: | 2016–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbt:econwp:16/07&r=edu |
| By: | Taorem Surendra Singh |
| Abstract: | Education is must to all from cradle to grave in the life of a man. Due the importance of it, Government of India has already launched universalization of primary and secondary education throughout the nation for the children of India under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), and Rashtriya Midhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. The visions of nation can’t be realised by giving education only the normal children as many number of disable children are in the population of India. Thereby, there is need of special education for disable children as they are also children of India having educational rights same to the normal children as per law. But, simply giving special education can’t help the disable children to make them normalise. There is need of quality special education being provided at mental homes in Manipur. This paper examines critically that whether the mental homes in Manipur are providing quality special education in respect of Socio-Economic, Religious background of all students, Birth And Health history, Category of retardation and level of learning, Distribution of students in class wise, Student-Teacher Ratio, Infrastructural Facilities and Teaching-Learning Process etc. This paper also suggested to improve the status of special education being provided at different Mental Homes in Manipur, which will help the progress of inclusive education in Manipur. Key words: special Education, Special School, mentally retarded |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vor:issues:2016-03-05&r=edu |
| By: | Sánchez-Barrioluengo, Mabel; Consoli, Davide |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the relationship between regional human capital (HC) and the processes of knowledge creation and mobilization due to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Although the nexus between these dimensions emerges frequently in both the scholarly and policy discourses, no study has so far investigated explicitly how their connection works. Using occupations as a proxy for the skill content of jobs, we analyse individual (gender, schooling and age) and regional (university orientation) factors that influence HC employment structure in Spanish regions over the period 2003-2010. The main finding is that teaching university mission is a robust predictor of high-skill employment, while the impact of engagement (research and knowledge transfer) activities is more sensitive to structural characteristics of the regional socio-economic context. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital, University Orientation, Skills, Region |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2016–04–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ing:wpaper:201601&r=edu |
| By: | Rajshree Vaishnav; Vandana Ramteke |
| Abstract: | The present study is aimed at finding the effectiveness of Edublog in terms of students achievement. It was an experimental study conducted on students of class 9th studying in different schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education of Nagpur city in the state of Maharashtra India. The researchers selected 200 students studying in two different schools and divided into two groups each comprising 100 students. The groups were labeled as Experimental group and Control group. The student of experimental group was taught through Edublog along with regular class room teaching while students of control group were taught using the traditional method of teaching for Economics subject. The pre-test was administered to students in both the groups before teaching commenced. After the treatment a post-test was administered. The data was analysed using t-test. Result revealed statistical significant effect of Edublog over traditional teaching method on academic achievement of students. Key words: Edublog, Traditional Method, Achievement, economics |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vor:issues:2016-03-03&r=edu |
| By: | Ferhat USTUN (Selcuk University Faculty of Sports Sciences); I. Bulent FISEKCIOGLU (Selcuk University Faculty of Sport Sciences) |
| Abstract: | The basic of research for determining the leadership characteristics of physical education teachers according to turkey's geographic regional's formed on 350 physical education teachers involving 237 male and 113 female chosen from 7 regional's by using accidental example method. The pattern of research is verbal. At fist the literature of subject was combed, ofter this to the aim of this research for defining the leadership characteristics of physical education teachers according to turkey's geographic regional's we the doctorate working that was named "Comparison of School Directors and. physical education teachers in private and Official School According to Their Leadership Behaviors" (Can 2002) Before applying the questionnaire that we prepared we chose the inside of Anatolian as a pilot regional and we did a questionnaire for applying to a hundred physical education teachers that consist of 35 questions. Fussing through this questionnaire after examining them with the experts of this subject we decided to decrease the questions to 30, and after this we started to study for our aim. The questionnaire contains two main parts, personal and branch knowledge our questionnaire analyzed and interpreted on SPSS static programme. At the analyzing of findings Frequency Method was used. And Chi-quare test was used for the analyze of the hypothesis between the physical education teachers that were working in Turkey's Geographic Regional's and the expression that is "I can be in an activity dealing with Physical Education by not ashing to the student’’ As a result; according to the questionnaire we found that they great ration of Physical Education teachers that were in questionnaire had a leadership behaviors but they were focused on teachers behaviors at the subjects of physical education not student focused. And as a result of this we can say that the wanting and interest of students are at the back. Another finding of us is that the expression "I can be in an activity dealing with Physical Education by not ashing to the students" will be change between the regional's. We can say- that the cause of that is the difference of the looking's of Physical Education teachers in Akdeniz, Ege and Marmara regional are different from the others and the deficiency of communication between teacher and students. |
| Keywords: | Leadership, Physical Education Teachers, Determine |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:3506014&r=edu |
| By: | Anita Staneva (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Law, Auckland University of Technology); Hany Andel-Latif (Swansea University, UK) |
| Abstract: | This paper makes a systematic presentation of returns to education in Bulgaria, a country that has witnessed a number of dramatic structural changes over the last two decades. It examines the headway of returns to education for Bulgaria in two obverse economic regimes - from communism to EU membership. The findings show a steady increase in returns to education for both males and females until 2003. The average returns to one additional year of education rose from 1.1% in 1986 to 5.1% in 2003 for males and from 2.1% to 5.9% for females. Quantile regression estimations, between 1986 and 2003, evince that the most prominent increase in the wage premium occurred at the top end of the distribution, where the rate of returns to education, in particular for females increased from a negative and insignificant sign in 1986 to 7% in 2003. However, this increasing trend in returns to education seems to take an inverted-U-shape in 2007, the year when the country joined the EU, which poses a new puzzle to be resolved. To this end, the current paper introduces possible explanations for such a puzzle and sheds lights on a number of insightful policy implications. |
| Keywords: | returns to education, transition countries, quantile regression |
| JEL: | I21 J31 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aut:wpaper:201506&r=edu |
| By: | Di Pietro, Giorgio (University of Westminster) |
| Abstract: | In recent years, in Italy, a larger number of students have chosen to attend vocational hospitality and catering schools. This paper investigates the extent to which this increase may have been triggered by the growing popularity of the cooking reality show MasterChef, in which the chef profession is portrayed as exciting and glamorous. Using panel data methods and controlling for several potential confounding variables, the analysis attempts to separate the effect of MasterChef from that of other determinants of the decision to attend vocational hospitality and catering schools. The results show that an increase of one percentage point in the audience of MasterChef is associated with an increase in the proportion of final year lower secondary school students willing to enrol at vocational hospitality and catering schools of between 0.25 and 0.35 percentage points. This finding suggests that popular television programmes like MasterChef may play an important role in complementing and supplementing government measures aimed at promoting vocational training among youths. |
| Keywords: | teenage career aspirations, vocational hospitality and catering schools, panel data analysis, MasterChef |
| JEL: | I21 J44 C23 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9804&r=edu |
| By: | Richard Murphy; Gill Wyness |
| Abstract: | Billions of pounds per year is spent on aid for poor students in HE systems around the world, yet there remains limited evidence on the causal effect of these payments, particularly on the intensive margin. This is an empirical challenge since student aid is correlated with characteristics which influence both college enrolment and achievement. We overcome these challenges by studying a unique form of non-linear means tested financial aid which is unadvertised, varies substantially across institutions, and is subject to shifts in generosity across cohorts. Using student-level administrative data collected from 10 English universities, we study the effects of aid receipt on college completion rates, annual course scores, and degree class, using fixed effects and instrumental variables methods. Our findings suggest that each £1,000 of financial aid awarded increases the chances of gaining a good degree by around 3 percentage points, driven by completion of the final year and course scores. |
| Keywords: | higher education; financial aid; degree completion |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:66060&r=edu |
| By: | Dunn, Richard A. (University of Connecticut); Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr. (Bates College); Thomsen, Michael (University of Arkansas); Heather L. Rouse (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This paper employs a novel identification strategy based on changes in the route students would use to commute between their home and their school as they transition to higher grades housed in different schools to investigate the effect of fast-food availability on childhood weight outcomes by gender, race and location. Using a longitudinal census of height and weight for public school students in Arkansas, we find no evidence that changes in fast-food exposure are associated with changes in BMI z-score. Our findings suggest that laws restricting fast-food restaurants from areas near schools are neither effective nor efficient means of improving public health. |
| Keywords: | Fast-food, childhood obesity |
| JEL: | I10 R12 R40 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zwi:wpaper:34&r=edu |
| By: | Stiroh, Kevin J. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) |
| Abstract: | Remarks at the SIFMA Internal Auditors Society Education Luncheon, Harvard Club, New York City. |
| Keywords: | Large Institution Supervision Coordinating Committee (LISCC); Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR); Comprehensive Liquidity Analysis and Review (CLAR); Supervisory Assessment of Recovery and Resolution Preparedness (SRP); New York Fed Supervision Group; asymmetric information; externalities; Supervision and Regulation letters; clarity and transparency; cybersecurity; Fintech; reputational risk |
| Date: | 2016–04–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsp:203&r=edu |
| By: | Kabir, Humayun |
| Abstract: | India's Muslim community, which accounts for 14.4 percent of India’s vast population and is thus the largest of all religious minorities, has been the subject of considerable development discourse as Muslims have the lowest level of educational attainment and standard of living among socio-religious groups in the country. This study addresses the meaning of education and career opportunities for Muslim youths in relation to their educational credentials and social position in the hierarchy of Muslim class and caste groups, with particular reference to a community in Uttar Pradesh. The author contends that the career opportunities, possibilities, and strategies of Muslim youths in Indian society depend on multiple factors: social hierarchy, opportunities to utilize economic resources, social networks, cultural capital, and the wider structural disparities within which the Muslims are situated and wherein they question the value of higher education in gaining them admission to socially recognized and established employment sectors. |
| Keywords: | Education, Islam, Employment, Youth, Muslim General, Muslim OBC, Social Inequality, Social Network |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper572&r=edu |
| By: | Jamal, Haroon |
| Abstract: | The paper statistically evaluates the trends in private returns to education in Pakistan for the period 1990-91 to 2012-13. The data of 16 nationally representative Labor Force Surveys during this period are utilized to estimate the standard Mincerian Earning Functions with some modifications. Trends are also disaggregated for gender, region, province, sectors and educational attainments. In addition, the study also employs the pseudo-panel approach for the first time in Pakistan for estimating overall returns to education to control unobserved individual heterogeneity which is common to estimate returns from data on individuals. The estimate using the traditional approach with individual LFS cross-section data suggests 5.5 percent yearly returns for wage earners after controlling for the heterogeneity in the regional and provincial labor markets in Pakistan. Nonetheless, the study found considerably larger returns to education from the pseudo-panels with year fixed effects. The estimates of earning equation with birth specific cohort data reveal about 9.2 percent returns for overall Pakistani labor market. |
| Keywords: | Returns to education, Mincerian Earnings Function, Pseudo-Panel, Pakistan |
| JEL: | I21 J31 |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:70640&r=edu |
| By: | Julia B. Baller; Colleen L. Barry |
| Abstract: | To understand the role of Medicaid in financing health services delivered through special education, program characteristics and covered services were compared from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
| Keywords: | Medicare, Medicaid, school reform, restructuring, policy, finance |
| JEL: | I J |
| Date: | 2016–03–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:5680f6767d344a89bc2cef8ce7232fab&r=edu |
| By: | SITI ZUBAIDAH ANUAR (INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an evident that there is a need for Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) in English language classrooms in higher learning institutions. CRT is relatively a new concept to be explored in the Malaysian educational setting and studies have been conducted and researchers suggested trainings to help teachers to manage their racially diverse classroom should be carried out (Tengku Nor Rizan, Nooreiny, & Manisah, 2013; Faizah, 2014). With an increase enrolment of international students to Malaysian higher learning institutions, the teachers teaching in the universities who prepare the students with English language proficiency and also other related English courses should be equipped the with culturally responsive pedagogy. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to 9 English language teachers teaching in 2 different language faculties from two universities in the country to find out if the teachers do have traits of CRT. The findings show that teachers do have traits of becoming culturally responsive and welcoming the idea of becoming culturally responsive in the classroom. |
| Keywords: | Culture, culturally responsive teaching, higher learning institutions, English language classroom. |
| JEL: | I29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:3505782&r=edu |