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on Education |
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Issue of 2016‒07‒16
nineteen papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Aithal, Sreeramana; Kumar, Suresh |
| Abstract: | ‘Teacher quality’ is a composite term to indicate the quality of teachers in terms of explicit qualification of the faculty and implicit teacher characteristics such as ability, commitment, motivation supported by the adequacy of hiring procedures, faculty availability, professional development and recognition of teaching abilities. Teachers take initiative to learn and keep abreast of the latest developments, innovate, continuously seek improvement in their work and strive for individual and institutional excellence. This paper aims to outline the education service model developed by Srinivas Institute of Management studies (SIMS) for maintaining teacher quality. Backed by the presumption that knowledge is power and information is fundamental to knowledge building and knowledge sharing, the college aims to provide quality education to its students for improved academic performance. By providing under graduate and post graduate education in Business Management, Computer Applications and Social Work, the college has been providing education service in major areas of importance to the society. In this paper, we have analysed the strategies followed by Srinivas Institute of Management Studies, Mangalore in planning and management of its human resource to meet the changing requirements of the curriculum, student, and learning and challenges of time and strategies adopted by the institution in enhancing the teacher quality. |
| Keywords: | Teacher quality in higher education institution, Quality in higher education. |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72240&r=edu |
| By: | Frauke H. Peter; Vaishali Zambre |
| Abstract: | Despite increasing access to university education, students from disadvantaged or non-academic family backgrounds are still underrepresented at universities. In this regard, the economic literature mainly studies the effect of financial constraints on post-secondary educational decisions. Our knowledge on potential effects of other constraints regarding university education is more limited. We investigate the causal relationship between information and educational expectations using data from a German randomized controlled trial in which students in high schools were treated with information on the benefits as well as on different funding possibilities for university education. We find that the provision of information increases intended college enrollment for students from a non-academic family background, while it leads students from academic backgrounds to lower their enrollment intentions. Our results suggest that educational inequality can be reduced by providing students with relevant information, while simultaneously improving post-secondary education matches. |
| Keywords: | Randomized controlled trial, information deficit, educational expectation, college enrollment, educational inequality |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1589&r=edu |
| By: | Tyrefors Hinnerich, Björn (Department of Economics); Vlachos, Jonas (Department of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | Sweden has a school voucher system with universal coverage and full acceptance of corporate providers. Using a value added approach, we find that students at upper-secondary voucher schools on average score 0.06 standard deviations lower on externally graded standardized tests in first year core courses. The negative impact is larger among lower achieving students (but not among immigrant students), the same students who are most prone to attend voucher schools. For high achieving students, the voucher school impact is around zero. Comparing internal and external evaluations of the same standardized tests, we find that voucher schools are 0.14 standard deviations more generous than municipal schools in their internal test grading. The greater leniency in test grading is relatively uniform across different groups, but more pronounced among students at academic than vocational programs. The findings are consistent with voucher schools responding more to differences in educational preferences than municipal schools. |
| Keywords: | Voucher schools; Student achievement; Grading standards |
| JEL: | H40 I21 I22 |
| Date: | 2016–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1127&r=edu |
| By: | Bobba, Matteo; Frisancho, Veronica |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of perceived academic ability in shaping curricular choices in secondary school. We design and implement a field experiment that provides individualized feedback on performance in a mock version of the admission test taken to gain entry into high school in the metropolitan area of Mexico City. This intervention reduces the gap between expected and actual performance, shrinks the variance of the individual ability distributions and shifts stated preferences over high school tracks, with better performing students choosing more academically-oriented options. Such a change in application portfolios affects placement outcomes within the school assignment system, while it does not seem to entail any short-term adjustment costs in terms of high school performance. Guided by a simple model in which Bayesian agents choose school tracks based on their perceived ability distribution, we empirically document the interplay between variance reductions and mean changes in beliefs enabled by the information intervention. |
| Keywords: | information, Bayesian updating, biased beliefs, school choice. |
| JEL: | D83 I21 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:30494&r=edu |
| By: | Pierre Courtioux (EDHEC Business School et Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne); Thais Tristan-Pierre Maury (EDHEC Business School) |
| Abstract: | In this article, based on social segregation indices (both entropy and exposure indices) for the period 2004-2014, we compare the level of social diversity at the middle school level between private schools, public schools (excluding priority education) and public schools in priority education zones. For a given level of social diversity, we also look at the way advantaged social background pupils might concentrate in some schools. Our results show that private schools are slightly over-represented among schools located at the extremes of the distribution of entropy levels, that is to say, both among the most "mixed" and the most "segregated" schools. However, the nature of social diversity varies between public, private and priority education schools. At given level of entropy, private schools receive relatively less disadvantaged social backgrounds pupils. Focusing on the most "segregated" schools, the complementary use of the standardized exposure index shows that there is a tendency to separate students with advantaged social background and other students in private schools, as well as in public schools (excluding priority education). On the contrary, schools in priority education zones are more homogeneous with a large proportion of disadvantaged social group's pupils |
| Keywords: | social diversity, segregation, secondary education, private school, priority education policy |
| JEL: | I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:16048&r=edu |
| By: | Fadi Hassan; Paolo Lucchino |
| Abstract: | More than 1.3 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity and this has first-order effects on several development dimensions. In this paper we focus on the link between access to light and education. We randomly distribute solar lamps to 7th grade pupils in rural Kenya and monitor their educational outcomes throughout the year at quarterly frequency. We find that access to lights through solar lamps is a relevant and effective input to education. Our identification strategy accounts for spillovers by exploiting the variation in treatment at the pupil level and in treatment intensity across classes. We find a positive and significant intention-to-treat effect as well as a positive and significant spillover effect on control students. In a class with the average treatment intensity of our sample (43%), treated students experience an increase in math grades of 0.88 standard deviations. Moreover, we find a positive marginal effect of treatment intensity on control students: raising the share of treated students in a class by 10% increases grades of control students by 0.22 standard deviations. We exploit household geolocation to disentangle within-class and geographical spillovers. We show that geographical spillovers do not have a significant impact and within-school interaction is the main source of spillovers. Finally, we provide suggestive evidence that the mechanism through which lamps affect students is by increasing co-studying at school especially after sunset. |
| Keywords: | Randomised controlled trial, solar lamps, education, energy access, spillover effects, randomised saturation design |
| JEL: | O12 I25 C93 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1438&r=edu |
| By: | Lauren L. Schmitz; Dalton Conley |
| Abstract: | This study examines whether draft-lottery estimates of the causal effect of Vietnam-era military service on schooling vary by genetic propensity toward educational attainment. To capture the complex genetic architecture that underlies the bio-developmental pathways behavioral traits and evoked environments associated with educational attainment, we construct a polygenic score (PGS) for the Vietnam-era cohort in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) that aggregates thousands of individual loci across the human genome, weighted by effect sizes derived from a recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) for years of education. Our findings suggest veterans with below average PGSs for educational attainment completed fewer years of schooling than comparable non-veterans with the same PGS, primarily due to fewer years of college education. On the other hand, we do not find any difference in the educational attainment of veterans and non-veterans with above average PGSs. Results show that public policies and exogenous environments may induce heterogeneous treatment effects by genetic disposition. |
| JEL: | I20 I24 I26 J01 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22393&r=edu |
| By: | Kono, Hisaki; Sawada, Yasuyuki; Shonchoy, Abu S. |
| Abstract: | In contrast to the remarkable progress in developing countries in improving primary education, access to higher education in many countries remains limited, especially in rural areas where the quality of education is inadequate. We evaluate a DVD-based distance-learning program in rural Bangladesh, targeted at students aiming to take university entrance tests. We conducted two experiments: one to evaluate the effect of the distance-learning program and the second to determine the demand and price sensitivity. Our first experiment shows that the DVD-based distance-learning program has a considerable positive effect on the number of students passing entrance exams. This effect does not depend on cognitive scores, but does depend on non-cognitive attributes, indicating the importance of commitment, which is imposed through our program. In the second experiment, we offered a random subsidy to interested participants. The uptake decision is price-sensitive, although the price sensitivity is not correlated with students' past academic performance or their socio-economic status, suggesting that increasing the price should not disproportionately exclude poor students. |
| Keywords: | Higher education, Rural societies, Distance-Learning, Tertiary education, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | O15 O22 I15 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper580&r=edu |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Levels of educational attainment do not only vary among countries, but also within them. In many countries, people with tertiary education – usually the most skilled people – are more highly represented in the capital region. Regional employment rates in many countries vary more widely among adults without upper secondary education than among those with upper secondary education or higher. In many countries, the percentage of young people neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET) is twice as high in some regions as in others. |
| Date: | 2016–07–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaaf:43-en&r=edu |
| By: | Amaral, Ernesto F. L.; Queiroz, Bernardo L.; Calazans, Julia A. |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the impact of demographic and educational changes on the earnings and returns to schooling of workers in Brazil and Mexico. Our analysis takes into account demographic, educational and economic variations within each country over time, using Censuses microdata from Brazil and Mexico. Results suggest that demographic and educational transitions generate impact on earnings and on returns to education. The proportion of people in age-education groups tends to have a negative impact on earnings. These impacts are more detrimental among age-education groups with higher education, but they are having less of a negative effect over time. We also find that the concentration of skilled labor has positive impacts on the rates of returns to education and that they are greater than those observed in more developed countries. Moreover, in Brazil and Mexico, these effects are observed throughout the income distribution, contrary to what is observed in studies for the United States. |
| Keywords: | demographic transition, education transition, cohort size, earnings, labor markets, Brazil, Mexico |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:1089&r=edu |
| By: | Tuncer Bulutay (Turkish Economic Association); Deniz Karaoğlan (Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey (Visiting Scholar)) |
| Abstract: | This study provides causal effect of education on health behaviors in Turkey which is a middle income developing country. Health Survey of the Turkish Statistical Institute for the years 2008, 2010 and 2012 are used. The health behaviors considered are smoking, alcohol consumption, fruit and vegetable consumption, exercising and one health outcome namely, the body mass index (BMI). We examine the causal effect of education on these health behaviors and the BMI Instrumental variable approach is used in order to address the endogeneity of education to health behaviors. Educational expansion of the early 1960s is used as the source of exogenous variation in years of schooling. Our main findings are as follows. Education does not significantly affect the probability of smoking or exercising. The higher the education level the higher the probability of alcohol consumption and the probability of fruit and vegetable consumption. Higher levels of education lead to higher BMI levels. This study provides a baseline for further research on the various aspects of health behaviors in Turkey. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tek:wpaper:2016/2&r=edu |
| By: | C. Kirabo Jackson; Alexey Makarin |
| Abstract: | We analyze an experiment in which middle-school math teachers were randomly given access to “off-the-shelf” lessons designed to develop students’ deep understanding. These lessons were provided online, but are designed to be taught by teachers in a traditional classroom setting. Teaching involves multiple complementary tasks, but we model two: imparting knowledge and developing understanding. In our model, lessons designed to develop understanding substitute for teacher effort on this task so that teachers who may only excel at imparting knowledge can be effective overall – simplifying the job of teaching. Providing teachers with online access to the lessons with supports to promote their use increased students’ math achievement by about 0.08 of a standard deviation. These effects appear to be mediated by the lessons promoting deep understanding, and teachers therefore being able to provide more individualized attention. Benefits were much larger for weaker teachers, suggesting that weaker teachers compensated for skill deficiencies by substituting the lessons for their own efforts. The intervention is highly scalable and is more cost effective than most policies aimed at improving teacher quality. |
| JEL: | I20 J0 J48 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22398&r=edu |
| By: | Anne Boring (OFCE) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a unique database from a French university to analyze gender biases in student evaluations of teachers (SETs). The results of generalized ordered logit regressions and fixed-effects models suggest that male teachers tend to receive higher SET scores because of students' gender biases. Male students in particular express a strong bias in their favor: male students are approximately 30% more likely to give an excellent overall satisfaction score to male teachers compared to female teachers. The different teaching dimensions that students value in men and women tend to correspond to gender stereotypes. The teaching dimensions for which students perceive a comparative advantage for women (such as course preparation and organization) tend to be more time-consuming for the teacher, compared to the teaching dimensions that students value more in men (such as class leadership skills). Men are perceived as being more knowledgeable (male gender stereotype) and obtain higher SET scores than women, but students appear to learn as much from women as from men, suggesting that female teachers are as knowledgeable as men. Finally, I find that if women increased students' continuous assessment grades by 7.5% compared to the grades given by their male colleagues, they could obtain similar overall satisfaction scores as men. Yet, women do not act on this incentive (men and women give similar continuous assessment grades), suggesting that female teachers are unaware of students' gender biases. These biases have strong negative consequences for female academics, who may spend more time on teaching to try to obtain high SET scores, reducing time available for research. The results suggest that better teaching is not necessarily measured by SETs. |
| Keywords: | Incentives; Teaching effectiveness; Student evaluations of teaching; Gender biases and stereotypes |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/1seuirq4ak9b9bouu1j29ebui7&r=edu |
| By: | Darolia, Rajeev (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) |
| Abstract: | There is ample concern that college students are making ill-informed student loan decisions with potentially negative consequences to themselves and the broader economy. This paper reports the results of a randomized field experiment in which college students are provided salient information about their borrowing choices. The setting is a large flagship public university in the Midwest, and the sample includes all nongraduating students who previously borrowed student loan money (~10,000 students). Half of the students received individually tailored letters with simplified information about future monthly payments, cumulative borrowing, and the typical borrowing of peers; the other half is the control group that received no additional information. There are at most modest effects of the letter overall, which suggests that information alone is not sufficient to drive systematically different borrowing choices among students. However, some key student subgroups changed their borrowing in response to the letter, particularly those with low GPAs. There is also evidence of intended (more contact with financial aid professionals) and unintended (lower Pell Grant receipt) consequences of the letter. |
| Keywords: | Student Loans; Debt Letter; Financial Literacy; Payment Cards Center; |
| JEL: | D83 H52 I22 I28 |
| Date: | 2016–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:16-18&r=edu |
| By: | Yishen Liu; Yao Pan |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the net impact of birth control policy in China on educational attainment of the partially excluded ethnic minorities. Exploring county-level variation in the value of fines levied for unsanctioned births, we show that more stringent enforcement of the birth control policy reduces educational attainment of urban ethnic minorities. Suggestive evidence shows this negative impact is likely to reflect the spillover effect from improved quality of ethnic majority children. For rural ethnic minorities, however, the level of enforcement of the birth control policy does not significantly affect education. The documented negative impact on education of urban ethnic minorities, combined with the improved quality found for both rural and urban ethnic majorities, implies that the birth control policy substantially contributes to the rising educational gap between ethnic minorities and majorities in China. |
| Keywords: | birth control, education, minority, quantity.quality tradeoff, China |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2016-077&r=edu |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Office of Cofinancing Operations, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Office of Cofinancing Operations, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | The Annual Report of the Japan Scholarship Program (JSP) covers the period January–? December and presents the JSP’s activities, achievements, and success stories from students and alumni. The JSP was established in ??? to give qualified citizens of developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank an opportunity to take postgraduate studies in economics, business and management, science and technology, and other development-related fields at ? educational institutions in countries in Asia and the Pacific. Between ??? and , Japan contributed around ? ?? million to the JSP. A total of ?, ?? scholarships have been awarded to recipients from ?? member countries, with , ?? of them being women. Of the total, ,??? scholars have already completed their courses. An average of ? scholarships are awarded each year. |
| Keywords: | education; scholarship; postgraduate studies; poverty reduction; economics; business and management studies; science and technology |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt167903&r=edu |
| By: | Domina, Thurston; McEachin, Andrew; Hanselman, Paul; Agarwal, Priyanka; Hwang, NaYoung; Lewis, Ryan |
| Abstract: | Schools utilize an array of strategies to match curricula and instruction to students' heterogeneous skills. While generations of scholars have debated "tracking" and its consequences, the literature fails to account for diversity of school-level sorting practices. In this paper we draw upon the work of Sorenson (1970) to articulate and develop empirical measures of five distinct dimensions of school cross-classroom tracking systems: (1) the degree of course differentiation, (2) the extent to which sorting practices generate skills-homogeneous classrooms, (3) the rate at which students enroll in advanced courses, (4) the extent to which students move between tracks over time, and (5) the relation between track assignments across subject areas. Analyses of longitudinal administrative data following 24,000 8th graders enrolled in 23 middle schools through the 10th grade indicate that these dimensions of tracking are empirically separable and have divergent effects on student achievement and the production of inequality. |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:1155&r=edu |
| By: | Rodriguez, Jose S.; Leyva, Janneth; Hopkins, Alvaro |
| Abstract: | The aim of the present work is to evaluate the effect of a teacher training program implemented by the Peruvian Ministry of Education called "Acompañamiento Pedagógico" (Pedagogical Accompaniment) on students performance. Using non-experimental impact evaluation techniques, measurements are made exploiting the test results of the Census of Student Assessment of 2013. The results provide evidence of positive and statistically significant impacts. However, the size of these impacts is relatively moderate. Several hypotheses could explain the effect size. These are discussed at the end of the document.. |
| Keywords: | capacitación laboral, teachers tranning, evaluación de impacto, impact evaluation, rendimiento estudiantil, student assessment |
| JEL: | I21 J45 O15 |
| Date: | 2016–05–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72400&r=edu |
| By: | Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio (University of Naples L’Orientale); Lavadera, Giuseppe Lubrano (University of Salerno); Pastore, Francesco (University of Naples II) |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the literature on overeducation by empirically investigating its effects on wages among Ph.D. holders. We analyze data collected in 2009 by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) through a large cross-sectional survey of Ph.D. recipients that allowed us observing their work placement few years after the completion of their studies. We extend previous contributions by providing an analysis based on the identification of genuine overeducation as resulting from the interaction of respondents' assessments that concern the usefulness of their Ph.D. title in order to get and to carry out their current job. The potential endogeneity of self-reported genuine overeducation is corrected by using an instrumental variables approach where the provincial incidence of overeducation among those that share the same educational profile of respondents is used as instrument. Our results suggest that genuine over-education is particularly detrimental for individual wages. It leads to a wage penalty of about between 23% and 25%, more than twice bigger than average, a sizeable gap for the country's compressed wage structure. These results allow us to better understanding the effects of job-education mismatch and provide some useful insights into the evaluation of the career outcomes of doctoral graduates. |
| Keywords: | job-education mismatch, genuine overeducation, overskilling, job satisfaction, wages, Ph.D. holders |
| JEL: | C26 I23 I26 J13 J24 J28 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10051&r=edu |