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on Education |
| By: | Zachary Szlendak; Richard K. Mansfield |
| Abstract: | Most U.S. high school courses separate classrooms into standard and honors tracks. This paper characterizes the efficiency and distributional impact of changing the share of students enrolling in honors classrooms. Using a sorting model where students choose tracks by course but schools influence the share choosing honors, we show that administrators’ optimal choices of honors track size require knowledge of treatment effect functions capturing the impact of alternative honors enrollment shares on different parts of the student predicted performance distribution. Using administrative data from North Carolina public high schools, we estimate these treatment effect functions by predicted performance quintile. Across various specifications, we find that smaller honors tracks (20%-30% of students) yield moderate performance gains for the top quintile (~.05-.07 test score SDs relative to no tracking) that decline monotonically across quintiles toward zero for the bottom quintile. However, expanding the honors share beyond 30-35% generates further (small) achievement increases only for the middle quintile, while reducing top quintile gains and causing substantial bottom quintile losses. Since many courses feature honors shares above 35% or do not track, we predict that enrolling ~25% of students in honors in each high school course would improve all quintiles’ statewide performance. |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31375&r=edu |
| By: | Oliveira, Rodrigo (UNU-WIDER); Santos, Alei (Sao Paulo School of Economics); Severnini, Edson R. (Carnegie Mellon University) |
| Abstract: | Affirmative action in higher education can lead to mismatch, where students admitted through preferential treatment struggle academically due to inadequate preparation before college. Although some students may face initial challenges, by providing access to quality education for talented individuals who might have otherwise been overlooked due to systemic disadvantages, these programs may enable students to bridge the gap and catch up to their peers. In this study, we examine the effects of a quota-type affirmative action policy on gaps in college outcomes between potential beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. Using comprehensive administrative data from a leading Brazilian university which implemented affirmative action in 2005, we find that compared to their non-quota peers, potential quota beneficiaries are less likely to progress smoothly through college and less likely to graduate, a result that is mostly driven by those who would not be admitted to the university otherwise. Notably, however, most of these differences shrink as the students progress through college, suggesting a catch-up effect between those groups. While potential quota students initially face challenges, resulting in a reduced course load in their early college years, they compensate by taking more credits in later years to ultimately graduate. |
| Keywords: | affirmative action, margins of adjustment, Brazilian higher education |
| JEL: | I23 I24 I28 J15 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16239&r=edu |
| By: | Markussen, Simen (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Røed, Knut (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | We use administrative data from Norway to examine recent trends in the association between parents' prime age earnings rank and offspring's educational performance rank by age 15/16. We show that the intergenerational correlation between these two ranks has increased over the past decades, and that offspring from economically disadvantaged families have fallen behind. This has happened despite public policies contributing to leveling the playing field. In particular, we show that the expansion of universal childcare and, more recently, the increased teacher-pupil ratio in compulsory school, have disproportionally benefited lower class offspring. The rising influence of parents' earnings rank can partly be explained by a strengthened intragenerational association between earnings rank and education among parents, as educational achievement has an inheritable component. Yet a considerable unexplained rise in the influence of family background remains, pointing towards an impending decline in intergenerational economic mobility. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational mobility, achievement gaps, parental influence, meritocracy, GPA |
| JEL: | I24 J62 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16223&r=edu |
| By: | Anand, Gautam (Global School Leaders); Atluri, Aishwarya (J-PAL); Crawfurd, Lee (Center for Global Development); Pugatch, Todd (Oregon State University); Sheth, Ketki (University of Tennessee) |
| Abstract: | Improving school quality in low and middle income countries (LMICs) is a global priority. One way to improve quality may be to improve the management skills of school leaders. In this systematic review, we analyze the impact of interventions targeting school leaders' management practices on student learning. We begin by describing the characteristics and responsibilities of school leaders using data from large, multi-country surveys. Second, we review the literature and conduct a meta-analysis of the causal effect of school management interventions on student learning, using 39 estimates from 20 evaluations. We estimate a statistically significant improvement in student learning of 0.04 standard deviations. We show that effect sizes are not related to program scale or intensity. We complement the meta-analysis by identifying common limitations to program effectiveness through a qualitative assessment of the studies included in our review. We find three main factors which mitigate program effectiveness: 1) low take-up; 2) lack of incentives or structure for implementation of recommendations; and 3) the lengthy causal chain linking management practices to student learning. Finally, to assess external validity of our review, we survey practitioners to compare characteristics between evaluated and commonly implemented programs. Our findings suggest that future work should focus on generating evidence on the marginal effect of common design elements in these interventions, including factors that promote school leader engagement and accountability. |
| Keywords: | school management, school principals, head teachers, systematic review, meta-analysis |
| JEL: | I21 I25 I28 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16252&r=edu |
| By: | Rafiq Friperson (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Hessel Oosterbeek (University of Amsterdam); Bas van der Klaauw (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We use Dutch register data to document the understudied phenomenon of teacher segregation. We show that teachers in primary and secondary schools in the four largest cities of the country – Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht – are segregated in terms of their migration and social backgrounds. While segregation by social background is not much higher than what would be expected under random teacher-school assignment, segregation by migration background is substantial even after accounting for randomness. Relating schools’ teacher composition to their student composition, we find in most cases that schools with a high proportion of teachers from a particular background tend to have a high proportion of students from that same background. |
| Date: | 2023–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20230034&r=edu |
| By: | Balázs Égert; Christine de la Maisonneuve; Balazs Egert |
| Abstract: | In addition to the humanitarian suffering and huge immediate economic costs, the war in Ukraine will have long-term consequences, among which are losses in human capital that will impact aggregate productivity for many years. Exploiting a new stock measure of human capital combining the quality and quantity of education and adult skills, this paper suggests that losses in long-run aggregate productivity operating through the human capital channel could be at about 7% if the war lasts two years. These adverse effects come from school closure and the resulting decline in student learning outcomes and losses in workers’ skills, which, without remedial policy action, could persist for decades. |
| Keywords: | human capital, productivity, educational achievement, student test score, adult test score, Ukraine |
| JEL: | E24 I19 I20 I25 I26 I28 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10513&r=edu |
| By: | Alessandro Balestrino; Lisa Grazzini; Annalisa Luporini |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to analyse the role that quantity and quality of education may play in the design of public policies. In our model, education does not generate externalities nor is considered as a merit good, but educated people enjoy a premium on their incomes. Households live in two areas with different socio-economic characteristics. Altruistic parents choose both the amount and the quality of schooling they want for their children. The government is assumed to provide a composite education service which has a quantity as well as a quality dimension, and is financed mainly via taxes on the income of the parents. We investigate the effects on altruistic parents' social welfare of balanced-budget policy reforms aimed at introducing or raising i) school fees, and ii) vouchers meant to compensate the costs of attending high-quality schools. We show that in general school fees improve parents' welfare while vouchers do not. Parents' altruism is not enough to support high levels of quantity and quality of education: it is not necessarily sufficient to induce them to choose full-time education for their children, and is never sufficient for them to support the introduction of the voucher for quality. |
| Keywords: | Education Policy, Redistributive taxation |
| JEL: | H42 H52 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2023_02.rdf&r=edu |
| By: | Anand, Gautam; Atluri, Aishwarya; Crawfurd, Lee; Pugatch, Todd; Sheth, Ketki |
| Abstract: | Improving school quality in low and middle income countries (LMICs) is a global priority. One way to improve quality may be to improve the management skills of school leaders. In this systematic review, we analyze the impact of interventions targeting school leaders' management practices on student learning. We begin by describing the characteristics and responsibilities of school leaders using data from large, multi-country surveys. Second, we review the literature and conduct a metaanalysis of the causal effect of school management interventions on student learning, using 39 estimates from 20 evaluations. We estimate a statistically significant improvement in student learning of 0.04 standard deviations. We show that effect sizes are not related to program scale or intensity. We complement the meta-analysis by identifying common limitations to program effectiveness through a qualitative assessment of the studies included in our review. We find three main factors which mitigate program effectiveness: 1) low take-up; 2) lack of incentives or structure for implementation of recommendations; and 3) the lengthy causal chain linking management practices to student learning. Finally, to assess external validity of our review, we survey practitioners to compare characteristics between evaluated and commonly implemented programs. Our findings suggest that future work should focus on generating evidence on the marginal effect of common design elements in these interventions, including factors that promote school leader engagement and accountability. |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1294&r=edu |
| By: | Morettini, Lucio (National Research Council, Italy); Tani, Massimiliano (University of New South Wales) |
| Abstract: | We study career trajectories of university researchers in Europe, with a particular emphasis on the speed of career progression by gender. Using the panel data collected by the MORE project (Mobility Survey of the Higher Education Sector) - a longitudinal database that gathers survey responses from over 10, 000 university researchers across Europe - we find that women have a lower probability of promotion, but conditional on a career advance, their career development proceeds at a faster pace than that of comparable male researchers. Faster progression among women is positively influenced by the share of female researchers in the academic environment. Higher salaries in sectors outside academia appear to reinforce the positive selection of women preferring to stay in academia. |
| Keywords: | academic careers, career progression, promotion |
| JEL: | J20 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16206&r=edu |
| By: | David J. Deming |
| Abstract: | The U.S. college wage premium doubles over the life cycle, from 27 percent at age 25 to 60 percent at age 55. Using a panel survey of workers followed through age 60, I show that growth in the college wage premium is primarily explained by occupational sorting. Shortly after graduating, workers with college degrees shift into professional, nonroutine occupations with much greater returns to tenure. Nearly 90 percent of life cycle wage growth occurs within rather than between jobs. To understand these patterns, I develop a model of human capital investment where workers differ in learning ability and jobs vary in complexity. Faster learners complete more education and sort into complex jobs with greater returns to investment. College acts as a gateway to professional occupations, which offer more opportunity for wage growth through on-the-job learning. |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31373&r=edu |
| By: | Galindo-Silva, Hector; Tchuente, Guy |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of the Anglophone Conflict in Cameroon on human capital accumulation. Using high-quality individual-level data on test scores and information on conflict-related violent events, a difference-in-differences design is employed to estimate the conflict's causal effects. The results show that an increase in violent events and conflict-related deaths causes a significant decline in test scores in reading and mathematics. The conflict also leads to higher rates of teacher absenteeism and reduced access to electricity in schools. These findings highlight the adverse consequences of conflict-related violence on human capital accumulation, particularly within the Anglophone subsystem. The study emphasizes the disproportionate burden faced by Anglophone pupils due to language-rooted tensions and segregated educational systems. |
| Keywords: | Anglophone Conflict, Cameroon, human capital accumulation, educational outcomes, language-based conflicts |
| JEL: | I25 O15 D74 J24 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1295&r=edu |
| By: | Fleck, Lara (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, ROA / Health, skills and inequality); Somers, Melline (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, ROA / Health, skills and inequality); Stolp, Tom (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, ROA / Education and transition to work); Groot, Wim (RS: GSBE MGSoG, Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, RS: CAPHRI - R2 - Creating Value-Based Health Care, Health Services Research); Van Merode, F; de Vries, Ralph |
| Abstract: | Both the healthcare and education sector suffer from considerable staff shortages. In the healthcare sector, shortages are particularly prominent for nurses, while the education sector experiences significant teacher shortages. In this systematic literature review, we examine the effectiveness of interventions and policies to reduce staff shortages in healthcare and education in high-income countries. We focus our analysis on studies that apply research designs that allow for causal inference to inform policymakers about the effectiveness of interventions. In total, we include 85 studies that meet our inclusion criteria. Out of these studies, 71 studies focus on teachers and 14 on nurses. Interestingly, 72 of the retrieved studies were conducted in the US. The majority of studies examine the impact of financial incentives and a large share of these studies report positive effects on teacher employment. Moreover, different types of interventions that invest in workers’ human capital show predominantly positive effects on employment. Interventions that equip nurses with skills to better cope with the stressors of their profession seem to be particularly effective. The same holds for policies that increase the scope of practice for nurses. Finally, effective school leaders show to be better capable of retaining (high-quality) teachers. |
| JEL: | I10 I20 J22 |
| Date: | 2023–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umaror:2023003&r=edu |