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on Education |
| By: | Kanninen, Ohto; Kortelainen, Mika; Tervonen, Lassi |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of selective schools on students’ educational and labor market outcomes. We utilize regression discontinuity design based on the centralized admission system of upper secondary schools in Finland to obtain quasi-random variation for selective high school offers and attendance. By using nationwide administrative data, we first show that the selective schools do not improve high school exit exam scores, even though there is a large jump in peer quality for students attending selective schools. Despite lacking short-term effects, we find that selective schools increase university enrollment and graduation in the long run. Yet, we do not observe positive effects on income. Importantly, our results suggest that selective high schools or better peer groups do not improve students’ human capital or skills, but affect their preferences on educational choices after the secondary school. |
| Keywords: | Labour markets and education, I24, I26, J24, fi=Koulutus|sv=Utbildning|en=Education|, fi=Työmarkkinat|sv=Arbetsmarknad|en=Labour markets|, |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:161&r=edu |
| By: | Balázs Égert; Christine de la Maisonneuve; David Turner |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the link between educational policies and i) student performance and ii) macroeconomic measures of productivity. The analysis has two stages. First, using the 2015 and 2018 PISA databases, it quantifies the relationship between student test scores and the characteristics of students taking the tests, their school environment and national educational systems. Second, assuming that these relationships reflect the effect of different characteristics/policies on student test performance, the second stage converts the latter into an estimated effect on macroeconomic measures of productivity using a new measure of human capital as an intermediary variable. This new measure of human capital, devised in previous OECD work, combines student test scores and mean years of schooling with estimated elasticities that suggest the former is more important. The analysis shows a positive association between spending on education and student test scores, but only for levels of student expenditure below the OECD median, suggesting scope for currently low-spending countries to raise student performance with potential gains to long-run productivity. Boosting participation in early childhood education as well as improving teacher quality is found to generate large aggregate productivity gains. There are significant, but smaller, macroeconomic gains for many countries from limiting grade repetition and ability grouping across all subjects as well as increasing the accountability of schools. Finally, the results provide evidence for income inequality having a major influence on productivity through a human capital channel. |
| Keywords: | education policies, human capital, OECD, PISA, productivity, student test scores |
| JEL: | E24 I20 I25 I26 I28 |
| Date: | 2023–12–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1781-en&r=edu |
| By: | Ahmet Alkan; Sinan Sarpça; Sinan Sarpca |
| Abstract: | Recent studies of US elite exam schools have yielded the startling conclusion that such schools improve neither educational achievement nor longer-term educational outcomes. Is the same true for exam schools elsewhere? The system in Turkey is ideal for investigating this question. There, students are placed in exam schools based on a high-stakes national examination. Utilizing an exceptional database for Turkey not heretofore available, we conduct regression discontinuity analysis exploiting score discontinuities between more than 200 exam schools. We find that attending more selective exam schools yields large achievement gains and improved university placements for high achieving students. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, value added, test scores, selective schools, student outcomes |
| JEL: | I21 O15 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10794&r=edu |
| By: | Esme Kadzamira (Centre for Educational Research and Training, University of Malawi); Symon Winiko (University of Malawi); Tsirizani M. Kaombe (Department of Mathematical Sciences, School of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Malawi); Jack Rossiter (Center for Global Development) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effectiveness of Malawi's selective secondary schools in influencing student learning outcomes. Using data from Malawi’s National Examination Board, we employ value-added and regression discontinuity methods to gauge the impact of school types on high-stakes exam results. Findings reveal that National schools enhance student learning progress by an average of 0.57 standard deviations more than day schools, within two years. Regression discontinuity results corroborate National schools’ positive impact, with National school attendance yielding a 0.40 standard deviation increase in student exam outcomes. Importantly, students from districts with relatively low-performing primary schools benefit substantially from attending National schools, especially those with low-quality secondary education alternatives. Compared to global evidence, our study highlights the importance of evaluating the broader educational context when analysing school tracking effects on student outcomes. Our findings are relevant to policy discussions around secondary school expansion, performance reporting, and student selection in Malawi. |
| Date: | 2023–12–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:673&r=edu |
| By: | Ann-Marie Sommerfeld |
| Abstract: | Exploiting the age-at-enrollment policies in 16 German states as exogenous source of variation, I examine whether the schooling of the oldest child in a migrant household affects parents’ integration. My analysis links administrative records on primary school enrollment cutoff dates with micro data from the German Socioeconomic Panel (GSOEP). Using a regression discontinuity design around the school enrollment cutoff and an instrumental variable approach I show that children’s schooling improves the integration of parents along several dimensions, such as labor market outcomes, financial worries, and German language skills. Labor market outcomes are most positively affected for mothers. Additional analysis of underlying mechanisms suggests that results are driven by gains in disposable time and exposure to the German language and culture. |
| Keywords: | international migration, assimilation, integration, education, schooling, family, regression discontinuity, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | F22 I24 I26 J16 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1198&r=edu |
| By: | Goller, Daniel (University of Bern); Wolter, Stefan C. (University of Bern) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the causal influence a positive reputation shock for a particular occupation may have on career choice. The measure of the positive reputation shock is the unpredictable event that a young adult from one's own country wins a (gold) medal in a particular occupation at the World Skills - the world championship of vocational skills. In an occupation with a gold medal won, searches for apprenticeship vacancies increase significantly by around 7 percent compared to occupations that do not win a competition. In occupations where only a silver or bronze medal is awarded, the effect is also positive and statistically significant, but less pronounced. More importantly, the increase in searches for apprenticeship vacancies in the current year has also led to around 2.5 percent more contracts being signed in the winning occupation, and there are indications that these apprenticeships have a better match between employers and employees (trainees). |
| Keywords: | role models, reputation shock, career choice, labor supply, apprenticeship |
| JEL: | I21 J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16607&r=edu |
| By: | Delaney, Judith M. (University of Bath); Devereux, Paul J. (University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | Much research shows that students take account of their perceived comparative advantage in mathematics relative to verbal skills when choosing college majors and career tracks. There is also evidence for an important role for comparative advantage in explaining the gender gap in college STEM major choice. For these reasons, it is important to understand why student perceptions of comparative advantage may differ from true comparative advantage as determined by actual abilities. One plausible pathway is through teachers. We study gender differences in teacher evaluations of student comparative advantage relative to comparative advantage as measured by test scores. We show that findings are very sensitive to the methods used; commonly used methods are not equivalent and can give different results as they target different estimands. Using two recent UK cohort surveys, we show that these conceptual issues matter in practice when we evaluate whether teachers are likely to over-estimate female comparative advantage in English relative to mathematics. Our preferred estimates provide no evidence that teachers exaggerate the female advantage in English relative to mathematics and generally suggest the opposite. We conclude that differences in teacher judgement by gender do not provide another reason for the gender gap in STEM. |
| Keywords: | teacher bias, gender gaps, STEM, comparative advantage, math and English skills |
| JEL: | J16 I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16635&r=edu |
| By: | Gabriela Smarrelli (Center for Global Development) |
| Abstract: | Exposure to school violence has been proven to be detrimental to human capital formation, but there is limited rigorous evidence about how to tackle this pervasive issue. This paper examines the impacts of a large-scale government intervention that aimed to improve school leaders’ skills to manage school violence in Peru. I exploit the eligibility rules used to select beneficiary schools and use a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to estimate the short-term impacts of the intervention on violence and education-related outcomes. The findings show that the likelihood of reporting violence increased by 15 percentage points and that the number of reports of violence rose among eligible schools. Combining unique administrative and primary data, I provide suggestive evidence that the documented rise in reports of violence is primarily due to shifts in reporting rather than a greater incidence of school violence. Upon exploring the short-term impacts on education-related outcomes, I find the intervention reduced students’ likelihood of switching schools by two percentage points. These findings add to our understanding of the benefits of investing in school staff skills for safer learning environments. |
| Keywords: | economics of education, school management of violence, school mobility, school dropout, test scores |
| JEL: | I20 I29 H75 |
| Date: | 2023–11–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:667&r=edu |