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on Education |
| By: | Lopes, João; Martins, Pedro S.; Oliveira, Célia; Ferreira, João; Oliveira, João Tiago; Crato, Nuno |
| Abstract: | Many children in primary grades show difficulties with reading fluency, hardly reading text or doing it effortfully and fruitlessly, making intervention programs for struggling readers a priority for researchers and schools. This paper analyzes the results of a reading intervention program for 182 second grade struggling readers from public schools. Students received a multi-component program, including repeated readings, word recognition, morphological analysis, text interpretation, and writing skills. Participants received about fifty 45-minute intervention sessions over the school year. Using a difference-in-differences, quasi-experimental within-group longitudinal design (three-point measurements), we found that the intervention group progressed significantly faster than a classmate control group in all reading outcomes (speed, accuracy, and expressiveness). By the end of the school year, differences between the intervention and control groups in accuracy and expressiveness become small but are still large in reading speed. |
| Keywords: | struggling readers, intervention program, reading speed, accuracy, expressiveness, difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | I21 I26 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1394&r=edu |
| By: | David N. Figlio; Cassandra Hart; Krzysztof Karbownik |
| Abstract: | Using a rich dataset that merges student-level school records with birth records, and leveraging three alternative identification strategies, we explore how increase in access to charter schools in twelve districts in Florida affects students remaining in traditional public schools (TPS). We consistently find that competition stemming from the opening of new charter schools improves reading—but not math—performance and it also decreases absenteeism of students who remain in the TPS. Results are modest in magnitude. |
| JEL: | H75 I21 I22 I28 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32120&r=edu |
| By: | Barbara Boelmann (University of Cologne, Department of Economics and ECONtribute: Markets Public Policy, SSC, Universitätsstraße 22, 50937 Cologne, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that the local availability of universities acted as a catalyst in the catch-up of women in higher education that has been documented for developed countries in the latter half of the 20th century. It uses the foundation of new univer- sities in the 1960s and 1970s in West German regions which previously did not have a university as a case study to understand how women’s mobility and education decisions interact. I first document women’s low regional mobility in post-war West Germany along with their low educational attainment. Second, I exploit that the university expansion exogenously brought universities to women’s doorsteps in a difference-in- differences (DiD) strategy. Comparing regions which experienced a university opening within 20 km to those where no university was opened, I show that women benefited more than men from a close-by university opening, closing the local gender gap in university education by about 72%. Third, I provide evidence that local universities partly increased university education through reduced costs, while part of the effect is due to higher expected returns, highlighting an important second channel through which universities promote education to local youths. |
| Keywords: | college gender gap, geographic mobility, university expansion |
| JEL: | I23 I24 I28 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:280&r=edu |
| By: | Xavier Ramos (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); Marcela Gomez-Ruiz (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); María Cervini-Plá (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of a change in the gender composition of the pool of candidates on the academic performance of women in an entrance exam. We use data from a natural experiment that altered the gender composition of the candidates for a nation-wide admission exam to a coding educational program. Our identification strategy exploits the fact that both men and women were accepted for the admission exam in all years except for 2019, when only women were allowed to take it. Our results reveal that in the absence of men, women exhibit enhanced performance, particularly in subjects where men do traditionally better, such as mathematics and logical reasoning. Conversely, we observe no significant effects in verbal tasks, where men do not typically outperform. The improvement in performance stems from both increased attempts at questions and a higher rate of correct answers. Women improve their academic performance by exerting greater effort when men are not present. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the stereotype threat is deactivated in the absence of men, highlighting the nuanced impact of gender composition on women's performance in high-stakes exams. |
| Keywords: | Gender, performance, effort, stereotype threat, competition |
| JEL: | I20 I24 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2024-665&r=edu |
| By: | Ariel Kalil; Susan Mayer; Philip Oreopoulos; Rohen Shah |
| Abstract: | Programs that engage young children in movement and song to help them learn are popular but experimental evidence on their impact is sparse. We use an RCT to evaluate the effectiveness of Big Word Club (BWC), a classroom program that uses music and dance videos for 3-5 minutes per day to increase vocabulary. We conducted a field experiment with 818 preschool and kindergarten students in 47 schools in three U.S. states. We find that treated students scored higher on a test of words targeted by the program (0.30 SD) after four months of use and this effect persisted for two months. |
| JEL: | D91 I20 J10 O15 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32132&r=edu |