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on Education |
| By: | Qinyue Luo (ROCKWOOL Foudation Berlin); Huihua Xie (Zhejiang University) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the impact of teachers’ stereotyping of non-local students in terms of both academic performance and noncognitive outcomes using a random assignment of Chinese middle school students to teachers. We find that biased beliefs against non-local students, particularly among Chinese teachers, negatively affect non-local students by decreasing academic performance and increasing behavioral problems, with no significant effects on local students. Mechanism analysis suggests that these negative outcomes result from reduced teacher engagement with non-local parents, weaker classroom integration, and diminished self-confidence among non-local students. The negative effects are especially pronounced for non-local boys while non-local girls show resilience by increasing their efforts. These results highlight the critical role of teachers’ stereotyping in shaping disparities in human capital development between local and non-local students. |
| Keywords: | Teachers’ Stereotypes, Non-Local Students, Test Scores, Mental Stress, BehaviourProblems Index |
| JEL: | I24 J15 J24 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2420 |
| By: | Banerjee, R.; Blunch, N-H; Cassese, D.; Gupta, N. D.; Pin, P. |
| Abstract: | An enduring question in education is whether team-based peer learning methods help improve learning outcomes among students. We randomly assign around 10, 000 middle school students in Karnataka, India, to alternative peer learning treatments in Math and English that vary the intensity of collaboration. Teamwork with co-coaching outperforms simple teamwork and incentive treatments by increasing the test scores by about 0.25 standard deviation, but only in Math. This is both statistically and economically significant for students at the bottom of the ability distribution. We develop theoretical conditions under which teamwork with co-coaching outperforms simple teamwork as a peer-learning method. |
| Keywords: | Cooperative learning methods, jigsaw, peer effects |
| JEL: | I20 I24 C93 |
| Date: | 2024–10–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2463 |
| By: | Zhang, Zheyuan (Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing); Xu, Hui (Beijing Normal University); Liu, Ruilin (Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing); Zhao, Zhong (Renmin University of China) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the impact of the Free Education Policy, a major education reform implemented in rural China in 2006, as a natural experiment on the intergenerational transmission of cognitive skills. The identification strategy relies on a difference-in-differences approach and exploits the fact that the reform was implemented gradually at different times across different provinces. By utilizing nationally representative data from the China Family Panel Studies, we find that an additional semester of exposure to the Free Education Policy reduces the intergenerational transmission of parent and child cognitive scores by an approximately 1% standard deviation in rural China, indicating a reduction of 3.5% in intergenerational cognitive persistence. The improvement in cognitive mobility across generations might be attributed to enhanced school attainment, the relaxation of budget constraints, and increased social contact for children whose parents are less advantaged in terms of cognitive skills. |
| Keywords: | free education policy, intergenerational transmission, cognitive skills |
| JEL: | H52 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17314 |
| By: | Panle Jia Barwick; Siyu Chen; Chao Fu; Teng Li |
| Abstract: | Concerns over the excessive use of mobile phones, especially among youths and young adults, are growing. Leveraging administrative student data from a Chinese university merged with mobile phone records, random roommate assignments, and a policy shock that affects peers’ peers, we present, to our knowledge, the first estimates of both behavioral spillover and contextual peer effects, and the first estimates of medium-term impacts of mobile app usage on academic achievement, physical health, and labor market outcomes. App usage is contagious: a one s.d. increase in roommates’ in-college app usage raises own app usage by 4.4% on average, with substantial heterogeneity across students. App usage is detrimental to both academic performance and labor market outcomes. A one s.d. increase in own app usage reduces GPAs by 36.2% of a within-cohort-major s.d. and lowers wages by 2.3%. Roommates’ app usage exerts both direct effects (e.g., noise and disruptions) and indirect effects (via behavioral spillovers) on GPA and wage, resulting in a total negative impact of over half the size of the own usage effect. Extending China’s minors’ game restriction policy of 3 hours per week to college students would boost their initial wages by 0.7%. Using high-frequency GPS data, we identify one underlying mechanism: high app usage crowds out time in study halls and increases absences from and late arrivals at lectures. |
| JEL: | D12 D90 E24 I23 L82 L86 Z13 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33054 |
| By: | Athira Vinod (University of Nottinghami) |
| Abstract: | Under the Right to Education Act (2009), the Indian government mandated private schools to reserve 25% of primary school places for socioeconomically disadvantaged children. This study xamines the policy’s spillover effect on private schooling costs. Using household survey data and a difference-in-differences approach, it compares private school fees for disadvantaged children across two age cohorts and survey rounds. Findings show fees decreased by ₹223–₹844 (0.05–0.25 SD) post-policy. A 5% enrolment increase led to a fee reduction of ₹240–₹470 (0.05–0.14SD). The effects are driven by an increased supply of low-fee private schools facilitating cheaper private education for disadvantaged children. |
| Keywords: | Education, Right to Informaion Act |
| Date: | 2024–09–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nca:ncaerw:176 |