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on Education |
| By: | Rowland, Neil (Queen's University Belfast); Jahanshahi, Babak (Queen's University Belfast); McVicar, Duncan (Queen's University Belfast); Miller, Corina (Queen's University Belfast) |
| Abstract: | Exclusion is a disciplinary practice used by headteachers which removes misbehaving pupils from the classroom or from the school, either temporarily or permanently. Its growing use has led to increased concern about potential negative effects on excluded pupils, including on their educational achievement. This paper estimates the effect of being excluded on subject test scores and teacher assessment outcomes using detailed administrative data on an entire cohort of pupils in the English state school system. To mitigate selection bias, we use a novel empirical approach for this literature which compares excluded pupils with pupils who experienced exclusion after outcomes were measured but not before. We find that excluded pupils perform worse in subsequent tests and teacher assessments, with 0.03-0.07 standard deviation lower standardised test scores and 2.5-3.6 percentage point higher probability of not reaching the expected level in teacher assessments. We assess the extent to which these estimated associations might reflect a negative causal impact of exclusion. |
| Keywords: | administrative data, educational achievement, school exclusion |
| JEL: | I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18080 |
| By: | Machin, Stephen; McNally, Sandra; Terrier, Camille; Ventura, Guglielmo |
| Abstract: | Vocational education delivery is widely debated, with ongoing efforts to improve its effectiveness. In 2010, England introduced University Technical Colleges (UTCs), hybrid institutions combining general and vocational education. Using an instrumental variable approach, this paper examines the impact of UTC attendance on academic and vocational achievement, university enrolment, and labour market outcomes. For students entering UTCs at the unconventional age 14, enrolment significantly lowers academic achievement at age 16. However, for those entering at the conventional age 16, UTCs enhance vocational achievement, boost enrolment in STEM degrees, and improve labour market outcomes. The findings highlight the risks of early specialisation and the benefits of aligning education with students' interests at a more suitable stage. |
| Keywords: | technical education; school value-added; University Technical College |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2025–07–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:128193 |
| By: | Contractor, Zara (Middlebury College); Reyes, Germán (Middlebury College) |
| Abstract: | Generative AI is transforming higher education, yet systematic evidence on student adoption remains limited. Using novel survey data from a selective U.S. college, we document over 80 percent of students using AI academically within two years of ChatGPT's release. Adoption varies across disciplines, demographics, and achievement levels, highlighting AI's potential to reshape educational inequalities. Students predominantly use AI for augmenting learning (e.g., explanations, feedback), but also to automate tasks (e.g., essay generation). Positive perceptions of AI's educational benefits strongly predict adoption. Institutional policies can influence usage patterns but risk creating unintended disparate impacts across student groups due to uneven compliance. |
| Keywords: | technology adoption, higher education, Generative AI, ChatGPT, student learning |
| JEL: | I23 O33 I21 J24 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18055 |
| By: | Dworsky, Leonie; Pipke, David; Tschank, Juliet |
| Abstract: | We evaluate Raise-Up, a pilot in two Turin-area vocational schools that integrated project-based learning on digitization and the green transition into the regular curriculum. Using a difference-indifferences design on three survey waves, we find no positive effects on any pre-registered outcomes, including aspirations, motivation, competencies, preferences, and socio-emotional engagement. The only significant effect is negative: treated students report lower school enjoyment (-0.39σ), plausibly from higher workload. Impacts are more adverse for females, reducing self-confidence and perceived job knowledge, with no socio-economic differences. Post-program feedback aligns with these results, suggesting limited benefits and potential unintended costs. |
| Keywords: | vocational education and training, digital skills, green skills, projectbased learning, dropout prevention, gender differences, field experiment |
| JEL: | I21 J24 Q59 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:324657 |
| By: | Carycruz Bueno (Department of Economics, Wesleyan University) |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic has placed virtual schooling at the forefront of policy concerns, as millions of children shift to virtual schooling. Given this shift, and the corresponding increase in demand for virtual education, it is imperative to explore its impacts on student outcomes. Using panel data, I find that attending a full-time virtual school in Georgia led to a reduction of 0.1 to 0.4 standard deviations in achievement test scores among elementary and middle school students. These results are robust to using multiple approaches to account for selection. I also find a negative relationship between attending a virtual school and graduation. |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wes:weswpa:2025-008 |
| By: | Näslund-Hadley, Emma; Hernández Agramonte, Juan Manuel; Zoido, Pablo |
| Abstract: | In this article, we present the impact evaluation of Irûmi, an educational robot-based intervention aimed at developing second-grade students' computational thinking (CT) skills in Paraguay. Our results indicate that the program had an effect of 0.09 standard deviations on the students' CT skills, focusing on abilities such as abstraction, algorithmic thinking, and evaluation. These findings suggest that with age-appropriate instructional design, very young children could develop CT skills and, that smart devices and electronic toys can contribute to their development at early ages. Our study contributes to the empirical literature because it is applied to a developing country, uses an experimental design, pre-and post-treatment measures, and a large student sample, and explores the programs impact on students and teachers. In addition to the impact on students CT skills, we found that Irûmi had effects on other dimensions for which it may not have been intentionally designed. First, our results suggest that Irûmi raised preferences towards Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) toys and increased gender flexibility toward who can play with them, especially among girls. Second, the program increased children's positive attitudes toward technology. The mechanisms by which the effects of Irûmi occur are several. First, the program increased the probability that the teacher would use educational technology in the classroom, including devices not contemplated by the program. Second, we found that Irûmi developed teachers CT skills, possibly due to the novelty of the curriculum and methodology in the Paraguayan context. |
| JEL: | C93 I20 I24 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14227 |
| By: | Argan, Damiano (LUISS Guido Carli University); Gary-Bobo, Robert J. (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne); Goussé, Marion (CREST) |
| Abstract: | We study how the returns to higher education evolved in France during a period of educational expansion. We study possible changes in the mix of unobservable characteristics of the graduate population. Using a finite mixture model with latent types, we estimate type-specific log-wage, experience accumulation, and education-choice equations. We find that expected real wages declined for higher-education degrees, and that this result is not driven by adverse selection. Returns to education and experience decreased for certain unobserved types but increased for others. The composition of types among Master’s graduates suggests improved student selection over time, despite rising graduate numbers. |
| Keywords: | unobserved heterogeneity, selection, human capital, returns to experience, returns to education, wages, finite-mixture models, latent types |
| JEL: | C33 I21 I24 I26 J22 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18053 |