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on Education |
| By: | Jo Blanden (Department of Economics, University of Surrey); Oliver Cassagneau-Francis (UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities); Lindsey Macmillan (UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities); Gill Wyness (UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities) |
| Abstract: | Inequality in elite college attendance is a key driver of intergenerational mobility. This paper shifts the focus upstream to examine how elite high school attendance - specifically, enrollment in UK private, fee-paying schools - shapes university destin- ations across the academic ability distribution. Using linked administrative data, we show that the main advantage conferred by private schools is not that their high- achieving students are more likely to access elite degree courses, but rather that their lower-achieving students are more likely to `overmatch' by attending more selective degree courses than might be expected given their grades. In particular, we show that lower attaining pupils from fee-paying high schools enrol in university courses around 15 percentiles higher ranked than similarly qualified state school students. The greater propensity of private school students to overmatch is driven largely by differences in application behavior, with even the weakest private school students aiming higher than their higher achieving state school peers. |
| Keywords: | higher education, educational economics, college choice, mismatch, private schools |
| JEL: | I22 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucl:cepeow:25-07 |
| By: | Klein, Thilo; McNamara, Sarah |
| Abstract: | Educational tracking-separating students into tracks or schools by ability-is commonplace, but access and preferences for top programs often depend on socioeconomic status (SES), reinforcing inequality. We study shadow education in the context of an early-tracking system, exploiting score cut-offs using a pseudo-regression discontinuity design to isolate the causal effect on parental investments. We find that assignment to the highest track disproportionately increases private tutoring among families in the lowest tercile of SES. This suggests tracking activates a behavioral response among disadvantaged households, which may amplify between-track achievement gaps. |
| Keywords: | education, school choice, tracking, shadow education, private tutoring, student achievement, inequality of opportunity |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I28 E47 C26 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:319893 |
| By: | Edmark, Karin (Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact on students’ educational and labour market trajectories of local supply variations in fields of upper secondary education in Sweden. It takes a broad approach and studies the overall, reduced form, effects on several short-, medium- and long-term outcomes. The results highlight the multidimensional impact of educational supply; expanding supply of one track increases its admission rates, but also leads to a redistribution of students across programs. Increased supply is furthermore associated with decreasing average school peer ability, but also with smaller class sizes, and a higher likelihood of getting into one’s top ranked program. There is no strong evidence of any long-term effects on the labour market outcomes of local youth – a finding that may reflect the multifaceted short-run impacts. |
| Keywords: | supply of education; upper secondary school; earnings effects of schooling and field of education |
| JEL: | I21 I26 |
| Date: | 2025–07–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2025_013 |
| By: | Ann Mantil; John Papay; Preeya P. Mbekeani; Richard J. Murnane |
| Abstract: | Preparing students for science, technology, and engineering careers is an urgent state policy challenge. We examine the design and roll-out of a science testing requirement for high-school graduation in Massachusetts. While science test performance has improved over time for all demographic subgroups, we observe rising inequality in failure rates and retest success. English learners, almost 8% of all test-takers, account for 53% of students who never pass. We find large differences by family income, even conditional on previous test scores, that raise equity implications. Using a regression-discontinuity design, we show that barely passing the exam increases high-school graduation and college outcomes of students near the score threshold, particularly for females and students from higher-income families. |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34023 |
| By: | Eric A. Hanushek; Le Kang; Xueying Li; Lei Zhang |
| Abstract: | The changing pattern of quality in China’s rural schools across time and province is extracted from the differential labor market earnings of rural migrant workers. Variations in rates of return to years of schooling across migrant workers working in the same urban labor market but having different sites of basic education provide for direct estimation of provincial school quality. Corroborating this approach, these school quality estimates prove to be highly correlated with provincial cognitive skill test scores for the same demographic group. Returns to quality increase with economic development level of destination cities. Importantly, quality appears higher and provincial variation appears lower for younger cohorts, indicating at least partial effectiveness of more recent policies aimed at improving rural school quality across provinces. Surprisingly, however, provincial variations in quality are uncorrelated with teacher-student ratio or per student spending. |
| JEL: | H40 I26 J69 O15 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34005 |
| By: | Beuermann, Diether; Ramos Bonilla, Andrea; Stampini, Marco |
| Abstract: | Covering the full population of applicants to the Jamaican Conditional Cash Transfer Program (PATH), we explore whether receiving PATH during childhood causally affects school progression and academic performance at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. To uncover causal associations, we exploit exogenous variation arising from the PATH eligibility criteria within a regression discontinuity design. We find that for both, boys and girls, PATH significantly increases the likelihood of completing primary and secondary school. Furthermore, among boys, PATH increased the likelihood of pursuing tertiary studies. However, conditional on primary school completion, PATH had no effects on academic performance at any educational level. |
| JEL: | H52 H75 I21 I26 I28 I38 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14174 |
| By: | Pugatch, Todd; Schroeder, Elizabeth |
| Abstract: | Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have become an essential tool for economists. The credibility revolution in empirical economics emphasizes research designs that identify casual effects, and random assignment of treatment is seen as the gold standard. Implementation can, however, be a challenge in many applications. The field of economic education is in a unique position to learn from RCTs, given the ability to test interventions in the classroom or at educational institutions. We discuss what is needed to run an RCT effectively in an educational setting, drawing from the experimental literature on topics such as student success in higher education and diversity in undergraduate economics. We additionally outline quasi-experimental approaches that can be used when treatment cannot be randomized. |
| Keywords: | randomized controlled trial, economics of education, higher education |
| JEL: | I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1633 |