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on Education |
| By: | Bruna Campisano; Giuseppe Migali; Steve Bradley |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effects of Covid-19 on spatial variations in gender differences in educational attainment in English secondary schools. Spatial variations in various measures of Covid-19 incidence rates at the Travel-to-Work-Areas are explored. Since all parts of the UK were affected by Covid-19, spatial variations in Covid-19 are regarded as variations in the ’dose’ of the virus - the higher the dose the greater the impact. Employing a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) framework with fixed effects for year, school and TTWA, and controlling for selection effects, we estimate the causal effect on the gender gap in high school test scores at age 16. We find that, when comparing schools in TTWAs in the treatment to their counterparts in the control group, there is a statistically significant and positive effect on the educational gender gap in favor of females of between 0.3 and 0.6 points. Girls at the upper end of the attainment distribution achieved much better scores. Robustness checks show that school composition and area effects are important. We explore the implications for education policy. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19, Educational Gender Gap, School Performance |
| JEL: | I2 I24 I19 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:415678839 |
| By: | Serena Canaan (Simon Fraser University) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how the type of education pursued at an early age affects family formation. I focus on a French reform that delayed the age of which students were tracked into either general or vocational education from age 11 to age 13. For the most part, tracking was replaced with grouping students into classrooms based on ability, but within a common general education curriculum. Using a regression discontinuity design, I show that the reform increased the likelihood of attaining a technical rather than a vocational degree, especially for individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This indicates that the reform led to an increase in the quality of education. I further find that the reform increased completed fertility for individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds, particularly women. In the marriage market, the reform changed the characteristics of women’s partners without impacting marriage, cohabitation, or divorce rates. Specifically, women were more likely to have partners who were in high-skilled occupations and who were closer to their own ages. Taken together, these findings highlight that delaying early school tracking has significant consequences for family formation. |
| Keywords: | tracking, returns to education, fertility, marriage |
| JEL: | I21 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:24-403 |
| By: | Hamlin, Daniel; Peltier, Corey (University of Oklahoma); Reeder, Stacy |
| Abstract: | Rigorous evaluations have consistently demonstrated that high impact tutoring is one of the most effective ways to accelerate student learning. However, few studies compare the effects of high impact tutoring to alternative interventions, and even less scholarship tests for differences within tutoring models based on tutoring group size. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a university-led high impact tutoring model on ninth-grade mathematics achievement at seven high schools. A randomized controlled trial design was used for three separate cohorts of ninth-grade students. In the pooled sample, students (n = 524) in the treatment group participated in high impact tutoring (i.e., student-tutor groups of 2:1 or 3:1) three times a week for an entire academic year. In the control group, students (n = 438) attended a remediation mathematics course. The treatment group showed a difference of approximately a half-year of additional learning (0.14 SD) compared to the control group although both groups achieved academic growth that considerably exceeded expected growth trajectories for ninth-grade students. Results also showed that 2:1 student-tutor groups did not outperform 3:1 student-tutor groups, suggesting that 3:1 student-tutor ratios can be used to expand high impact tutoring with no detrimental effects on academic performance. Considering the well-documented logistical and financial barriers to high impact tutoring, our work indicates that remedial courses may also be a cost-effective alternative in cases when resources for high impact tutoring are limited. |
| Date: | 2024–08–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:edarxi:kqdfp |
| By: | Xhiselda Demaj (Department of Economics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) |
| Abstract: | School-based policies may influence children's non-cognitive development, a strong predictor of future life outcomes. This article investigates the short-run impact of the Universal Infant Free School Meal Policy on children's non-cognitive skills relying on a sample of children aged five from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS). To identify the causal effect of the policy, we use a difference-in-difference strategy by exploiting exogenous variations in the timing and location of switching from a means-tested to a universal provision of free school lunches. Our results show that exposure to universal free school lunches improves children's Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) by 0.21 standard deviation points. The effect seems to be driven by pupils living in medium-income households, for whom the policy change seems more relevant. A potential explanatory mechanism has to do with the reduction in social stigma associated with the transition from means-tested to universally provided school lunches. |
| Keywords: | non-cognitive development, school meals, universalism |
| JEL: | H42 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2024:11 |
| By: | Black, Ines (Duke University); Figueiredo, Ana (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We show that occupation mobility creates the illusion of cyclical hiring wages. Using administrative data, we find that wages of new hires who remain in the same occupation are no more cyclical than those of existing workers, whereas wages of occupation switchers are highly cyclical. We uncover higher wage cyclicality also among workers who switch occupations within the same firm. Moreover, wage cyclicality increases, the more different current and previous occupations' required skills. Our results suggest that the widely documented cyclicality of entry wages reflects composition effects due to changes in match quality in worker's occupation, rather than wage flexibility. |
| Keywords: | wage cyclicality, occupational mobility, reallocation, match quality |
| JEL: | J31 J61 E24 E32 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17189 |
| By: | Frohnweiler, Sarah; Adongo, Charles A.; Beber, Bernd; Lakemann, Tabea; Priebe, Jan; Lay, Jann |
| Abstract: | We use a randomized controlled trial to examine the short- and mid-term impacts of a best-practice training program on (non-)employment outcomes in Ghana. Overall the program did not affect core labor market outcomes at the extensive (employment) and intensive (hours of work, income) margin, but it (i) induced occupational sorting, with treated individuals more likely to work in their field of specialization, (ii) partially improved job quality (written contracts, medical benefits), and (iii) led to better outcomes on a variety of non-labor market indicators (mental health, delayed marriages, access to finance). We also explore policy stakeholders' expectations and perceptions of program success. We find that stakeholders (i) have overly optimistic prior beliefs about the program's impact on core outcomes and (ii) do not update their beliefs as we would expect from Bayes' rule when presented with information about the program's circumscribed effectiveness. We speculate that this result suggests an obstacle for adaptive programming in development cooperation and could help explain the persistence of some suboptimal labor market interventions. |
| Abstract: | Anhand einer randomisierten kontrollierten Studie untersuchen wir die kurz- und mittelfristigen Auswirkungen eines Best-Practice-Ausbildungsprogramms auf Beschäftigung und Lebensbedingungen in Ghana. Insgesamt hatte das Programm keine Auswirkungen auf die zentralen Beschäftigungsindikatoren, weder extensiv (Beschäftigung) noch intensiv (Arbeitsstunden, Einkommen). Allerdings führte das Programm (i) zu einer Verschiebung der Beschäftigung hin zu Berufen, in denen die Ausbildung absolviert wurd, (ii) einer teilweisen Verbesserung der Arbeitsplatzqualität (schriftliche Verträge, medizinische Versoorgung) und (iii) einer Verbesserung einer Reihe von Indikatoren der Lebensqualität (psychische Gesundheit, spätere Eheschließungen, Zugang zu Finanzen). Darüber hinaus untersuchen wir die Erwartungen und Wahrnehmungen der politischen Akteure in Bezug auf den Erfolg des Programms. Wir stellen fest, dass die Akteure (i) a priori zu optimistische Vorstellungen über die Auswirkungen des Programms auf die wichtigsten Indikatoren haben und (ii) ihre Vorstellungen nicht gemäß der Bayes'schen-Regel aktualisieren, wenn sie Informationen über die begrenzte Wirksamkeit des Programms erhalten. Diese Ergebnisse weisen auf ein potenzielles Hindernis für eine adaptive Programmgestaltung in der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit hin und könnten das Fortbestehen einiger suboptimaler Arbeitsmarktinterventionen erklären. |
| Keywords: | Vocational training, labor markets, skills, youth, women, impact evaluation, Ghana |
| JEL: | C93 I21 J08 J24 J28 O12 O15 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:302181 |