Peer Quality and the Academic Benefits to Attending Better Schools

Abstract

for their helpful comments and suggestions. We also thank seminar participants at Columbia University and the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) meetings for helpful comments and discussions. All errors are our own. The data for the project are proprietary and were provided at no cost to the researchers by education bureau authorities from a large capital city of a densely populated province in China. They agreed to provide the data on condition that we not reveal the name of the province or city. No review is required prior to dissemination of the results. The research conducted in this paper is covered under Texas A&M University IRB # 2015-0208. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

The Short- and Long-Run Effects of Attending the Schools that Parents Prefer

“…Our analysis includes the following studies assessing the test score effects of attending any preferred public (non-charter) secondary school: Abdulkadiroglu et al (2014), Abdulkadiroglu et al (2017), Anderson et al (2016), Ajayi (2015, Cullen et al (2006), Deming (2011), Hastings et al (2009), Hoekstra et al (2018, Jackson (2010), Pop-Eleches and Urquiola (2013). In addition, we also consider the following studies assessing the test score effects of attending a preferred elite public secondary school: Barrow et al (2017), Bui et al (2014, Clark (2010), Dee and Lan (2015), Dustan et al (2017), Lucas and Mbiti (2014), Park et al (2015).…”

Cognitive, socioemotional and behavioural returns to college quality

“…However, returns to school and educational quality may be non-linear and vary across the quality distribution. For example, Hoekstra et al (2016) examine schools of varying selectivity within the same educational context in China and find effects stemming from enrollment in only the most elite schools. In a similar vein, in our setting, we examine if behavioral responses to college and peer environments differ depending on how selective the college is.…”

Achievement Gains from Attendance at Selective High Schools

“…Pop-Eleches and Urquoila find through surveys that teachers sort in a manner consistent with preferences for high-achieving students. This is demonstrated by Hoekstra et al (2016), who were able to fully account for their positive effects of selective school attendance with differences in teacher quality between schools. Other behavioural responses identified by Pop-Eleches and Urquoila were that of parents reducing effort when their children attended better schools 65 , and also that of students who were successful in attending more selective schools realising that they were weaker and subsequently feeling marginalized.…”

“…for Romania, fromJackson (2010) for Trinidad and Tobago, and from Hoekstra,Mouganie and Wang (2016) for an anonymised Chinese city), it appears that benefits from selective schools are obtained in the context of system-wide academic allocations of students, ranging over the full distribution of achievement, as opposed to the selective schools existing as a small part of comprehensive education systems in high-income countries, like Australia, USA and the UK.64 …”