Schooling Resources, Educational Institutions and Student Performance: the International Evidence

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may Schooling Resources, Educational Institutions, and Student Performance:The International Evidence Abstract:The paper suggests that international differences in educational institutions explain the large international differences in student performance in cognitive achievement tests. A microeconometric student-level estimation based on data for more than 260,000 students from 39 countries reveals that positive effects on student performance stem from centralized examinations and control mechanisms, school autonomy in personnel and process decisions, competition from private educational institutions, scrutiny of achievement, and teacher influence on teaching methods. A large influence of teacher unions on curriculum scope has negative effects on student performance. The findings imply that international differences in student performance are not caused by differences in schooling resources but are mainly due to differences in educational institutions.Keywords: education production function, institutions, incentives Introduction and SummaryThe formation of human capital is essential for the economic success both of individuals and of society at large in a modern economy. The human capital stock comprises cognitive and non-cognitive skills and is mainly produced in families, schools, universities, and firms. This study focuses on students'cognitive skills in mathematics and science, which are mainly formed in schools. Since "[e]arly learning begets later learning" (Heckman 1999, p. 2), basic knowledge formed early in school has a substantial impact on potential future prosperity of individuals and nations.The empirical evidence on the determinants of educational performance overwhelmingly shows that at given levels of expenditures, an increase in the amount of resources used does not generally lead to an increase in educational performance. The lack of a strong and systematic relationship between resources and performance has been shown within the UnitedStates (Hanushek 1986(Hanushek , 1996 , RES 1996, and FRBNY 1998 3 international differences in student performance levels in mathematics and science are a fact, and it is obvious and generally accepted that differences in the amount of inputs used do not suffice as an explanation of their occurrence. The TIMSS micro data base begs a wealth of information to understand these differences, because it is based on performance tests of individual students in about 40 count...

The Relationship between Educational Resources of School and Academic Achievement

“…As a consequence, developing countries trail developed countries in terms of academic achievement on an international scale (Glewwe & Kremer, 2006). Considering these results, Wößmann (2003) suggests that educational resources have a diminishing effect on academic achievement. According to the study of Hanushek (1986Hanushek ( , 1997 on the relationship between student-teacher ratio, education level of teachers and school facilities, and student achievement, there is a poor relation between educational resources and student achievement.…”

“…In developing countries, the relationship between student achievement, and student-teacher ratio, education level of teachers and school facilities is more apparent than in developed countries. Nevertheless, it is not right to mention about a strong relationship within this context (Wößmann, 2003;Hanushek, 2006). Furthermore, developing countries trail developed countries in terms of educational resources such as student-teacher ratio, teachers' level of education and school facilities.…”

“…Lindahl (2005) reported that some small and economically embarred groups benefit from small-size classrooms in Sweden. Moreover, Wößmann (2003) concluded from the study which was applied in the year of 1994-1995 academic years in 39 participating countries that student achievement in the field of Mathematics and Science is related to the size of the classroom to a great extent. The findings of Lindahl support the findings of Angrist and Lavy (1999), and Krueger (1999).…”

Vom Wohlergehen der Nationen

“…Einige internationale Untersuchungen geben Hinweise darauf, dass zentralisierte Prüfungen und Kontrollmechanismen für die Einhaltung von Normen und Budgets auf nationaler oder regionaler Ebene zur Verbesserung der Schulleistungen beitragen können 4 (Wossmann, 2000, und Bishop, 1999. Desgleichen kann das echte Delegieren von Entscheidungsvollmachten an Schulen oder nachgeordnete Gebietskörperschaften, vor allem in Bereichen wie Personalpolitik oder -einstellung sowie in Bezug auf die Beschaffung von Unterrichtsmaterial, den Schulen bei der Verbesserung ihrer Ergebnisse helfen (Wossmann, 2000) 5 .…”

“…Desgleichen kann das echte Delegieren von Entscheidungsvollmachten an Schulen oder nachgeordnete Gebietskörperschaften, vor allem in Bereichen wie Personalpolitik oder -einstellung sowie in Bezug auf die Beschaffung von Unterrichtsmaterial, den Schulen bei der Verbesserung ihrer Ergebnisse helfen (Wossmann, 2000) 5 .…”