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Resources and Standards in Urban Schools

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Author Info
Stephen Machin () (University College London, CEE, CEP, London School of Economics and IZA)
Sandra McNally () (CEE, CEP, London School of Economics and IZA)
Costas Meghir () (University College London, CEE, Institute for Fiscal Studies and IZA)

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Abstract

Despite being central to government education policy in many countries, there remains considerable debate about whether resources matter for pupil outcomes. In this paper we look at this question by considering an English education policy initiative - Excellence in Cities - which has been a flagship policy aimed at raising standards in inner-city secondary schools. We report results showing a positive impact of the extra resources on school attendance and performance in Mathematics (though not for English) but, interestingly, there is a marked heterogeneity in the effectiveness of the policy. Its greatest impact has been in more disadvantaged schools and on the performance of middle and high ability students within these schools. A back-of-envelope cost-benefit calculation suggests the policy to be cost-effective. We conclude that additional resources can matter for children in the poorest secondary schools, particularly when building on a solid educational or ability background. However, small changes in resources have little or no effect on the ‘hard to reach’ children who have not achieved a sufficiently strong prior level.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2653.

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Length: 40 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2007
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2653

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Related research
Keywords: education resources evaluation disadvantage

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
C52 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Evaluation and Testing

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