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A Natural Experiment on the Effect of Instruction Time and Quality: Lessons for the Covid-19 Outbreak

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  • Ismael Sanz
  • J .D. Tenaa

Abstract

Exploring the impact of reducing instruction time has become a fundamental topic in education, particularly following the covid-19 outbreak. In this paper we consider an unexpected regulation change affecting the academic calendar of non-fee paying schools in the Madrid region (Spain) during the 2017-2018 school year. The availability of standard cognitive tests allows us to estimate the impact of this measure on academic performance by means of a difference in difference regression. Although this regulation change affected just two weeks of the school calendar, we found that it contributed to a significant deterioration of academic performance which was particularly evident in Spanish and English. We further explore nonlinear (quantile) effects across the distribution of scores in the standardized exam finding that the disruption of the new normative affected more to students in the upper quartile of the distribution. Overall, we found a reduction of the gap across students in non-fee schools together with an increase of the gap between non-fee and fee paying schools. We discuss the implications of these results for a better understanding of the impact of school closures due to covid-19.

Suggested Citation

  • Ismael Sanz & J .D. Tenaa, 2020. "A Natural Experiment on the Effect of Instruction Time and Quality: Lessons for the Covid-19 Outbreak," Working Papers 202032, University of Liverpool, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:liv:livedp:202032
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    1. Luis Pires & Rosa Santero-Sánchez & Cristian Macías, 2021. "School Failure in the Region of Madrid (Spain): An Approximation through Diagnostic Assessment in 2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-20, September.

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    Keywords

    Instruction time; difference in difference; quantile regression; academic performance;
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