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Reduced-Class Distinctions: Effort, Ability, and the Education Production Function

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Author Info
Philip Babcock
Julian R. Betts
Abstract

Do smaller classes boost achievement mainly by helping teachers impart specific academic skills to students with low academic achievement? Or do they do so primarily by helping teachers engage poorly behaving students? The analysis uses the grade 3 to 4 transition in San Diego Unified School District as a source of exogenous variation in class size (given a California law funding small classes until grade 3). Grade 1 report cards allow separate identification of low-effort and low-achieving students. Results indicate that elicitation of effort or engagement, rather than the teaching of specific skills, may be the dominant channel by which small classes influence disadvantaged students.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 14777.

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Date of creation: Mar 2009
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14777

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance

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  1. Carneiro, Pedro & Heckman, James J., 2003. "Human Capital Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 821, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  2. Angrist, Joshua D. & Krueger, Alan B., 1999. "Empirical strategies in labor economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 23, pages 1277-1366 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis & Melissa Osborne, 2001. "The Determinants of Earnings: A Behavioral Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(4), pages 1137-1176, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2002. "Identity and Schooling: Some Lessons for the Economics of Education," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(4), pages 1167-1201, December.
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This page was last updated on 2009-12-3.


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